State, Local Communities, and Water Management at the Dawn of China’s Imperial Era in the Light of Newly Excavated Documents

Abstract As the early Chinese empires conquered the Yangzi Valley, they came to govern people who relied on engineered water-control systems to irrigate their fields and prevent the flooding of their settlements. Recently excavated documents reflect the growth of legislation on water management at the dawn of the imperial era, leading up to the composition of the first statute specially devoted to hydraulic administration during the reign of Emperor Wen. These texts reveal the scope of official involvement in water management. This paper argues that the Qin and Han states relied on local communities for much of the decision-making and labor organization needed for infrastructural maintenance. At the same time, the early Chinese empires pioneered transregional hydraulic projects that made water a vital tool of imperial politics. As a hydraulic actor, the early Chinese empires transformed the lives of their subjects not by making them dependent on state-managed irrigation, but by facilitating migration, providing producers and consumers access to larger markets, encouraging economic intensification, and enhancing the circulation of information, ideas, and lifestyles.