Lingqu

The Lingqu (Template:Zh) is a canal in Xing'an County, near Guilin, in the northwestern corner of Guangxi, China.

It connects the Xiang River (which flows north into the Yangtze) with the Li River (which flows south into the Gui River and Xijiang, the latter is one of major tributaries of Pearl River), and thus is part of a historical waterway between the Yangtze and the Pearl River Delta. It was the first canal in the world to connect two river valleys and enabled boats to travel Template:Convert overland between Northern China and the Pearl River Delta.<ref name="unesco_courier">Template:Citation</ref> It is also one of the most well-preserved such projects in the world.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

The canal is Template:Convert long.<ref name="unesco" />

History

In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), ordered the construction of a canal connecting the Xiang and the Li rivers, in order to attack the Baiyue tribes in the south. The architect who designed the canal was Shi Lu (Template:Zh). It is the oldest contour canal in the world,<ref name="unesco_courier" /> receiving its water from the Xiang. It was fitted with thirty-seven flash locks by 825 AD. There is a clear description of pound locks in the twelfth century, which were probably installed one or two centuries before.<ref> Template:Citation </ref> The canal also aided water conservation by diverting up to a third of the flow of the Xiang to the Li.<ref name="unesco" />

The canal has been placed on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites tentative list.<ref name="unesco">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• History of canals in China
• Grand Canal of China
• Dujiangyan
• Zhengguo Canal

References

Bibliography

• Day, Lance and McNeil, Ian . (1996). Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology. New York: Routledge. Template:ISBN.

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