Water Running Festival

Ershui Township Hall published the picture book “The Story of Babao Canal – Legend of Lin Siansheng”, with excellent text and illustrations to introduce “The Story of Lin Siansheng,” so that readers could have a better understanding of the legend of “Lin Siansheng.” The following is some of the content in the book, provided by Ershui Township Hall. Each section has partial text narrative: (Please support genuine publications!)

1. The mother of Changhua - Babao Canal	2. Linsiansheng Temple	3. The cultivation of Changhua and Chi-ping Shih and son
4. Shih-bang Shih opened the canal	5. Before digging	6. A reward of a thousand pieces of gold
7. Old man came forward with a good plan	8. Visit to the Shih residence to give diagram and explanations	9. Water control process
10. Water of Jhuoshuei River flows into the canal	11. Left no name and took no credit	12. Great Yu of Taiwan, Lin Siansheng

Babao Canal of Changhua, Tonglie Canal of Tainan, and Longen Canal of Hsinchu County are known as the three old canals of Taiwan; Babao Canal of Changhua is one with greatest historical value.

For the opening of Changhua, if Babao Canal is considered the mother of hydraulics in Changhua, then the name “Great Yu of Taiwan” could only apply to Lin Siansheng, who helped Babao Canal in conveying water for irrigation. According to legend, Lin Siansheng used the “hydraulic diagrams” and “soil engineering method” to open Babao Canal, irrigating Changhua Plains and promoting the development of Changhua.

At the end of the Kangxi era, a cultivation leader named Chi-ping Shih not only worked on cultivation but also sugar production. He exported his sugar to Japan, so he made a lot of money and became a wealthy man. Soon after cultivation, Chi-ping Shih passed away due to illness, and his business was inherited by his eldest son Shih-bang Shih.

After inheriting his father’s cultivation business, Shih-bang more actively engaged in development. The plains in the Changhua area gradually became excellent farmland. However, without hydraulic facilities for irrigation, the farmers here still needed to rely on the weather. Thus, even though the uncultivated lands here became cultivated, output was often reduced due to insufficient rain and draught. The poor farmers could only cry.

At the time, people heard that Shih-bang Shih was preparing to open a canal for irrigation, farmers from various places responded to his call to participate in the digging. On one hand, Shih-bang evaluated the landscape, and on the other hand made preparations. Other than building many shacks for recruited laborers to sleep, he also established the construction plan. The canal construction plan was to convey the water of Jhuoshuei River from Shalianxiabao Jhuoshuei Village (present-day Nantou County Minchian Township).

Soon, the canal was close to completion, except for the final construction at Jhuoshuei River. Shih-bang supervised the construction, hoping to convey the river water into the canal. He encountered trouble at this point: he could find no way to convey the water into the canal. This worried Shih-bang very much. He asked for expert opinions and tried many methods, but he was unable to convey water.

When everyone was in despair, an old man with a half-white beard came toward them. The old man ask, “Do you know where Shih-bang Shih is?”

Shih-bang Shih saw that his clothing and cap were all classic and plain, that his speech was interesting and elegant, making him seem very knowledgeable. He approached him and said, “I am Shih-bang Shih, can I help you?” “

A few days later, the old man came to the Shih residence as promised. He told Shih-bang Shih: “Although Mr. Shih has worked hard to dig the canal, you have not done it correctly, so that even though the canal is complete, you are unable to convey water for irrigation.” Then he took out a diagram to tell the secret of water conveyance and the keys to construction, explaining in detail their mistakes in digging and how to improve.

According to the old man, the old canal construction methods did not consider the change in volume of the Jhuoshuei River in response to seasons. Jhuoshuei River had high differences in water volume in the spring/summer and fall/winter. In the rainy season in the spring and summer, rising river water often causes the river to change course. In the fall and winter, there is not much river water, which could not be conveyed into the canal. Thus, the old man invented the soil dam method, or the usage of shih-gou.

One day, Shih-bang was inspecting the results with the old man, and they saw laborers need the source of the canal, happily shouting: “Jhuoshuei River water is flowing in the canal! Jhuoshuei River water is flowing in the canal!”

The old man stood up and refused to accept the red bag. He smiled and said, “Thank you! I came to help you just because I wanted to help your enthusiasm at opening this canal, not for these gifts. Please take them back.” Finally, the old man did not take the reward money, and disappeared after the banquet. Shih-bang Shih asked people to find him, but there was no information or trace of the old man.

The old man is like a mystery in everyone’s hearts, so many legends formed. According to legend, after the old man turned down the gift from Shih-bang, he disappeared in the forest (Lin), and no one knew where he went. Later, the farmers wanted to commemorate him, so they constructed “Linsiansheng Temple” near Bitsaitou (present-day Yuanchuan Village, Ershui Township, Changhua County), calling him “Great Yu of Taiwan,” to remember his great contribution.

* The book has even richer and exciting content, please support genuine publications!