Tragedy in the Three Gorges

Cradles of Civilization

Since the beginning of time, river valleys have been the cradles of civilization around the world. Consider, if you will, the cultures that evolved on the banks of the Nile in Egypt, the Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq, the Ganges in India, and the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers in China.

For this reason, many archaeologists concentrate their search for remnants of ancient civilizations around the world's mightiest rivers. In China, this process got off to a slow start. Modern archaeology did not find its way into China until the 1940's and 50's and some of the scientific methods in use elsewhere are still not practiced there today.

However, considerable research led archaeologists and historians to conclude that the area surrounding the Yellow River had been the birthplace of Chinese civilization. Today, archaeologists excavating at sites in the Yangtze River valley and the area known as the Three Gorges believe they have found a "southern cradle of Chinese civilization", according to Dr. Elizabeth Childs-Johnson, an Associate Research Scholar in the East Asian Studies program at NYU and expert on archaeology in the Three Gorges region.

Building the Dam

Unfortunately, man's quest to dominate nature now threatens the effort to uncover the archaeological treasures of the Wu, Qutang and Xiling or Three Gorges.

"As is well-known, the Three Gorges Dam being built on the middle reaches of China's Yangzi River is the largest and most expensive hydroelectric project ever undertaken in the world," stated Childs-Johnson in a presentation to the World Commission on Dams, titled "The Three Gorges Project: There Is No Dragon".

The Yangtze is the world's third mightiest river in terms of length and water flow. A dam to harness its unstoppable energy was first proposed in the 1920's, but no action was taken until April of 1992, when the National People's Congress approved construction of the Three Gorges Dam.

Theoretically, once the dam is completed in 2009, it will be capable of producing over 18,000 megawatts of electricity, significantly more than any of its smaller peers around the world. The dam will rise a whopping 600 feet above the existing river bed and it will span a distance of approximately 1.2 miles between the banks of the Yangtze. Supporters of the dam also hope to exercise some measure of control over the Yangtze's killer floods and make the river more navigable for ships over 10,000 tons. This project will eventually enable these large ships to travel as far as 1,500 miles inland to Chongqing to trade at new ports and new markets in the Yangtze watershed.

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