Sight 1
Fish Mouth Water-Dividing Dam
鱼嘴分水堤
The Fish Mouth Water-Dividing Dam. As the core component of the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, this dam was constructed over 2,000 years ago during the Qin Dynasty and continues to serve its flood-control and irrigation functions to this day. Shaped like a fish's mouth, it ingeniously splits the Min River into the Inner River and the Outer River, achieving a natural regulation of "60/40 water division and 80/20 sediment discharge." Standing on the dam, visitors can see the river diverge at this point—on one side, the clear Inner River flows to irrigate the Chengdu Plain; on the other, the turbid yellow Outer River channels floodwaters and flushes sediment. This design fully embodies the ancient wisdom of working with nature and guiding it according to its tendencies, making it an exceptional site for understanding China's ancient hydraulic engineering.