A bird's-eye view of the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City in Yuhang district, Hangzhou. [Photo/tidenews.com.cn]

Long before Yu the Great's legendary flood control system was established 4,000 years ago, ancient builders in Liangzhu had already mastered the art of water management, local media outlets reported.

Archaeological findings reveal a vast hydraulic system — comprising 11 dams, levees, and reservoirs — constructed around 5,000 years ago, marking one of the earliest and most sophisticated water-control projects in human history.

Researchers from Hohai University in East China's Jiangsu province joined Zhejiang province's archaeological team to uncover how the Liangzhu civilization engineered this massive network, which facilitates flood control, irrigation, and navigation across more than 100 square kilometers.

The project's precision stunned modern experts, with dam elevations and layouts planned to near-modern standards.

Their discovery makes China's dam-building history a millennium longer than previously believed, rewriting global hydraulic engineering records and offering a glimpse into the ingenuity that powered one of the world's earliest civilizations.