Mural guide
Engineers inspect a river-diversion embankment as masons strengthen its stone banks and channels carry water toward cultivated fields.
Maps, chariots, boats and the works of bridge and canal: shaping the land told through objects
Walls fortifying frontiers, grand canals unifying veins: utilizing the consolidated will of a grand governance to expand and structure human habitat and survival spaces.
Infrastructure
Walls guarding the frontier, canals carrying grain: the large-scale works through which successive dynasties built spaces for defense, transport and dwelling.
Great WallSpring and Autumn period to presentWalls, passes and beacon towers running roughly along the line between farming and nomadic lands, mostly Ming brick and stone.
Dujiangyan Water ProjectWarring States period to presentThe Fish Mouth, Flying Sand Weir and Bottle-Neck Channel: water drawn without a dam to irrigate the Chengdu Plain.
Yellow River HarnessingSpring and Autumn period to presentGenerations of work on the Yellow River, from Spring and Autumn dykes and Wang Jing's levees to Pan Jixun's silt-scouring.
Grand CanalSpring and Autumn period to presentA man-made canal linking five river systems across natural barriers, the trunk of north-south grain shipping.
Qin Straight RoadQin and Han dynastiesThe Qin straight road built under Meng Tian from Yunyang north to Jiuyuan, over 700 km, cutting hills and filling valleys.
Lingqu Canal ProjectQin dynasty to presentCut by the Qin across the Xiang-Li watershed to link the Yangtze and Pearl river systems, and fitted with lock gates in the Tang.
Karez Underground ChannelsHan dynasty to presentUnderground channels and shafts linked along the slope, bringing snowmelt to oases in arid desert.
Stone Seawall EngineeringFive Dynasties to presentSeawalls on the Qiantang from bamboo-cage banks to cut-stone and fish-scale walls, holding back the tide for Jiangnan.
Dengfeng ObservatoryTang dynasty to presentFrom Yi Xing's gnomon at Yangcheng to Guo Shoujing and Wang Xun's tall gnomon, measuring the length of the tropical year.
Grid CartographyWestern Jin to Qing dynastyCartography drawing maps to scale on a strict square grid, recording landscapes and administrative areas.