Drawing Governance Wisdom from the Dujiangyan Water Management Approach

The Dujiangyan irrigation system, first constructed in the late years of King Zhao of Qin, is a millennium-spanning miracle of dam-free water diversion in world water conservancy history. General Secretary Xi Jinping, during a friendly exchange with French President Emmanuel Macron at Dujiangyan in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, recently pointed out: “Every time I come to Dujiangyan, I can feel the greatness of our ancestors in adapting measures to local conditions, following the trend, achieving harmony between humanity and nature, and managing water to benefit the people, and from this I draw wisdom for governance.” [1]1 Xi Jinping made these remarks during a tour of Dujiangyan with French President Emmanuel Macron on April 7, 2023. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important exposition profoundly reveals the value core of this millennium-old water conservancy project that transcends the ages. It is not only a practical hub integrating functions such as flood control, irrigation, and water transport, but also crystallizes the ancient people’s practical philosophy of guiding according to circumstances and the profound wisdom of following the Dao of nature. On the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, deeply excavating its ideological core and practical logic holds significant practical importance for advancing the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.

始建于秦昭王末年的都江堰，是世界水利史上跨越千年的无坝引水奇迹。习近平总书记日前在四川省成都市都江堰同法国总统马克龙进行友好交流时指出：“每次来到都江堰都能感受到先人因地制宜、顺势而为、天人合一、治水利民的伟大，从中汲取到治国理政的智慧。”习近平总书记的重要论述深刻揭示了这座千年水利工程超越时代的价值内核，它不仅是集防洪、灌溉、水运等功能于一体的实用枢纽，更凝结着古人因势利导的实践哲学和道法自然的深邃智慧。在全面建设社会主义现代化国家的新征程上，深入挖掘其思想内核与实践逻辑，对推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化具有重要现实意义。

1. Adapting Measures to Local Conditions: The Way of Scientific Decision-Making Based on Reality

1、因地制宜：立足实际的科学决策之道

The eternal achievement of Dujiangyan is rooted in a profound grasp of regional characteristics and a precise response to the people’s livelihood needs. The Min River originates from the northwestern Sichuan Plateau and, when it surges down to the Chengdu Plain, due to the sudden flattening of the terrain, it creates governance challenges of flooding during high-water seasons and irrigation shortages during dry seasons, becoming an unfavorable factor constraining regional development. Against the background of the prevailing water management approach of blocking water with dams at the time, Li Bing and his son broke free from rigid thinking. After years of on-site surveys, they precisely grasped the unique terrain of the Min River’s exit from the mountains—“two mountains flanking the river, shaped like a bottleneck”—and creatively constructed a water conservancy system comprising “the Fish Mouth for water diversion, the Flying Sand Weir for flood discharge, and the Precious Bottle Mouth for water intake.” [2]2 Li Bing was a Chinese hydraulic engineer and administrator of the Qin state who, with his son Li Erlang, designed and oversaw the construction of Dujiangyan around 256 BCE. The Fish Mouth achieves natural water diversion by relying on the terrain’s elevation differences, with the inner river dedicated to irrigation and the outer river responsible for flood discharge; the Flying Sand Weir uses the force of water vortices to automatically discharge silt, and during flood seasons it becomes a natural spillway; the Precious Bottle Mouth precisely regulates flow with its “bottleneck” shape, ensuring a balance between irrigation supply and demand. This design, which conforms to the hydrological characteristics of the Min River and the geomorphological features of the plain, both resolves flood disasters and promotes water benefits, vividly demonstrating the practical wisdom of adapting measures to local conditions and becoming a model of ancient scientific decision-making.

都江堰的千古功业，根基在于对地域特征的深刻把握和对民生需求的精准回应。岷江发源于川西北高原，奔涌至成都平原时，因地势陡降变缓，形成汛期泛滥成灾、枯水期灌溉匮乏的治理难题，成为制约区域发展的不利因素。在当时普遍采用堵水筑坝的治水背景下，李冰父子打破僵化思维，历经多年实地勘察，精准把握岷江出山口“两山夹江，形似瓶颈”的独特地形，创造性构建起“鱼嘴分水、飞沙堰溢洪、宝瓶口引水”的水利体系。鱼嘴凭地势高低实现自然分水，内江专司灌溉、外江主责排洪；飞沙堰借水流漩涡之力自动排淤，汛期则成为天然溢洪道；宝瓶口以“瓶颈”形制精准调控流量，保障灌溉供需平衡。这套顺应岷江水文特质与平原地貌特征的设计，既解水患又兴水利，生动彰显了因地制宜的实践智慧，成为古代科学决策的典范。

