With the bright and beautiful scenery of spring, the "Mulan Spring Rise" has quietly guarded Putian for nearly a millennium.
"Mulan Spring Rise" is one of the 24 scenic spots of Putian.
The Mulan River originates from Bijiashan, a branch of Daiyun Mountain in Dehua County, and is the mother river of the people of Putian. Its main stream is 168 kilometers long, with 105 kilometers within Putian. It has a basin area of 1,732 square kilometers and a natural drop of about 784 meters. Mulan Weir is located in the tidal reach of the lower Mulan River (a tidal reach is a section of a river flowing into the sea where the water level and flow direction change periodically due to tidal fluctuations), 25.8 kilometers from the river mouth.
What is the "Mulan Spring Rise"? Every spring, as rainfall increases, the Mulan River enters its flood season. The mighty river water flows over the Mulan Weir dam, creating a magnificent waterscape. The spray is as white as snow, and the sound of the water is like thunder, a refreshing sight to behold.
The Putian Mulan Weir is a large-scale ancient Chinese water conservancy project that integrates drainage, storage, diversion, blocking, and irrigation to block saltwater and store freshwater. It is one of the five great ancient weirs in China and is known as the "Dujiangyan of Fujian."
Looking at Mulan Weir from the levee, the structure of the entire weir is clear at a glance. Mulan Weir mainly consists of the headworks, leisure plazas on the left and right banks, and the river channels upstream and downstream of the weir. The focus of the visit is the headworks, which consist of the dam, intake sluices, and diversion dikes.
The dam is 219.13 meters long and is built entirely with large granite blocks, making it a masonry weir-sluice dam. The dam is divided into two parts: the section near the north bank is a gravity dam, 123.43 meters long; the section near the south bank is an overflow weir sluice, 95.7 meters long, featuring 28 sluice gates, 29 weir piers (water dividers), and 1 sand-flushing gate.
There are two intake sluices, one north and one south. The north canal intake sluice is near the main entrance of Mulan Weir Park, where several oleanders with pink and red flowers are planted along the canal. The diversion dikes are also divided into south and north sections; the south diversion dike is 227 meters long, and the north diversion dike is 113 meters long. Entering from the north side of the park, passing the north canal intake sluice, crossing the Wanjin Doumen, stepping onto the diversion dike, and continuing along the north weir yard, the river water is guided by the diversion dike, rushing through the sluice into the river channel below the weir, creating streaks of snow-white spray. Walking on the stone slabs of the dam, the rushing water is a thrilling sight.
Before the construction of Mulan Weir, the Mulan River was prone to flooding. Furthermore, seawater would surge up the river with the tide, causing soil salinization after the tide receded. At that time, only reeds grew on the north and south banks of the Mulan River, not crops. It was not until the completion of Mulan Weir that the situation changed, allowing the Xinghua Plain to become a land of fish and rice. The construction of Mulan Weir was fraught with difficulties, spanning three attempts over 20 years. The first two attempts were destroyed due to poor site selection, and only the third was successful. The first attempt was made in the first year of the Zhiping era of the Song Dynasty (1064 AD). At that time, Qian Sinian, a native of Changle County, stopped in Putian on her way back to Changle. Coincidentally, the Mulan River was flooding. The 16-year-old Qian Sinian witnessed the suffering of the people of Putian from the floods, so she sold her family property and brought 100,000 strings of cash (100,000 taels of silver) to build a weir to block the water under Jiangjunyan (near Xixu Village, Huating). The project was completed in three years, but due to poor site selection (uneven geology with rock on the left bank and soft soil on the right, and uneven water flow), the weir was later destroyed by floods. In extreme grief, Qian Sinian threw herself into the water and ended her life.
The second attempt to build Mulan Weir began in the first year of the Xining era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1068 AD). Lin Congshi, a scholar from Changle and a fellow townsman of Qian Sinian, brought 100,000 strings of cash and built the weir again at Wenquankou (now Huangtou, Mulan Village, Chengxiang District), downstream from the previous site. Because it was too close to the sea and the tidal force was strong, it was destroyed when it was nearing completion.
The first site was in the upper reaches of the Mulan River and was destroyed by floods. The second site was in the lower reaches and was destroyed by the tide. "Too close to the river makes it easy to wash away, and too close to the sea makes it easy to destroy." For the third attempt, the site was chosen between the two, which is the current location of Mulan Weir under Mulan Mountain.
The third attempt to build Mulan Weir began in the eighth year of the Xining era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1075 AD) and took eight years to complete. Li Hong, a native of Houguan (now Minhou), responded to the imperial decree of Wang Anshi's "Farmland Water Conservancy Law" by donating 70,000 strings of cash and raising 700,000 strings through crowdfunding. Feng Zhirì, a high monk from Gushan Temple in Fuzhou, surveyed the site, designed the project, and supervised the construction. This site was located at the tail end of the floodwaters and the end of the tidal reach, where the river flood and the sea tide weakened each other, making the river wide and the flow gentle—perfect for building a weir.
In the current Mulan River Park, there is a memorial hall for Zen Master Feng Zhirì. At first, I didn't know why the plaque on this red-lacquered building by the Mulan River read "Feng Zhirì Memorial Hall," but I understood after learning about the construction history of Mulan Weir. Correspondingly, on the other side of the Mulan River, there is the Qian's Holy Concubine Palace, which commemorates Qian Sinian. The palace is larger in scale and more ancient in style. The two stone lions at the entrance tilt their heads to look at each other; although they are heavily weathered and worn, one can still faintly see their original liveliness.
The Mulan River flows beneath Hugong Mountain, and the Mulan Weir stands on the Mulan River. It is an ancient weir that has nurtured a local culture.