Inland Waterways and Coastal Routes

Sources

First Grand Canal. During the Tang dynasty (618-907) both Chang’an and Luoyang served as capitals of the central government. By that time the problem of supplying the interior was to some extent different from

that in the Han era (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.). With the growth in the Yangzi (Yangtze) River valley, many canals were built to transport grain from the south to the north. Combined into a single system during the Sui empire (589-618), these canals served to link the northern and southern parts of the empire by a route leading from Hangzhou to Kaifeng. Known as the Grand Canal, this system of waterways was supplemented by ancillary routes that carried goods to the Northwest.

Increased Revenues. After the unification of the country under the Tang dynasty, movement along internal water routes increased. The opening of the Grand Canal, connecting the basins of the Yellow and Yangzi rivers, marked a new era in communications. It stimulated the growth of water transport in the East and South, greatly influencing agriculture and commerce. By the eighth century, hundreds of thousands of tons of tribute grain were shipped along the canals annually. A coastal route also existed, but it was of little value in solving the problems of transportation, because the central governments were located in the interior. In addition, there was a lack of deepwater vessels. Not until the beginning of the Song dynasty (960-1279) did the Chinese build strong vessels capable of sailing on the high seas.

Disrepair. When the Northern Song emperors (960-1125) had their capital at the city of Kaifeng, they continued to use these canals heavily. During the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), however, the role of the Grand Canal declined because of the fighting between Song and Jin armies along the Huai River. As a result, the waterway itself fell into disrepair.

Second Grand Canal. After occupying China and establishing their capital at Beijing, the Mongols faced the problem of transporting supplies from the South to the North. The Yuan empire tried to solve this difficulty by utilizing a combination of sea routes and inland water-ways. Kublai Khan decided to build a new Grand Canal, and as before, this new waterway was intended to connect the North with the Yangzi River via the Huai River valley. The second Grand Canal was directed to the north instead of the northwest so that it crossed the Yellow River itself and arrived at a terminal near Beijing. Some of the stretches of the first canal were repaired for reuse, but overall a new course had to be constructed. This series of waterways, which was completed in 1295, played a significant role in the communication network of China until the introduction of railways in the nineteenth century. However, nature often disrupted the canal system, as when the Yellow River altered its course and damaged the locks. For this reason the Yuan government increasingly relied on the transport of grain by sea.

Sea Transport. The huge empire of the Mongols led to a rapid growth in trading. Shipment of tribute rice from South China to the capital at Beijing by sea proved to be quicker and less expensive than by land. As a result, the Yuan court appointed two former salt smugglers and pirates of the Yangzi delta as superintendents of navigation. Ships closely followed the coastline, taking more than two

months to reach Tianjing. The largest seagoing vessels of Yuan had a carrying capacity of 300,000 pounds. Pirates, typhoons, shoals, strong northern winter winds, and south-ward-flowing currents often caused delays. In order to avoid these problems, ship captains tried to limit their sailing from April to September each year. In 1283 the first shipment of 5.3 million pounds of foodstuffs and goods was made, rising to 76 million pounds in the following year. From 1324 to 1329 the amount shipped annually by sea ranged from 266 million pounds to 465 million pounds.

Sources

C. P. Fitzgerald, The Southern Expansion of the Chinese People (London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1972).

Transport in Transition: The Evolution of Traditional Shipping in China, translated by Andrew Watson (Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1972).

Thomas R. Tregear, A Geography of China (London: University of LondonPress, 1965).