A Preliminary Study of Pre-Qin Urban Water-Management Archaeology

Abstract

Urban water management functioned as a core element of ancient Chinese urban infrastructure, playing a central role in the development of early complex societies. Since the pre-Qin period represents a crucial formative stage for these systems, related research relies primarily on systematically excavated field data. By thoroughly reviewing the discipline’s historiography, this paper proposes a comprehensive methodological framework for pre-Qin urban water-management archaeology. The primary objectives are to reveal human-environment relations and to elucidate the social relations structured around water resource allocation. Because hydraulic facilities both inside and outside city walls formed the structural core of urban water systems, they constitute the primary research subjects. Consequently, the proposed framework adopts a multi-level analytical approach: micro-level studies focus on individual hydraulic facilities, meso-level research examines the integrated urban water network, and macro-level analysis addresses the water-management model of the surrounding watershed unit. This systematic approach dismantles the traditional academic focus on later periods, highlighting the territorial governance and organizational capacities of early states while providing valuable historical precedents for modern sustainable infrastructure.