Peking University scientists, in collaboration with the Key Laboratory of Archaeological Science and Cultural Heritage Protection, have pushed the history of large-scale water management in China back by nearly 3,000 years. Their digital archaeology findings reveal 5,100-year-old community-built dams, directly challenging the long-held Western theory that such projects required—and created—centralized, despotic power.
For decades, a dominant narrative in some academic circles argued that large-scale hydraulic engineering was the cradle of authoritarian rule. This concept, famously articulated as “Oriental despotism” by German-American historian Karl August Wittfogel in 1957, suggested that controlling water required—and therefore produced—a powerful, top-down state apparatus. New evidence from the plains of ancient China, however, paints a strikingly different picture: one of collaborative community effort.
The groundbreaking research, led by researcher Liu Jianguo from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), utilizes cutting-edge technology to rewrite this chapter of human history. By employing drone photography, 3D reconstruction technology, and regional digital elevation models, Liu’s team has systematically identified and analyzed prehistoric water conservancy systems across the Yangtze Plain. What they found wasn’t evidence of coercive control, but of ingenious local cooperation.
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“This challenges the previous erroneous theory of Western scholars that ‘water projects led to Eastern despotism’,” Liu Jianguo stated at a recent briefing in Beijing, as reported by the South China Morning Post (SCMP). His research indicates that around 5,100 years ago, prehistoric communities were already building sophisticated, locally-adapted systems to manage floods and store water for irrigation. These weren’t monuments to a single ruler’s power, but pragmatic solutions to climate variability, built by families or clans working together.
The crown jewel of this discovery is the Xiongjialing Dam at the Qujialing site in Hubei province. Radiocarbon dating confirms it was initially built approximately 5,100 years ago, predating even the famous hydraulic works of the Liangzhu civilization. This makes it the earliest and most clearly defined large-scale hydraulic facility yet discovered in China. Its existence, and the methods behind its construction, fundamentally disrupt Wittfogel’s thesis.
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How could such significant infrastructure be built without a despotic state? According to the study’s findings, reported by SCMP, the answer lies in decentralized, communal effort. The research shows that even small groups or local societies could—and did—organize to build and manage large infrastructure independently. These projects were responses to immediate environmental needs, not decrees from a distant, powerful elite. This collaborative model suggests a complex social organization rooted in mutual benefit, not fear.
Liu’s technological approach was key to this revelation. “My undergraduate major was in aerial photogrammetry and remote sensing,” he explained, noting this background allows him to quickly integrate new tech into archaeological fieldwork. Between 2017 and 2019, his team conducted multiple drone surveys, capturing over 30 major prehistoric sites and generating detailed 3D models. This digital lens allowed them to see what satellite imagery missed, accurately mapping ancient landscapes and confirming the scale and nature of these communal projects.
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The implications extend beyond academic debate. These findings provide substantial archaeological context for China’s deep cultural memory of water management, exemplified by the legendary figure Da Yu, who was said to tame floods. “Recent archaeological discoveries have revealed many hydraulic engineering projects dating back about 5,000 years,” Liu noted, suggesting Da Yu’s story represents a culmination of millennia of accumulated communal knowledge, not a singular, despotic genesis.
Ultimately, this research does more than just age China’s hydraulic history; it reframes our understanding of early societal development. It presents a distinct Chinese perspective in the global study of premodern water civilizations, one where community coordination and technological adaptation flourished long before the rise of centralized imperial power. The story of humanity’s relationship with water, it turns out, is far more diverse and collaborative than a single “despotic” narrative could ever contain.
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