Chapter 18 Chapter 17 Taihu Lake - Water Mirror
"Taihu Lake is beautiful, and the beauty lies in the water of Taihu Lake. There are white sails on the water, red water chestnuts under the water, green reeds beside the water, fat fish and shrimps under the water..."
This lyrical song sung in Wu Nong's soft language once aroused people's longing and longing for the beauty of Taihu Lake.
In people's minds, the so-called "paradise on earth" is the uniquely beautiful and rich land nurtured by the water of Taihu Lake, because "Suzhou and Hangzhou" are the essence and representative of the Taihu Lake Basin.
However, on May 29, 2007, a shocking piece of news spread across the country and even the world: a large-scale outbreak of blue-green algae in Taihu Lake!
The incident happened in Wuxi, which has the "best place in Taihu Lake" - Yuantouzhu.
That day, someone turned on the tap and found that the water flowing out turned yellow and had a peculiar smell-this was obviously unbearable for Wuxi people who have always been accustomed to enjoying the sweet water quality. department.
What followed was overwhelming text and image news reports from many media.
According to statistics, this is the water pollution incident that has attracted the most domestic and international attention since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Nowadays, incidents of environmental pollution are not uncommon. Why did the appearance of blue-green algae, which are common in many waters in Taihu Lake, cause such strong shock and repercussions?
Let's first turn over the map of China and look at Taihu Lake.
Located in the Yangtze River Delta, Taihu Lake is a large freshwater lake. It has been said in ancient times that "36,000 hectares, with a circumference of 800 miles". Its water area is 2427.8 square kilometers, and it is the third largest freshwater lake in my country.The drainage area is 36,500 square kilometers.
For China, which has a vast territory of 9.6 million square kilometers, the area of the Taihu Lake Basin only accounts for 0.37% of the entire Chinese territory.However, on this small piece of land, there are 7 prefecture-level and above cities including Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou, as well as more than 20 counties or county-level cities such as Kunshan and Changshu.According to the economic data in recent years, the GDP she created was actually 11% of the country's, which means that her economic power is nearly 30 times that of the national average!More importantly, the national industry and commerce, Shanghai-style culture that influenced the modern, modern and contemporary history of China, and even the township and village enterprises and private enterprises that strongly promoted the process of China's reform and opening up also mainly originated here.It is no exaggeration to say that Taihu Lake is really a treasure among the treasures of the Chinese land! ——
Everyone knows this fact, and everyone is paying close attention to this lake that continues to create miracles and the land she nurtures!How can Taihu Lake's every move, every breath, not affect the nerves of China and even the world!
The Creator is fair.Throughout the entire earth, there is no mountain, river, wilderness, river, lake, or sea that is particularly loved or despised by the Creator, and her blessing or disaster depends entirely on people's attitude towards her.
The same is true for Taihu Lake.
If you know about Taihu Lake and have a look at the history of water conservancy and development of Taihu Lake, then you will understand that Taihu Lake was not tame and peaceful at the beginning, that is, "red blooms and falling flowers lead to Biepu, green and fragrant grasses and long embankments". As picturesque.She has even been violent and violent, and her gentle and beautiful image of benefiting the people has also undergone thousands of years of experience and forging.
Looking down from a high altitude, Taihu Lake looks like a round mirror with some defects.Its catchment water mainly originates from the East and West Tiaoxi water systems of Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang, the Jingxi water system of Maoshan Mountain in southern Jiangsu and the boundary mountains of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces, and the incoming water from Taohu Lake, Gehu Lake and canal areas.When the water level rises or the tide reverses, the water from the Yangtze River will also flow into the lake.Its effluent mainly flows into the Yangtze River through Taipu River, Wusong River, Huangpu River, Xujiang River, Wangyu River, Liangxi River, Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, etc., and flows into the sea in the east.The overall terrain of the Taihu Lake area is slightly higher around and slightly lower in the middle. Such a dish-shaped terrain has brought the disadvantage of poor drainage to Taihu Lake.The western part of the Taihu Lake Basin is surrounded by Maoshan Mountain in the north and Tianmu Mountain in the south. The terrain is high and pitchy, and most of the rivers have short sources and rapid flows. Therefore, heavy rains often cause mountain torrents, and in case of prolonged drought, the streams will stop flowing.The southeastern part of the basin is low-lying, and some places are even lower than the average water level of Taihu Lake, while the hills along the river and sea are higher than the surrounding ground.The east and southeast of the basin is close to the East China Sea, and it is also in the monsoon zone, so it is vulnerable to tides.
