Chu Feng: Drawing Wisdom for Governance from the Water Management of Dujiangyan
The Dujiangyan irrigation system, constructed toward the end of King Zhao of Qin’s reign, is a damless water diversion miracle in the history of global hydraulic engineering that has spanned millennia. During a recent friendly exchange with French President Emmanuel Macron in Dujiangyan, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, General Secretary Xi Jinping noted: “Every time I come to Dujiangyan, I feel the greatness of our ancestors in adapting to local conditions, acting according to trends, seeking harmony between humanity and nature, and managing water to benefit the people. From this, I draw wisdom for governing the country.” This important discourse by General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly reveals the timeless core value of this thousand-year-old hydraulic project. It is not merely a practical hub integrating functions such as flood control, irrigation, and water transport, but also encapsulates the ancestors’ practical philosophy of guiding actions according to circumstances [1] and the profound wisdom of following nature's laws. On the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, deeply excavating its ideological core and practical logic holds significant realistic meaning for advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.
1. Adapting to Local Conditions: The Path of Scientific Decision-Making Based on Reality
The monumental achievement of Dujiangyan throughout the ages is rooted in a profound grasp of regional characteristics and a precise response to the needs of the people's livelihood. The Min River originates in the plateaus of northwest Sichuan; as it surges toward the Chengdu Plain, the steep terrain levels off, creating a governance challenge where floods ravage during the high-water season and irrigation is scarce during the low-water season, becoming a disadvantageous factor restricting regional development. Against the contemporary background where blocking water with dams was the prevalent method, Li Bing and his son broke through ossified thinking. Through years of field surveys, they precisely grasped the unique topography of the Min River’s mountain outlet—where “two mountains sandwich the river, shaped like a bottleneck”—and creatively constructed a hydraulic system consisting of the "Fish Mouth" (Yuzui) water partition, the "Flying Sand Weir" (Feishayan) spillway, and the "Bottle Neck" (Baopingkou) intake. The Fish Mouth relies on the height of the terrain to achieve natural water division, with the inner river dedicated to irrigation and the outer river responsible for flood discharge. The Flying Sand Weir utilizes the power of water vortices to automatically discharge silt, becoming a natural spillway during flood seasons. The Bottle Neck, with its "bottleneck" shape, precisely regulates flow to ensure a balance between irrigation supply and demand. This design, which conforms to the hydrological characteristics of the Min River and the topographical features of the plain, both resolves water disasters and promotes water conservancy, vividly demonstrating the practical wisdom of adapting to local conditions and becoming a model of ancient scientific decision-making.
Governing a country is like managing water; one must persist in proceeding from reality in all matters and formulate policies and strategies based on national conditions and the people's circumstances. Our country is vast, with significant differences in natural conditions, resource endowments, and development foundations across regions; there is no uniform governance solution. As the Party's ideological line, seeking truth from facts is the fundamental observance for governing the country. Since the New Era, the Party Central Committee has consistently insisted on proceeding from reality and implementing precise policies based on the developmental characteristics of different regions. In the battle against poverty, it profoundly grasped the shortcomings of resource endowments in impoverished areas, abandoned the extensive "flood irrigation" [2] model, and implemented targeted assistance centered on the "Six Precisions," historically resolving the problem of absolute poverty. In coordinated regional development, based on the different positionings of the eastern coast, the central and western hinterlands, and the northeast region, it introduced differentiated support policies, promoting the formation of a development pattern of complementary advantages including the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the integration of the Yangtze River Delta, and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In rural revitalization, it respects the differences in resource conditions and development foundations of various villages, advancing the revitalization of industry, talent, culture, ecology, and organization by category, effectively avoiding the homogenized predicament of "a thousand villages with one face." Practice has repeatedly proven that decisions detached from reality are like water without a source or a tree without roots. Only by basing ourselves on concrete reality and persisting in adapting to local conditions can we ensure that policies precisely align with development needs and promote steady and sustained economic and social development.
