Chinese canal network
The canal atQingjiangpu (清江浦) inJiangsu Province
Traditional Chinese	漕運系統
Simplified Chinese	漕运系统
Literal meaning	Canal Transport System
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Cáoyùn Xìtǒng Wade–Giles Ts‘ao-yün Hsi-t‘ung

Thehistory of canals in China connecting itsmajor rivers and centers of agriculture and population extends from the legendary exploits ofYu the Great in his attempts to control the flooding of theYellow River to the present infrastructure projects of thePeople's Republic of China. From theSpring and Autumn period (8th–5th centuries BCE) onward, the canals of China were used for army transportation and supply, as well as colonization of new territories. From theQin (3rd century BCE) to theQing (17th–20th centuries CE), China's canal network was also essential to imperial taxation-in-kind.^[1] Control of shipbuilding and internal tariffs were also administered along the canals.^[2]

The mainlogistics chains ofancient China were along thenatural rivers of the country. One major example was the occasion when thestate ofJin suffered a severe crop failure in 647 BCE and theMu Duke ofQin provided several thousand tons of grain by barges. These traveled from his capital at Yong (雍) in present-dayFengxiang,Shaanxi, along theWei,Yellow, andFen Rivers to the Jin capital at Jiang (t 絳,s 绛) inYicheng,Shanxi.

Since China's rivers generally run from the western highlands to theYellow andEast China Seas, all parallel to one another, there was great incentive to connect the river systems by canals. The canals also assistedflood control. The oldest known was probably the Hong orHonggou Canal (t 鴻溝,s 鸿沟,Hónggōu, "Canal of the Wild Geese"), which linked theYellow River near present-dayKaifeng to theSi andBian Rivers.^[3] Details of its construction have been lost, with it first appearing in the historical record inSu Qin's discussion of state boundaries in330 BCE andSima Qian placing its construction just after his discussion of the supposed works ofYu the Great.^[3] Modern scholars now usually place its construction in the 6thcentury BCE.^[3]

In486 BCE, men underKing Fuchai ofWu constructed the Han orHangou Canal (t 邗溝,s 邗沟,Hángōu) to connect theYangtze River through the Fanliang(樊梁湖,Fánliáng Hú), Bozhi(博芝湖,Bózhī Hú) and Sheyang Lakes (t 射陽湖,s 射阳湖,Shèyáng Hú) with theHuai.^[4] 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 withQi, which was concluded successfully at theBattle of Ailing, solidifying Fuchai's position ashegemon over the other states of his time. During 483 and 482 BCE, Fuchai's men then built theHeshui Canal (t 荷水運河,s 荷水运河,Héshuǐ Yùnhé) connecting the Si with theJi,^[4] which ran parallel to the Yellow River through densely populated districts in what is now westernShandong.

In 214 BCE the first Chinese EmperorQin Shi Huang ordered the construction of a canal connecting theXiang River and theLijiang in order to supply his troops for an attack on theXiongnu nomads. Designed byShi Lu (史祿), the resultingLingqu Canal is the oldestcontour canal in the world.^[5] This canal along with theZhengguo Canal in Shaanxi Province and theDujiangyan Irrigation System inSichuan Province are known as “The three great hydraulic engineering projects of the Qin dynasty”.^[6]

During theChu–Han Contention (206–202 BCE), GeneralXiao He used the Wei River to transport provisions for his army, thereby creating an effective logistics supply network. In 129 BCE, the sixth year ofEmperor Wu, a canal was cut through the northern foothills of theQin Mountains running parallel to the Wei River linkingTong Pass withChang’an and greatly reducing the amount of time needed to transport goods between the two cities.

Although theSui dynasty lasted only 37 years from 581 until 618, its rulers made a major contribution to improving the canal system. TheGrand Canal became a major factor in economic growth and political unity by connecting north and south, allowing transport of tax grain andcontrol of the sale of salt.^[7] TheHai,Yellow,Huai,Yangtze and Qiantang Rivers were all interlinked through the construction of canals thus laying the groundwork for further development during later dynasties.^[1] 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 ofEmperor 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.

During theSong dynasty the capital Daliang (大梁), modern dayKaifeng, used theBian Yellow,Huimin (惠民河) andGuangji (广济河) Rivers as part of the canal network. In 976 CE during the reign ofEmperor Taizong of Song more than 55 million bushels of grain were moved along the Bian River to the capital. By the time ofEmperor Renzong of Song (r. 1022–763) the amount had increased to 80 million bushels.

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 theThree Departments and Six Ministries of the administrative third grade or "San Pin" (三品). This office was responsible for arranging grain transportation to theLuan River (滦河) then onwards to the capital atDadu (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.

In 1368, the first year of the reign of the MingHongwu Emperor, 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 ofHuai'an, Jiangsu Province. Its responsibilities were to manage the canal network and ensure that annualgrain shipments remained at around 40 million tons. Boatyards were also established inAnqing,Suzhou,Hangzhou,Jiujiang,Zhangshu and Raozhou (饶州) (modern dayPoyang County). At Huai'an, a boatyard 15 km (9.3 mi) northwest of the Yangtze River ran for a distance of 23Chinese miles (c. 11.5 km (7.1 mi). Overall responsibility for all these locations lay with a department of theMinistry 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 inNanjing 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.^[1] 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 theGrand 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,Linqing 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.^[8] 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 scholarQiu 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%.”^[9]

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Although theQing dynasty continued to use the existing canal system it had numerous disadvantages and caused the government many headaches. In 1825 during the reign of theDaoguang Emperor a maritime shipping office was established inShanghai with a grain tax receiving station atTianjin.Qishan and other senior ministers thereafter managed the first grain shipments by sea. Operations in Tianjin quickly grew to outstrip those based inLinqing, Shandong Province. Before theFirst Opium War of 1839–42 and theSecond Opium War (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 21 July 1842, during the later stages of the First Opium War, British troopsattacked and occupiedZhenjiang 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 theTreaty of Nanking which brought hostilities to an end.^{[citation needed]}
• TheTaiping Rebellion 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 theYellow River 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 theJinpu railway linkingTianjin andZhenjiang such that the importance of the Grand Canal and the towns along its banks significantly dropped.

During theGreat Leap Forward, theRed Flag Canal was built entirely by hand as an irrigation canal diverting water from theZhang River to fields inLinzhou in northernHenan. Completed in 1965, the main channel is 71 kilometers (44 mi) long, winding around the side of a cliff and through 42 tunnels. It was celebrated within China and was the subject of several movies,^{[10][11][12][13][14][15]} including a section ofMichelangelo Antonioni's 1972 documentaryChung Kuo.^[16]

TheSouth–North Water Transfer Project is still ongoing, with the central route completed in 2014.

• Huang Renyu (2005),《明代漕运》 [Míngdài Cáoyùn,Canal Transport during the Ming], Beijing: Nova Publishing,ISBN 7-80148-767-2.(in Chinese)
• Li Wenzhi; et al. (1995),《清代漕运》 [Qīngdài Cáoyùn,Canal Transport during the Qing], Beijing: Zhonghua Publishing,ISBN 7-101-01238-8.(in Chinese)
• Li Zhiting (1997),《中國漕運史》 [Zhōngguó Cáoyùn Shǐ,A History of Chinese Canal Transport], Taipei: Wenjin Publishing,ISBN 957-668-443-9.(in Chinese)

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