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{{Short description|Canal in China}}
{{Use American English|date = March 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2024}}
{{for|the village in Tibet|Lingqu, Tibet}}
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{{Infobox canal|name=Lingqu|image=Lingqu Canal.jpg|map=Lingqu Canal map.jpg|country=China|length_mi=22.6|length_km=36.4|location=[[Xing'an County]], [[Guangxi]]}}

The '''Lingqu''' ({{zh|s=灵渠|t=靈渠|p=Líng Qú|first=t}}) is a canal in [[Xing'an County]], near [[Guilin]], in the northwestern corner of [[Guangxi]], China. 

It connects  the [[Xiang River]] (which flows north into the [[Yangtze]]) with the [[Li River (Guangxi)|Li River]] (which flows south into the [[Gui River]] and [[Xijiang]], the latter is one of the major tributaries of [[Pearl River]]), and thus is part of a historical waterway between the Yangtze and the [[Pearl River Delta]]. It was the first canal in the world to connect two river valleys and enabled boats to travel {{Convert|2000|km|mi|sp=us}} overland between Northern China and the [[Pearl River Delta]].<ref name="unesco_courier">{{citation|title=The first contour transport canal|date=Oct 1988|url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0008/000817/081712eo.pdf#81710|publisher=UNESCO Courier}}</ref> It is also one of the most well-preserved such projects in the world.<ref>{{Citation |title=Lingqu Canal |date=2020 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_1406 |work=Dictionary of Geotourism |pages=349–350 |editor-last=Chen |editor-first=Anze |access-date=2023-09-27 |place=Singapore |publisher=Springer |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-981-13-2538-0_1406 |isbn=978-981-13-2538-0 |editor2-last=Ng |editor2-first=Young |editor3-last=Zhang |editor3-first=Erkuang |editor4-last=Tian |editor4-first=Mingzhong|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The canal is {{Convert|36.4|km|mi|sp=us}} long.<ref name="unesco" />

== History ==
In 214 BC, [[Qin Shi Huang]], the First Emperor of the [[Qin dynasty]] (221–206 BC), ordered the construction of a canal connecting the Xiang and the Li rivers, in order to [[Qin invasion of Guangdong|attack]] the [[Baiyue]] tribes in the south. The architect who designed the canal was Shi Lu ({{zh|t=史祿}}). It is the oldest [[contour canal]] in the world,<ref name="unesco_courier" /> receiving its water from the Xiang. It was fitted with thirty-seven [[Flash lock|flash locks]] by 825 AD. There is a clear description of pound locks in the twelfth century, which were probably installed one or two centuries before.<ref>
{{citation|first=Colin A.|last=Ronan|title=The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China|volume=5|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1995|pages=213ff|isbn=9780521467735|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HlWo6BBOYogC&pg=PA213|access-date=23 May 2012}}
</ref> The canal also aided [[water conservation]] by diverting up to a third of the flow of the Xiang to the Li.<ref name="unesco" />

The canal has been placed on the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Sites]] tentative list.<ref name="unesco">{{cite web |title=Lingqu Canal |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5814/ |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Ccat}}
* [[History of canals in China]]
* [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal of China]]
* [[Dujiangyan]]
* [[Zhengguo Canal]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
*Day, Lance and McNeil, Ian . (1996). ''Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology''. New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-06042-7}}.


{{China Rivers}}
{{Transport in China}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Canals in China]]
[[Category:Chinese inventions]] 
[[Category:Geography of Guilin]]
[[Category:Xing'an County]]
[[Category:Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Guangxi]]
[[Category:Qin (state)]]
[[Category:Transport in Guangxi]]
[[Category:Qin dynasty architecture]]
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{{China-hist-stub}}