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Water supply in ancient cities of China
He shouping

(China Water Network Consultant)

Life on earth originated from water, and human beings can't live without water. Archaeology has proved that the birthplaces of the four major human civilizations are located in the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, the Euphrates River and the Tigris River, the Ganges River and the Nile River. The population density distribution model made by some people in modern times shows that the density line of point water resources (such as lakes and wells) is a concentric circle around the water source, while linear water resources (such as rivers) are parallel to it and distributed in the surrounding areas on both sides. Moreover, the drier the climatic conditions in the basin, the closer the population density is to the water source. "Living by choosing water" is the common ground of human survival and development, which undoubtedly shows the important role of water in human survival. With the growth of population and the development of productivity, people's demand for water has also changed from conforming to nature to following the laws of nature and then to artificially developing water sources.

The water supply facilities found in Hemudu site of Neolithic age in China are the earliest known artificial water source structure in the Yangtze River basin.

For thousands of years, human settlement, the formation of ordinary towns and the water supply of ancient towns have all progressed and developed with the pace of history.

First of all, wells are an important source of water for our ancestors.

As a water source, water wells have greater freedom than rivers and lakes, and can take water in a short distance, and the distribution of water wells is wider. Based on this situation, even in towns close to surface water sources, people still cannot do without "wells".

Since ancient times, people have lived in wells. For thousands of years, wells have been an important water source for our ancestors and even modern people.

China has long recorded the technology of digging and sinking wells. Lv Shi Chun Qiu Bu Gong and Boyi Drilling Wells (about 2200 years ago) are the earliest and most reliable records of drilling wells in the world. Deep well drilling machinery appeared in the Western Han Dynasty 1 year to the 2nd century. After great improvement in the Song Dynasty, these drills were used until the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and were introduced to the west around 1 1 century.

There are seven volumes in Xu Jian's Book of Beginners in the Tang Dynasty: "Boyi made a well, which means that the Yellow Emperor crossed the well only when he saw everything". In Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Eight Houses are Wells". It has been 4000 ~ 5000 years since the Yellow Emperor was founded in China, and the technology of drilling deep wells was mastered as early as 2000 years ago in the Qin Dynasty. In the aspect of water lifting equipment, there were wheels, simple cars and oranges in ancient China. In addition, there are dragon bone cars and dragon tail cars that have been passed down to this day.

Second, the wells in ancient sites.

In the second cultural layer of Hemudu Neolithic site in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, the remains of primitive wooden wells were discovered. At the edge of an irregular circular pit with a diameter of about 600 cm, wooden pile fragments arranged around it were found. There are also 28 piles with different spacing. The diameter of rotten wood is generally about 5 cm, which is about 100 cm vertically into the ground and 142 cm in the deepest part. Among them, two columns are special. The diameter of rotten wood is about 8 cm each, which faces north and south, inclines into the ground and forms an angle of 55 with the horizontal plane.

The pit is pot bottom-shaped, the depth is less than 100 cm, and the pit is black silt. There is a square pit slightly northwest of the center of the pit bottom, with a side length of about 200 cm, and the bottom of the square pit is about 135 cm from the surface at that time. Circular piles or semi-circular piles are arranged around the square pit wall, and horizontal box support is added.

From the unearthed relics and relics, black silt was deposited in the round pit at the bottom of the pot, indicating that the pit was originally a pond. The pond in the settlement naturally formed a convenient source of domestic water for residents at that time. The water level in the pond is uncertain, and there is only a little water at the bottom of the pot when it is dry, so dig a small pit in the center of the bottom to keep a certain amount of water concentrated. To dig a hole in silt, four-wall supporting structure should be set up first. The big stones placed upward on the outer plane of the square pit are obviously stepping stones, which proves that people step on these stepping stones to get water from the central square pit in dry season. A clay pot with a piercing ear was unearthed in the central square pit, which further proved that it was the source of domestic water. The purpose of this water source is to take water from the pond when it is full; When the water level is low, the stepping stone will take water from the pit at the bottom of the pond.

The square pit with supporting structure at the bottom of Dayuankeng is the earliest known artificial water source structure in the Yangtze River basin. It is the embryonic form of a wooden branch well in high water level area, and its structure is exactly the image of "well" and "#" described in ancient hieroglyphics. "Shi Shiming Gong" said: "An Zheming." Compared with the original well of this surface water source, it is indeed because of the support of the wooden frame that the turbidity caused by the mud on the pit wall is avoided, thus maintaining the purity of water quality.

