The Qing emperors' secret water management archives are now open to the public at the Palace Museum starting today

Text/Li Xinyi, compiled and reported

The Palace Museum boasts an extensive collection of Qing dynasty river management maps and related archives. These include not only records on managing the Yellow River, Huai River, and Grand Canal, dredging and flood prevention efforts, and project reports, but also personal letters from local officials. The museum has specially curated an exhibition titled "Unveiling the Secrets of River Management in the Qing Dynasty," showcasing these rare documents. The exhibition will run until September 16, 2012.

Traditionally, China has been an agrarian society, and the stable development of its agricultural economy has not only been the foundation of social stability and people's livelihoods but also a crucial basis for the imperial regime and state revenue. After the Manchus took control of the Central Plains, they continued the agricultural focus of previous dynasties. Drawing on centuries of experience in river management, the Qing government not only developed more sophisticated knowledge in controlling floods but also demonstrated further innovations and advancements in disaster prevention systems and engineering techniques compared to earlier periods.

Among them, the great flood in Yikao, Henan, in the 43rd year of the Qianlong reign, reveals through memorials and official records how the emperor and his ministers addressed the threat of river disasters. During the Qianlong-Jiaqing period, when the Yongding River flooded, documents such as memorials from river officials reporting dam repairs and engineering diagrams illustrate the unpredictable nature of rivers and how landscapes change through human intervention. The exhibition also introduces key figures in Qing river management, including eminent officials from the Kangxi era such as Jin Fu, Chen Huang, and Zhang Penghe; those from the Yongzheng era like Qi Sule and Ji Zengyun; and figures from the Qianlong era such as Gao Bin, Ji Huang, and Kang Jitian, as well as Lin Zexu and Lin Qing from the Jiaqing and Daoguang eras. The noted river management officials of the Qing era included both Han Chinese and Manchu individuals, as well as Mongolian officials, demonstrating that flood control efforts transcended ethnic and regional boundaries.

Official website of the Palace Museum: www.npm.gov.tw

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