Grand Canal of China

The Grand Canal of China (simplified Chinese: 大运河; traditional Chinese: 大運河; pinyin: Dà Yùnhé), also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (simplified Chinese: 京杭大运河; traditional Chinese: 京杭大運河; pinyin: Jīng Háng Dà Yùnhé) is the longest ancient canal or artificial river in the world. It passes through the cities of Beijing and Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The oldest parts of the canal date back to the 5th century BC. Image File history File links Kaiserkanal bei Suzhou (eigene Aufnahme; Template:GNU-FDL) Hph from de: wikipedia File links The following pages link to this file: Grand Canal of China ... Image File history File links Kaiserkanal bei Suzhou (eigene Aufnahme; Template:GNU-FDL) Hph from de: wikipedia File links The following pages link to this file: Grand Canal of China ... Simplified Chinese character (Simplified Chinese: or ; traditional Chinese: or ; pinyin: or ) is one of two standard sets of Chinese characters of the contemporary Chinese written language. ... Traditional Chinese characters refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Simplified Chinese character (Simplified Chinese: or ; traditional Chinese: or ; pinyin: or ) is one of two standard sets of Chinese characters of the contemporary Chinese written language. ... Traditional Chinese characters refers to one of two standard sets of printed Chinese characters. ... Pinyin, more formally called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see River (disambiguation). ... Peking redirects here. ...   (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Tientsin) is one of the four municipalities of China. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shan-tung) is a coastal province of eastern Peoples Republic of China. ... Jiangsu (Simplified Chinese: 江苏; Traditional Chinese: 江蘇; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chiang-su; Postal System Pinyin: Kiangsu) is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. ... Zhejiang (also spelled Chehkiang or Chekiang) is an eastern coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

History

Early history

In the late Spring and Autumn Period (722-481 BC), Fuchai, the Duke of Wu (present-day Suzhou), ventured north to conquer the neighbouring state of Qi. He ordered a canal be constructed for trading purposes. This became known as the Han Gou, or 'Han-country Conduit'. Work began in 486 BC south of Yangzhou in Jiangsu, and within three years the Han Gou had connected the Yangtze River to the Huai River by means of existing waterways, lakes and marshes. By the middle of the sixth century AD, its winding course had been rationalised into a straighter canal, the Shanyang River, which took its name from its terminus on the Huai. The Spring and Autumn Period (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) was a period in Chinese history, which roughly corresponds to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (from the second half of the 8th century BC to the first half of the 5th century). ... The famed 2500-year-old Spear of Fuchai, a protected artifact of the Peoples Republic of China King Fuchai of Wu (吳王夫差) (reigned 495 BC - 473 BC), was the last king of Wu, a state in ancient China; he reigned towards the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. ... This article is about the Spring and Autumn state. ... This article is about the city in Jiangsu. ... Yangzhou (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; former spellings: Yang-chou, Yangchow; literally Rising Prefecture) is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu province, Peoples Republic of China. ... The Yangtze River or Chang Jiang (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), or Drichu in Tibetan (Tibetan: འབ; Wylie: bri chu) is the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world, after the Nile in Africa, and the Amazon in South America. ... Huai He The Huai River (Chinese: 淮河; pinyin: ) is about mid-way between the Yellow River (Huang He) and the Yangtze River. ...

The Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty

The Grand Canal as we see it today was in great part a creation of the Sui dynasty (581-618), a result of the migration of China’s core economic and agricultural region away from the Yellow River valley and toward what is now Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Its main role throughout its history was the transport of grain to the capital. Over a period of years from around 604 to around 610, Emperor Yang Guang (or Sui Yangdi) of the Sui dynasty ordered a number of canals be dug in a ‘Y’ shape, from Hangzhou in the south to termini in (modern) Beijing and in the capital region along the Yellow River valley. When the canal was completed it linked the river systems of the Qiantang River, the Yangtze River, the Huai River, the Yellow River, the Wei River and the Hai River. Its southern section, running between Hangzhou and the Yangtze, was named the Jiangnan River (the river ‘South of the Yangtze’). The canal’s central portions stretched from Yangzhou to Luoyang: the section between the Yangtze and the Huai continued to be the Shanyang River; the next section connected the Huai to the Yellow and was called the Tongji Channel. The northernmost portion, linking Beijing and Luoyang, was named the Yongji Channel and was used to transport troops to what is now the North Korean border region for the Goguryeo-Sui War. It should be remembered that the Grand Canal at this time was not a continuous, man-made canal but a collection of often non-contiguous artificial cuts and canalised or natural rivers. The Sui Dynasty of China amongst the Asian, African, and European spheres of the world, 600 AD. The Sui Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; 581-618 AD[1]) followed the Southern and Northern Dynasties and preceded the Tang Dynasty in China. ... For other Yellow Rivers, see Yellow River (disambiguation). ... Emperor Yang of Sui China (560-618), or Yang-ti was the son and heir of Emperor Wen of Sui, and then the second emperor of Chinas Sui Dynasty. ...   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the Peoples Republic of China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. ... -1... Huai He The Huai River (Chinese: 淮河; pinyin: ) is about mid-way between the Yellow River (Huang He) and the Yangtze River. ... The Hai River basin The Hai River (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; literally sea river), previously called Bai He (Chinese: 白河; pinyin: Bái Hé; literally white river; Pei Ho in Western sources), is a river in China which flows through Beijing and Tianjin into Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea. ... Luoyang (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province, Peoples Republic of China. ... The Goguryeo-Sui War was a series of campaigns launched by the Sui Dynasty of China against the Goguryeo dynasty of Korea between 598 and 614. ...

The Grand Canal in later dynasties

After the An Shi Rebellion during the Tang dynasty (618-907), the economy of north China was greatly damaged and never recovered due to wars and to constant floodings of the Yellow River. The Grand Canal became the main route for the shipping of tax grain from the Yangtze River Delta to North China. The city of Kaifeng grew to be a major hub, later becoming the capital of the Song dynasty (960-1279). The An Shi Rebellion (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) occurred in China, during the Tang Dynasty, from 756 to 763. ... For the band, see Tang Dynasty (band). ... Yangtze River Delta The Yangtze River Delta (Chinese 长江三角洲/長江三角洲 chángjiāng sānjiÇŽozhōu) or Yangtze Delta, generally comprises the triangular-shaped territory of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province and northern Zhejiang province. ... Kaifeng (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: KāifÄ“ng; Wade-Giles: Kai-feng), formerly known as Bianliang (汴梁; Wade-Giles: Pien-liang), is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Northern Song in 1111 AD Capital Bianjing (汴京) (960–1127) Linan (臨安) (1127–1276) Language(s) Chinese Religion Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism Government Monarchy Emperor  - 960–976 Emperor Taizu  - 1126–1127 Emperor Qinzong  - 1127–1162 Emperor Gaozong  - 1278–1279 Emperor Bing History  - Zhao Kuangyin taking over the throne of the Later Zhou...

During the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), the capital of China was moved to Beijing, eliminating the need for the canal arm flowing west to Kaifeng or Luoyang. A summit section was dug across the foothills of the Shandong massif during the 1280s, shortening the overall length by as much as 700 km (making the total length about 1800 km) and linking Hangzhou and Beijing in a direct north-south waterway for the first time. The course of the Grand Canal has changed little in the intervening centuries. It was renovated almost in its entirety between 1411 and 1415 during the Ming dynasty. Capital Dadu Language(s) Mongolian Chinese Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1260-1294 Kublai Khan  - 1333-1370 (Cont. ... For other uses, see Ming. ...

In 1855, the Yellow River flooded and changed its course, severing the course of the canal in Shandong. Because of various factors - the difficulty of crossing the Yellow River, the increased development of an alternative sea route for grain-ships, and the opening of the Tianjin-Pukou Railway and the Beijing-Hankou Railway - the canal languished and for decades the northern and southern parts remained separate. Many of the canal sections fell into disrepair, and some parts were returned to flat fields. Even today, the Grand Canal has not fully recovered from this disaster. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the need for economic development led the authorities to order heavy reconstruction work. Tianjin-Pukou Railway ran from Tianjin in Hebei province to Pukou in Jiangsu province across the Yangtze River from Nanjing. ... Jingguang Railway(Chinese: 京广铁路/京廣鐵路, or 京广线/京廣綫) is a major artery railway in the China connecting Beijing West Station in Beijing to Guangzhou Railway Station in Guangzhou, Guangdong. ...

