Jin Shrines, Earl of Zhi Canal  晉祠知伯渠

Building Information

Also called Haiqing beihe 海清北河, the Earl of Zhi Canal winds from the Eternal Youth Spring eastward, then turns northward to flow underneath the Meeting Transcendents Bridge, turning eastward again where it would have originally been further filled with the water from both the spring underneath the Sage Mother Hall and Perfect Benefit Spring, to then travel underneath the bridges leading to the Mt. Tai and Wenchang ritual complexes. Finally, after passing the Wenchang Temple Palace, it turns southward and again eastward flowing out of the complex and into the irrigation canals in the northern portion of the community around Jinci Town. Portions of this canal may date to the Han dynasty expansion of the irrigation network stemming from the Jin Springs in 116 ce, which may, ultimately, have its origin in the canals used by the Earl of Zhi to flood Jinyang in the mid-5th century BCE.1