In the 1990s a group of Chinese and French scholars collected—and then in 2003 published—several texts regarding water management in Sanyuan 三原 and Jingyang 涇陽 counties.  These two counties are located north of Xi’an and in the foothills which border the Wei valley in Shaanxi. Many rivers there have been managed and manipulated since antiquity. The most famous and important of these hydraulic systems is the Jinghui canal 涇惠渠, which is the 1932 version of the ancient Zhengguo canal 鄭國渠.  According to Sima Qian, this canal was dug and connected by the Qin kingdom to the Jing river 涇水in 246 BC, that is before the establishment of the first imperial dynasty.

Among the collected texts, there is one manuscript清峪河各渠記事簿, which was compiled by a canal deputy named Liu Pingshan 劉屏山 (d. 1935) and is interesting for shedding light on small canals connected to two rivers located to the east of the Jingshui valley: the Qingyu River 清峪河 and its tributary, the Yeyu River 冶峪河. In early 20th century, a water conservancy association (shuili xiehui 水利協會) managed the water of the canals which was used by several villages since at least the Ming dynasty. These canals are no longer extant today due to the construction of several upstream dams.

According to the operating rules of this Agreement, all villages with fields irrigated by the same canal, for instance the Yuancheng canal 源澄渠 of which Liu Pingshan was the delegate, were to cooperate in managing and enjoying fair use of the canal’s water.  Yet, the entire system invariably produced tensions and conflicts, not least among the six canals connected to the Qingyu River. We can summarize the origin of these ongoing conflicts as follows:

– The strict maintenance of water rights by the upstream canals, when the quantity of the river water was reduced due to changes in the system especially in droughts, resulted in regular demands from downstream canals for the negotiation of a new deal.
– The use of water by upstream canals which have not registered to be in the Agreement.  These canals’ access to the upstream water was regarded as illegal viewed by downstream villagers who still had to pay tax on land officially registered as “irrigated.,” Meanwhile, the upstream villagers “illegally” were free-riding the Agreement to use canal water but paying lower rates of taxes for fields that were officially registered as “dry.”.
– The ability of some groups, whom we can view as local elites, to mobilize social resources and their knowledge of the bureaucratic organization, in order to draw private benefits in ambiguous situations.  For instance, any lawsuit or legal proceeding invariably involved two or three administrative jurisdictions, given that the Qingyu river was the border between Jingyang and Sanyuan counties; or the Yeyu water irrigated lands located in Jingyang, while the connections of the canals were located on Sanyuan territory. Moreover, because of ongoing political changes, the water conservancy organization was itself undergoing changes that Liu Pingshan himself looked on unfavorably.

We can add that the role of the water conservancy association and the way it operated appear mainly through the resolution of conflicts. Moreover, because of the small scale of the operations regarding canals, which were only a few kilometers distant from each other, just before the entry of the Qingyu river into the Wei plain, we are in a position to access the ideas and reactions of the groups of users, the families and even some persons, like Liu Pingshan or his opponents. In other words, Liu Pingshan’s texts give access to the categories used by the users themselves in their demands to assert their rights. Hence, by paying attention to tensions, conflicts, and the language used by different parties to make these claims, we can try to understand the ceaseless process of the creation of norms by the canals’ users, and more generally to reconstruct their idea of “the public good.”  Or, to quote Liu Pingshan’s own wording, we can fathom how “common principles are naturally in all the hearts” (公理自在人心).

TEXTS

清峪河各渠記事弁言自序
自余棄讀業農以來，因種有水地，往往因水屢起爭競，始而賠情、傷臉[1] 、花錢，繼而認罪受罰，甚至涉訟。倘有因水興訟，則立刻傾家破產矣!所以訟終之後，必歸於凶也。故余於志書、碑記、水冊等文，凡有關於水程之處，必錄而藏諸笥。民國十七八年，旱魃〔居〕(足)然為虐，比歲連年，夏秋各田，直未下種，即薄收亦云無矣，尚能望其諸禾以登場哉!天道久旱不雨，新栽之樹，居然旱死。秋禾既然未播，二麥仍莫下種，以致糊口無資，困苦已達極點。而餓死之人，無村無之。且苛捐雜項，糧秣、柴草、鞋襪、借款，以及格外特別之派出，急如星火；而正供賦稅，徵收嚴厲，又有無名色之派項，額外之附加捐稅。用強權以壓迫民眾，用〔非〕(飛)刑強硬手段以徵收，直不講公理，全不行人道，敲民眾之骨，吸民眾之髓，而〔刮〕(剮)地皮之風，於焉大張矣。何云民生，何有於民權?而政治之專橫，直不啻專專專己也!軍閥、貪官、惡紳、土豪、汙吏、惡差等，無非為錢，而始有此虎狼之行也。時余固乏食，因結借[2]無門，公款、私債交相逼迫，只有垂頭待斃而已。無聊之中，遂將余從前所錄水程之文，由笥中取出，重複錄過，并校正而修改之；及余平日聞於鄉老之言，有談水程之處，并各渠舊日相沿之習慣，特筆述之，製成篇〔幅〕(副)，都為一冊，名曰《清峪河各渠記事簿》，以便臨時檢閱，兼以備查考云耳。
民國紀元後十八年冬月陽生春至日屏山書

