The history of canals in China connecting its
major rivers and centers of agriculture and population extends from the legendary exploits of
Yu the Great
Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was credited with "the first successful state efforts at flood control", his establishment of the Xia dynasty, which inaugurated Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic ru ...
in his attempts to control the flooding of the
Yellow River
The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
to the present infrastructure projects of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. From the
Spring and Autumn period
The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...
(8th–5th centuriesBCE) onward, the canals of China were used for army transportation and supply, as well as colonization of new territories. From the
Qin (3rd century BCE) to the
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
(17th–20th centuriesCE), China's canal network was also essential to imperial taxation-in-kind.
Control of shipbuilding and internal tariffs were also administered along the canals.
History
Ancient China
The main
logistics chains of
ancient China
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
were along the
natural rivers of the country. One major example was the occasion when the
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
of
Jin suffered a severe crop failure in 647BCE and the
Mu Duke of
Qin provided several thousand tons of grain by barges. These traveled from his capital at Yong () in present-day
Fengxiang,
Shaanxi
Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...
, along the
Wei,
Yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...
, and
Fen River
The Fen River drains the center of Shanxi Province, China. It originates in the Guancen Mountains of Ningwu County in northeast Shanxi, flows southeast into the basin of Taiyuan, and then south through the central valley of Shanxi before turni ...
s to the Jin capital at Jiang (
t,
s) in
Yicheng,
Shanxi
Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...
.
Since China's rivers generally run from the western highlands to the
Yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...
and
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...
s, all parallel to one another, there was great incentive to connect the river systems by canals. The canals also assisted
flood control
Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...
. The oldest known was probably the Hong or
Honggou Canal (
t s ''Hónggōu'', "Canal of the Wild Geese"), which linked the
Yellow River
The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
near present-day
Kaifeng
Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...
to the
Si and
Bian Rivers.
Details of its construction have been lost, with it first appearing in the historical record in
Su Qin
Su Qin (380–284 BCE) was a Chinese political consultant and philosopher who was an influential political strategist during the Warring States period. He was born in Chengxuan Village, Luoyang, in present-day Henan Province. According to legend ...
's discussion of state boundaries in and
Sima Qian
Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...
placing its construction just after his discussion of the supposed works of
Yu the Great
Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was credited with "the first successful state efforts at flood control", his establishment of the Xia dynasty, which inaugurated Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic ru ...
.
Modern scholars now usually place its construction in the 6th
In men under
King Fuchai of
Wu constructed the Han or
Hangou Canal (
t s ''Hángōu'') to connect the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
through the Fanliang ''Fánliáng Hú''), Bozhi ''Bózhī Hú'') and Sheyang Lakes (
t s ''Shèyáng Hú'') with the
Huai.
By way of the Honggou, this then connected to the Yellow River and its networks beyond. This eased Wu's supply lines during Fuchai's war with
Qi, which was concluded successfully at the
Battle of Ailing, solidifying Fuchai's position as
hegemon
Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states, either regional or global.
In Ancient Greece (ca. 8th BC – AD 6th c.), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' ...
over the other states of his time. During 483 and 482BCE, Fuchai's men then built the
Heshui Canal (
t s ''Héshuǐ Yùnhé'') connecting the Si with the
Ji,
which ran parallel to the Yellow River through densely populated districts in what is now western
Shandong
Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...
.
Qin dynasty
In 214BCE the first Chinese Emperor
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...
ordered the construction of a canal connecting the
Xiang River
The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the second-largest tributary (after the Min River) in terms of surface runoff, the fifth-largest ...
and the
Lijiang
Lijiang ( zh, s= ), formerly romanized as Likiang, is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Yunnan Province, China. It has an area of and had a population of 1,253,878 at the 2020 census whom 288,787 lived in the built-up area (metro) ...
in order to supply his troops for an attack on the
Xiongnu
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...
nomads. Designed by
Shi Lu (史祿), the resulting
Lingqu Canal
The Lingqu () 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 ...
is the oldest
contour canal in the world. This canal along with the
Zhengguo Canal in Shaanxi Province and the
Dujiangyan Irrigation System
The Dujiangyan () is an ancient irrigation system in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan, China. Originally constructed around 256 BC by the State of Qin as an irrigation and flood control project, it is still in use today. The system's infrastructure dev ...
in
Sichuan Province
Sichuan is a Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capita ...
are known as “The three great hydraulic engineering projects of the Qin dynasty”.
Han dynasty
During the
Chu–Han Contention
The Chu–Han Contention (), also known as the Chu–Han War (), was an interregnum in Imperial China between the fall of the Qin dynasty and the establishment of the Han dynasty. After the Qin dynasty was overthrown in 206 BCE, the empir ...
