In modern times, China's development has become better and better, and slowly and suddenly it has a reputation for infrastructure maniacs. It is said that not only china now likes to build large buildings, in fact, in ancient times, the ancients also liked to engage in large-scale projects. For example, the very large Forbidden City, of course, there is also the super project of the Great Wall that has to be said. In fact, China also has a super project, this project began to be repaired in the Spring and Autumn Period, and as a result, it was repaired to the 21st century, after more than 2500 years, and it is still being repaired today. This project, along with the Great Wall, is a project that cannot be built in many countries today, and it is the Grand Canal.
The Grand Canal is a great water conservancy building created by the working people in ancient China, the longest canal in the world, and the earliest and largest canal excavated in the world. In ancient times, they did not have a car, and the traffic was very inconvenient. But the wise ancients thought of a way to use river transport, so convenient and labor-saving and economical. There are two kinds of river transport, one is natural and the other is artificial, and there are many advantages of natural rivers, but there are also disadvantages, that is, it will change with the changes in terrain. In order to supplement the shortage of natural waterways, humans began to dig artificial canals.
The current Grand Canal is divided into three parts: the Sui-Tang Grand Canal, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the Zhejiang East Grand Canal, with a total length of 2700 kilometers, which was built in 486 BC. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu Guo dug three canals: Xuxi, Hangou and Huanggou. Fu Cha was the last monarch of the State of Wu and his first excavation of the Grand Canal. During this period, the predecessor of the Zhejiang East Canal, the Shanyin Ancient Waterway, was also basically formed. After the Unification of the Six Kingdoms by the State of Qin, Qin Shi Huang did not sit idle, and he ordered people to build a spiritual canal. The Han Dynasty developed it, digging troughs and canals to divert wei water from Chang'an to the Yellow River.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao was not idle, and he successively dug the Baigou Canal, the Pingyu Canal, the Quanzhou Canal, the Xinhe River and the Trough Canal. The canal has always been repaired, and like the Great Wall, it will be more or less maintained and built, until the Sui Dynasty. Although many people say that the Sui Dynasty Emperor fainted, the Grand Canal of the Sui Dynasty that he ordered to be excavated was really left behind. The Sui-Tang Grand Canal was centered on Luoyang, north to Zhuo County, that is, Beijing, and south to Yuhang, which is now Hangzhou. The canal was of great use in ancient times, and in times of war, it could be used to transport large quantities of grain and grass. At the same time, it strengthened the communication between the north and the south, in ancient times, the waterway was less expensive than the dry road, and the cities along the river would be extremely prosperous, just like the Silk Road promoted the prosperity of the countries along the border.
Later, the Tang Dynasty also continued the work of the Sui Dynasty, and the Beiqu Canal was a channel between the Yellow River and the Huai River, but because this channel was connected to the Yellow River, the sediment was relatively large, and it was often necessary to clean it up. After the Anshi Rebellion, the Canal was interrupted for eight years, resulting in no way for ships to pass here, and later Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ordered someone to dredge the Canal. In the Southern Song Dynasty, it was very different, not only was it not maintained, but also in order to prevent the Jin soldiers from going south, many facilities on the canal were destroyed. In 1194, the Yellow River broke through, and Huaihuai was captured, and the Jin soldiers did not care, so they let it go to the Southern Song Dynasty. As a result, the Huai River often caused floods, and later the Huai River was changed from the canal south to the Yangtze River, and the Beiqu Canal lost its role.
After the Yuan Dynasty established the capital, Kublai Khan ordered the excavation of the Jeju River, the Huitong River, and the Tonghui River. Today, the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal in the sense of the word began to be born, during the Yuan Dynasty, the Status of the Zhejiang East Canal was no better than in the Southern Song Dynasty, but it was still one of the routes. The imperial court in the Ming and Qing dynasties attached great importance to canals, and specially set up a governor of water transport and a governor of the river. The cities near the canal flourished again, and after the founding of the state, the restoration and expansion of parts of the old Grand Canal began. After 1959, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project was launched, with a deliberate focus on expanding the canal from Xuzhou to the Yangtze River ???.
The Grand Canal, which can be seen today, is Chinese took 2500 years to improve little by little, although some have stopped for historical reasons. But it is also planning to restore the various sections of the river, and in modern times, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is a relatively well-preserved one and is still playing a role. On June 22, 2014, the Grand Canal of China was inscribed on the World Heritage List.
References: Notes on water classics, Xidufu