The world-famous Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the earliest and longest artificial river in the world.
The Grand Canal starts from Beijing in the north and ends in Hangzhou in the south, and runs through Haihe River, Yellow River, Huaihe River, Yangtze River and Qiantang River, connecting these five major water systems. It flows through six provinces and cities, including Beijing, Hebei, Tian Jian, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The total length of the Grand Canal is 1794 km, and the current navigation mileage is only 883 km. It is the earliest man-made river with the largest project and the longest route in the world. In the history of the development of the Chinese nation, it has made great contributions to the development of North-South traffic and the communication of economic and cultural ties between North and South. It is ten times longer than the Suez Canal (1859, opened to traffic in 1869, with a total length of 170km) and is ten times longer than the Panama Canal connecting the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean (188 1 year, opened to traffic in 1920).
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is also called the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. After more than 2,000 years of vicissitudes, fate has turned from prosperity to decline. It used to be the lifeblood of the country and maintained the prosperity of the feudal dynasty; It is also a monument in the history of water conservancy projects in China, showing the wisdom of the ancients; It is also a river of blood and tears, which has soaked the sufferings of countless Li people. Today, Mr. Zheng Liandi, a famous water conservancy expert, will take us through the dust of history and objectively interpret the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from many angles.
The Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is a great project that all China people are proud of. The life of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal is tortuous and long. After many times of expansion and reconstruction, it has experienced more than 2000 years of wind and rain. It is like a recorder of the times, witnessing the glory and dullness of the past.
Today's Grand Canal is basically the last dredged river during the Qing Dynasty. From the Sui Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, the Grand Canal has been the main artery of north-south traffic. However, in the Republic of China, after the opening of the railway from Tianjin to Nanjing Pukou, the Grand Canal gradually lost the importance of north-south transportation and became a regional transportation network. Many river sections are silted up and suspended in dry season. In some periods, even Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang and other places are in urgent need of coal. In recent years, the Grand Canal has been paid more and more attention, especially in the planning of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project, which will play an important role. The renovation project of the Grand Canal is under way, and the dredging has achieved initial results.
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal was dug in 486 BC and opened to traffic in A.D. 1293, lasting 1779. In the long years, it has experienced three major construction processes.
The first time was in the late spring and autumn period of the fifth century BC. Fu Cha, the king of Wu who ruled the lower reaches of the Yangtze River at that time, mobilized civilian workers to dig canals from Yangzhou to the northeast, through Sheyang Lake to Huai 'an, and into the Huaihe River (now the Canal). It was named "Hangou" because it passed through Hancheng, with a total length of170km, which introduced the Yangtze River water into the Huaihe River and became the earliest section of the Grand Canal.
The second time was in the early 7th century, after the Sui Dynasty unified the whole country, Luoyang was established as its capital. In order to control the vast areas in the south of the Yangtze River and transport the rich materials in the Yangtze River Delta to Luoyang, in 603 AD, Yang Di ordered the excavation of the Yongji Canal, which was about 1 000 km long from Luoyang to Zhuo Jun County, Hebei Province (now southwest of Beijing). In 605 AD, he was ordered to dig a "Tongluo Canal" with a length of about 1000 km from Luoyang to Qingjiang (Huaiyin) in Jiangsu. Then in 6 10, the "Jiangnan Canal" with a length of about 400 kilometers was dug from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province (the foreign trade port at that time); At the same time, the Hangou was reformed. In this way, the river from Luoyang to Hangzhou with a total length of 1700 kilometers can be directly connected to ships.
The third time was after 13 century, when the Yuan Dynasty made Beijing its capital. In order to connect the north and south, the Yuan Dynasty did not bypass Luoyang, but used 10 years to excavate the "Luozhou River" and "Huitong River" successively, connecting the natural rivers and lakes between Tianjin and Qingjiang River in Jiangsu, and connecting Hangou and Jiangnan Canal south of Qingjiang River to Hangzhou. Between Beijing and Tianjin, the original canal has been abandoned and a new "Tonghui River" has been built. In this way, the new Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is more than 900 kilometers shorter than the Grand Canal that bypasses Luoyang.
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal consists of artificial rivers and some rivers and lakes, and the whole journey can be divided into seven sections:
(1) Tonghui River: from Beijing downtown to Tongxian, connecting Wenyu River, Kunming Lake and Baihe River, dredging;
(2) North Canal: Tongxian to Tianjin, Tongxian to Tianjin, dug in the lower reaches of Chaobai River;
(3) South Canal: from Tianjin to Linqing, excavated from the lower reaches of Weihe River;
(4) Lu Canal: Linqing to Taierzhuang, using Wenshui and Sishui water sources, passing through natural lakes such as Dongping Lake, Nanyang Lake, Zhaoyang Lake and Weishan Lake along the way;
(5) Central Canal: Taierzhuang to Qingjiang;
(6) Li Canal: Qingjiang to Yangzhou and into the Yangtze River;
(7) Jiangnan Canal: Zhenjiang to Hangzhou.
As the traffic artery between the north and the south, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has played a great role in making money for half a day and knowing that this is the way to go. The navigation of the canal has promoted the rapid development of coastal cities.
The above content is a brief introduction to the history of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and I would like to share it with you. Interested students can continue to learn about relevant materials and lay a foundation for further study of history in the future.