Xinjiang Karez: the source of life in Turpan and the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancient working people in China.

At the foot of the beautiful Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang, there are countless oases on the vast Gobi Desert. Especially in Turpan and Hami areas, an oasis with fragrant fruits and beautiful scenery has been formed. The water source that nourishes this desert oasis is the mountain snowmelt continuously transported by the Karez project buried under the vast desert.

Karez project is the largest underground irrigation system project in the world. Because of its ingenious design and large scale, it is known as the underground "Great Wall of Wan Li" in China. This is a great innovation in the practice of using scarce water resources by working people in arid areas. It is of great value and significance in the study of water conservancy history, humanities history and science and technology history in China. At the same time, Karez is of great research value to the research on the development history of agriculture and water conservancy projects in Xinjiang, and also has certain influence internationally. A scientific and accurate understanding of the development and characteristics of Karez is of great theoretical and practical significance for better utilization and protection of Karez, a water cultural heritage of Turpan.

In order to develop agricultural production and pursue a better material life in the desert, the working people of all ethnic groups in Turpan, ancient China, tried to attract the snow water seeping into the ground in the northern Tianshan Mountains to moisten these oases on the Gobi Desert, and at the same time avoided the high temperature evaporation along the way, and skillfully invented this karez, which integrates open channels, culverts, shafts and waterlogging dams. Moreover, according to research, the Karez project in Xinjiang originated in the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, and the total length of various culverts once reached 5,000 kilometers. Therefore, Karez, Wan Li Great Wall and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal are called "Three Ancient Projects in China".

Karez is a unique and ancient water conservancy project, which widely exists in semi-arid and arid areas. In the world, more than 40 countries and regions have built karez, while karez in China is mainly distributed in Turpan and Hami in Xinjiang. In addition, it is distributed in Rem, Qitai and Fukang in northern Xinjiang and Pishan, Yutian and Kuche in southern Xinjiang, and the road is about 1800. But now karez in northern and southern Xinjiang has dried up and abandoned. Karez, which is still in operation, is mainly distributed in Turpan and Hami areas.

The climate in Turpan basin is very bad, with drought and little rain. The average annual precipitation is only 65438 0.6 mm, while the evaporation is as high as 3000 mm. Therefore, only the rainfall and meltwater in the snow-capped mountains cannot form surface runoff at all. However, after the melting and infiltration of Tianshan snow into the Gobi Desert, rich groundwater resources were formed.

Therefore, the local people adjust measures to local conditions, with the help of natural topography and slope conditions, use the potential energy of water, and discharge the subsurface flow of groundwater through artificially built underground culverts and transport it to the oasis in Turpan Basin. This design effectively avoids the loss of water resources caused by high temperature evaporation, and plays a decisive role in the formation and development of oasis agriculture in Turpan-Hami area and the gestation of human civilization.

Karez is mainly composed of culvert, open channel, shaft and waterlogging dam. Culvert is the main part of the whole Karez project, which can be divided into water collection section and water delivery section according to a certain longitudinal slope. Among them, the front part is the water collection section, which is located below the groundwater level and mainly plays the role of intercepting groundwater; The back section of the water conveyance section is connected with the surface open channel above the local groundwater level. Open channel is a diversion channel on the ground, which introduces water into waterlogged dams or directly irrigates fields. Shaft is mainly used for positioning, entry, excavation, ventilation and subsequent inspection and maintenance during culvert excavation. Waterlogging dam is a water storage project of Karez well, which is mainly used to store redundant well water to improve irrigation water capacity, and can adjust the water quantity in each period for farmland irrigation. Improve water supply efficiency and water resources utilization rate.

With the continuous improvement of the local economic development level, the local water demand increases year by year, which eventually leads to a serious decline in the groundwater level, and many karez wells cannot operate normally and tend to dry up. 1957, the number of karez in Turpan reached its peak, with 1237 karez. 1966 The annual water transport capacity of Karez Project reached the maximum, reaching 699.9 million cubic meters. In 2003, there were still 406 karez wells working normally in the local area, with an annual water transmission capacity of 232 million cubic meters, still accounting for 30% of the total water transmission capacity in the whole region, and it is still one of the main water sources for local people's daily production and life. By 20 17, only 2 14 karez wells in the local area can operate normally, and the annual water delivery capacity has also dropped to1.1.500 million cubic meters. The present situation of Karez is not optimistic.

There is no unified answer to the origin of the karez project in Turpan, and there are three main origins.

First, Guan Zhong's theory of classics; Some historians believe that the Karez project in Turpan was inspired by the Guanzhong well canal in the Han Dynasty, and with the prosperity of the ancient Silk Road, it was introduced to the western regions and other high-temperature and arid areas. Wang Guowei, a famous scholar in the Qing Dynasty, pointed out directly in his "Examination of Wells and Channels in Western Regions" that the design concept of Karez Project in Xinjiang appeared as early as the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago, and its inspiration came from wells and channels in the Central Plains.

According to Historical Records of Hequ Book, Guanzhong, Shaanxi Province created the technology of digging underground pits in Han Dynasty, which is called "well and canal method". In this way, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty led Luoshui to Shangluo. After the Han Dynasty passed through the Western Regions, there was a lack of water outside the Great Wall, and the sand was loose and easy to collapse, so the "well drainage method" was taught to the locals. Through the hard work of people of all ethnic groups, it has been gradually improved and developed into a karez suitable for Xinjiang.