Governing the country is like managing water: one must adhere to proceeding from reality in everything and formulate policies and strategies based on national conditions and the people’s circumstances. China’s territory is vast, with significant differences in natural conditions, resource endowments, and development foundations across regions; there is no uniform governance plan. Seeking truth from facts, as the ideological line of our Party, is the fundamental principle for governance. Since the New Era, the Party Central Committee has consistently adhered to proceeding from reality, implementing precise policies based on the development characteristics of different regions: in the fight against poverty, it profoundly grasped the shortcomings of resource endowments in impoverished areas, abandoned the extensive model of “flood irrigation,” and implemented targeted assistance with the “Six Precisions” as the core, historically resolving absolute poverty; [3]3 The “Six Precisions” (六个精准) is a poverty alleviation policy slogan from the 2010s specifying precision in targeting, measures, project management, funding, dispatch of personnel, and outcomes. in regional coordinated development, it issued differentiated support policies based on the different positioning of the eastern coastal areas, the central and western inland regions, and the northeast, promoting the formation of a development pattern of complementary advantages such as the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the integration of the Yangtze River Delta, and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; in rural revitalization, it respects the differences in resource conditions and development foundations of each village, advancing industrial revitalization, talent revitalization, cultural revitalization, ecological revitalization, and organizational revitalization in a classified manner, effectively avoiding the homogenization dilemma of “a thousand villages with one face.” Practice has repeatedly proven that decisions divorced from reality are like water without a source or a tree without roots. Only by basing oneself on concrete reality and adhering to adapting measures to local conditions can policies precisely meet development needs and promote stable and long-term economic and social development.

治国理政如同治水，必须坚持一切从实际出发，立足国情民情制定政策方略。我国地域辽阔，各地自然条件、资源禀赋、发展基础差异显著，不存在整齐划一的治理方案。实事求是作为我们党的思想路线，更是治国理政的根本遵循。新时代以来，党中央始终坚持从实际出发，依据不同地区发展特质精准施策：在脱贫攻坚中，深刻把握贫困地区资源禀赋短板，摒弃“大水漫灌”的粗放模式，以“六个精准”为核心实施靶向帮扶，历史性解决绝对贫困问题；在区域协调发展中，立足东部沿海、中西部内陆、东北地区的不同定位，出台差异化支持政策，推动形成京津冀协同发展、长三角一体化、粤港澳大湾区建设等优势互补的发展格局；在乡村振兴中，尊重各乡村资源条件与发展基础差异，分类推进产业振兴、人才振兴、文化振兴、生态振兴、组织振兴，有效避免“千村一面”的同质化困境。实践反复证明，脱离实际的决策如同无源之水、无本之木。唯有立足具体实际、坚持因地制宜，才能让政策精准对接发展需求，推动经济社会发展行稳致远。

2. Following the Trend: The Essence of the Art of Governance by Grasping Laws

2、顺势而为：把握规律的治理艺术精髓

The greatness of Dujiangyan lies in its profound grasp of natural laws and its skillful use of natural forces. Li Bing and his son deeply understood that “managing water cannot go against the nature of water,” breaking free from the confrontational mindset of “being at odds with water,” and upholding the scientific attitude of “guiding according to its trend,” transforming natural laws into governance effectiveness. The Fish Mouth divides the river by conforming to the flow pattern of the Min River, using the terrain’s elevation difference to achieve automatic diversion without human intervention; the Flying Sand Weir uses the principles of hydrodynamics for silt discharge, allowing sediment to accumulate and be expelled naturally in vortices, avoiding the waste of labor and resources from forced manual dredging; the Precious Bottle Mouth diverts water by conforming to the terrain trend of the Chengdu Plain—high in the northwest and low in the southeast—allowing the river water to irrigate vast fertile fields by gravity flow. The entire water conservancy system requires no external power, relying on natural forces to achieve a dynamic balance of flood control, irrigation, and silt discharge, operating efficiently for over two thousand years through wind and rain. The water management maxims passed down through generations, such as “deeply dredge the shoals, build low weirs” and “cut off corners at bends, straighten the center at intersections,” concretize the governance philosophy of following laws and have become valuable criteria for scientific governance in later generations. [4]4 “Deeply dredge the shoals, build low weirs” (深淘滩，低作堰) and “cut off corners at bends, straighten the center at intersections” (遇湾截角、逢正抽心) are traditional maxims for maintaining Dujiangyan’s channels and weirs.