All of this is doomed: the people of Taihu Lake are not uniquely blessed, and must seek their own survival, development, happiness and glory through water control from generation to generation.
In fact, Taihu Lake has been neglected for a long time. In people's minds, she is just a strange and inaccessible place. "Shan Hai Jing Hai Nei Dong Jing" said: "There is a thunder god in Lei Ze, a dragon body and a human head, and its belly is thunder, in Wuxi." "Yi Zhuan" said "shock is thunder", so Mr. Wu Chengshi concluded that this The mysterious waters where Thor haunts is Zhenze, also known as Taihu Lake.
Myths are often a reflection of reality. "Thunder God", "Dragon's body and human head", "Drumming its belly and thunder" - just looking at these literal colors, it is not difficult to imagine how mysterious, wild and even frightening Taihu Lake was at that time.No wonder, in the era when the civilization of the Central Plains was already highly developed, the residents here still had tattoos, and lived a life of "barbarians".
Dayu was the first to manage Taihu Lake.
According to "Historical Records Xia Benji", Dayu was ordered by Emperor Shun to control the water, and changed his father Gun's failed practice of blocking the water.He worked tirelessly all day long, crossing mountains and ridges to check the flow of floods, "ordered the princes and people to rejuvenate people to spread the soil, travel mountains to represent trees, and set high mountains and great rivers."Wearing a hat on his head and holding a shovel and shovel in his hand, he dug soil and carried stones together with the people. He controlled water outside for thirteen years, and passed his house three times without entering.In the process of flood control, he has already started to use measurement methods, "Left guideline, right rule, carrying four seasons", and used vehicles, boats, skids and other vehicles.
It is said that Dayu climbed to the top of Yuqi Mountain in order to control the flooding of Taihu Lake, and inspected the mountains and rivers around Taihu Lake.After some on-the-spot investigations, he believed that in order to control the flood in Taihu Lake, three rivers must be opened to the east of Taihu Lake to drain the flood.So "cut off the Fu partition, flow into three rivers, and flow into the sea in the east, and Zhenze will be settled." "Three Rivers" refers to the Loujiang River, Wusongjiang River and Dongjiang River, the three dry rivers from the lower reaches of Taihu Lake in ancient times.
Qin Ying, a poet in the Qing Dynasty, wrote a poem about Taihu Lake: "The door is bounded by the water of Taihu Lake, and the dangerous turbulence is alone. The mountain was once chiseled by Yu, but the stone was not subject to Qin's whip. The sun sets and the geese go to the sky. The eyes are poor and thirty thousand It’s easy to release the Dongting boat.” The poem involves a folklore: Wuxi’s Wuli Lake and Taihu Lake were originally separated by Bijia Mountain composed of Nandu Mountain, Zhongdu Mountain and Beidu Mountain.In drought years, water from Taihu Lake cannot enter Wuli Lake; in flood years, water from Wuli Lake cannot drain into Taihu Lake.The people have been suffering from disasters year after year and are suffering unspeakably.When Xia Yu was governing Taihu Lake, he dug open the two low-lying places of Bijia Mountain to form two passages, Dushanmen and Pulingmen, and Wuli Lake was connected with Taihu Lake from then on.
According to legend, the Xiagang River in Jiangyin was also excavated by Yu Dayu.
Dayu not only dredged the channel for the lake water to enter the sea, but also "did his best to fill the ditches" and took the lead in reclaiming the land, so that the agriculture in the Taihu Lake Basin took its initial shape.
Another name that is still widely celebrated today is Taber.
Taibo was the eldest son of Gugong Danfu, the leader of the Zhou tribe in the late Shang Dynasty. According to the rules at that time, he was the legal heir.But Gugong Danfu thought that the third son Jili's son Chang was very talented, and for the purpose of revitalizing the king's business, he wanted to pass on the throne to Jili.In order to realize his father's wishes, Taibo and his second brother Zhongyong pretended to go to the mountains to collect medicine, led some Zhou people to migrate to the southeast, and finally settled in Meili, Wuxi, on the shore of Taihu Lake, and established the State of Wu.
