The Hongze Lake Dike starts from Matou Town in Huaiyin District in the north and ends at Jiangba Town in Hongze County in the south, with a total length of 67 kilometers, all constructed manually with stone materials.
The construction of the dike began during the Jian’an period of the Eastern Han Dynasty and was completed during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. With a history of over 1800 years, the Hongze Lake Dike is renowned as the ‘Great Wall on Water’. According to historical records, in the fifth year of the Jian’an period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Chen Deng, the governor of Guangling, built a thirty-li-long Gaojia Weir to prevent the Huai River from overflowing to the east; this Gaojia Weir was the embryo of the Hongze Lake Dike. During the Southern Song Dynasty, due to warfare, the Yellow River took over the Huai River. It was not until the seventh year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty that the river commissioner Pan Jishun implemented the policy of ‘storing clear water and washing away the yellow’, which involved raising the Gaojia Weir and extending it southward by sixty li, thus forming the Hongze Lake Dike. Starting from 1580 (the eighth year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty), the Hongze Lake Dike began to add vertical stone walls for protection. Over 171 years through the Ming and Qing dynasties, more than 60,000 thousand-pound stone blocks were used, totaling over 600,000 cubic meters, with unified specifications and exquisite craftsmanship, fully demonstrating the superb skills of ancient Chinese water conservancy construction. The dike is open all year round and is accessible 24 hours a day.Hongze Lake Dike
The Hongze Lake Dike starts from Matou Town in Huaiyin District in the north and ends at Jiangba Tow[...]