(206–202BCE), General
Xiao He
Xiao He (257 BC – 16 August 193 BC''xinwei'' day of the 7th month of the 2nd year of Emperor Hui's reign, per vol. 12 of ''Zizhi Tongjian'') was a Chinese calligrapher and politician of the early Western Han dynasty. He served Emperor Gaozu of ...
used the Wei River to transport provisions for his army, thereby creating an effective logistics supply network. In 129BCE, the sixth year of
Emperor Wu, a canal was cut through the northern foothills of the
Qin Mountains
The Qinling () or Qin Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan ("Southern Mountains"), are a major east–west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, China. The mountains mark the divide between the drainage basins of the Yangtze and Ye ...
running parallel to the Wei River linking
Tong Pass
Tongguan or Tong Pass, was a former mountain pass and fortress located south of the confluence of the Wei and Yellow Rivers, in today's Tongguan County, Weinan, Shaanxi, China. It was an important chokepoint, protecting Xi'an and the surroundi ...
with
Chang’an and greatly reducing the amount of time needed to transport goods between the two cities.
Sui and Tang dynasties
Although the
Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
lasted only 37 years from 581 until 618, its rulers made a major contribution to improving the canal system. The
Grand Canal became a major factor in economic growth and political unity by connecting north and south, allowing transport of tax grain and
control of the sale of salt.
[Samuel Adrian M. Adshead. ''T'ang China: The Rise of the East in World History.'' (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004; ), p. 50.] The
Hai,
Yellow
Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...
,
Huai,
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
and Qiantang Rivers were all interlinked through the construction of canals thus laying the groundwork for further development during later dynasties.
These were the Guangtong Canal (廣通渠), Tongji Canal (通濟渠), Shanyang Channel (山陽瀆) and Yongji Canal (永濟渠) which formed the basis of a large scale canal based transport network.
At the time of
Emperor Jingzong of Tang (r. 824–827) the canal system had become too shallow. This restricted the movement of salt and iron which were important government monopolies so to solve the problem seven rivers were diverted to the east.
Song dynasty
During the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
the capital Daliang (大梁), modern day
Kaifeng
Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...
, used the
Bian Yellow,
Huimin (惠民河) and
Guangji (广济河) Rivers as part of the canal network. In 976 CE during the reign of
Emperor Taizong of Song
Zhao Jiong (20 November 939 – 8 May 997), known as Zhao Guangyi from 960 to 977 and Zhao Kuangyi before 960, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizong of Song, was the second emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 9 ...
more than 55 million bushels of grain were moved along the Bian River to the capital. By the time of
Emperor Renzong of Song
Emperor Renzong of Song (30 May 1010 – 30 April 1063), personal name Zhao Zhen, was the fourth emperor of the Northern Song dynasty of China. He reigned for about 41 years from 1022 to his death in 1063, making him the longest reigning Song ...
(r. 1022–1063) the amount had increased to 80 million bushels.
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty saw the establishment of a government body in the form of a "''Si''" (司) near the capital to oversee the canal system. Known as the Huai & Yangtze Rivers Grain Transport Office, (江淮都漕运司) this was an offshoot of the
Three Departments and Six Ministries
The Three Departments and Six Ministries () system was the primary administrative structure in imperial China from the Sui dynasty (581–618) to the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368). It was also used by Balhae (698–926) and Goryeo (918–1392) and ...
of the administrative third grade or "''San Pin''" (三品). This office was responsible for arranging grain transportation to the
Luan River (滦河) then onwards to the capital at
Dadu (modern day Beijing) using more than 3,000 boats. Sea-based transportation within the grain taxation system was also important with canals playing a subsidiary role.
Ming dynasty
In 1368, the first year of the reign of the Ming
Hongwu Emperor
The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...
, the Capital Grain Transport Office (京畿都漕运司) was established under the auspices of a fourth grade (四品) commissioner. At the same time, the canal system's governor-general's office was set up in the prefectural capital of
Huai'an
)
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, Jiangsu Province. Its responsibilities were to manage the canal network and ensure that annual
grain shipments remained at around 40 million tons. Boatyards were also established in
Anqing
Anqing ( zh, s=, t=安慶, p=Ānqìng, l=, also Yicheng, Nganking and formerly Hwaining, now the name of Huaining County) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui province of China, province, China, People's Republic of China. Its popu ...
,
Suzhou
Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce.
Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...
,
Hangzhou
Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...
,
Jiujiang
Jiujiang, formerly transliterated Kiukiang and Kew-Keang, is a prefecture-level city located on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the second-largest prefecture-level ...
,
Zhangshu and Raozhou (饶州) (modern day
Poyang County). At Huai'an, a boatyard northwest of the Yangtze River ran for a distance of 23
Chinese miles (c. . Overall responsibility for all these locations lay with a department of the
Ministry of Works.
Every year, regulations fixed the total amount of tax payable by the entire country in grain via the canal system at 29.5 million bushels. Of this, 12 million bushels were allocated to local governments, 8 million bushels supported the army on the northern border, 1.2 million bushels went to the capital in
Nanjing
Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400.
Situated in the Yang ...
whilst 8.2 million bushels were used to supply Beijing.