Currently, the section from Hangzhou to Jining is navigable and more than 100,000 vessels ply that still open section of the canal each year, carrying about 260 million tons of goods including coal and construction materials, according to figures released by China's Ministry of Communications in March of 2007. That is three times as much cargo as is carried on the Beijing-Shanghai Railway.[1]   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the Peoples Republic of China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. ... Jining can be referring to one of the following: Jining (济宁), a city in Shandong, China Jining (集宁), a city (administratively a district) in Inner Mongolia, China This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The Primary stops on the Jinghu Railway for passenger rail The Jinghu railway is a train line running between Beijing and Shanghai in China through Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Anhui Jiangsu. ...

The economic importance of the canal likely will increase because the governments of the Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces plan dredging that should increase shipping capacity by 40 percent by 2012.

Modern course

Although, as mentioned above, only the section from Hangzhou to Jining is navigable, the Grand Canal nominally runs between Beijing and Hangzhou over a total length of 1,794 km (1,115 miles). Its course is today nominally divided into seven sections. From south to north these are the Jiangnan Canal, the Li Canal, the Zhong Canal, the Lu Canal, the South Canal, the North Canal, and the Tonghui River.   (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the Peoples Republic of China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. ... Jining can be referring to one of the following: Jining (济宁), a city in Shandong, China Jining (集宁), a city (administratively a district) in Inner Mongolia, China This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The Jiangnan Canal

The Jiangnan Canal

This southernmost section of the canal runs from Hangzhou in Zhejiang, where the canal connects with the Qiantang River, to Zhenjiang in Jiangsu, where it meets the Yangtze. After leaving Hangzhou the canal passes around the eastern border of Lake Tai, through the major cities of Jiaxing, Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou before reaching Zhenjiang. The Jiangnan (or ‘South of the Yangtze’) Canal is very heavily used by barge traffic bringing coal and construction materials to the booming delta. It is generally a minimum of 100 metres wide in the congested city centres, and often two or three times this width in the countryside beyond. In recent years, broad bypass canals have been dug around the major cities to reduce ‘traffic jams’. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1704x2272, 1542 KB) Author - Tomtom08, users own work 2006. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1704x2272, 1542 KB) Author - Tomtom08, users own work 2006. ... Zhenjiang (Simplified Chinese: 镇江; Traditional Chinese: 鎮江; pinyin: Zhènjiāng; Wade-Giles: Chen-chiang) is a prefecture-level city in the southwestern Jiangsu province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Taihu (太湖; pinyin: tài hú lit. ... Jiaxing (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles:Chia-hsing; Postal map spelling: Kashing) is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, Peoples Republic of China. ... This article is about the city in Jiangsu. ... Old Town and Canal Wuxi (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; former spellings: Wu-hsi, Wuhsi, or Wusih; lit. ... Changzhou (Chinese: 常州) is a prefecture-level city in the Jiang Nan region of the Jiangsu province of China, population up to 4 million. ... Zhenjiang (Simplified Chinese: 镇江; Traditional Chinese: 鎮江; pinyin: Zhènjiāng; Wade-Giles: Chen-chiang) is a prefecture-level city in the southwestern Jiangsu province, Peoples Republic of China. ...

The Li Canal

This ‘Inner Canal’ runs between the Yangtze and Huai'an in Jiangsu, skirting the Shaobo, Gaoyou and Hongze lakes of central Jiangsu. Here the land lying to the west of the canal is higher than its bed while the land to the east is lower. Traditionally the Shanghe region west of the canal has been prone to frequent flooding, while the Xiahe region to its east has been hit by less frequent but immensely damaging inundations caused by failure of the Grand Canal levees. Recent works have allowed floodwaters from Shanghe to be safely diverted out to sea. Huaian (Chinese: 淮安; Hanyu Pinyin: ), known as Huaiyin (Chinese: 淮阴; Hanyu Pinyin: ) before 2001, is a prefecture-level city in northern Jiangsu province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Gaoyou (Simplified Chinese: 高邮; Traditional Chinese: 高郵; pinyin: ; lit. ... Hongze may refer to: Lake Hongze, a lake in China Hongze County, a county in Huaian, Jiangsu, China Category: ...