都江堰的伟大之处，在于其对自然规律的深刻把握以及对自然力量的巧用。李冰父子深知“治水不能违水之性”，摆脱“与水为敌”的对抗性思维，秉持“因其势而利导之”的科学态度，将自然规律转化为治理效能。鱼嘴分江顺应岷江水流态势，借地势落差实现自动分流，无须人工干预；飞沙堰排沙巧用水流动力学原理，让泥沙在漩涡中顺势淤积排出，避免人工强疏造成的劳民伤财；宝瓶口引水顺应成都平原西北高、东南低的地势走向，使江水自流灌溉广袤良田。整个水利系统无须借助外力，依靠自然驱动实现防洪、灌溉、排沙的动态平衡，历经两千余年风雨仍高效运转。历代传承的“深淘滩，低作堰”“遇湾截角、逢正抽心”等治水箴言，更将遵循规律的治理哲学具象化，成为后世实行科学治理的宝贵准则。

Governing the country similarly requires grasping laws and following the trend, fully exercising subjective initiative on the basis of respecting objective laws. Marxism holds that laws are the inherent, essential, necessary, and stable connections in the movement of things. People can only understand and utilize laws, not violate them; those who violate them will be punished, while those who follow them can succeed. In its long-term practice of governance, our Party has consistently adhered to acting according to laws, continuously deepening its understanding and grasp of the laws of Communist Party governance, the laws of socialist construction, and the laws of the development of human society. In economic construction, it conforms to the dialectical unity law of productive forces and relations of production, breaking free from the constraints of the planned economy system, constructing a socialist market economy system, allowing the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation and the government to better play its role, promoting high-quality economic development; in ecological civilization construction, it conforms to the objective law of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature, practicing the important concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, promoting a comprehensive green transformation of the development model, and achieving the organic unity of economic, social, and ecological benefits; in further comprehensively deepening reform, it conforms to the trends of the times and changes in the principal contradiction in society, precisely grasping the internal logic of reform and the phased characteristics of development, neither rushing for success nor waiting and watching, promoting reform steadily and deeply. History and reality repeatedly confirm that governing the country requires grasping laws and following the trend; only by actively acting while respecting and following laws can one avoid blind recklessness and half the effort with double the result, continuously improving governance effectiveness.

治国理政同样需要把握规律、顺势而为，在尊重客观规律的基础上充分发挥主观能动性。马克思主义认为，规律是事物运动过程中固有的、本质的、必然的、稳定的联系。人们只能认识和利用规律，而不能违背规律，违者必受惩罚，循之方能成功。我们党在长期治国理政实践中，始终坚持按规律办事，不断深化对共产党执政规律、社会主义建设规律、人类社会发展规律的认识把握。在经济建设中，顺应生产力与生产关系的辩证统一规律，突破计划经济体制束缚，构建社会主义市场经济体制，让市场在资源配置中起决定性作用、更好发挥政府作用，推动经济高质量发展；在生态文明建设中，顺应人与自然和谐共生的客观规律，践行绿水青山就是金山银山的重要理念，推动发展方式全面绿色转型，实现经济效益、社会效益、生态效益有机统一；在进一步全面深化改革中，顺应时代潮流与社会主要矛盾变化，精准把握改革内在逻辑和发展阶段性特征，既不冒进求成也不等待观望，推动改革蹄疾步稳、纵深推进。历史和现实反复印证，治国理政需要把握规律、顺势而为，唯有在尊规律、循规律中积极作为，才能避免盲目蛮干、事倍功半，持续提升治理效能。