At that time, the Taihu Lake Basin was still in the period of ignorance. Due to the constant waterlogging and poor living conditions, it was contemptuously called the land of Jingman.After Taibo went to Wu, he realized that in order to civilize the land and improve the lives of the people, he must first start with controlling the floods in the Taihu Lake Basin.Therefore, he used the water conservancy experience and technology he had mastered in the Central Plains to organize the people to dig the earliest artificial canal in the south of the Yangtze River connected to Taihu Lake - "Crossing Bodu to Prepare for Drought and Flood".The river was excavated in 1122 BC. It started from the original channel outside the Qingming Bridge in the urban area of Wuxi today, and flows east through Meicun, Hongsheng, Ganlu and Dangkou into Ezhendang. It is indirectly connected with Taihu Lake and is used for irrigation and water transportation. The total length is twenty-five kilometers.To commemorate him, later generations named the river Taibodu, or Bodu for short.Nine small wells on both sides of the Bodu River were also excavated almost at the same time.The excavation of Yidu and Jiujing has greatly improved the ability of the Taihu Lake Basin to resist drought and flood disasters, and benefited the people from generation to generation.On this basis, Taibo and Zhongyong taught the people how to practice rites, literacy, farming and weaving, so that the Jingman land with broken hair and tattoos began to accept the farming civilization of the Central Plains, and combined with the culture of the indigenous people in the Taihu Lake Basin, it became Wu Culture. origin.
Wu, who lived in the southeast to avoid the wars in the Central Plains, walked alone for more than five hundred years. Thanks to the support of Taihu Lake, the national power has been greatly enhanced in the late Spring and Autumn Period. The implementation of the plan also starts from the further improvement of the water system in the Taihu Lake Basin.
To make the country rich and the people strong, transportation comes first.In order to open up the waterway with the outside world, King Helu of Wu accepted Wu Zixu's suggestion to excavate Xuxi.This river crosses the southwestern hills of Maoshan Mountain, crosses the ridge of the watershed, and goes directly from Wuhu to Taihu Lake. It connects the two major basins of Taihu Lake and Qingyi River. The stream is connected to Jingxi and Taihu Lake in the east of the ridge, and can enter Taihu Lake through Jingxi in the east, and enter the Yangtze River through Wuhu in the west.Due to the fact that the terrain near the Xuxi Canal is high in the west and low in the east, and the drop is large, in order to ensure navigation, construction workers built five weirs on the fifteen to six-mile-long river to block the flow and store water section by section.In this way, ships in the Taihu Lake area can go back to Xuxi, pass through Gucheng, Shijiu, and Danyang lakes, and leave Wuhu or Gushu to the west of the Yangtze River. This not only shortens the voyage, but also avoids the risk of wind and waves on the Yangtze River.
In 495 BC, not long after Helu's son Fucha came to the throne, he couldn't wait to dig the Jiangnan River, with the purpose of transporting soldiers and food and grass in preparation for the northward struggle for hegemony.This river runs from today's Suzhou via Wangting, Wuxi, and Changzhou to Benniu and Menghe, and enters the Yangtze River at the mouth of the Xiaohe River, adding a communication channel between Taihu Lake and the Yangtze River.In the future, this river will become a part of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and it is the earliest excavated section of the Jiangnan Canal.Fucha's military ambitions soon dissipated with the country's collapse and death, but the Jiangnan River narrowed the distance between the Taihu Lake Basin and the Yellow River Basin, and entangled Jiangnan and the Central Plains more closely.
In the Taihu Lake Basin, it is surprising that there are so many place names commemorating Chunshen Jun Huang Xie.People in Huangdai and other places in Wu County set up temples to commemorate him. Huangdai, Shengang, Huangtiangang, Huangpu River, Shanghai's abbreviation "Shen", Huanggongjian in Xihui Park in Wuxi, and Huangbutun where Wen Tianxiang was placed under house arrest by the Yuan army are all related to him. related.In addition, there are many unremarkable villages that are also famous for him. "It is said that there are villages in Chunshen, and poplars in the south and north of the village"-such a poem is enough to explain Huang Xie's status and reputation here.
As an aristocrat of Chu State, why is Huang Xie so respected in the land of Wuyue?
The reason lies in Taihu Lake.
