Editor’s Note:
Rivers are the cradle of human civilization.
From the cuneiform writing of Euphrates and Tigris to the pyramids along the Nile, and from the urban grids of the Indus to the rice cultivation heights of the Yangtze River, every leap forward in human civilization is intertwined with the evolution of river ecosystems.
The Yangtze River, coursing across China, has shaped millennia of cultural traditions stretching from Bashu to the water towns of Jiangnan. It bears witness to eons of ecological change and inscribes a complete trajectory of Chinese civilization.
Among the world’s great river civilizations, the Yangtze River’s continuity stands out.
As its waters surge eastward and its cultural genes are passed down through generations, the Chinese nation will continue to grow through its symbiosis with the river - and contribute more Chinese strength to the preservation and inheritance of global river civilizations.
The second installment in the Yangtze River series captures how its civilization is like a dynamic current that has been refined through exchange with other civilizations.
The Yangtze River flows through Wushan County, Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality. (Photo: Courtesy of Zhu Yunping)
On the banks of the Yangtze River, while the people of Hemudu culture sowed rice fields and the ancestors of late Neolithic Lingjiatan civilization carved jade into ritual objects, other ancient civilizations across the world were also sprouting and flourishing.
Around 4,000 BC, the Euphrates and Tigris rivers nourished the Mesopotamian plains. Here, the wisdom of Sumerians gives birth to cuneiform scripts. Meanwhile, along the banks of the Nile, ancient Egyptians engineered marvels with their bare hands, constructing monumental pyramids that rose from the deserts.
These ancient civilizations shared a common cradle that is called "river." Today, as we trace the cultural veins of the Yangtze River, we must place Yangtze civilization within the lineage of the world’s great river civilizations to understand its global coordinates.
Streaming wisdom
To mitigate floods and droughts and harness water resources for daily life, people in ancient China and Egypt began observing hydrology early. During the Warring States period (475BC-221BC), hydraulic engineer Li Bing went a step further by installing stone figures at the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, creating what is considered China’s earliest documented water level gauge.
While ancient Chinese pioneers often recorded their underwater observations through stone inscription, none shine more brilliantly than the Baiheliang Inscriptions in Fuling district, in Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality.
The site of Baiheliang Inscriptions refers to a natural stone ridge that lies submerged in the Yangtze River. Stretching 1,600 meters long with an average width of 15 meters, it is known as "Baiheliang," or the White Crane Ridge.
For over 1,200 years, people have used this ridge to gauge the river’s seasonal fluctuations, carving more than 100 hydrological records directly onto its stone surface. Among these carvings are two iconic stone fish. Since ancient times, local people discovered a fascinating correlation: A bountiful harvest year often followed one in which these stone fish were exposed above the water line.
In ancient times, the site attracted countless ancient scholars and literati such as the Northern Song (960-1127) master Huang Tingjian to inscribe their thoughts and poems onto stone ridge’s surface.
In modern times, the Baiheliang Inscriptions transcend the boundaries of time and geography, serving as a shared language for dialogue among the world’s great river civilizations.
At the recent 2025 Yangtze River Civilization Forum, Egyptian Professor El-Sawy El-Sawy Ahmed Abdel Rahim from Benha University introduced the Nilometer in Egypt. As a relic of ancient hydrology, Nilometer shares remarkable similarities with Baiheliang in China. Historically, it was not only used to foresee agricultural harvests but also directly informed tax adjustments: higher water levels signaled abundant years and increased taxes, while lower levels indicated lean years and tax reductions.
A scene of underwater inscriptions at the Baiheliang Underwater Museum in Chongqing. (Photo: Li Yuche/ GT)
Symphony in harmony
The Yangtze River has always possessed an interconnected water system. This innate connectivity has been amplified in modern times. With the development of China’s major projects like the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the Yangtze has solidified its role as China’s most important water system. To date, the first phase of the project’s eastern and middle routes alone has transferred over 80 billion cubic meters of water, directly benefiting a population of 185 million people.
The Yangtze River’s interconnected waterways also linked together numerous trade routes with other great river civilizations.
Via passages like the ancient overland and maritime Silk Roads, goods from the Yangtze River Basin such as silk, tea, and porcelain were reached to foreign markets. In return, commodities, like sugarcane from South Asia and glassmaking techniques from the Middle East, followed these commercial arteries back, seamlessly integrating into the economic and social fabric of the Yangtze region.
Beyond economic ties, the flow of ideas and art helped shape the character of Yangtze River civilization. For example, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Chinese monk Jianzhen embarked on his sixth eastward voyage to Japan from near the river’s mouth, carrying the flourishing culture of Tang Dynasty with him.
The Yangtze civilization has never stopped its exchange with other civilizations. Taking the "Baiheliang and Nilometer" duo as an example, China and Egypt are now making joint preparations to propose the two sites for UNESCO World Heritage status.
Today, issues such as cultural heritage preservation, ecological conservation, and sustainable development have become common challenges for all major river civilizations. The the stability of the Yangtze River’s ecology is the very foundation for the development of its basin civilization.
In response, China has prioritized the restoration of the Yangtze’s ecosystem above all else. Projects such as building the shelterbelt of Yangtze River has been implemented. They showcase China’s nature management philosophy of "proactive adaptation and systematic governance." This approach is not only rooted in the historical wisdom of the Yangtze civilization but also presents a "China solution" for the contemporary preservation of major river civilizations in the world.
Such a Chinese wisdom of nature governance has yielded vibrant results. The graceful glide of the Yangtze sturgeon and the playful chase of the finless porpoise through the waves stand as vivid testaments to the success of ecological conservation in the Yangtze River.
原文地址：http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/1009/c90000-20374552.html