The Zhong Canal

The canal in Jining City

This ‘Middle Canal’ section runs from Huai'an to Weishan Lake, passing through Luoma Lake and following more than one course, the result of the impact of centuries of Yellow River flooding. After Pizhou, a northerly course passes through Tai’erzhuang to enter Weishan Lake at Hanzhuang bound for Nanyang and Jining (this course is the remnant of the New Nanyang Canal of 1566 – see below). A southerly course passes close by Xuzhou and enters Weishan Lake near Peixian. This latter course is less used today. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1704x2272, 2039 KB) Author - Tomtom08, Spring 2006, users own work. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1704x2272, 2039 KB) Author - Tomtom08, Spring 2006, users own work. ... Luoma is a lake in the Jiangsu province of south eastern China, near the city of suqian (宿迁). ... Pizhou city (邳州; pinyin: pīzhōu) is a county-level city of Jiangsu province, in China. ... Nanyang might be: Nanyang, Henan, (南阳) a city in the Peoples Republic of China. ... Xuzhou (Chinese: 徐州; Hanyu Pinyin: ), known as Pengcheng (Chinese: 彭城; Hanyu Pinyin: ) in ancient times, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Jiangsu province, Peoples Republic of China. ...

The Lu Canal

At Weishan Lake, both courses enter Shandong province. From here to Linqing, the canal is called the Lu or ‘Shandong’ Canal. It crosses a series of lakes - Zhaoyang, Dushan and Nanyang - which nominally form a continuous body of water. At present, water shortages mean that the lakes are often largely dry land. North of the northernmost Nanyang Lake is the city of Jining. Further on, about 30 km north of Jining, the highest elevation of the canal (38.5 m above sea level) is reached at the town of Nanwang. In the 1950s a new canal was dug to the south of the old summit section. The old summit section is now dry, while the new canal holds too little water to be navigable. About 50 km further north, passing close by Dongping Lake, the canal reaches the Yellow River. By this point waterless, it no longer communicates with the river. It reappears again in Liaocheng City on the north bank where, intermittently flowing through a renovated stone channel, it reaches the city of Linqing on the Shandong - Hebei border. Linqing (临清市) is a city in the prefecture of Liaocheng in the Chinese province of Shandong. ... Jining can be referring to one of the following: Jining (济宁), a city in Shandong, China Jining (集宁), a city (administratively a district) in Inner Mongolia, China This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Liaocheng (Chinese: 聊城; pinyin: ), also known as the Water City, is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, Peoples Republic of China. ...   (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Shan-tung) is a coastal province of eastern Peoples Republic of China. ... Hebei (Chinese: 河北; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Ho-pei; Postal System Pinyin: Hopeh) is a northern province of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

The Southern Canal

The junction of the Lu Canal and South Canal

The fifth section of the canal extends from Linqing to Tianjin, following the course of the canalised Wei River. Though one of the northernmost sections, its name derives from its position relative to Tianjin. The Wei River at this point is very heavily polluted, and drought and industrial water extraction have left it too low to be navigable. The canal, now in Hebei province, passes through the cities of Dezhou and Cangzhou. Although visitors might see the canal as a deep waterway in these city centres, its depth is maintained by weirs and the canal is in fact all but dry where it passes through the surrounding countryside. Finally, the canal joins the Hai River in Tianjin city centre, where it turns north-westward. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2272x1704, 1623 KB) Author - Tomtom08, Spring 2006, users own work. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2272x1704, 1623 KB) Author - Tomtom08, Spring 2006, users own work. ... Dezhou (Chinese: ; pinyin: Dézhōu) is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Cangzhou (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) is a prefecture-level city in Hebei province, Peoples Republic of China. ... The bridge and weir mechanism at Sturminster Newton on the River Stour, Dorset. ...

The Northern Canal and Tonghui River

In Tianjin the canal heads northwest, following for a short time the course of the Yongding, a tributary of the Hai River, before branching off toward Tongzhou on the edge of Beijing municipality. It is here that the modern canal stops and that a Grand Canal Cultural Park has been built. During the Yuan dynasty a further canal, the Tonghui River, connected Tongzhou with a wharf called the Houhai or ‘rear sea’ in central Beijing. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, however, the water level in the Tonghui River dropped and it was impossible for ships to travel from Tongzhou to Beijing. Tongzhou became the north shipping terminus of the canal. Cargos were unloaded at Tongzhou and transported to Beijing by land. The Tonghui river still exists as a wide, concrete lined storm-channel and drain for the suburbs of Beijing. The Hai River basin The Hai River (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; literally sea river), previously called Bai He (Chinese: 白河; pinyin: Bái Hé; literally white river; Pei Ho in Western sources), is a river in China which flows through Beijing and Tianjin into Bohai Gulf of the Yellow Sea. ... // Overview Tongzhou District (Simplified Chinese: 通州区; Traditional Chinese: 通州區; Hanyu Pinyin: Tōngzhōu QÅ«), located in southeast Beijing, is considered as the capitals eastern gate. ... Houhai is an area of Beijing. ... Flag (1890-1912) Anthem Gong Jinou (1911) Qing China at its greatest extent. ...