3. Harmony Between Humanity and Nature: The Concept of Sustainable Development Through Harmonious Coexistence

3、天人合一：和谐共生的可持续发展理念

The millennium-long heritage of Dujiangyan vividly interprets the ecological wisdom of “harmony between humanity and nature,” becoming a model of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. This great project was not aimed at transforming or conquering nature, but at respecting, conforming to, and protecting nature. When Li Bing and his son managed the water, they always took into account the ecological carrying capacity, both transforming unfavorable natural conditions and carefully protecting the ecological foundation: the Fish Mouth dividing the river not only solved the problem of flooding but also completely preserved the natural river channel texture of the Min River; the Flying Sand Weir discharging silt not only prevented channel sedimentation but also avoided excessive intervention damaging the downstream ecology; the Precious Bottle Mouth diverting water not only met agricultural irrigation needs but also maintained the natural flow rhythm of the river. The entire water conservancy system achieved the organic unity of water resource utilization and ecological protection, transforming the once “fierce flood and savage beast” into a “river of life” nourishing all things. For thousands of years, the ecological environment of the Dujiangyan area has continued to improve, becoming a vivid global example of harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature. The ecological wisdom it contains has withstood the test of time and still possesses strong vitality today. In 2000, Dujiangyan was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, praised as the world’s oldest, only surviving, large-scale dam-free water diversion water conservancy project, which is a high recognition of the ecological concept of “harmony between humanity and nature” it embodies.

都江堰的千年传承，生动诠释了“天人合一”的生态智慧，成为人与自然和谐共生的典范。这座伟大工程并非以改造征服自然为目的，而是尊重自然、顺应自然、保护自然。李冰父子治水时始终兼顾生态承载能力，既改造不利自然条件，又悉心保护生态本底：鱼嘴分江既破解了水患之困，又完整保留了岷江自然河道肌理；飞沙堰排沙既防止了渠道淤积，又避免了过度干预对下游生态的破坏；宝瓶口引水既满足了农业灌溉需求，又维持了江水自然流动节律。整个水利系统实现了水资源利用与生态保护的有机统一，使曾经的“洪水猛兽”变为滋养万物的“生命之河”。数千年来，都江堰区域生态环境持续向好，成为全球范围内人与自然和谐共生的鲜活样本，其蕴含的生态智慧经受住了时间检验，至今仍具有强大生命力。2000年，都江堰被联合国教科文组织列入《世界遗产名录》，被誉为全世界年代最久、唯一留存、以无坝引水为特征的宏大水利工程，这正是对其蕴含的“天人合一”生态理念的高度认可。

The traditional wisdom of “harmony between humanity and nature” [5]5 This quote is from the *Book of the Later Han* (《后汉书》), describing the prosperity of the Chengdu Plain after the completion of Dujiangyan. holds profound implications for governance in the New Era. At present, China’s new industrialization, informatization, urbanization, and agricultural modernization are advancing in depth, confronting severe challenges such as tightening resource constraints, prominent environmental pollution, and ecosystem degradation. The task of balancing development and protection is arduous and heavy. General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed: “We should follow the concept

“天人合一”的传统智慧，对新时代治国理政具有深刻启示。当前，我国新型工业化、信息化、城镇化、农业现代化深入推进，面临着资源约束趋紧、环境污染突出、生态系统退化等严峻挑战，统筹发展与保护的任务艰巨而繁重。习近平总书记强调：“我们应该遵循天人合一、道法自然的理念，寻求永续发展之路。”新时代治国理政，必须牢固树立和践行绿水青山就是金山银山的理念，坚持节约资源和保护环境的基本国策，推动形成绿色发展方式和生活方式。在发展经济过程中，始终把生态保护放在优先位置，坚决摒弃以牺牲环境为代价的粗放发展模式，实现发展与保护的协同推进；在城市建设中，尊重城市发展规律与自然生态肌理，统筹生产空间、生活空间、生态空间布局，打造宜居宜业宜游的生态城市；在资源利用中，坚持节约优先、保护优先、自然恢复为主的方针，提高资源利用效率，促进资源循环利用，推动形成绿色低碳的生产生活方式。从都江堰的生态实践到全国范围内的生态文明建设，从传统生态智慧到现代发展理念，无不印证着人与自然和谐共生的永恒真谛。