Everyone knows that Huang Xie is one of the four sons of the Warring States Period. When he was young, he traveled all over the world. He was erudite and memorized.Huang Xie first served as King Qingxiang of Chu and served as Zuo disciple.Later, he accompanied Crown Prince Chu into a hostage to Qin, and managed to help Prince Chu escape back to Chu State, while he stayed in Qin State to cover himself.After returning to the country, Prince Chu succeeded to the throne as King Chu Kaolie.Huang Xie also assisted King Kaolie of Chu in the Northern Expedition to destroy Lu, and joined forces with the six countries to attack Qin, which enabled Chu to be strong for a while and obtained the land of Jiangdong.In the fifteenth year of King Kaolie of Chu, Huang Xie was moved to the east of the Yangtze River, and took the ancient city of Wuxu as his capital. He built a city at the northern foot of Shunke Mountain, called Huangcheng, and set up a palace in the area of the current Wuxi City Park.
Although Mr. Chunshen was extremely talented, he had no remarkable achievements in politics. What really made him famous in history was the water conservancy construction he presided over after he moved to Jiangdong.
After Chun Shenjun came to Jiangdong, he began to regulate the water system in the Taihu Lake Basin.He built the Xilongwei Mausoleum Road to facilitate transportation; he managed Furong Lake to stop flooding; dredged the water from Lize to connect to the Huangpu River; It is conducive to navigation and irrigation; he also installed gates in Jiangyin today to regulate the inflow and outflow of river water, known as Huangtian Port.
Wang Anshi, a famous Prime Minister of the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote a poem describing the Huangtian Port he saw: "The northern waters of Huangtian Port are like the sky, and the wind and masts are thousands of miles away to see Jia Chuan. Overseas pearls and rhinoceros often enter the market, and fish and crabs in the world don't care about money." This is just a microcosm of what Wang Anshi witnessed. Due to Huang Xie's construction and the adjustment of the relationship between the Taihu Lake water system and the Yangtze River, the environment of the Taihu Lake Basin was improved everywhere at that time, and it also initially had a prosperous scene of abundant food and clothing and gathered merchants.
The people of Taihu Lake know how to be grateful, and the people of Taihu Lake especially know how to thank those who really benefit one side.Although there have been so many well-known celebrities here, there are not many examples that are widely respected like Huang Xie.Maybe even Chunshenjun himself did not think that the political ambitions he pursued and the grand occasion of "three thousand diners under his door" were just passing clouds, and the water conservancy construction of Taihu Lake, which is not favored by history books, really cast his brilliance. Achievements and unabated value to this day.
Compared with the galloping Yangtze River and the roaring Yellow River, the nature of Taihu Lake is gentle and tranquil.In the history of China, very few people associated those magnificent events with Taihu Lake, and the rhetoric that aroused people's arrogance and fierceness rarely used Taihu Lake as an excuse.The 36,000 hectares of soft water in Taihu Lake seem to like to hide, and are also willing to quietly moisten the people in her embrace in the peaceful and peaceful age.
After Chunshenjun, Taihu Lake, like other places, experienced the Qin and Han dynasties unified by the central government.Qin Shihuang Yingzheng and Hanwu Emperor Liu Che were both very successful and addicted to war.Although the two dynasties they developed had high productivity and engineering and technical capabilities, they were not very concerned about the non-core Taihu Lake Basin because they were committed to cultural governance and martial arts focusing on the Central Plains.During this period, although there were some water conservancy projects in the Taihu Lake Basin, very few of them could really benefit the people.For example, Qin Shihuang once sent 3,000 ocher-clothed disciples to dig through the Dantu Changlong, dug a canal in today's Zhenjiang and Danyang, and poured water into the river from the north, and dug the Jiaxing-Hangzhou section of the Jiangnan Canal.However, the purpose of Qin Shihuang's opening of the river was to patrol the east, not to adjust the water system, so the canals dug were rough and crude, especially in the subsidence area where the section from Jingkou to Qu'a flows through the east side of the Ningzhen hills. Suffering from insufficient water volume has become a difficulty for navigation.In the entire Western Han Dynasty, only Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty excavated the river channel from Suzhou to Jiaxing, and Cao Huaxin, the county councilor at the end of the dynasty, built a seawall one mile east of Qiantang County to prevent the invasion of sea tides.
During the period of the Three Kingdoms, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to the war and turmoil in the Central Plains, the Taihu Lake Basin, which was not involved in the war, gained a huge opportunity for water conservancy construction and economic development for more than 270 years.During this period, the war in the Yellow River Basin forced a large number of northerners to avoid the chaos and move south to Jiangnan, where the social environment was relatively stable and the natural conditions were relatively superior.The influx of laborers and the increasing demand for food and clothing have accelerated the development process in the south, and the water conservancy industry has also flourished.From the mountainous area in the west of the basin to the coast of the East China Sea, water conservancy facilities can be seen everywhere. There are countless large and small water conservancy projects, and there has been a situation of large-scale water conservancy construction of "the people have no soldiers, and all protect the ponds".