Elevations

Though the canal nominally crosses the watersheds of five river systems, in reality the variation between these is so low that it has only a single summit section. The elevation of the canal bed varies from 1 m below sea level at Hangzhou to 38.5 m above at its summit. At Beijing it reaches 27 m, fed by streams flowing downhill from the mountains to the west. The water flows from Beijing toward Tianjin, from Nanwang north toward Tianjin, and from Nanwang south toward Yangzhou. The water level in the Jiangnan Canal remains scarcely above sea level (the Zhenjiang ridge is 12 meters higher than the Yangzi River).

Uses

Transportation

During the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644), and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, the Grand Canal served as the main artery between northern and southern China and was essential for the transport of grain to Beijing. Although it was mainly used for shipping grain, it also transported other commodities and the corridor along the canal developed into an important economic belt. Records show that, at its height, every year more than 8,000 boats transported 4 to 6 million dan (240,000-360,000 tons) of grain. The convenience of transport also enabled rulers to lead inspection tours to southern China. In the Qing dynasty, emperors Kangxi and Qianlong made twelve trips to the south, on all occasions but one reaching Hangzhou. The Chinese units (Chinese: 市制; Hanyu Pinyin: ; literally market system) are the customary and traditional units of measure used in China. ... For other uses, see Kangxi (disambiguation) The Kangxi Emperor (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kang-hsi; May 4, 1654 – December 20, 1722) was an Emperor of the Manchu Qing dynasty,[1] and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722. ... The Qianlong Emperor (born Hongli, September 25, 1711 – February 7, 1799) was the fifth emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China. ...

The Grand Canal also enabled cultural exchange and political integration to mature between the north and south of China. The canal even made a distinct impression on some of China's early European visitors. Marco Polo recounted the Grand Canal's arched bridges as well as the warehouses and prosperous trade of its cities in the 13th century (though be aware that doubts have been cast on Polo’s claims). The famous Roman Catholic missionary Matteo Ricci travelled from Nanjing to Beijing on the canal at the end of 16th century. Marco Polo (September 15, 1254[1] – January 9, 1324 at earliest but no later than June 1325[2]) was a Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione (The Million or The Travels of Marco Polo). ... Matteo Ricci. ...

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the canal has been used primarily to transport vast amounts of bulk goods such as bricks, gravel, sand, diesel and coal. The Jianbi shiplocks on the Yangtze are currently handling some 75,000,000 tons each year, and the Li Canal is forecast to reach 100,000,000 tons in the next few years.

The South-North Water Transfer Project

The Grand Canal is currently being upgraded to serve as the Eastern Route of the South-North Water Transfer Project. Additional amounts of water from the Yangtze will be drawn into the canal in Jiangdu City, where a giant 400 cu.m./s. pumping station was built already in the 1980s, and is then fed uphill by pumping stations along the route and through a tunnel under the Yellow River, from where it can flow downhill to reservoirs near Tianjin. Construction on the Eastern Route officially began on December 27, 2002, and water is supposed to reach Tianjin by 2012. However, water pollution has affected the viability of this project. The South-North Water Transfer Project (Chinese:南水北调工程) is a proposed scheme by the Peoples Republic of China to divert water from the Yangtze River to the Yellow River. ...

Historical sections

As well as its present-day course, fourteen centuries of canal-building have left the Grand Canal with a number of historical sections. Some of these have disappeared, others are still partially extant, and others form the basis for the modern canal. The following are the most important, but are not an exhaustive list.