From 1415 onwards, imperial regulations stated that the grain taxation system should use only the country's canal network; thereafter all seaborne transportation stopped.
This situation remained virtually unchanged until the beginning of the 19th century and as a result, during both the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the volume of the grain tax transported via the
Grand Canal far exceeded that of the preceding Yuan Dynasty.
During the Ming dynasty the usage pattern of the canal system went through three successive phases. At first the "''zhiyun''" (支运) variant evolved as grain tax transportation switched from the sea to the country's canal and river network. At Huai’an,
Xuzhou
Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in ...
,
Linqing
Linqing () is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Liaocheng in western Shandong Province, China.
Geography and climate
It is located north-northwest of Liaocheng. The city is situated at the confluence ...
and other locations, warehouses were established to store taxes paid in grain and delivered by the local population. This was then shipped north to provision the army once every quarter. Storage became unnecessary with the advent of the "''duiyun''" (兑运) form where taxes paid by the common people were partly used to directly pay the transportation fees for army supplies on the journey north. During the third stage known as "''changyun''" (长运) or "''gaidui''" (改兌), the army took responsibility for the movement of grain from south of the Yangtze River.
According to Ming dynasty scholar
Qiu Jun (邱濬): “Use of the river and canal network saved 30–40% of costs compared to road transportation whereas the savings achieved using sea-borne transport were 70%–80%.”
Qing dynasty
Although the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
continued to use the existing canal system it had numerous disadvantages and caused the government many headaches. In 1825 during the reign of the
Daoguang Emperor
The Daoguang Emperor (16 September 1782 – 26 February 1850), also known by his temple name Emperor Xuanzong of Qing, personal name Mianning, was the seventh List of emperors of the Qing dynasty, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the sixth Qing e ...
a maritime shipping office was established in
Shanghai
Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
with a grain tax receiving station at
Tianjin
Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
.
Qishan and other senior ministers thereafter managed the first grain shipments by sea. Operations in Tianjin quickly grew to outstrip those based in
Linqing
Linqing () is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Liaocheng in western Shandong Province, China.
Geography and climate
It is located north-northwest of Liaocheng. The city is situated at the confluence ...
, Shandong Province. Before the
First Opium War
The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...
of 1839–42 and the
Second Opium War
The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...
(1856–60), yearly grain-tax maritime shipments reached around 4 million bushels of grain per annum.
A series of events towards the end of the Qing dynasty led to the ultimate decline of the canal system:
* On the 21July 1842, during the later stages of the First Opium War, British troops
attacked and occupied Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and ...
near the confluence of the Grand Canal and Yangtze River, effectively blocking operation of the canal system and its grain taxes. As a result, the Qing Daoguang Emperor decided to sue for peace and agreed to sign the
Treaty of Nanking
The Treaty of Nanking was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese ...
which brought hostilities to an end.
* The
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...
of 1850–64 resulted in the loss of Nanjing and the Anhui segment of the Yangtze River for ten years from 1853 onwards thereby curtailing the canal network. During the war with the rebels, major canal side towns including Yangzhou,
Qingjiangpu (清江浦), Linqing, Suzhou and Hangzhou suffered serious damage or were razed to the ground.
*After the
Yellow River
The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
changed course in its floods between 1851 and 1855, the canals in the Shandong region gradually silted up. Thereafter, the principal routes for grain shipment were maritime.
*In 1872, an office to promote investment in steamships was established in Shanghai when steamships became the official vessels used within the grain-tax system.
*All canal-based traffic of the grain tax ceased in 1901.
*The post of canal system's governor-general was abolished in 1904
*1911 saw the opening of the
Jinpu railway linking
Tianjin
Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...
and
Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and ...
such that the importance of the Grand Canal and the towns along its banks significantly dropped.
People's Republic
During the
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward was an industrialization campaign within China from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to transform the country from an agrarian society into an indu ...
, the
Red Flag Canal was built entirely by hand as an irrigation canal diverting water from the
Zhang River
The Zhang River is a tributary of the Wei River in China. The river commences at the confluence of the rivers Qingzhang (or Clear Zhang, 清漳河) and Zhuozhang (or Turbid Zhang, 浊漳河), where between She county of Hebei and Linzhou of ...
to fields in
Linzhou in northern
Henan
Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...
. Completed in 1965, the main channel is long, winding around the side of a cliff and through 42 tunnels. It was celebrated within China and was the subject of several movies, including a section of
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni ( ; ; 29 September 1912 – 30 July 2007) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and editor. He is best known for his "trilogy on modernity and its discontents", ''L'Avventura'' (1960), ''La Notte'' (1961), and '' ...
's 1972 documentary ''
Chung Kuo''.
The
South–North Water Transfer Project
The South–North Water Transfer Project, also translated as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, is a multi-decade infrastructure mega-project in China that aims to channel 44.8 cubic kilometers (44.8 billion cubic meters) of fresh wat ...
is still ongoing, with the central route completed in 2014.
References
Further reading
* .
* .
* .
{{Authority control
Canals
Canals