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The Ancient Mulan Dam (Adapted from Magic Fujian)

Fujian’s Four Great Women Of Fujian’s four greatest women in ancient times, three were from Putian. They were Mazu, the sea goddess, Qian Siniang, the first to attempt to dam the Mulan River, and Jiang Caipin, the Emperor’s concubine (also called the Plum Queen). Putian women have been famous for their courage and abilities since Qian Siniang tried to dam the Mulan River, the mother river of the Putian people.

Mulan Dam In 1064 A.D., just five years after Quanzhou built its marvelous Luoyang stone bridge, Lady Qian Siniang and Mr. Lin Chongshi tried to build a dam at the foot of Mulan Mountain. Lady Qian spent every penny she had to build this dam, but unfortunately, they chose the wrong site, and failed. In spite of her failure, Qian Siniang is revered for her courage and determination, and a Meizhou Island temple now has a large statue of Lady Qian sitting beside Mazu and holding a Chinese coin.

I too admire Lady Qian—though given that she lost everything, I would not seek her advice for investments!

Eleven years later, the Emperor sent Mr. Lihong to try again. He drew upon the lessons of his failed predecessors, but also sought the aid of a local monk, Fen Zhiri, and in eight years they completed the 219.3 meter dam, with 32 sluice gates.

The Mulan dam helped irrigate 32,000 acres of farmland, enabling Putian to feed its growing population, and from that time on Putian became a major city, as well as an international commercial hub, thanks to 30.9 kilometers of coastline.