The Jia Canal

In 1604, to solve the problem of the Grand Canal having to use 100 miles of the perilous course of the Yellow River in Northern Jiangsu, a man named Li Hualong opened the Jia Canal. Named after the Jia River whose course it followed, it ran 90 miles from Xiazhen (modern Weishan) on the shore of Shandong's Weishan Lake to Suqian in Jiangsu. The construction of the Jia Canal left only 60 miles of Yellow River navigation on the Grand Canal, from Suqian to Huai'an, which by 1688 had been removed by the construction of the Middle Canal by Jin Fu.

The Nanyang New Canal

In 1566, to escape the problems caused by flooding of the Yellow River around Yutai (now on the western shore of Weishan Lake), the Nanyang New Canal was opened. It ran for 47 miles from Nanyang (now Nanyang Town in the centre of Weishan Lake) to the small settlement of Liucheng (in the vicinity of modern Gaolou Village, Weishan County, Shandong) north of Xuzhou City. This change in effect moved the Grand Canal from the low-lying and flood-prone land west of Weishan Lake onto the marginally higher land to its east. It was fed by rivers flowing east-west from the borders of the Shandong massif.

The Huitong Canal

North of the Jizhou Canal summit section, the Huitong Canal ran downhill, fed principally by the River Wen, to join the Wei River at the city of Linqing. In 1289, a geological survey preceded its one-year construction. The Huitong Canal, built by an engineer called Ma Zhizhen, ran across sharply sloping ground, and the high concentration of locks gave it the nicknames chahe or zhahe, ie 'the river of locks'. Its great number of feeder springs (between two- and four-hundred, depending on the counting method and season of the year) also led to it being called the quanhe or 'river of springs'.

The Jizhou Canal

This, the grand canal's first true summit section, was engineered by the Mongol Oqruqči in 1238 to connect Jining to the southern end of the Huitong Canal. It rose to a height of 138' above the Yangtze, but environmental and technical factors left it with chronic water shortages until it was re-engineered in 1411 by Song Li of the Ming. Song Li's improvements, recommended by a local man named Bai Ying, included damming the rivers Wen and Guang and drawing lateral canals from them to feed reservoir lakes at the very summit, at a small town called Nanwang. For other uses, see Ming. ...

Duke Huan's Conduit

In 369 AD, General Huan Wen of the Eastern Jin dynasty connected the shallow river valleys of the Huai and the Yellow. He achieved this by joining two of these rivers' tributaries, the Si and the Ji respectively, at their closest point, across a low watershed of the Shandong massif. Huan Wen’s primitive summit canal became a model for the engineers of the Jizhou Canal. The Jin Dynasty (晉 pinyin jìn, 265-420) followed the Three Kingdoms and preceded the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China. ...

The Yilou Canal

The Shanyang Canal originally opened onto the Yangtze a short distance south of Yangzhou. As the north shore of the Yangtze gradually silted up to create the sandbank island of Guazhou, it became necessary for boats crossing to and from the Jiangnan Canal to sail the long way around the eastern edge of that island. After a particularly rough crossing of the Yangtze from Zhenjiang, the local prefect realised that a canal dug directly across Guazhou would slash the journey time and so make the crossing safer. The Yilou Canal was opened in 738 AD and still exists, though not as part of the modern grand canal route. Yangzhou (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; former spellings: Yang-chou, Yangchow; literally Rising Prefecture) is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu province, Peoples Republic of China. ...

See also

• Lingqu Canal

Lingqu Canal (Simplified Chinese:灵渠，Traditional Chinese:靈渠, Pinyin: Líng Qú) is located in Xingan county, near Guilin, in Guangxi province, China. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• 京杭运河史, 姚汉源, 中国水利水电出版社, 北京 1998年; A History of the Grand Canal, Yao Hanyuan, Waterpub, Beijing 1998
• 中国运河, 竞放、杜家驹 主编, 金陵书社 1997年； China's Canal, Jing Fang and Du Jiaju eds, Jinling Book Society, 1997.
• Science & Civilisation in China, Joseph Needham, various vols.
• User's own researches on the Grand Canal, 2006

Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Map of the Grand Canal
• The Reinvigoration of the Grand Canal

v • d • e Transportation in the People's Republic of China

Government agencies · Ministry of Communications · Ministry of Railways · Civil Aviation Administration of China Roads · Expressways of China · China National Highways · Road numbering · Rules (Road safety law) · Licence plates · AH1 · Gallery road · Zhongshan Road · Industry · Automobile industry in China · Bus · Panyu Public Transport Railways · History · Rail transport · Passenger rail transport · China Railways · Chinese Eastern Railway · South Manchuria Railway · Chinese narrow gauge railways · High-speed rail · Railway lines · Locomotives · Railway stations · Rapid transit system Ports · Port of Dalian (Lüshunkou) · Port of Ningbo · Port of Tianjin · Yangshan · Port of Shanghai · Xiamen Port · Port of Suzhou · Port of Guangzhou · Port of Shenzhen · Jiuzhou Port · Port of Hong Kong · Industry · China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation · China State Shipbuilding Corporation · Ship lifts · Canals · Grand Canal of China Aviation and Airlines · Air China · China Southern Airlines · China Eastern Airlines · Hainan Airlines · Shanghai Airlines · Shenzhen Airlines · Xiamen Airlines · Sichuan Airlines · Shandong Airlines · Cathay Pacific (Dragonair) · Air Macau Airports · Beijing · Shanghai Pudong · Shanghai Hongqiao · Guangzhou · Hong Kong · Macau Other · Bridges · Tunnels · Regions · Cities (Hong Kong · Macau) · Future public transportation · Chunyun · Disasters This article is on transportation in mainland China. ... The State Council (国务院, pinyin: Guówùyuàn), which is largely synonymous with the Central Peoples Government (中央人民政府), is the chief administrative authority of the Peoples Republic of China. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Ministry of Railways of the Peoples Republic of China is a member of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Known by the acronym CAAC, with the official name of General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (中国民用航空总局, pinyin Zhongguo Renyong Hangkong Zongju). ... Roads in China include: Expressways of China China National Highways Category: ... Chinese expressway, complete with signage. ... The China National Highways are a series of trunk roads throughout all of China. ... Roads in the Peoples Republic of China are numbered G, S or X, and four different categories (not including expressways and express routes) exist: Non-expressways and non-express routes G routes stand for Guodao, or China National Highways. ... Traffic law in mainland China is still in its nascent stage (see Road Traffic Safety Law of the Peoples Republic of China). ... The Road Traffic Safety Law of the Peoples Republic of China (中华人民共和国道路交通安全法) is a law which was passed by the National Peoples Congress of the Peoples Republic of China on October 28, 2003, promulgated... Blue PRC licence plates of the 1992 standard (August 2004 image). ... This page may meet Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... A gallery road. ... Zhongshan (中山) is a common name of Chinese roads, avenues and boulevards, in honour of Sun Yat-sen, better-known in Chinese as Sun Zhongshan, who is considered by many to be the Father of modern China. In contrast of Zhongzheng Road, which are named after Chiang Kai-shek, Zhongshan Roads... Chinas automobile industry is in rapid development since year 2000. ... “Autobus” redirects here. ... Panyu District Public Transport is a local bus operator in the Panyu District of Guangdong province in China. ... Rail transport in China began with the help of foreigners. ... This articles main focus is on the rail transport in China (including the Qing Dynasty (before 1912) and the Republic of China (1912 to 1949) eras, and in modern times under the Peoples Republic of China (1949 onwards)). See also rail transport in Hong Kong (1842 onwards) and... This article is about passenger transportation in Mainland China. ... China Railways (CR) is the national railway company of the Peoples Republic of China, under the Chinese Ministry of Railways. ... The China Far East Railway (a. ... The South Manchuria Railway Company (Japanese: 南満州鉄道株式会社 Minami Manshū Tetsudō Kabushiki Gaisha; abbreviated as 満鉄 Mantetsu) was a company founded by Japan in 1906, after the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905), and operated in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. ... The 1 m (3 ft 33⁄8 in) gauge Kunming-Hekou Railway (previously known as Sino-Vietnamese Railway) was built by French colonists between Vietnam and China. ... Chinas sixth national speed-up on April 2007 took the country’s network of 200km/h capable lines to 6003 km. ... The following is a list of railways in the mainland of the Peoples Republic of China. ... This is a list of locomotives in the Peoples Republic of China. