Tujiaozha Site

Tujiaozha Site

The Tujiaozha Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Era: Ming Dynasty

The site is located in Tuzha Village, Liangshui Town, Dongchangfu District, Liaocheng City, and served as an important facility of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. The Tujiaozha Sluice was first built in the 7th year of the Chenghua reign during the Ming Dynasty (1471) and was dismantled and repaired in the 23rd year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1758).

Through investigation and trial excavation, the location and depth of the bypass channel were determined. The downstream water-regulating sluice was identified, and a Qing Dynasty canal-penetrating culvert was also surveyed. Nearly ten thousand artifacts were unearthed, including porcelain, pottery, bronze ware, ironware, jade artifacts, as well as two stone stelae. The sluice consists of the sluice opening, water-facing wall, wing walls, dividing wall, tail wall, headwall, east and west piers, and protective stone walls and wooden piles at the bottom on the north and south sides. A water-regulating sluice was identified on the east side of the canal to the north of the sluice. About 400 meters to its north lies a Qing Dynasty canal-penetrating culvert, built with blue brick straight walls and topped with stone arches. A stone stele inscribed with “Canal-Penetrating Culvert of the Northern Branch of the Majia River, 26th Year of the Republic of China” was discovered. This excavation yielded a wealth of cultural relics. In northern regions, the discovery of a large number of porcelain samples from various kilns with diverse bases provides a rich collection of physical specimens for the study of ceramics from the Ming and Qing periods. Hundreds of iron artifacts were unearthed, including household utensils, shipboard tools, implements for shipbuilding or reinforcing hull planks, and accessories related to the sluice. The excavation of the Tujiaozha Sluice in Liaocheng marks the first such excavation of a sluice along the Shandong section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, as well as the first fully exposed sluice on the Grand Canal. It holds significant importance for studying the hydraulic engineering structures of the Grand Canal, the material and cultural customs along its banks, and understanding the Grand Canal’s crucial role in ancient communication and exchange in China. It also provides a new set of important materials for the application of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In May 2013, it was designated and announced by the State Council as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units