白渠 / Baiqu Irrigation Project

Definition

白渠 / Baiqu irrigation project is the 95 BCE water-control project in 汉武帝’s late reign that Hanji 381-1 presents as a practical agricultural benefit. It draws Jing River water into the Wei region through a canal proposed by Bai Gong.

Current Synthesis

Hanji 381-1 places Baiqu after a dry autumn in Taishi 2 / 95 BCE. Bai Gong, a Zhao-state zhongdafu in the source wording, proposes opening a roughly two-hundred-li canal from Gukou to Liyang. The canal brings Jing River water toward the Wei region, irrigates more than 4,500 qing of farmland, and gives local people durable benefit.

The source uses Baiqu to pivot from court chronology to agrarian infrastructure. After discussing Han Wudi’s long reign, Du Zhou’s death, and Bao Shengzhi’s appointment, the episode closes by emphasizing that water is decisive in an agricultural age. Baiqu therefore functions as a grounded public-works case: state capacity is not only war, law, or surveillance; it can also appear as irrigation that changes ordinary production conditions.

Key Claims

• Baiqu is introduced as a late-Han-Wudi public works project responding to drought and agricultural need.
• Bai Gong’s proposal turns a route from Gukou to Liyang into a named canal project.
• The project redirects Jing River water toward Wei-region farmland.
• The episode reports more than 4,500 qing of irrigated farmland and direct local benefit.
• Baiqu broadens the late-Wudi profile beyond war, cruelty, and succession crisis by showing productive infrastructure.

Evidence

Project origin and route:

• Hanji 381-1 says Bai Gong requested a canal from Gukou to Liyang during a dry year.

Agricultural benefit:

• Hanji 381-1 says the canal brought Jing River water into the Wei region, irrigated over 4,500 qing, and benefited local farmers.

Public-works frame:

• Hanji 381-1 closes by stressing water’s importance in an agricultural society.

Counterevidence & Qualifications

This page is bounded to a short source note. Bai Gong’s full identity, official title, the exact route and hydraulic engineering, the conversion of qing to modern acreage, construction labor arrangements, and later maintenance history remain source-scoped.

What Changed

• Created the concept from Hanji 381-1 as a late-Wudi irrigation and agrarian-benefit case.

Related Concepts

• Emperor Wu of Han / 汉武帝 - ruler in whose late reign Baiqu is proposed and built.
• Western Han dynasty / 西汉 - dynastic setting for the irrigation project.
• 汉武帝晚年流民危机 / Late Han Wudi Displacement Crisis - contrast case because Baiqu shows productive infrastructure inside a reign also marked by costly extraction and displacement.