清峪河流毛坊渠及各私渠記 (275/126-278/127)
自楊家河起，夾河川道，沿河兩岸，至楊杜村止，其有水糧之地畝，楊家河水地壹拾捌畝零，洪水鎮有微水糧地壹拾肆畝零，雷、蒲、段有水糧之地一頃三十畝零，而屈、岳、成、趙及郝家溝五村，全無分厘之水糧地。楊杜村工進渠澆地八十餘畝，荊笆堰有水糧之地一頃一十餘畝，除工進在河東不計外，而荊笆河西現時澆地一頃九十餘畝，尚有以旱作水者八十餘畝即以陡坡、趄坡而作水地也。屢被告發，伊云該村有水糧地一頃九十餘畝，地水糧相符，多年混賴。豈知伊村之弊，全在工進、荊笆二渠相渾。孰知工進在河東，荊笆在河西，隔河何能混渾?經十八年興訟，委員調查。始將伊村二渠隔河互相混賴之弊查出。馮村、樊家河二村，共有水糧之地兩頃三十餘畝。今樊家河澆地二頃之譜，馮村澆地五頃有零。而郝家溝及屈、岳、成并雷、蒲、段、趙等，橫水鎮以上至楊家河，凡沿河兩岸，除水糧澆地外，水能到之處，莫不各有以陡坡趄坡地而改作水地者。計全河，下自楊杜村起，上至楊家河止，二十餘里之夾河川道，約以旱作水者，不下五六十頃。此實我下游田堰民眾之生命也，均被該處截霸。是以接年興訟，屢犯屢控，愈控愈犯，每犯即罰，愈罰愈犯。究因所罰輕，而所得利益豐厚也。況遇旱年，糧食值錢，草〔亦〕(以)價貴，即賣草儲粟，供訟有餘，是以水愈犯而膽愈大也。所以始有十七八年之蔓訟，而屢次派員調查，先有屈克伸罰數一千三百元，繼有劉積成罰數三千元。而劉積成複控樊玉珍、杜師勤等以旱作水，與伊分認罰數，直將節年實在以旱作水地畝，互相攻訐，全盤托出，而作弊之真像始現也楊家河往上，係耀縣管轄，又有淳化縣地界，雖有私渠數道，水利為此縣所吃，三原縣辦理甚難，公令難行，實無辦法，為害亦甚大也。
據《陝西省志》、《三原縣志》，工進渠堰以上只有毛坊一渠堰，澆田一頃一十畝。除毛坊渠堰而外，省縣各志不載，均係後來私開之渠。同治壬戌，陝西回亂，人民死亡逃竄者不少。又因光緒三年，陝西大饑，人民死亡逃竄者，約十分之三四焉。至光緒十年上下，而荒絕之糧，不能升科，以致清政府嚴令催徵。而涇陽縣，又因回亂，治城失守，檔冊被焚，省先清丈地畝，以期地糧歸實。而三原縣令大同劉乙觀，仿涇陽縣均墾局清丈地畝之法，於光緒十四年，亦設均墾局清丈地畝，務期荒絕歸實，地糧可以升科。而毛坊渠一頃一十畝之外，此時又加增水糧。而沿河川道，又借毛坊堰名稱，亦增加水糧。故自楊家河起，至楊杜村止，共加糧五頃二十畝有零。而現時所澆之數，又不只五頃二十餘畝也計楊家河至楊杜村，上下二十餘里之沿河兩岸，私渠一十八道。楊家河往上，又至弘崖坡，上至，至架子山，還有私渠數道，截霸以務稻田，實亦為害不小也。
三原龍洞涇原清濁兩河水利管理局，歸併三原縣建設局而為水利股，當歸併交代之際，局長楊餘三竟將夾河川道私渠罰項一千三四百元此罰係屈克伸及趙家、洪水、嶽村等處之數任意挪用，浮支〔濫〕(爛)費。經此次交代，要造四柱清冊，除任意浮支，捏報帳目，尚不足一千三四百元之數。開支不能捏報者，仍有餘項二百七十餘元，全被局長楊餘三鯨吞，以度伊家性命。其局內人員辦公，如張樹棠、毛慧生、趙清甫、李升堂、寧中甫等到局代表，每日辦公，不過開支口食大洋五角，能用多少?竟能將一千三四百元鯨吞捏帳開支。其支不出者二百七十餘元，建設局即應呈報縣政府追繳。何竟緘默不言?此不過以本縣人辦本縣事，礙於面情耳。且又係往事，不難於得罪一人。況此罰項，係下堰人眾失水，荒旱地畝，少打糧食，忍饑受餓，以性命所換。而各渠代表，竟以口食染指〔備戀〕(被變)，亦各緘默不言，實屬怪事。既是代表民眾，此事置之不理，而不爭執，以致罰項化為烏有，實對不起全渠民眾也!有愧代表二字矣!代表愧乎否耶?當自思之，不待餘之多言也已。
十八週國慶雙十節後六日知津子有感而筆此

清峪河各渠始末記 (168-176/77)
[…] 後又於四渠之上，河之東岸，開一小渠，名曰毛坊渠。毛坊堰者，開於三原縣屬之毛坊里，橫水鎮下河之東岸，以灌毛坊、楊杜二里田地。
今又於四大堰之上，毛坊堰之下，開立私渠。在河南北各開一，築二堰，一曰荊堰，一曰笆堰，澆馮村、楊杜村旁河灘地，共灌田一頃一十畝。毛坊渠詳載《陝西省志》、《三原縣志》，荊笆堰省志縣志均不載。然二堰總以一毛坊堰貫之，當時亦澆地無多。四渠利夫，因其無大害事，亦未深究，憑官斷定，每日只以灌澆五畝爲限，以外不准多澆分厘地畝，且晝澆夜閉，至今傳爲口談。 […]
乾隆四十五年清和月邑庠生芝峰岳翰屏書