4. Water Control for the People: The Governing Value Pursuit of People-Centeredness

4、治水利民：以民为本的执政价值追求

The construction of Dujiangyan was consistently imbued with the value pursuit of “water control for the people.” Before the project was built, the Chengdu Plain suffered from alternating floods and droughts: when the Min River flooded, it swallowed homes and destroyed farmland; during dry periods, the crops withered and yielded no harvest, leaving the people displaced and living in hardship. As the Prefect of Shu Commandery at the time, Li Bing and his son were deeply concerned for the people’s welfare and sought to relieve their suffering, devoting all their efforts to overseeing the construction of the Dujiangyan water conservancy project. After the project was completed, the Chengdu Plain was completely freed from the scourge of floods and droughts, presenting a scene of prosperity described as: “Floods and droughts follow human will; there is no knowledge of famine; there are no years of dearth; the world calls it the Land of Abundance.” [5]5 This quote is from the *Book of the Later Han* (《后汉书》), describing the prosperity of the Chengdu Plain after the completion of Dujiangyan. For thousands of years, Dujiangyan has continuously nourished the people of the Chengdu Plain, becoming a “tool for the people’s benefit” and a “project for the people’s welfare” passed down through generations. This practice of “water control for the people” not only achieved material abundance but also consolidated popular support and stabilized the foundation of governance, serving as a vivid portrayal of the ancient rulers’ concept that “the people are the foundation of the state.” [6]6 “The people are the foundation of the state” (民惟邦本) is a classical Chinese political maxim from the *Book of Documents* (《尚书》), emphasizing that the people are the root of a state’s stability.

修建都江堰始终贯穿着“治水利民”的价值追求。在工程修建之前，成都平原水旱无常，岷江洪水泛滥时吞噬家园、毁坏农田，枯水期则田禾焦渴、颗粒无收，百姓流离失所、生活困苦。作为当时的蜀郡太守，李冰父子心系苍生、为民解忧，倾尽全力主持修建都江堰水利工程。工程建成后，成都平原彻底摆脱了水旱灾害的困扰，呈现出“水旱从人，不知饥馑，时无荒年，天下谓之天府也”的繁荣景象。数千年来，都江堰持续不断地滋养着成都平原的百姓，成为代代相传的“利民之器”“惠民之工程”。这种“治水利民”的实践，不仅实现了物质层面的丰饶，更凝聚了民心、稳固了治理根基，成为古代执政者“民惟邦本”理念的生动写照。

The millennia-old wisdom of “water control for the people” is consistent with and highly compatible with the people-centered development thinking of the Communist Party of China. People-centeredness is the essential attribute of Marxism. Since its founding, our Party has always taken seeking happiness for the Chinese people and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as its original aspiration and founding mission, persistently placing the people’s interests first, and throughout the periods of revolution, construction, and reform, has always breathed the same breath as the people, shared the same fate, and been heart to heart with them. On the battlefield of poverty alleviation, our Party adhered to putting the people first, implemented the strategy of targeted poverty alleviation and targeted poverty eradication, organized and carried out the largest-scale poverty alleviation campaign in human history, and historically resolved the problem of absolute poverty. In the field of livelihood security, it has continuously increased investment in key areas such as education, healthcare, employment, and elderly care, constantly improved the public service system, and striven to solve the urgent, difficult, and anxious problems of the people, steadily enhancing the people’s sense of gain, happiness, and security. From Li Bing and his son’s “water control for the people” to the New Era’s “people-centered” approach, although the conditions of the times have undergone profound changes, the value pursuit of seeking well-being for the people has never changed. Practice has fully proven that popular support is the greatest politics; only by consistently adhering to a people-centered approach and taking the people’s aspiration for a better life as the goal of struggle can we win the heartfelt endorsement and support of the people, thereby laying a solid mass foundation for governance.

“治水利民”的千年智慧，与中国共产党坚持以人民为中心的发展思想一脉相承、高度契合。人民性是马克思主义的本质属性。我们党自成立以来，始终把为中国人民谋幸福、为中华民族谋复兴作为自己的初心使命，坚持把人民利益放在首位，在革命、建设、改革各个时期都始终与人民同呼吸、共命运、心连心。在脱贫攻坚战场上，我们党坚持人民至上，实施精准扶贫、精准脱贫方略，组织实施人类历史上规模最大的脱贫攻坚战，历史性地解决了绝对贫困问题；在民生保障领域，持续加大教育、医疗、就业、养老等重点领域投入，不断完善公共服务体系，着力解决人民群众急难愁盼问题，让人民群众的获得感、幸福感、安全感持续增强。从李冰父子的“治水利民”到新时代的“以人民为中心”，尽管时代条件发生了深刻变化，但为百姓谋福祉的价值追求始终未变。实践充分证明，人心是最大的政治，只有始终坚持以人民为中心，把人民对美好生活的向往作为奋斗目标，才能赢得人民群众的衷心拥护和支持，为治国理政奠定坚实的群众基础。

(Author: Chu Feng, Researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC [National Academy of Governance], and Deputy Director of the Editorial Department of *Theoretical Trends*)

（作者：储峰，系中央党校〔国家行政学院〕习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心研究员、《理论动态》编辑部副主任）

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