Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal

Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal

This entry is compiled and applied by "popular science China" Science Encyclopedia

to examine

.

Founded in the spring and Autumn period, the Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest and largest ancient canal in the world. It is also one of the oldest canals. Together with the great wall and Karez, it is known as the three great projects in ancient China, and has been used up to now. It is a great project created by the ancient Chinese working people and one of the symbols of Chinese cultural status. The Grand Canal starts from Yuhang (now Hangzhou) in Henan Province and ends in Zhuojun (now Beijing) in the north. It passes through Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Hebei provinces and Tianjin and Beijing. It runs through the Haihe River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River and Qiantang River. The main water source is Nansihu (Weishan Lake, Weishan County, Shandong Province). The Grand Canal is about 1794 km long. The canal has played a great role in the economic and cultural development and exchanges between the north and South regions of China, especially in the industrial and agricultural economic development of the regions along the canal.

In the spring and Autumn period, the state of Wu dug Hangou for the purpose of cutting down the state of Qi. In the Sui Dynasty, it was extended to Luoyang, the capital city, and even Zhuozhou county. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was abandoned from Luoyang to Beijing. It has a history of more than 2500 years. In 2002, the Grand Canal was included in the "south to North Water Diversion" project. On June 22, 2014, the 38th World Heritage conference announced that China's Grand Canal Project was successfully included in the world cultural heritage list, becoming the 46th world heritage project in China.

In September 2014, the water departments of Tongzhou, Wuqing and Xianghe have signed a strategic cooperation agreement. The Tongzhou Xianghe Wuqing section of the Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal is expected to resume navigation. It is planned to achieve initial navigation in 2017 and formal navigation in 2020.

In February 2019, the general office of the CPC Central Committee and the general office of the State Council issued the outline of the Grand Canal cultural protection, inheritance and utilization plan (hereinafter referred to as the outline of the plan), and issued a notice to require all regions and departments to implement it in combination with the actual situation.

On October 3, 2019, the tourism navigation ceremony of Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal (Tongzhou City Section) was held, and the 11.4 km section from Beiguan sluice to Gantang sluice was officially navigable.

history

background

The Grand Canal was built in the spring and Autumn period. During the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, canals were built to serve the military operations of conquering other countries. For example, the direct purpose of the excavation of Hangou by Fu Chai, the king of Wu, was to transport troops to the northern expedition of Qi. In 360 BC, the gap dug by Wei Hui, the king of Wei, was basically to serve the military operations of conquering other countries.

After the unification of the world, the Sui Dynasty made the decision to connect the north and South canals. Its motive had gone beyond the purpose of serving military operations, because the world had been unified at that time. There was an economic motive for opening the canal in Sui Dynasty. For a long time in ancient China, the economic center was in the Yellow River Basin, and the economy in the North was more advanced than that in the south. However, in the Wei, Jin, southern and Northern Dynasties, profound changes took place in the society. More than 400 years of chaos has seriously impacted the economy of the north. Compared with this, the economy of the South has developed rapidly and become the focus of the national economy. After Sui Dynasty unified the whole country, it attached great importance to this area, but Chang'an, the capital of Sui Dynasty, could not move its political center to the South with the development of economic center. Therefore, the state needs to strengthen the management of the south, Chang'an needs to connect with the rich economic zone, and the South needs to supply food and materials to the north, whether it is the central court or the bureaucrats or the northern border. At the same time, the long-term division blocked the economic exchanges between the north and the south. With the improvement of the level of productive forces and the development of economy, it is urgent to strengthen the economic ties between the north and the south.

There were not only economic motives but also political motives for opening the canal in Sui Dynasty. The period of Wei, Jin, southern and Northern Dynasties is a period of great development of the aristocratic families, and their strength is quite strong. After the unification of Sui Dynasty, they still relied on their powerful forces and tried to compete with the central government. This sharp contradiction always existed in the south of the Yangtze River, which made the Sui regime face a serious threat. At the same time, the northern border minority regime was also a great disaster to the Sui Dynasty. The Sui Dynasty sent a large number of troops stationed at the border. It was not enough for these troops to rely only on farming. They had to rely on the grain and rates of the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers and the Central Plains. It's a long way to go, so digging a canal is the key to solve the problem.