In the Yellow River Basin, in recent years, a well was found in a settlement in Tangyin Baiyin, Henan Province in the late Longshan culture (similar to the second cultural layer of Hemudu), with a depth of about 3 meters and overlapping wooden wells left in the lower part.

The supporting structures of two Shang Dynasty wells in Taixi village site in Gaocheng, Hebei Province are also made of wood. Well Taixi Village 1 has a wellhead diameter of 295cm and a depth of 590cm. The diameter of 450 cm below the wellhead began to decrease, forming a two-layer platform. There is a wooden shaft at the bottom of the well, which is stacked in four layers, with a height of 82 cm and overlapping nodes. There are more than 30 piles and trees around the shaft. In this well, there are still intact or damaged pottery pots that were lost at that time, and some of them are still tied with ropes around their necks.

The above examples show that China's "raw water well" has a long history and has gradually improved its well structure.

There are many wells in various dynasties excavated in China, and the list is endless. From the perspective of building materials, there are earth wells, pottery wells, tile wells, stone wells, brick wells, wooden wells and so on.

Goujian site in the western suburb of Handan City, Hebei Province (2000 ~ 2800 BC) has three wells, all of which are cylindrical. There is a gap in the upper part of the well, which communicates with the ditch. From the wellhead down to 1m, the diameter is 2.30m, gradually reduced to 5.50m, and the diameter is 1. 15m, and the lower part is yellow sand accumulation. Although Zhou Shu recorded that "Huangdi crossed a well" and "Yao Min dug a well to drink it", there was no physical data, and the ancient well architecture found in Goujian site provided a physical basis for Zhou Shu.

There were a large number of earth wells and tile wells in Beijing in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and brick wells were built in the Han, Tang, Liao and Jin Dynasties. Historically, most urban residents in Beijing used shallow groundwater in their own wells. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the water supply in Beijing never stopped, but wells all over the city were also an important source of water supply. Many hutongs in Beijing today are the names of residential areas. According to research, the word "Hutong" comes from Mongolian, which means "water well". In the 11th year of Guangxu reign (1885), there were 1245 earth wells in the inner and outer cities of Beijing. But the water quality is mostly salty and bitter.

Nanjing was the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. Although backed by the Yangtze River, there are many ancient wells in the city. There are not only various well sites, but also many wells named after them, such as Jinsha River, Yang Gong, Tonggou, Banjing, Suo Jing, Shuangjing, Baiyun, Yin Gui and Rouge. According to historical statistics, by the Qing Dynasty (19th century), there were more than 5,000 wells in Nanjing. Until the 1980s, there were still more than 3,000 wells in Nanjing.

In many historical records, Qiantang six wells is the most detailed urban water supply system in China. Su Shi's notes mentioned that Gong Li Changyuan, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, drilled six wells from the West Lake to get water to meet people's needs. Later, Bai Gong Letian (about 8 10) was invited to harness lakes and dig rocks. This is an official urban public project to solve the drinking water and water problems of the people at that time.

Third, the water source of the ancient capital.

Water is the foundation of urban survival. As the capital, the country's political, cultural and economic center, with a large population, the demand for water is more important.

Most of the ancient capitals of China in Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties were along the river. Since the Qin Dynasty, all the capitals of unified dynasties were built along the river without exception. The capital is the political, economic and cultural center of the whole country or a region, with a large population, magnificent buildings, picturesque gardens and huge water consumption. If there is no surface water supply, groundwater alone can't solve the problem. Therefore, the location of the capital must be along the river, which is almost an irresistible law.

Today, ten dynasties have established their capital in Xi 'an. All four cities are by the river. With the transfer of the city site, it is closer to the important tributaries of the Weihe River, and the urban water supply is more abundant.

Luoyang is known as the ancient capital of the nine dynasties, and the ruins of the three cities are inseparable from the Luohe River.

Eight dynasties established their capitals in Nanjing, and the three city sites were located in the downtown area of Nanjing and on the banks of the Yangtze River, overlapping or not far apart. In the Ming Dynasty, Nanjing was a large city, including the above-mentioned city site, which not only crossed the Qinhuai River, but also was close to the Yangtze River.