The prosperity of Soochow was the focus of attention for a while, and its regime lasted for fifty-nine years.Ordinary people think that Zhou Yu, Lu Xun and other famous generals are resourceful and skilled in management. In fact, what really supports them is the developed agriculture under the irrigation of Taihu Lake.The Eastern Jin Dynasty and Song Qiliang changed dynasties frequently, but they never suffered from military and political expenses to maintain the regime. This is also because the farmland economy in the Taihu Lake Basin is guaranteed by water conservancy projects.In the Liang Dynasty, Haiyu County in the southeast of Taihu Lake "has twenty-four puddles near the river in the high township, which is connected to the tide and used for irrigation, without worrying about drought; Therefore, Haiyu County was renamed Changshu County in the sixth year of Datong.At that time, Wudi was "familiar at the age of one year, or forget the hunger in several counties"-this all benefited from the water control of the Taihu Lake Basin.
However, excessive development and excessive utilitarianism can also cause hidden dangers.
During this period, the problem of flooding began to emerge.According to folklore, Yuantouzhu in Taihu Lake was originally a living turtle, which often caused troubles and disasters.Later, people built a lighthouse on the head of the turtle, and painted it red, symbolizing the red-hot iron nails, and nailed the head of the turtle firmly, so as to stop its evil spirits.This is obviously an unjust case: the flood in Taihu Lake was not caused by wind and waves, and the lighthouse did not stop the flood from happening.
The floods in Taihu Lake come from floods, which are caused by poor drainage, and poor drainage is aggravated by human factors.Human beings arrogantly regard themselves as the reformers of nature. In fact, they know little about the laws of nature. When they lack sufficient understanding, they often act rashly and arbitrarily change the appearance of nature for immediate benefits, thus planting long-term disasters that will affect future generations.In ancient times, the rivers in the lower reaches of Taihu Lake were mainly Loujiang River, Songjiang River and Dongjiang River.Since the Spring and Autumn Period, people have been surrounding fields in the Dianmao Lake Group.Transforming Juruze country into good fields and fertile soil is an effective means of developing agriculture in low-lying areas, but the increasing number of polders has changed the flow pattern and flow of the river, leading to the gradual shrinkage and congestion of the Dongjiang River.By the early years of the Southern Dynasties, part of the water had to flow northward through the Songjiang River.On the other hand, since the opening of the Xuxi Canal, during the flood season, the Qingyi River and the Shuiyang River flow from west to east into Taihu Lake, further increasing the flood discharge burden of Taihu Lake.The gentle and quiet Mother Lake finally couldn't hold back and started to explode.Unsmooth drainage caused the situation of "Songjiang and Hudu are blocked and unfavorable", and Wuxing County upstream was "overflowing everywhere, soaking into disasters".If we say that the water control activities of the children of Taihu Lake in the past were mainly to deal with the unfavorable natural environment, then from now on they need to devote more energy to deal with the adverse consequences caused by human behavior.
Unlike Qin Huang, Han Wu, who ruled the world, the rulers of the Six Dynasties only had a corner of the south of the Yangtze River as their foundation. The Taihu Lake flood threatened not only the farmland, but also the country, and they dared not ignore it in the slightest.In order to prevent the lake from overflowing, Sun Xiu, the emperor of the Eastern Wu Dynasty, built a green pond. The embankment is tens of miles long and extends northeastward along the edge of Taihu Lake.
Although the green pond has contained the overflow of the lake, the water from the upper reaches can still pose a threat.In the 22nd year of Song Yuanjia in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Liu Jun, the governor of Yangzhou, Shixing Wang, made a report: "The Wuxing County under the command has heavy mountains, the soil is polluted, and the springs are collected. Until it drifts away." People of insight in the folk also began to offer suggestions for reducing flood disasters, and Yao Qiao, a state citizen, suggested that "open Caogu Lake from WukangGFBC1 River and go straight to the sea."This plan is to use the GFBC1 stream in the east of Deqing County to dig a canal directly leading to the valley water to reduce the burden on Taihu Lake, but unfortunately it was not successfully implemented.
