Cutting Skill of Kaner Well

Cutting Skill of Kaner Well

Kanerjing is the meaning of "well hole". It has been recorded as early as in Historical Records. It is called "well canal", while Xinjiang Uygur language is called "Kanerzi". Kanerjing is a special irrigation system in desert areas, which is widely used in Turpan, Xinjiang, China. Kanerjing, together with the Great Wall and the Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou, is known as the three major projects in ancient China. The total number of Kaner wells in Turpan is more than 1100, with a total length of about 5000 kilometers. On November 11, 2014, the drilling technique of Kanerjing was approved by the State Council and listed in the fourth batch of representative projects of national intangible cultural heritage.

brief introduction

Kanerjing, which means "well hole", is called "Kanerzi" in Xinjiang Uygur language. Kanerjing is a special irrigation system with ingenious structure in desert areas, especially in Turpan, Xinjiang. It is called the Three Great Projects of Ancient China with the Great Wall and the Grand Canal of Beijing and Hangzhou. The total number of Kaner wells in Turpan is more than 1100, with a total length of about 5000 kilometers.

2. Structural Principle

Kaner well is an ancient horizontal catchment structure for groundwater development and utilization. It is suitable for foothills and alluvial fan margins, mainly for intercepting underground diving for farmland irrigation and residential water use.

The structure of Kaner well is composed of four parts: vertical shaft, underground channel, surface channel and "waterlogging dam" (small reservoir). Bogda Mountain in the north of Turpan Basin and Karawucheng Mountain in the West are covered with snow and rainwater in spring and summer, which dive into the Gobi beach. By using the slope of the hill, people ingeniously created Kaner wells to divert underground subsurface flow to irrigate farmland. Kaner well does not evaporate a lot of water because of hot and strong wind, so the flow rate is stable and self-flow irrigation is guaranteed.

3 role

The reason why Kanerjing was built in large numbers in Turpan Basin is inseparable from the local physical and geographical conditions. Turpan is one of the extremely arid areas in China, with annual precipitation of only 16 mm and evaporation of up to 3000 mm, which can be called the "dry pole" of China. However, Kaner well is an underground underground canal water conveyance, not affected by season, wind and sand, small evaporation, stable flow, can be perennial self-flow irrigation.

It is precisely because of this unique underground water conservancy project, which leads the underground water to the ground and irrigates hundreds of thousands of mu of good fields in the basin, that the Turpan people of all nationalities were bred and the desert became an oasis.

On November 11, 2014, the drilling technique of Kanerjing was approved by the State Council and listed in the fourth batch of representative projects of national intangible cultural heritage.