Six dynasties established their capitals in Kaifeng, which is located in the south of the Yellow River and on the waterfront.

Hangzhou has two dynasties as its capital, and the city site is constantly exhibited eastward, close to Qiantang River.

The earliest city site in Beijing is located on the bank of Ximagou, north of Suishui (now Yongding River). In the Yuan Dynasty, the city site moved to the northeast of Ji Cheng, and another capital was built on the Gaoliang River. In the middle of Ming Dynasty, the outer city of Beijing was built, and the city site moved south, which not only crossed the Gaoliang River, but also got closer to Ximagou and Suishui.

The city sites of the six ancient capitals are typical, and other ancient capitals are no exception. The city ruins are all located on the river bank. For example, the capitals of Sixteen Countries, Northern and Southern Dynasties, Five Dynasties and Ten Countries are all like this.

In the history of China, its capital is located along the Yangtze River without exception. It can be seen that the capital of China is inseparable from rivers, and its fundamental reason is to solve the problems of urban water supply and waterway transportation.

Four, the ancient city water supply project

The ancient urban water supply project in China has a long history and made remarkable achievements in water source, water distribution system and purification treatment. This provides the most basic conditions for the survival and development of the city.

As early as BC 1600, before Pan Geng moved to Yin, the shopping mall (now Zhengzhou) was the capital of Shang Dynasty. Archaeological findings show that the northern and northeastern part of the city is a palace area, and the eastern part of the palace area has water storage facilities such as reservoirs and water pipelines, which ensures the water use in this area.

Xi 'an was the capital of Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the urban surface water supply system was very complete, which created a precedent that China's capital was mainly supplied with surface water, successfully solved the water supply problem of ancient big cities, and set a good example for China's capital to solve water sources.

Gao Feng in Zhou Dynasty crossed Feng Shui and naturally relied on Feng River for water supply. Qin Xianyang crossed the Weihe River and dug Lanchi from the Weihe River. Lanchi is an artificial water storage reservoir in Xianyang, the capital city, which supplies water to the southeast of Xianyang City.

The water source of Chang 'an City in the Western Han Dynasty mainly came from the water in the west of the city, and at the same time, wells were dug to draw groundwater. In the middle period, the population increased greatly, and water sources were opened, channels were dug and surface water was used on a large scale. It has opened up a new pattern of surface water supply in China's capital.

In Tang Dynasty, Chang 'an City drew water into the city from southeast and southwest directions, and the rivers were as dense as cobwebs, which made most rivers in Xi 'an area be used. In order to solve the water supply problem in the development of Xi 'an city, the pattern of east-west water supply was laid. Chang 'an is surrounded by rivers such as Jing, Wei, Ba, Feng and Waterlogging. Due to the large scale and large population of the city, in the aspect of urban water supply, Longshou Canal, Yong 'an Canal and Qingming Canal were renovated in the early Tang Dynasty, and the water outside Chang 'an was introduced into the city. These channels run through Chang 'an City, forming a complete water supply network, with east-west length 18 Li 15 steps (about 10.6 km) and north-south length15 Li 175 steps (about 8.9 km).

In ancient Guangzhou, the sea water was salty because of the tide. In Song Dynasty, the city developed rapidly, the population increased sharply, and the contradiction of water supply was prominent. Su Shi, who was relegated to Huizhou and passed through Guangzhou, put forward the suggestion of diverting water into the city. He suggested introducing Pujianshui into the urban area with bamboo tubes, which was the earliest blueprint for the planning of "tap water" in Guangzhou. Su Shi personally participated in the overall planning at that time, and solved the drinking water hygiene problem of Guangzhou residents. Guangzhou became the earliest city with "tap water" in China.

Archaeologists have proved that the 3,000-square-meter underground "roof"-shaped wooden structure excavated in Pozi Street in Changsha was a large-scale urban water supply system in the Southern Song Dynasty. Its east-west direction is all composed of dark brown wooden boards, each of which is about 1 m long and about 1 m wide. The wooden "top" vertically connected with the wooden trough is about 30 meters long, high in the west and low in the east, and extends beyond the foundation pit excavation. This is a hidden water channel. At the same time, more than 20 ancient wells were found at the archaeological site.

