Grand Canal (China)

Grand Canal of China
The canal in Beijing, by the Wanning Bridge.
Courses of the Grand Canal
Specifications
Length	1,776 km (1,104 miles)
History
Construction began	Sui dynasty
Geography
Start point	Beijing
End point	Hangzhou
Connects to	Hai River, Yellow River, Huai River, Yangtze River, Qiantang River
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	The Grand Canal
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iii, iv, vi
Designated	2014 (38th session)
Reference no.	1443
Region	Asia-Pacific

Grand Canal
"Grand Canal" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese	大运河
Traditional Chinese	大運河
Literal meaning	"Great Transport River"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dà Yùnhé Wade–Giles Ta4 Yün4-ho2 IPA [tâ ŷn.xɤ̌] Wu Romanization Du平 Yun上 Ghu平 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Daaih Wahn-hòh Jyutping Daai6 Wan6-ho4 IPA [taːi˨ wɐn˨.hɔː˩] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tāi-ūn-hô
Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal
Simplified Chinese	京杭大运河
Traditional Chinese	京杭大運河
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Jīng-Háng Dà Yùnhé Wade–Giles Ching1-Hang2 Ta4 Yün4-he2 IPA [tɕíŋxǎŋ tâ ŷnxɤ̌] Wu Romanization Cin平 On入 Du平 Yun上 Ghu平 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Ging1 Hong4 Daai6 Wan6 Ho4 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Kiaⁿ-hâng-tāi-ūn-hô

The Grand Canal is a system of interconnected canals linking various major rivers in North and East China, serving as an important waterborne transport infrastructure between the north and the south during Medieval and premodern China. It is the longest artificial waterway in the world^[1] and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Grand Canal's main stem, known to the Chinese as the Jing–Hang Grand Canal, is reckoned to extend for 1,776 km (1,104 mi) and is divided into 6 main subsections. The Jiangnan Canal runs from the Qiantang River at Hangzhou to the Yangtze River at Zhenjiang; the Inner Canal from the Yangtze at Yangzhou to the Huai River at Huai'an, which for centuries was also its junction with the former course of the Yellow River; the Middle Canal from Huai'an to the Nansi Lakes; the Lu Canal from the lakes past Jining and the present course of the Yellow River to the Wei River at Linqing; the Southern Canal from Linqing to the Hai River at Tianjin; and the Northern Canal from Tianjin to Tongzhou on the outskirts of Beijing. As such, it passes through the provinces and municipalities of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Tianjin, and Beijing. In 2014, the Chinese government and UNESCO recognized the Eastern Zhejiang Canal from Hangzhou to Ningbo along the former Tongji and Yongji Canals as official components of the Grand Canal.

The oldest sections of what is now the Grand Canal were completed in the early 5th century BC during the conflicts of China's Spring and Autumn period to provide supplies and transport routes for the states of Wu and Yue. The network was completed by Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty in AD 609, linking the fertile Jiangnan region in the south to his capital at Luoyang in the west and to his armies in the far north. His unsuccessful and unpopular wars and the massive amounts of conscripted labor involved in creating the canal were among the chief factors in the rapid fall of the Sui, but the connection of China's major watersheds and population centers proved enormously beneficial. Additional canals supplied Chang'an (now Xi'an) even further west under the Tang dynasty while stopover towns along the main course became the economic hubs of the empire. Periodic flooding of the Yellow River threatened the safety and functioning of the canal while, during wartime, the rivers' high dikes were sometimes deliberately broken to delay or sweep away advancing enemy troops. Even so, restoration and improvement of the canal and its associated flood control works was assumed as a duty by each successive dynasty. The canal played a major role in periodically reuniting northern and southern China, and officials in charge of the canal and nearby salt works grew enormously wealthy. Despite damage from floods, rebellions, and wars, the canal's importance only grew with the removal of the capital to Khanbaliq under the Mongol Yuan and to Beijing under Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty and the Manchu Qing dynasty. Despite the importance of railways and roads in modern China, the People's Republic of China has worked to improve the navigability of the canal since the end of the Chinese Civil War and the portion south of the Yellow River remains in heavy use by barges carrying bulk cargo. Increasing concern over pollution in China and particularly the use of the Grand Canal as the eastern path of the South-North Water Diversion Project—intended to provide clean potable water to the north—has led to regulations and several projects to improve water quality along the waterway.

The greatest height on the canal is an elevation of 42 m (138 ft) above sea level reached in the foothills of Shandong.^[2] Ships in Chinese canals did not have trouble reaching higher elevations after the Song official and engineer Qiao Weiyue invented the pound lock in the 10th century.^[3] The canal has been admired by many visitors throughout its history, including the Japanese monk Ennin (794–864), the Persian historian Rashid al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318), the Korean official Choe Bu (1454–1504), and the Italian missionary Matteo Ricci (1552–1610).^[4][5]