Li Bing

Li Bing was a administrator and engineer of the Warring States period. He served the as an administrator, and has become renowned for his association with the , the construction of which he is traditionally said to have instigated and overseen. Because of the importance of this 2000 years old system to the development of Sichuan and the Yangtze River region, Li Bing became a great Chinese cultural icon, hailed as a great civil administrator and expert. In Chinese mythology, he is known as the vanquisher of the and is compared to the Great Yu.

Life and career

King Zhaoxiang of Qin dispatched Li Bing as joint military and civilian governor over , a recently defeated state in Sichuan province, Southwest China, just of Chengdu. According to the ''Records of the Grand Historian'', Li Bing was appointed governor of Shu in c. 277 BCE. However, the ''Annals of the Huayang Kingdom'', written by the , place Li Bing in Shu in 272 BCE. He arrived just as Zhang Ruo had put down the last of the marquis rebellions and moved out to engage the Chu city of Yan. Conveniently, Zhang Ruo did not leave any incumbent ministers. Therefore, Li Bing had complete control over . “When he arrived in , Li Bing witnessed the sufferings of local people from frequent flooding of Minjiang River.” Additionally, the monarchy had been sending its exiles to this state and the military needed food and infrastructure.

Li Bing then created “the largest, most carefully planned public works project yet seen anywhere on the eastern half of the Eurasian continent.” It would be called , . He conducted an extensive hydraulic survey of the in order to stabilize the waters from flooding settlements and plot out an extension into Chengdu. This extension would be a fairway to provide logistical military support to the Chengdu supply lines. This is standard practice for administrators who routinely combine their agricultural projects for both the civilian and military purposes. The is 735km long and it is the largest and the longest of the Yangtze .

Li Bing faced a number of daunting tasks. Firstly, the administration was more experienced working with arid lands than with wet rice . Additionally, by slowing the water current, this reduced the river’s ability to carry away large sediments. At peak discharge, the flows at about 5000 or even 6000 cubic meters per second. At low water, it lessens to about 500 cubic meters per second. On the other hand, the water diversion would have a positive effect and with the system of land distribution with wet paddy rice in the Chengdu plains.

But that was only half of the problem. The other half had to do with culture. The native people of believed that the was a deity. As recorded in the , “ relates the tale that, upon appointment as administrator of Po, a province of , Hsi-men Pao discouraged the superstition of the people about a bride for the god of the river and punished the local gentry and bureaucrats who took advantage of such superstitions.” This was the ordinary practice of Administrators across the region. But, His-men Pao did not succeed. Therefore, in order to avert a similar massive revolt, Li Bing set out to end this practice “by a combination of tact and showmanship”.

Steven Sage describes from the that the first thing Li Bing did was setup a temple to honor the Min deity. He then offered his own two daughters as brides to the deity. But first he set up a large nuptial banquet along the river. He offered a toast. But the deity did not drink his glass of wine. Deeply offended, Li Bing runs off sword drawn. Two bulls prepared in advance were then seen by the crowd fighting along the river bank. Symbolically, this was Li Bing in a duel with the deity. Li Bing returns to the scene sweating as if in battle and calls for assistance. One of his lieutenants ran up to the bull that Li Bing had pointed out was the deity and killed the bull. The river spirit was subdued. “Through the medium of the bull, Li Bing had won.”

“In 268 BCE, Li Bing is said to have personally led tens of thousands of workers in the initial stage of construction on the Min River banks.” These people were mostly exiles from lands conquered by the , as well as pioneers, and the local population.

External sources

*Chi, Ch‘ao-ting. Key Economic Areas in Chinese History as Revealed in the Development of Public Works for Water-Control. Ed. Relations, American Institute of Pacific. 2d ed. New York, Paragon Book Reprint Corp., 1963.
Cotterell, Arthur. First Emperor of China. London: MacMillan London Limited, 1981.
*Elvin, Mark. ''The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China'' 1st ed. New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press, 2004.
*Sage, Steven F., ''Ancient Sichuan and the Unification of China'', Albany, New York: State University of New York Press . ISBN 0791410382
*CHN ''“Taming the Floodwaters: The High Heritage Price of Massive Hydraulic Projects”'' China Heritage Newsletter China Heritage Project, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies , The Australian National University No. 1, March 2005. ISSN 1833-8461.
08 April 2005. 27 June 2006.
*PRC “Li Bing” chinaculture.org 2003. 27 June 2006.

Later Shu

Later Shu was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China from 907 to 960. It was located in present-day Sichuan with its capital in Chengdu.

Founding

The original Kingdom that was founded in 907 from the ashes of the Tang Dynasty was conquered by the Later Tang Dynasty, the second of the five dynasties that ruled the north during this period of time.

Meng Zhixiang commanded elements of the Later Tang Dynasty in the conquered territories of the Kingdom. He was named military governor in 925, but had plotted to make himself emperor, an action he took in 934 as, Li Siyuan, emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty, had seen relations with their powerful neighbors to the north, the , sour by his rule.

Territorial Extent

The Later Shu Kingdom held essentially the same territory as the Former Shu kingdom. The kingdom held most of present-day Sichuan, along with southern Gansu and Shaanxi, western Hebei and all of present-day Chongqing. As with the Former Shu, the capital of the kingdom was at Chengdu.

Succession

Meng Zhixiang died the year following his self-declaration of ascending to the position of emperor of the Shu. His son, Meng Chang ruled very ably for thirty years until the kingdom was incorporated into the expanding Song Dynasty from the north in 965.

Rulers

Jiaozi (currency)

Jiaozi is a form of banknote which appeared in 10th century Sichuan. Most numismatists generally regard it as the first paper money in history, a development of the Chinese Song Dynasty .

