The Lifeline of Grain Supply—The Grand Canal

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After the Yuan Dynasty unified China, its capital was established in today's Beijing, known as Dadu. For such a vast unified country, especially considering that the Yuan Dynasty's roots were in the Mongolian Plateau, choosing Beijing as the capital was quite suitable.

On one hand, it was relatively easy to connect to the Mongol base—the Mongolian Plateau; on the other hand, it facilitated control over the Chinese mainland. Before the Yuan Dynasty, the capital was still located on the Mongolian Plateau, and governing the southern regions was too distant and costly.

However, building the capital in Beijing presented a major challenge. The grain produced around Beijing, including the entire North China Plain, was insufficient to supply the needs of the capital. Moreover, as the capital, it also had to allocate grain to the border or military key areas, increasing the demand.

If relying on land transportation, the quantity could not be guaranteed, and the cost was too high. The only effective method was water transport. However, there was no direct canal connecting Beijing to the grain-producing Jiangnan region. The canal opened by Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty began in Luoyang, with one branch heading northeast to Zhuojun (the area around Beijing) and another heading southeast to Jiangdu (Yangzhou). If these two canals were to be restored, the grain ships would have to go from Yangzhou to Luoyang, and then from Luoyang to Beijing, which would be a long detour. Moreover, by the time of the Yuan Dynasty, many parts of these canals had already silted up and could not be fully restored. Therefore, the Yuan Dynasty used natural riverways in Shandong and supplemented them with artificial channels to connect Hebei, Shandong, and formed the Jing-Hang Grand Canal, which ran from Beijing through today's Hebei, Shandong, and Jiangsu, reaching Yangzhou, crossing the Yangtze River, and then proceeding along the original Jiangnan Canal to Hangzhou.

From then on, water transport descending the Yangtze River could gather grain from the middle and lower Yangtze regions at Yangzhou, and then transport it north via the Grand Canal. Grain from Jiangnan would be funneled through the Jiangnan Canal and the densely packed rivers in the Yangtze River Delta to the Grand Canal and transported to Beijing.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Beijing's population increased even further compared to the Yuan period, and at times the Ming Dynasty had to allocate grain to the garrisons stationed along the eastern section of the Great Wall through this north-south Grand Canal—the Jing-Hang Grand Canal.

The Qing Dynasty continued this pattern. It could be said that without this Grand Canal and the grain it transported, Beijing could not have functioned as the capital. This canal was the lifeline of the capital Beijing and also the lifeline of the country's unity and centralized power. Because of this, a considerable price had to be paid for maintaining this canal.

Many people think that once the canal was operational, shipping would be very convenient. They do not know the basic fact that the canal passed through the hilly areas of Shandong, and the elevation in the Jining area today is about 40 meters higher than the north and south sides. This meant that the canal from Jiangsu to Jining in Shandong had to rise gradually by nearly 40 meters. After passing this point, the water level had to descend nearly 40 meters.

To achieve this, around forty locks had to be set up in this section. At that time, there were no mechanical tools such as pumps or water wheels, so they could only rely on water locks to regulate the flow. Ships had to be manually towed or pushed through the locks, and once one lock was passed, the next lock would open and the water level would rise again, gradually going up. Once the highest point was reached, the water level would be gradually lowered.

Opening and closing the locks consumed a large amount of water and required manual labor to operate the gates and tow the boats. This consumed a lot of human and material resources, especially water. Shandong was already water-scarce, and during droughts, water became even more limited. Even in normal years, to ensure there was enough water for the ships to pass, additional water sources had to be found, and water reservoirs were established to store water. A significant portion of the water in the Southern Four Lakes was used for this purpose. Still, it was not enough, and hundreds of local springs had to be collected and utilized, each spring managed by a "spring keeper," whose task was to ensure all the water flowed into the canal.

Even during droughts when the surrounding farmland lacked water, and even basic living water became scarce, as long as the grain transport had not ended, no water could be used. "Stealing" spring water was punishable by law. Therefore, the canal areas often had barren farmland, and residents fled.

Because passing through a lock consumed both water and time, it was required to accumulate a certain number of ships before opening the lock—usually around 200 ships. Once the quota was full, they had to wait for the next batch. If the number was not met, they had to wait as well. Passing through three or four dozen locks was not easy, and the canal's efficiency was not as high or convenient as one might imagine.

In exceptional cases, such as when important officials, envoys, or imperial tribute were being transported, the lock-opening standards were waived, and the locks could be opened at any time. Corrupt officials also abused their power or bribed to get exceptions. In reality, the cost and time required to use this section of the canal were much higher than the system regulations suggested.