The second is the origin theory of Central Asia; However, some historians hold different views, and think that the Karez project may have been born in arid areas such as Central Asia at the earliest, and gradually spread eastward to Turpan with the prosperity along the Silk Road.

Third, the theory of local origin; More generally speaking, the Karez project itself was born in Turpan area. This ingenious design is based on the climatic conditions of high temperature, little rain and large evaporation in ancient Turpan area and the topographic characteristics of the basin. After long-term production practice, ingenious design and continuous enrichment and improvement, a huge water conservancy project-Karejing has finally been built.

Moreover, in recent years, with more experts and scholars' further research on the Karez project, more and more people agree with and support the view of "local origin theory".

Regardless of its origin, the Karez project in Turpan area was built by the local people bit by bit, which nourished the Turpan Oasis, benefited future generations and left us precious spiritual wealth and historical heritage.

In ancient society, Karez, as the only water source in Turpan, was deeply cherished by the local people, and a series of folk culture and water worship ceremonies were formed around Karez project. Whenever the water source is selected for the new construction and expansion of Karez, the local people will first hold sacrificial ceremonies in the "Wangjing Temple" and "Wangshui Temple". Pray that the workers elected by the local people will be safe and healthy and can successfully complete the construction of the project. After the completion of the Karez project, we will slaughter cattle and sheep and hold a grand celebration, thanking God and the gods for their blessing.

In Turpan area, the local people attach great importance to water resources, and have formed many local customs and proverbs with unique regional characteristics, such as: "Playing with water in dreams leads to happiness", "Boiling water for seven times will make it clean", "Drinking running water without accumulating water" and "defecating in water is the biggest sin". Therefore, when grazing, local people will try to avoid the shafts, open channels and water sources of the Karez Project, so as to avoid livestock manure polluting valuable water sources. When you need to wash clothes and vegetables, you will choose to take water from the canal and move to a place far away from the water source for cleaning. What's more worth mentioning is that local young lovers must offer a waist knife at the water's edge of Karez, and the local people think that only in this way can they be protected by the water god.

After the founding of New China, in order to make full use of the precious water resources, the local people formulated a strict production water system by the production brigade. Every year between Qingming and autumnal equinox is a period when local agricultural production uses a lot of water. If each production team has its own karez and water source, the irrigation water system will be relatively simple. For example, the Garden Brigade in Aiding Lake Township has three production teams, and each production team has a karez, so each production team will use its own karez during irrigation. However, if both the production team and the production team have karez, the irrigation water intake system will be relatively complicated. (Note: Generally, the village is regarded as a production brigade, and the village is divided into several production teams according to production needs).

Lin Zexu became a national hero in eliminating opium in Humen, but he was relegated to Xinjiang because of the failure of the Qing court in the Opium War. During his stay in Xinjiang, Lin Zexu visited Turpan four times. 1On February 25th, 845, under the order of Daoguang, Lin Zexu, Huang Nanpo and their second son went to Turpan from Genteketai (commonly known as Kengkeng). The main local officials went out of the city to meet them with a grand ceremony.

1 August, 8451June, Lin zexu went to Hami via Turpan to wait for his will after field investigation in southern Xinjiang. In addition, from September 23rd of the same year to 10 year1mid-October, Lin Zexu visited Turpan twice when he was in Hilary 1 10000 mu of land. So Lin Zexu has been to Turpan four times during his stay in Xinjiang.

It is precisely because of this special experience that Lin Zexu, a national hero, has forged an indissoluble bond with Karez in Turpan. In the 25th year of Daoguang (AD 1845), Lin Zexu left such a record when he first arrived in Turpan. He wrote in his diary: "I saw many pits along the way and asked them to be called stuck wells ... Incredibly, water flowed through holes in the soil." This shows Lin Zexu's surprise when he first saw this unique water conservancy project-Karejing. As a water conservancy expert, Lin Zexu once built water conservancy and developed agriculture in many places, and Xinjiang was no exception. According to the records of Xinjiang:

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, especially in the thirty years after Lin Zexu arrived in Xinjiang, under the vigorous advocacy and promotion of Lin Zexu, more than 3,000 new karez wells were drilled in Shanshan and Toksun areas of Turpan. It is clearly recorded in the local literature of Shanshan Local Records: "Lin Zexu, the founder of publishing wells to irrigate fields, was inherited by Lan Po Huang, and has benefited a lot from publishing wells so far." At present, there are more than 60 karez wells in Qiketai Township, Shanshan County. According to textual research, most of them were excavated and built by Lin Zexu after visiting Turpan. Moreover, in order to commemorate Lin Zexu's contribution to the propaganda and advocacy of Karez, the local people called Karez "Lin Gongjing" to express their admiration for Lin Zexu.

Karez is a great engineering miracle creatively invented and built by people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang in the process of constantly fighting against the harsh natural environment. With diligent hands and infinite wisdom, the ancient working people in Xinjiang built a groundwater vein system in the arid Turpan Basin, which nourished the desert oasis and was the source of life of the oasis ecosystem. It can be said that there can be no developed agriculture and desert oasis in Turpan without Karez.

Karez not only created the miracle of agricultural production in arid areas, but also accumulated a lot of experience in agricultural irrigation production in arid areas, and left us rich material and cultural heritage, even left us precious spiritual wealth of harmonious coexistence between man and nature and between people.

Historical Records of Hequ Biography (Han Sima Qian)

Textual research on the Western Regions Jingqu (Wang Qing Guowei)

Map of Xinjiang (Qingyuan Dahua)

Local chronicles of Shanshan