Digging Ponds (Kāi Chí)
Digging a pond, traditionally often for water storage or fish farming.
Kāi Chí refers to the digging of ponds. In the past, their main uses were to collect rainwater, irrigate farmland, or serve as sites for fish farming and growing lotus root. Ponds were also important for community fire-fighting water and the local ecosystem. Because digging a pond involves significant earth-moving and is related to water, in traditional date-selection practices it is considered an activity requiring careful choice of an auspicious day, hoping for a smooth project and an abundant pond. The modern equivalent activities could be building landscape water features, ecological ponds, or water storage facilities.