Dujiangyan, a monumental water conservancy project that has influenced millennia, is situated on the Minjiang River in the western Chengdu Plain of Sichuan Province. Standing silently for over two thousand years, its influence extends to the present day, spanning dozens of generations and profoundly changing the destiny of this land.
In ancient times, the Minjiang River was prone to flooding, and the people along its banks suffered from its devastation year after year. Li Bing, the governor of Shu during the Qin Dynasty, led the people to carve through mountains and build dikes to divert water, constructing this complete, dam-free water diversion system. Instead of brute force to alter nature, it guided and regulated the water flow according to the terrain, transforming the raging river into fertile water that nourished thousands of miles of land. This freed the Chengdu Plain from famine, turning it into a land of abundance, free from drought and flood. Even after thousands of years of weathering, it continues to play its irrigation role, a true miracle that has benefited future generations and influenced the course of Chinese civilization.