Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, writing 200 years later, described how Ptolemy II had improved the Nile-to-Red Sea canal by building a type of lock. In 1289, a geological survey preceded its one-year construction. Built in the 7th century by CHINA's Sui Dynasty, it stretches about 1,100 mi (1,800 km) across eastern China—about the same distance as MIAMI, FLORIDA, to NEW YORK CITY, or LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, to Vancouver, CANADA.The canal was built to transport rice and silk from the rich and fertile south to the dry … [28] They dug four large reservoirs in Shandong to regulate water levels, which allowed them to avoid pumping water from local sources and water tables. Yellow and Yangzi. At present, diversions of water mean that the lakes are often largely dry land. Building Blisworth Tunnel, was the most troublesome part of the Grand Junction Canal (now known as the Grand Union Canal) construction. [22] This prompted Qiao Weiyue, an Assistant Commissioner of Transport for Huainan, to invent a double-gate system known as the pound lock in the year 984. 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. [1] Starting in Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou, linking the Yellow River and Yangtze River. It ran for 75 kilometers (47 mi) from Nanyang (now Nanyang Town, located in the center of Weishan Lake) to the small settlement of Liucheng (in the vicinity of modern Gaolou Village, Weishan County, Shandong) north of Xuzhou City. What dynasty was the grand canal built? Does China have about half of the world’s population? Historically, periodic flooding of the Yellow River threatened the safety and functioning of the canal. Between 1958 and 1964 it was straightened, widened, and dredged; one new section 40 miles (65 km) long was constructed, and modern locks were added. After a particularly rough crossing of the Yangtze from Zhenjiang, the local prefect realized that a canal dug directly across Guazhou would reduce the journey time and thus make the crossing safer. The Tonghui river still exists as a wide, concrete-lined storm-channel and drain for the suburbs of Beijing. This portion of the canal was used to transport troops to what is now the North Korean border region during the Goguryeo-Sui Wars (598–614). The oldest parts of the canal date back to the 5th century BC, but the various sections were first connected during the Sui dynasty (581–618 AD). In 1926, the Regents Canal Co. agreed to buy the Grand Junction Canal subject to them purchasing the Warwick Canals. 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. The earliest work on the grand canal was done by the Sui Dynasty from 581ce to 618ce, millions of labourers worked on the river in . The elevation of the canal bed varies from 1 m below sea level at Hangzhou to 38.5 m above at its summit. Cargo barges on the Grand Canal at Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China. [31] It is known that 121,500 soldiers and officers were needed simply to operate the 11,775 government grain barges in the mid-15th century. The Eastern Zhejiang Canal (simplified Chinese: 浙东运河;; traditional Chinese: 浙東運河;; pinyin: zhèdōng yùnhé), also known as the Hangzhou–Ningbo Canal (杭甬运河) is located in Zhejiang. The Grand Canal, called in Chinese Yii … Some sections needed to be built above ground level requiring high levees to be built up so that a deep excavation could be made for the navigable channel. Interesting Facts about the Grand Canal Historians estimate that the oldest section of the canal was built around the 6th century BC. It includes ten city gates and over 20 stone bridges of traditional design and historic areas that have been well preserved as well as temples and pavilions. The mouth of the Daqing, however, silted up almost immediately. The government also planted an enormous line of trees. In the 1950s a new canal was dug to the south of the old summit section. In 1282–83 the decision was made to build a new canal from the Huang He—which since 1195 had changed its course southward and taken over the former mouth of the Huai below Huaiyin—to the Daqing River in northern Shandong province, which was dredged to give an outlet to the sea. [14] Running alongside and parallel to the canal was an imperial roadway and post offices supporting a courier system. The Grand Canal was built in the perspective of Versailles Palace by gardener Andre Lenotre. By 1759 he reported that 3 km (1.9 mi) in the Bog of Allen and 13 km (8.1 mi) of canal from the River Liffey near Sallins towards Dublin were complete. [18] To ensure smooth travel of grain shipments, Transport Commissioner Liu Yan (in office from 763 to 779) had special river barge ships designed and constructed to fit the depths of each section of the entire canal.[19]. Further on, about 30 km (19 mi) north of Jining, the highest elevation of the canal (38.5 m or 126 ft above sea level) is reached at the town of Nanwang. When the canal was completed it linked the systems of the Qiantang River, the Yangtze River, the Huai River, the Yellow River, the Wei River, and the Hai River. At Weishan Lake, both courses enter Shandong province. [2] Ships in Chinese canals did not have trouble reaching higher elevations after the pound lock was invented in the 10th century, during the Song dynasty (960–1279), by the government official and engineer Qiao Weiyue. What a stupid question!!! A magistrate of Jining, Shandong sent a memorandum to the throne of the Yongle Emperor protesting the current inefficient means of transporting 4,000,000 dan (428,000,000 liters) of grain a year by means of transferring it along several different rivers and canals in barge types that went from deep to shallow after the Huai River, and then transferred back onto deep barges once the shipment of grain reached the Yellow River. It was built to enable successive Chinese regimes to transport surplus grain from the agriculturally rich Yangtze (Chang) and Huai river valleys to feed the capital cities and large standing armies in northern China. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. This would cause disaster and prolonged economic hardships for local residents. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [3] The canal has been admired by many throughout history including Japanese monk Ennin (794–864), Persian historian Rashid al-Din (1247–1318), Korean official Choe Bu (1454–1504), and Italian missionary Matteo Ricci (1552–1610).[4][5]. [12] Double slipways were installed to haul boats over when the difference in water levels were too great for the flash lock to operate. 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, i.e. The floating city of Venice, one of the most extraordinary cities in the world was built on 118 islands in the middle of the Venetian Lagoon at the head of the Adriatic Sea in Northern Italy. Is China the most densely populated country on Earth? In recent years, because of newer modes of transportation, the canal has been gradually replaced. [14] This allowed the southern area to provide grain to the northern province, particularly to troops stationed there. As in the Song and Jin era, the canal fell into disuse and dilapidation during the Yuan dynasty's decline. 1 decade ago. [2] The new canal was to pass not Xuzhou but Suzhou, to avoid connecting with the Si River, and instead make a direct connection with the Huai River just west of Lake Hongze. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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 Yilou Canal was opened in 738 AD and still exists, though not as part of the modern Grand Canal route. 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. Its southern section, running between Hangzhou and the Yangtze, was named the Jiangnan River (the river ‘South of the Yangtze’). Here the land lying to the west of the canal is higher than its bed while the land to the east is lower. In 1488, the shipwrecked Korean scholar Choe Bu traveled the entire length of the Grand Canal on his way from Zhejiang to Beijing (and on to Korea) and left a detailed account of his trip. 1 decade ago. 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 1934 the Chinese government carried out extensive works on the canal between Huaiyin and the Yangtze; ship locks were constructed to allow medium-sized steamers to use this section, which was dredged and largely rebuilt. The convenience of transport also enabled rulers to lead inspection tours to southern China. 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