Another contradiction was that the north-south canal had to pass through the east-west Yellow River. Ancient water conservancy engineering could not build elevated aqueducts or tunnels beneath the riverbed like modern projects; instead, the canal had to cut directly through the banks of the Yellow River. If the water level of the Yellow River was high, it naturally flowed into the canal, benefiting its flow; if the Yellow River's water level was low, water from the canal would inevitably flow into the Yellow River, worsening the canal's water shortage.

When the Yellow River experienced flooding or levee breaches, the water level would rise high, flowing into the canal, and while it brought silt, it raised the canal's water level, benefiting transport. Therefore, as long as the grain had not been fully transported, it was better to sacrifice the Yellow River and delay repairs rather than stop the grain transport. In cases of conflict between "protecting the transport" and "blocking the Yellow River," "protecting the transport" always took priority.

The canal connected five major river systems: Qiantang, Yangtze, Huaihe, Yellow River, and Haihe. From a shipping perspective, it was beneficial, but from a water management perspective, it had both pros and cons, with the cons prevailing. Especially when it connected the Yellow River and Huaihe, when the Yellow River diverted its course due to a breach, its water often flowed into the Huaihe via the canal, causing massive sedimentation in the lower Huaihe riverbed. Once the Yellow River's course shifted, the lower Huaihe became completely blocked, and the waterway to Hongze Lake was closed. Today, the waterways below Hongze Lake are all man-made.

Similarly, the Haihe water system, originally having multiple rivers flowing into the sea, did not interfere with each other during floods. Later, when Cao Cao connected several rivers for grain transport, the lower reaches of these rivers gradually silted up, and eventually all flowed into the Haihe, causing recurring flood disasters.

Thus, we can see that while the canal played a very positive and decisive role in national unity and in maintaining Beijing's position as the capital, it was not beneficial in all aspects. The canal also had conditions for promoting economic, cultural, and personnel exchanges, and it was not as convenient as we might imagine. For example, the canal was not open to the public until the grain transport was completed. Even for the government, except in special cases, the canal's capacity could not be used for other purposes until the grain transport ended. Therefore, not everyone traveling from the south to the north or Beijing could take the canal. For those traveling to Beijing for the imperial exams, they could only use the canal south of Shandong, while from Shandong north, they mostly had to travel by land.

When there was not enough water in the canal, some grain had to be unloaded at Qingjiangpu in Huai'an, Jiangsu, and transported by land to rejoin the canal after passing through the locks in Shandong. To ensure timely delivery of grain to Beijing, it was a matter of utmost importance.

Generally, the water levels in the canal sections in Zhejiang and Jiangsu were abundant, and there were no problems with transport capacity, so these areas were open to the public. However, in the Shandong and Hebei sections, the canal was usually not available for general use; merchant ships had to wait for the grain transport to finish or resort to bribery to get permission or have private goods transported on the grain ships.

As a result, the government continuously tried to find alternatives to this canal, but was unsuccessful. The Yuan Dynasty attempted sea transport but failed. The reason was that the ships at the time had no mechanical power and could only rely on wind or ocean currents. However, grain had to be delivered within a specific time frame, and if the wind or currents were unfavorable or the timing was wrong, it could threaten the capital's supply and national security. Furthermore, without long-distance communication tools, such as telephones or telegraphs, once a ship was at sea, no one could know what happened to it.

In the late Qing Dynasty, Western steamships and telegraphs arrived, allowing direct grain transport by sea to Tianjin, followed by land transport to Beijing. With the telegraph network along coastal cities, it became possible to monitor the grain ships' progress.

Steamship transport significantly improved the efficiency of grain transport by sea and lowered costs. As a result, the late Qing Dynasty declared the abolition of grain transport along the Grand Canal. With the opening of the Tianjin-Pukou Railway, even faster transport became available. Since grain transport no longer depended on the canal, the government no longer required Shandong to invest vast amounts of manpower and resources to manage the water sources, maintain locks, and ensure a stable water supply. The Shandong section was soon abandoned. The Hebei section, which had always been water-scarce, gradually silted up. However, the Zhejiang and Jiangsu sections, which still had abundant water, continued to serve as vital transport routes.

Understanding the history of the Jing-Hang Grand Canal allows us to fully and correctly understand its role in history. Today, when constructing a canal culture park or developing canal culture, we should start from the history and current situation of the canal, be realistic, emphasize its advantages while avoiding its shortcomings, protect its cultural heritage, and maximize its positive impact.