Shouxian County 寿县

Known as an ”underground museum,” it boasts more than 160 cultural relics and historical sites. As far back as the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC) down to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911.In the county’s museum, there are more than 6,000 unearthed relics of various dynasties. Amongst these are gold, silver, bronze, iron, pottery, porcelain, jade and lacquer wares, with hundreds of pieces listed as national class A and B cultural relics. British archaeologist circles once praised the four-piece bronze ware excavated from the tomb of the King of the Chu Kingdom in 1935 as (the best in the world.) Tracing back to the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC), the county had already become the political, economical and cultural centre in Central China. The county was once described in a history book about the Qing Dynasty as occupying “a key point where the four major rivers—the Huaihe, Yangtze, Feishui and Pihe rivers—pass through.” In fact, the county was capital of many ancient kingdoms in Chinese history. Shouxian was the capital of the Cai Kingdom as early as 493 BC. Fifty years later, the Cai Kingdom was replaced by the Chu Kingdom and Shouxian became the Chu’s capital in 241 BC. The city, still taking shape, was then called Shouchun and later renamed as Ying. More than 10,000 households resided there. After Emperor Qinshihuang unified China in 221 BC, Shouxian became the capital of Jiujiang Prefecture, one of the 36 prefectures across China. In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 23), Shouxian became the capital of the state of Huainan. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), China fell into national disunity and the wars among states rose one after another. In 197, warlord Yuan Shu set up his kingdom and made Shouxian the capital.

As an ancient capital, Shouxian enjoyed a high intake of grain and fish in ancient times. However, the area also suffered from floods and droughts. Sun Shu’ao, prime minister of the State of Chu during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), started constructing the Anfengtang Irrigation Project 安丰塘灌溉工程 more than 2,500 years ago, about 30 kilometres to the north of Shouxian, where hundreds of springs and streams meet at the foot of Longxue Mountain 龙雪山。A 34-kilometre 19-water-gate pond was formed which still holds more than 100 million cubic metres of water, irrigating 70,000 hectares of land in nearby areas. For thousands of years, the pond has remained in harmony with its environment. Thanks to the irrigation works, the agricultural development of the Chu was greatly promoted. The Chu became one of the five strongest states in the Spring and Autumn Period. With its rich technological and historical connotations, Anfengtang Pond 安丰塘 also named Shaopo 芍陂 played an important role in irrigation, waterway transportation and water borne troops training in history. It is still in use thousands of years later.

The Shouxian city wall 寿县古城墙 was built in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The 7,000-metre-long and 10-metre high city wall has four gates and eight watch towers. Each city gate has a citadel reinforcing the city’s defense. The special design is not only strategic, but also aims to keep floods at bay. If surging flood water breaks through the outer gates and enters the citadel , it cannot reach the inside gates because the citadel will slow down the flow of water. Thus the pressure on the inside gates will be greatly decreased, protecting the city wall and the inside gates from being damaged. Thanks to this scientific design, the city wall has survived for hundreds of years. Two water gates have been built at the northeast and northwest comers of the city wall to release water that has built up in the city. In flood season, the water gates can close automatically to prevent floodwater from entering. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a stone barrier was built among the city wall to protect its foundations. In 1991 the wall protected more than 100,000 people from the worst flooding the county had been in over 100 years. The wall has other uses too. For a stunning scenic view of the dense forests and morning mist, look out from Shouxian County’s city wall, where the Feishui river can be seen. The river is famous for passing through the ancient battlefield of the Feishui combat, a famous battle in Chinese history known for the weak defeating the strong. The environment of the Feishui River valley helped troops of the Eastern Jin defeat the strong Qin troops in the Eastern Jin Dynasty(317-420).

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