2. Acting According to Trends: The Essence of the Art of Governance in Grasping Laws
The greatness of Dujiangyan lies in its profound grasp of natural laws and its skillful use of natural forces. Li Bing and his son knew well that "water management cannot violate the nature of water." They moved away from the antagonistic thinking of "treating water as an enemy" and upheld the scientific attitude of "guiding it according to its momentum," transforming natural laws into governance efficacy. The Fish Mouth’s partition of the river conforms to the flow state of the Min River, utilizing the terrain's elevation drop to achieve automatic diversion without the need for human intervention. The sand discharge of the Flying Sand Weir skillfully uses principles of fluid dynamics, allowing silt to be deposited and discharged along with the current in vortices, avoiding the waste of labor and resources caused by forced manual dredging. The water intake at the Bottle Neck conforms to the topographical trend of the Chengdu Plain—high in the northwest and low in the southeast—allowing river water to irrigate vast fertile fields through gravity flow. The entire hydraulic system requires no external force, relying on natural drivers to achieve a dynamic balance of flood control, irrigation, and sand discharge, continuing to operate efficiently after more than two thousand years of wind and rain. Maxims passed down through generations, such as "deepen the beds and keep the weirs low" and "cut the corners when encountering a bend, draw from the center when meeting a straight," further reify the governance philosophy of following laws, becoming valuable standards for scientific governance by later generations.
Governing a country similarly requires grasping laws and acting according to trends, fully exercising subjective moveability on the basis of respecting objective laws. Marxism holds that laws are the inherent, essential, inevitable, and stable connections in the process of the movement of things. People can only understand and utilize laws; they cannot violate them. Those who violate them will inevitably be punished, while those who follow them can succeed. In its long-term practice of governing the country, our Party has always insisted on acting according to laws, continuously deepening its understanding and grasp of the laws of the Communist Party's governance, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of the development of human society. In economic construction, it conforms to the law of the dialectical unity between productive forces and relations of production, breaking through the shackles of the planned economy system to construct a socialist market economy system, letting the market play the decisive role in resource allocation and better playing the role of the government to promote high-quality development. In the construction of ecological civilization, it conforms to the objective law of the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, practicing the important concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," promoting a comprehensive green transformation of development modes to achieve the organic unity of economic, social, and ecological benefits. In further comprehensively deepening reform, it conforms to the trends of the times and changes in the principal contradiction in society, precisely grasping the internal logic and staged characteristics of reform, neither rushing for success nor waiting on the sidelines, promoting reform to advance with steady steps and toward greater depth. History and reality repeatedly corroborate that governing a country requires grasping laws and acting according to trends. Only by actively acting while respecting and following laws can we avoid blind and reckless actions and achieving half the result with twice the effort, thereby continuously enhancing governance efficacy.
3. Harmony Between Humanity and Nature: The Sustainable Development Concept of Harmonious Coexistence
The millennial inheritance of Dujiangyan vividly interprets the ecological wisdom of "the unity of heaven and humanity" [3], becoming a model for the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature. This great project was not aimed at transforming or conquering nature, but at respecting, conforming to, and protecting nature. When managing water, Li Bing and his son always considered ecological carrying capacity, both transforming unfavorable natural conditions and carefully protecting the ecological foundation. The Fish Mouth's river partition resolved the distress of water disasters while completely preserving the natural riverbed texture of the Min River. The sand discharge of the Flying Sand Weir prevented channel siltation while avoiding the damage to the downstream ecology caused by excessive intervention. The Bottle Neck's water intake met agricultural irrigation needs while maintaining the natural flow rhythm of the river water. The entire hydraulic system achieved the organic unity of water resource utilization and ecological protection, transforming what was once a "flood beast" into a "river of life" that nourishes all things. For thousands of years, the ecological environment of the Dujiangyan area has continued to improve, becoming a living sample of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature on a global scale. The ecological wisdom it contains has stood the test of time and still possesses strong vitality today. In 2000, Dujiangyan was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List and hailed as the world's oldest and only remaining grand hydraulic project characterized by damless water diversion, which is precisely a high recognition of its ecological concept of "the unity of heaven and humanity."