The capital of Jin Dynasty is located in Guang 'anmen area, southwest of Beijing, and the urban water supply mainly adopts Ximagou water system. When Jin people expanded Zhongducheng, they planned to circle a small river that originated from a natural lake (now lotus pond) in the west of the city into the city. At the same time, dig moat: introduce palace garden to solve the problem of urban water supply. Dadoucheng in Yuan Dynasty made full use of the water system of Gaoliang River. Wengshanpo in the Gaoliang River system, which is the predecessor of Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace today, laid the foundation of water source in Beijing in Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial city was expanded, and the water supply mainly depended on Weng Shanbo, collecting the spring water from Yuquan Mountain. Jishuitan is the main water storage reservoir, which is connected with Xiyuan Taiye Pool (namely, the North Sea, the China Sea and the South China Sea) and supplies water for the Imperial City and Miyagi (Forbidden City). In the 16th year of Qing Qianlong (175 1), in order to increase the canal water, Wengshan Lake was opened, and the spring water from Biyun Temple and Sleeping Buddha Temple in Xishan Mountain was introduced into the lake through the foot of Yuquan Mountain, and the largest artificial water storage reservoir in northwest Beijing was built, which is today's Kunming Lake. Great changes have taken place in Beijing's water sources, providing Beijing with abundant water sources.

Taking the above-mentioned urban water supply project as an example, we can see that ancient China attached great importance to the role of water in the city and invested huge manpower and material resources.

Five, ancient water purification technology

In the Four Instruments of Tea Classics written by Lu Yu in the Tang Dynasty, there is a passage about drinking water treatment: "If you often use water bags, you should cast them in raw copper to prepare them for wet water and no foul smell. It means that the boiled copper is dirty and the iron is fishy. Bamboo and wood used by forest valley hermits are not long-term tools, so they are used to make copper. Its bag is woven and rolled with bamboo, cut and sewn with bamboo, embroidered with new jade, and made into a green oil bag for storage. The round diameter is five inches, and the handle is one inch and five minutes. " This infiltration bag is used as a water filter for filtering water and purifying water.

Alum was first used in China to reduce the turbidity of water, and the official written record first appeared in the book "Tiangong Wu Kai", which was engraved by the Song Dynasty in the tenth year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty (1637). In the Travels of the Chinese Empire written by Spanish priest navarrete published from 1744 to 1746, it was recorded in detail that alum, which was widely used at that time, turned the Yellow River water into clear water, which was said to be a natural secret unknown to the west at that time.

In 2004, a well-preserved ancient water purification system in the late Ming Dynasty was discovered in the archaeological site of Xi 'er Village, Xikou Township, Yongjia, Zhejiang Province. It consists of five pools with different sizes and orderly arrangement. The big pool is 8.00 square meters, and the small pool is only 1.56 square meters. Archaeologists rushed to the scene and found that the walls of the whole pool were made of pebbles. The depth of the five pools varies from 0.75m to 0.58m.. Raw water is introduced into 1 pool from the foothills 700 ~ 800 meters away from the village with ceramic water pipes. This is a pool covered with sand and gravel, with a length of 1 m and a width of about 50 cm. The filtered water flows into pool 2. This pool is all made of bricks and covered with charcoal. Whether this is the earliest "filtration-activated carbon" treatment process remains to be verified. However, the discovery of the prototype of modern water purification technology is amazing. After the water flows through these two pools, it flows into the No.3 pool through the water pipe at the bottom of the pool. Pool 3 is the largest of the five pools. It is a square pool with a side length of about 2 meters and a depth of about 1 meter. It may be a "clear pool" for storing water or a "fire pond". The water in this pool overflows and then flows into the fourth pool. This pool is concave. The periphery of the pool is inlaid with bricks and the bottom is paved with three boulders. The stored water is used for drinking, and its shape is the most exquisite. Pool 5 is used for washing things, and there are small drainage holes at the bottom of the pool to discharge sewage. More than 400 years ago, local villagers designed and built a fully functional "water purification system" in mountainous areas with traffic jams, which shows that the working people in ancient China had a high level of water treatment technology.

The development of human beings and the cities where human beings live are inseparable from water. Let's cherish water resources more, and live in harmony with nature for human survival and urban development!