Yangtze River Water Conservancy History Ⅱ

Water Conservancy is an important project which related with social development. In Yangtze River history, the water conservancy got great development from Three Kingdoms Period to Song Dynasty. With the constant development of water conservancy project, the Yangtze Cruise and economic situation of Yangtze River basin also got great development.

Yangtze River Water Conservancy History – Three Kingdoms Period to Northern and Southern Dynasties

In this period, the political situation in south was more stable than in north, so people largely removed to south and the Yangtze River basin gradually became economy zone. At that time, waterway transportation has become main transportation way, and there also appeared dikes and coastal levees in some parts of the main stream and some branches. The water conservancy project almost appeared in Zhenjiang area, Taihu Lake basin. In late period of East Han Dynasty, there built Chenggongtang, QimenYan, Wutang and some other water conservancy projects in Yangzhou. When fought with Sunwu Kingdom, Caowei Kingdom used the waterway transportation of Dongfei River and Nanfei River, while Shuhan kingdom operated Dujiangyan and irrigation area in Hanzhong. In early period of West Jin Dynasty, Du Yu repaired the water conservancy in Nanyang, and opened up Yangxia Canal in Jianghan Plain which shortened the navigation route from Hanjiang River and the Yangtze River to Dongting Lake. In West Jin Dynasty, there appeared many water conservancy projects in coastal area. In Northern and Southern Dynasties, Nanjing became the capital of Southern Dynasty, the water conservancy project in the down reaches of the Yangtze River got constant development, and the water conservancy projects in middle reaches were repaired for several times. About the waterway transportation, there built some slopes in the canals to make ships can sail from the channel more easily.

Yangtze River Water Conservancy History – Sui, Tang and Song Dynasties

In this period, the economic development of south was better than the south, and water transportation became important political measure. At this time, the water conservancy in Yangtze River basin was very prosperous, especially in the Taihu Lake area. In Sui Dynasty, government rebuilt the Hangou and Jiangnan Canal, connected the lakes, rivers, and sea together. The Lin Canal has 18 check gates in Tang Dynasty, and 36 check gates in Song Dynasty. In later dynasties, government ever tried to open up the transportation ways in some rivers. In Northern Song Dynasty, there were 80 marine constructions on the Hangou, and appeared double ship locks which were used in Jiangnan Canal. After the Bian River dilapidated in Southern Song Dynasty, the Jiangnan Canal became more important. From end of Tang Dynasty to Southern Song Dynasty, there developed many small reservoirs and irrigation zones. In Song Dynasty, there appeared terraces in Jiangxi Province. Later, the water conservancy also got constant development in Yangtze River basin.