The traditional wisdom of "the unity of heaven and humanity" provides profound inspiration for governing the country in the New Era. Currently, our country’s new-type industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization are advancing in depth, facing severe challenges such as tightening resource constraints, prominent environmental pollution, and ecosystem degradation. The task of coordinating development and protection is arduous and heavy. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We should follow the concept of the unity of heaven and humanity and following nature’s laws, seeking the path of sustainable development." Governing the country in the New Era must firmly establish and practice the concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, persist in the basic national policy of conserving resources and protecting the environment, and promote the formation of green development modes and lifestyles. In the process of developing the economy, we must always place ecological protection in a priority position, resolutely abandon extensive development models at the expense of the environment, and achieve the coordinated promotion of development and protection. In urban construction, we must respect the laws of urban development and the natural ecological texture, coordinating the layout of production space, living space, and ecological space to build ecological cities that are pleasant to live, work, and visit. In resource utilization, we must persist in the principle of priority for conservation, priority for protection, and natural restoration as the mainstay, improve resource utilization efficiency, promote resource recycling, and advance the formation of green and low-carbon production and lifestyles. From the ecological practices of Dujiangyan to the nationwide construction of ecological civilization, from traditional ecological wisdom to modern development concepts, all corroborate the eternal truth of the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature.
4. Managing Water to Benefit the People: The Governing Value Pursuit of Being People-Centered
The construction of Dujiangyan was consistently permeated by the value pursuit of "managing water to benefit the people." Before the project was built, the Chengdu Plain suffered from irregular floods and droughts. When the Min River flooded, it swallowed homes and destroyed farmland; during periods of drought, crops withered and there were no harvests, leaving the people displaced and living in hardship. As the Governor of Shu Commandery at the time, Li Bing and his son cared for all living beings and sought to resolve the people's sorrows, devoting all their efforts to presiding over the construction of the Dujiangyan hydraulic project. After the project was completed, the Chengdu Plain was completely rid of the distress of water and drought disasters, presenting a prosperous scene where "floods and droughts follow human will, famine is unknown, and there are no years of dearth, which the world calls the Land of Abundance." For thousands of years, Dujiangyan has continuously nourished the people of the Chengdu Plain, becoming an "instrument for the benefit of the people" and a "project for the welfare of the people" passed down through generations. This practice of "managing water to benefit the people" not only achieved material abundance but also solidified the hearts of the people and stabilized the foundation of governance, becoming a vivid portrayal of the ancient rulers’ concept that "the people are the foundation of the state."
The millennial wisdom of "managing water to benefit the people" is cut from the same cloth and highly compatible with the CPC's persistence in the people-centered development philosophy. Being of the people is the essential attribute of Marxism. Since its founding, our Party has always taken seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation as its original aspiration and founding mission, persisting in putting the people's interests first, and remaining in the same breath, sharing the same fate, and linking heart-to-heart with the people throughout the periods of revolution, construction, and reform. On the battlefield of poverty alleviation, our Party persisted in the supremacy of the people, implemented strategies of targeted poverty alleviation and elimination, and organized the largest-scale battle against poverty in human history, historically resolving the problem of absolute poverty. In the field of livelihood protection, it has continuously increased investment in key areas such as education, medical care, employment, and elderly care, continuously improved the public service system, and focused on solving the pressing, difficult, and anxious problems of the people, allowing the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security to be continuously enhanced. From Li Bing and his son’s "managing water to benefit the people" to the "people-centeredness" of the New Era, although the conditions of the times have undergone profound changes, the value pursuit of seeking well-being for the people has never changed. Practice has fully proven that the hearts of the people are the greatest politics. Only by always persisting in being people-centered and taking the people's yearning for a better life as the goal of our struggle can we win the sincere support and backing of the people and lay a solid mass foundation for governing the country.