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Categories: Stub | Commercial item transport and distribution | Transportation ... Port of Dalian (38° 55 N 121° 41 E) founded in 1899 lies at the southern tip of Liaodong Peninsula in Liaoning province and is the most northern ice-free port in China. ... Location within China Lüshun city or Lüshunkou or (literally) Lüshun Port (Simplified Chinese: 旅顺口; Traditional Chinese: 旅順口; Pinyin: , formerly in historic references both Port Arthur and Ryojun, is a town in the southernmost administrative district of Dalian of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Port of Ningbo (29° 52 N 121° 33 E) is one of the most important and busiest port in mainland China. ... The Port of Tianjin is located to the west of Bohai Bay and in the estuary of the Haihe River. ... Donghai Bridge The Yangshan deep-water port (洋山深水港) is a new port in Hangzhou Bay south of Shanghai, at . ... Shanghai (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Shanghainese: ), situated on the banks of the Yangtze River Delta in East China, is the largest city of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Xiamen Port (24° 27 N 118° 04 E) is an important vast deep water port situated in the estuary of Jiulongjiang River on the south coast of Fujian province. ... Port of Suzhou is an important inland river transport hub. ... Port of Guangzhou is the main seaport of Guangzhou city. ... Port of Shenzhen (32° 00 N 120° 49 E) is one of the busiest and fastest growing ports in southern mainland China. ... Jiuzhou Port Jiuzhou Port is the ferry port of Zhuhai. ... The Port of Hong Kong has always been a key factor in the development and prosperity of Hong Kong, which is strategically located on the Far East trade routes and is in the geographical centre of the now fast-developing Asia-Pacific Basin. ... The China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) is one of the two largest shipbuilding conglomerates in China, the other being the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). ... The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) is one of the two largest shipbuilding conglomerates in China, the other being the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). ... The government of China has built or is building several new ship lifts Ship lifts, also called boat lifts or lift locks, are an alternative to canal locks. ... Not to be confused with China Airlines, the national airline of the Republic of China (Taiwan). ... China Southern Airlines (中国南方航空公司) (SEHK: 1055, NYSE: ZNH) is an airline based in Guangzhou in the Guangdong province of the Peoples Republic of China. ... China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (Simplified Chinese: ) (SSE: 600115 SEHK: 0670 NYSE: CEA) is an airline based in Shanghai, China. ... CHH redirects here. ... Boeing 767-300 in Macau Shanghai Airlines (上海航空) is an airline based in Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. ... Shenzhen Airlines is a domestic budget airline based in Shenzhen Baoan International Airport, Shenzhen, Guangdong, Peoples Republic of China. ... Xiamen Airlines (simplified Chinese: 厦门航空; pinyin: Xiàmén Hángkōng) is the first airline company in Peoples Republic of China run by private individuals, established on July 25, 1984, and based in Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport. ... Sichuan Airlines is an airline based in Chengdu in the Peoples Republic of China. ... Shandong Airlines is an airline based in Jinan, Peoples Republic of China. ... Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (SEHK: 0293)(traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is an airline based in Hong Kong, operating scheduled passenger and cargo services to 120 destinations worldwide. ... Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited, operating as Dragonair, (Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) is an airline based in Hong Kong. ... Air Macau (Chinese:澳門航空), is an airline based in Macau. ... Beijing Capital International Airport (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (IATA: PEK, ICAO: ZBAA) is the main international airport that serves the capital city of Beijing, Peoples Republic of China. ... Shanghai Pudong International Airport (IATA: PVG, ICAO: ZSPD) (SSE: 600009) (Simplified Chinese上海浦东国际机场, Traditional Chinese 上海浦東國際機場, pinyin ShànghÇŽi PÇ”dōng Guójì JÄ«cháng) is an airport located in the eastern part of Pudong district of Shanghai, China. ... Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (IATA: SHA, ICAO: ZSSS) (Simplified Chinese: 上海虹桥国际机场, Traditional Chinese: 上海虹橋國際機場, Pinyin: ShànghÇŽi Hóngqiáo Guójì JÄ«cháng, Translation: Rainbow Bridge International Airport) is one of the two airports in Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. ... Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (IATA: CAN, ICAO: ZGGG) (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is the main airport of Guangzhou, the capital of the province of Guangdong, Peoples Republic of China. ... The Other or constitutive other (also referred to as othering) is a key concept in continental philosophy, opposed to the Same. ... Chunyun (Traditional Chinese: 春運, Simplified Chinese: 春运, literally Spring Transportation) refers to the high traffic load of transportation in Mainland China around the Chinese New Year. ...