Shanghai plans to build a museum on the remains of a Yuan
Dynasty (1271-1368) flood-control system for a river that once
acted as a major path to the East China Sea. The museum, expected
to open in 2010, would rival the terracotta warriors museum in
Shaanxi Province.
The site was uncovered by construction workers in May 2001 at
the Zhidan Road and Yanchang Road crossroads in Shanghai.
With a total area of 1,600 square meters, the ruins are the
largest example of a Yuan Dynasty flood-control system ever found
and should be preserved, officials said.
"It is the most important archaeological discovery in the city's
downtown area," said Zhai Yang, an official with the Shanghai
Cultural Relics Management Commission, yesterday.
"It will be the downtown's first museum sprung from original
archaeological discovery, similar to the famed museum of the
terracotta warriors," he said.
Since the site was discovered, archaeologists have worked on
excavating the structure and artifacts in the ruins.
So far they have found over 10,000 wooden pegs, 400 stone boards
and some wooden pillars inscribed with ancient Chinese characters
describing the river-control works.
The centerpiece of the site is a stone gate almost seven meters
wide. It is borne by two grooved stone pillars.
The ruins are close to the former course of the Wusong River,
which used to be a major waterway to the East China Sea. Over the
years, silting changed the course of the river now known as Suzhou
Creek.
According to historical records dating from the Tang Dynasty
(618-907 AD) to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), central and local
governments spent huge sums of money on dredging the Wusong River
and building water-control systems such as sluice-gates.
This makes the ruins of great significance for studying changes
in riverbeds, construction of water-control facilities and the
development of shipping in Shanghai.
(Shanghai Daily November 24, 2006)