From the Sui Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, both the regime in the period of unification and the regime in the period of division paid attention to the dredging and improvement of the canal. The motive was to make full use of the canal water transport in the aspects of economy, politics and military. Based on the canal, the establishment of a huge and complex water transport system to transport materials from all over the country to the capital has become one of the main means of the rulers of the Chinese land. The reason for the restoration and diversion of the canal is also the frequent siltation of the canal and the change of the capital position of different regimes. By the Yuan Dynasty, the grand canal had been completed, and the grand canal had become a north-south waterway in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The canal was excavated and renovated by the rulers. The rulers gathered huge manpower and material resources to dig the canal for water transport. Canal was born for the real purpose of water transport, which was the life support and power supply system of the feudal dynasty and maintained the life of the dynasty. Due to the problems of pirates, waves and so on, canal water transportation is the first choice in the history of water transportation. Digging the canal is a great feat worthy of its name, which benefits the contemporary and wanqiu. For the builders, its effect will appear soon, and it will have a decisive impact on the dynasty. Therefore, the wise rulers of all dynasties attached great importance to the construction of the canal.

build

The Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal has a history of more than 2500 years since it was dug in 486 B.C. and an important river channel dug by the first emperor of Qin Dynasty in Jiaxing also laid the foundation for the future development of the canal in the south of the Yangtze River. According to the yuejueshu, the first emperor of Qin Dynasty from Jiaxing "Zhiling waterway, to Qiantang YueDi, to Zhejiang", canal and canal culture derived from it.

The Grand Canal was excavated in the spring and Autumn period, completed in the Sui Dynasty, flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties, straightened in the Yuan Dynasty, and dredged in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the long years, it has experienced three major construction processes. The last construction is called "Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal".

Late spring and Autumn Period

XuXi and Xupu are the earliest sections of the Grand Canal, and they are the embryonic period of the Grand Canal. It is said that they were named after Wu Zixu, the official of the state of Wu. Fu Chai, the king of Wu who ruled the lower reaches of the Yangtze River at that time, was only in front of Qi after Wu had conquered Chu and Yue. In order to attack Qi in the north and fight for the hegemony of the Central Plains, Fu Chai mobilized civilian men to excavate the canal (Jinli canal) from Yangzhou to the northeast, from Sheyang Lake to Huai'an and into the Huai River The first section of the Grand Canal was built to bring water from the Yangtze River to the Huaihe River. The canal was built for water transportation. In the Warring States period, Dagou (from Yuanyang County in Henan Province to the north and the Yellow River to the south, flowing into today's putianze in the east of Zhengzhou City) and chasm were successively excavated, thus connecting the four rivers of the Yangtze River, the Huaihe River, the Yellow River and the Jihe River.

 

After that, the king of Wu defeated the state of Qi in ailing (today's Tai'an, Shandong Province). In 482 B.C., in Huangchi (now the southwest of Fengqiu in Henan Province), he led the elite assembly princes to compete with Jin for hegemony. As a result, the state of Wu was destroyed by the sneak attack of Yue. Although Fu Chai died, he left behind not only the rudiments of Yangzhou, but also the canals still in use.

 

Follow to Sui and Tang Dynasties

The Grand Canal of Sui and Tang Dynasties is divided into four sections: Yongji canal, Tongji canal, Hangou canal and Jiangnan river.

 

At the beginning of the seventh century, the capital of Luoyang was moved after the reign of emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. In order to control the vast area of the south of the Yangtze River and transport the rich materials of the Yangtze River Delta to Luoyang, Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty ordered to excavate the "Yongji canal" about 1000 km long from Luoyang to Zhuojun (now southwest of Beijing) of Hebei Province through Linqing of Shandong Province in Ad 603, and the "Tongji canal" about 1000 km long from Luoyang to Qingjiang of Jiangsu Province (now Huai'an City) in the first year of Daye (AD 605) It connected the traffic between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, and transformed the Hangou canal and the Jiangnan canal. In the third year, Yongji canal was excavated to connect Zhuozhou County in the north, and Guangtong canal was excavated in 584 to form a multi branch canal system. In 610 A.D., the "Jiangnan canal" from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province (the foreign trade port at that time), about 400 km long, was excavated, and the Hangou was transformed. In this way, the 1700km long river between Luoyang and Hangzhou can be directly connected to ships.

 

Yangzhou is the famous city of Li canal. When Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty dug the canal in the city, Yangzhou became the transportation hub between the north and the south. With the benefit of water transportation, Yangzhou became one of the most prosperous areas in China.

 

(1) Guangtong canal, from Chang'an to Tongguan, leads to the Yellow River in the East. Weihe River is the main water source.

(2) Tongji canal connects the Yellow River and Huaihe River from Luoyang.

(3) Shanyangdu starts from Shanyang (now Huai'an District, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province) on the South Bank of the huaishui River in the north, goes straight south to Jiangdu (now Yangzhou City), and connects with the Yangtze River in the southwest.

(4) Yongji canal is to the north of the Yellow River. From the qinhekou on the other side of Luoyang to the north, it leads directly to Zhuozhou county (now Beijing City).

Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties

Chinese PinYin : Jing Hang Da Yun He