Water transport square

Water transport square

Located in the center of Chuzhou District, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, China, the water transport square, the site of the governor's office, is the official building complex of the water transport governor in charge of the national water transport affairs in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It has a large scale, well preserved and rigorous layout.

Brief introduction to the square

In August 2002, during the reconstruction of the old city in Chuzhou District, Huai'an City, the ruins of the governor's water transport department during the Ming and Qing Dynasties were excavated and found. Three meters below the Ming and Qing ruins, a cultural layer of the song and Yuan Dynasties was also found. The site is listed as a provincial cultural relic protection unit in Jiangsu Province.

In history, the governor's water transport department, the only institution in charge of water transport in China, covers an area of about 30000 square meters. It is on the same axis with the landmark buildings in Chuzhou District, such as Zhenhuai tower and Huai'an government hall. It is a historical witness of the rise and fall of China's feudal society and economy, and also a miracle of Chinese civilization.

Historical evolution

From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the northern and Southern Dynasties, wars were frequent in the Central Plains, and a large number of people fled to the south, which promoted the rapid economic development of Jianghuai, Jiangnan and other places, and Jiangnan's wealth accounted for a huge share of the fiscal revenue in the past dynasties. In the early Ming Dynasty, although both land and sea were transported, a lot of wealth was transported north and south through the Grand Canal.

Chuzhou in Huai'an is the hub of water transportation between the north and the south, and the bridge of transportation between the East and the West. According to the records of rebuilding Shanyang County, "all the grain ships from Huguang, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Jiangnan came to Shanyang with their tails. After being examined by the Cao Du, they got out of the canal. Although the grain ships from Shandong and Henan did not pass here, they also reported to the commandment. Therefore, the administration of water transport is connected with seven provinces, and Shanyang is really an important place of the throat. " At that time, tens of thousands of grain ships came to Chuzhou, Huai'an, and entered Huaibei from the end. After unloading, the grain ships were loaded with salt from under the river and transported to all parts of the south. In this way, we can not only solve the problem of lack of grain and rice in the north, but also greatly alleviate the problem of food harvest in the south. The price of rice is very low, and the people are suffering from "rice wins but money is short". Both the south to North Grain diversion and the South salt transportation have to pass through Chuzhou in Huai'an, which makes Chuzhou in Huai'an become the distribution center of water transportation and salt transportation, objectively forming a special position in the history of water transportation.

Since the Sui Dynasty, the imperial court set up a special water transport office in Chuzhou, Huai'an; in the Song Dynasty, a Jianghuai transport envoy was set up; all the millet from the six southeast roads went from Huai to Bian to the capital; in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a government office of the governor's water transport department was set up here to supervise and urge the water transport; it was in charge of the transportation of grain from the south to the north and salt from the north to the south.

The special geographical location of Huai'an has promoted the prosperity of Huai'an, especially the commercial development. The governor's office of water transport is located here. There are a large number of officials and soldiers in charge of water transport. After the boat arrived here, it had to be checked by the Caotai Yamen. The sailors and officers of thousands of grain boats stayed here. The merchants from south to North traded goods here, and the passengers also lingered here. What's more, there were two Changying warehouses, two Changping warehouses, three preparation warehouses, and five zhuangcang warehouses It greatly increased the demand for goods in Huai'an and promoted the development of Commerce. At that time, there were many shops and restaurants inside and outside the city, and the city was very prosperous. Just as Qiu Jun said in his poem, "when will the boats on both sides of Shili Zhuqi stop singing and dancing at night. The prosperous scenery of Yangzhou for thousands of years has moved to the mouth of the West Lake. “

Brief introduction of water transport

The court yamen of the governor's water transport department was an agency of the imperial court. The governors were all appointed by Lord ministers. In 1451, the governor of water transport was set up in Huai'an to deal with water transport affairs with the general. In Ming Dynasty, Wang Xuan of Chen Dynasty, Li humerus, Li Sancai, Shi Kefa; Shi Shilun, Qi Shan, mu zhanga, Si Ming, Yang Dianbang of Qing Dynasty all successively served as the governor of water transport here. The governor of water transport has great power, not only in charge of water transport, but also as governor, so he is also called the governor of water transport. The Ministry has a huge organization, with more than 270 civil and military generals and various officers and men; it has jurisdiction over Chucang, shipyard, weicaoping factory, etc., with a total of more than 20000 people.

The Ministry yamen was built in 1170, the sixth year of Qiandao in Song Dynasty. It was built by Chen Min, a recorder. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was the office of the general manager of Huai'an road. In the thirtieth year of the Yuan Dynasty, it was built in 1293 Ah Si heavy repair, Ming Hongwu first year (1368), Huaian governor Fan Zhong government built Huaian government office, Hongwu three years (1370) governor Yao Bin changed to Huaian command command division, Chenghua five years (1469) sentence Xue Huai rebuilt, Jiajing sixteen years (1537) Governor Yu Shi Zhou Jin in Town God's Temple East New Supervision Institute, Longqing five years (1571) governor Chen Wenzhu rebuilt this, Wanli seven years (1579) Ann moved to East Town God's Temple and moved to the governor's Department of water transport.

At that time, the scale of the building was magnificent, with 213 houses and 3 memorial archways. It was called "minister manager" in the middle, and it was called "total shangguo" and "autocratic central Plains" in the East and West. The central axis is divided into gate, second gate, lobby, second hall, Grand View hall and Huaihe Festival building. On the east side are the official hall, the clerical office, Donglin library, Zhengzheng hall, water and soil temple, and a list Pavilion. On the west side, there are Guanting, Bailu hall, shizhuzhai, laihexuan, etc. There is a screen wall in front of the gate and a memorial archway on both sides. All the above buildings were destroyed in the 1940s. The foundation and foundation stone still exist. What is more worth mentioning is that there is a pair of stone lions in front of yamen, which are spotless and rare in China. It is said that two pairs of stone lions of high artistic value were paid tribute by Persia (today's Iran) in the Yuan Dynasty. One pair was transported to Kyoto, and the other pair was left in Huai'an by his uncle. It is a pity that these stone lions were smashed to pieces as "four old" in the "Cultural Revolution".

Address: opposite Zhenhuai building

Longitude: 119.46047210693

Latitude: 33.45964050293

Chinese PinYin : Cao Yun Guang Chang