The Disputes On Water Conservancy In Plain Areas Of Now-called Hubei Province And Hunan Province During Ming Dynasty And Qing Dynasty

Water conservancy has been very important for an agricultural country like China since ancient times. In plain areas of now-called Hubei Province and Hunan Province where there are many rivers, lakes and plenty of rainfall, villagers there have build dykes and dams along rivers and lakes and invented special protective embankment projects which surround low-lying farmland and uses sluice-gates to regulate water volume. These water-control works are still utilized until now because they can solve difficult problems of controlling floods, draining off floods and irrigation to a certain extent under local conditions.In spite of a guarantee of bumper grain harvests, building dykes and protective embankments causes some serious environmental problems and disturbs the natural evolution of water system in the plain areas. Thus mud and sand silt up in the main riverbed and bring about floods bursting dykes and embankments frequently. When people make greater efforts to build higher dykes and embankments, more mud and sand silt up in the main riverbed, more floods happen. When people become helpless in dealing with floods, they are often forced to seek quick relief regardless of the consequences, namely blocking the outflow of water from tributaries and branching streams into their own fields. In doing so, people create a vicious cycle:"ecological imbalance of water system→serious floods→using neighbor's fields as a drain→seeking new balance of water system in an abnormal way→further destroying ecological environment of water system→more serious floods→using neighbor's fields as a drain again".In the process of above-mentioned cycle, many disputes arise over water matters. In a word, the history of agricultural economy in the plain areas of Hubei Province and Hunan Province is the history of struggle among different interest groups for hydraulic benefits.The present article respects objective historical facts and classify the kinds of disputes over water matters, analyses complex human relations among interest groups, points to higher authorities' mistakes in arbitrating these disputes and tries to find some historical lessons for today.Generally speaking, disputes over water matters are an inevitable product during the process of exploiting water and soil resources on a large scale in the plain areas of Hubei Province and Hunan Province. These disputes further deteriorate the ecological environment of local water system and human relationships among different groups, which leads to more difficult problems.In order to find solutions, we think only by living in harmony with water environment, can different groups in the plain areas of Hubei Province and Hunan Province live together harmoniously.