Jiandi Dao

Jiandi Dao was a prefecture of ancient China located around today's Songpan region, in the east of Qingzang Plateau and northwest part of Sichuan province.


Jiandi Dao was originally founded by after it conquered in BC 316. Han Dynasty reestablished Jiandi Dao in the 6th year of Yuanding . Jiandi Dao was changed to Jiandi County and became a constitute part of Wenshan Jun in Jin Dynasty.

Di is an ancient large ethnic group lived in west China which is sometimes considered to be part of Qiang, called Diqiang. Dao in Qin and Han Dynasty is a kind of administrative unit where mainly settled by primitive tribes.

Campaign to the North of Nanchuan County

The Campaign to the North of Nanchuan County , Sichuan, was part of the Campaign in Southwestern China launched by the communists against the s in the region to the north of Nanchuan County during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era, and resulted in communist victory.

Order of battle

Defenders: order of battle:
*The XIV Corps
*The XV Corps
*The XX Corps
Attackers: communist order of battle:
*The III Corps of the Second under Chen Xilian and Zhang Linzhi
*The V Corps of the Second under Yang Yong and Su Zhenhua
*The 47th Army of the Fourth under Cao Lihuai and Zhou Chiping

Campaign

The Campaign to the North of Nanchuan County begun on November 1, 1949 when the communists launched the Campaign in Southwestern China in multiple fronts against their adversary. By mid November, 1949, one of the communist attacks on the XIV Corps and XX Corps had succeeded in breaching the defense on both flanks, resulting in Youyang , Xiushan and Enshi falling into the enemy hands. By November 21, 1949, 4 s of the XIV Corps in the regions to the east of Salty Abundance in Hubei were completely annihilated by the enemy. The remaining s was forced to retreat westward by crossing the Black River . The communist III Corps and the 47th Army then turned their attention to the XV Corps and the XX Corps retreated to the region north of Nanchuan County by respectively crossing the Black River at regions including Gong’s Beaches , White Horse , Tukan , and north of Peng’s Waters . The major escape route to Qijiang in the west for the s were severed.

Chiang Kai-shek in Chongqing had realized the enemy’s intention of besieging Chengdu and Chongqing by striking behind the line from western Hunan and western Hubei via Sichuan and Guizhou, and thus immediately ordered Hu Zongnan to conclude Qinling Campaign by withdrawing from the defensive line, and enter Sichuan from and Greater Ba Mountain in order to avoid being isolated and surrounded by the enemy. The XV Corps and the XX Corps were redeployed to strengthen the defense of Nanchuan county and the region to its east in order to secure the retreat of Hu Zongnan’s troops. In order to counter the move, Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping ordered the communist V Corps and the 10th Army to push toward Luzhou and Yibin from southwestern Guizhou, while the communist III Corps and the 47th Army to cross the Black River to push toward Nanchuan county and help other communist forces to besiege and annihilate the XV Corps and XX Corps. By October 28, 1949, the communist forces had fulfilled their tasks by badly mauling the two corpses in the region to the north of the county, thus successfully concluded the Campaign to the North of Nanchuan County.

Outcome

This campaign of was a part of the Campaign in Southwestern China, and the s were defeated, losing over 60,000 in the process. The termination of the Qinling Campaign by withdrawing Hu Zongnan’s troops from defensive line meant that the s had lost a natural geographical barrier in the northern front, while the southeastern front was not improved either. As a result, the situation for the s further worsened in the Campaign in Southwestern China.

Battle of Jianmenguan

The Battle of Jianmen Pass was a battle fought between the and the during the Chinese Civil War in the post World War II era and resulted in communist victory. The battle was a one of the battles in Chengdu Campaign, which in turn, was part of Southwestern China Campaign.

Jianmen Pass was one of the most important gateways of Sichuan. There are 72 peaks in the mountain and the only road going thru the mountain was only 50 metre wide. Whoever controlled this 2 km long stretch of the road controlled the gateway of Sichuan, and the nationalists had built an elaborate systems of bunkers in the area to strengthen its defense against the inevitable communist assaults.

Order of battle
*Nationalists
**A regiment of local garrison
**A company from the retreating 55th Division
*Communists
**The 540th Regiment of the 180th Division of 60th Army of the XVIII Corps

After taking Guanyuan on December 14, 1949 in Chengdu Campaign, the communists correctly decided that Jianmen Pass must be taken. The 540th Regiment of the 180th Division of 60th Army of the communist XVIII Corps was tasked with this job and after three days of forced march of more than 40 km in the mountain, the communist 540th Regiment reached Jianmen Pass . The communist 540th Regiment immediately launched its assault on the pass by first completely annihilating a company from the retreating nationalist 55th Division tasked to strengthen the defense. Afterward, one of the battalion of the communist regiment was sent to outflank the defenders by passing the mountain terrain which was considered impossible by the local populace, including the defenders. The rest of two battalions of the communist regiment crawled forward along the ravine under the cover of darkness, and by 10:00 PM, they were within 50 metres in front of the pass. The attackers then launched their assault in the dark under the cover of heavy fire, and with the help of the battalion that outflanked the defenders, they were able to cross the last ravine via a log and overwhelmed the defenders. With Jianmen Pass falling into the enemy hands, the nationalists had no choice but to retreat and abandon the town of Jiange in the afternoon of December 18, 1949.

The communists managed to capture over 300 prisoners-of-wars and had the remaining killed in the fierce battle, and more importantly, the taking of Jianmen Pass secure the passage for the communists to attack deeper into the heart of Sichuan.

Bandun Man

The Bandun Man were an ancient people living along the Jialing River valley, in the area of modern Langzhong in Sichuan, China. Their name, literally meaning "board shield barbarians", is derived from their fighting style of charging with shields to break the enemy line. They were also called the Bohu Yi , meaning the "white tiger barbarians".