There are also many successful examples of governance in this period, and the results were achieved because they respected the laws of nature and acted according to local conditions.In the west of the Taihu Lake Basin, Danyang, Jintan, Liyang, Yixing, Yuhang, Anji, Wuxing, Changxing and other counties in the two provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang today are mostly hilly and mountainous.Due to the large drop, most of the rivers are short and swift, and the flow is also large.Therefore, floods are prone to occur when there is much rain, and water shortages occur when there is little rain, which is very unfavorable to agricultural production.During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, people built many ponds of different sizes according to the characteristics of the landform to store floods and fight droughts.The advantage of Pitang is that it is easy to control.At that time, "Chengbei's house is everywhere".Among them, the most famous ones are Liantang, Ditang, Wutang and Xinfengtang.
Liantang is located in the northwest of Qu'a, also known as Lianhu, Qu'a Houhu and Kaijiahu. It was built in the late Western Jin Dynasty.At that time, Chen Min occupied Jiangdong. In order to accumulate wealth and fight against the imperial court, he ordered the people to "repair farming achievements".He sent his younger brother Chen Xie to preside over the construction of a Liantang to contain the Malin River, and built a water storage pit with a circumference of more than 40 miles and a water-bearing area of more than 100 square miles, which can irrigate the farmland in Qu'a and Yanling counties.Li Hua's "Preface to Lianhu" in the Tang Dynasty wrote: "The lake in Runzhou is called Lianhu, with an area of forty miles. It can be seen that it is of great significance to the agricultural development in the west of Liucheng, Taihu Lake.Not only that, the water of Lianhu Lake also played a role in supplementing the water volume of the Jiangnan Canal to facilitate navigation.
Xinfengtang was established by Zhang Kai, the internal historian of Jinling in the fourth year of Emperor Taixing of Jin Yuan Dynasty.In the old days, Jinling was sparsely populated, and there were few ditches.In the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "the four counties under Jinling lost their fields due to drought", so Zhang Kai built Qu'a Xinfengtang.After the completion of Xinfengtang, it can "irrigate more than 800 hectares of fields, and grow rich every year".
In the thirteenth year of Song Yuanjia in the Southern Dynasties, Yuhang ordered Liu Daoxi to preside over the restoration of the Nanhu Lake where "the high embankment collapsed, the torrent was rapid and overwhelming". .After the restoration of the South Lake, the Tianmu Mountains "storage properly, and the high and low are salty and ripe", "the three counties are salty, and they have been known as a great profit in the southeast for hundreds of years."
In the Southern Dynasties, the West Lake in the southwest of today's Changxing County and the Wuxing Pond in Huzhou City today were excavated in the Southern Dynasties. In addition, there are some small ponds and weirs with aspirations.
Another important guarantee for the rapid development of agricultural economy in the Taihu Lake Basin during this period was the seawall.In order to prevent the invasion of sea tides, during the Xianhe period of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Shi Yutan of Wu State presided over the construction of the Hudu Fort near today's Shanghai. Gu Yanwu, a scholar at the end of the Ming Dynasty, believed that this was the earliest seawall in the south of the Yangtze River.
The water conservancy construction that the regimes of the Six Dynasties invested the most in manpower and material resources was the excavation and improvement of canals. Although it may not be directly related to agriculture, its significance is by no means diminished.
Since the establishment of Sun Quan's capital in the Three Kingdoms period, the Jiangnan Canal has taken on the task of transporting Wuhui supplies by water for the capital. The Soochow regime then began to rectify it. ", the communication between Taihu Lake and Yangtze River has become smoother.At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, in order to ensure the smooth flow of the northern section of the canal, the Lianhu Lake was used as a water tank to adjust the water volume of the canal; at the beginning of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Ding Maodai was established in Jingkou, so that the Jiangnan Canal became the backbone of water transportation in the Taihu Lake Basin in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties.Dingmaodai is one of the earliest weir gates on the Jiangnan Canal, and Liupudai on the Qiantang River in the southeast of Hangzhou was built at a similar time.These two weirs and gates are respectively located at the junction of the canal, the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River, which prevent the influence of the river tide on the water level of the canal, prevent the loss of river water, and significantly improve the shipping conditions.
Different from the Jiangnan Canal, the Xuxi Canal was mainly used to irrigate farmland during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and its shipping status was not important. This is because Pogangdu was dug between Jiankang and the Jiangnan Canal at that time, and went west from the Sanwu area to the Yangtze River. All because of this line.
Pogangdu, which connects the Qinhuai River Basin and the Taihu Lake Basin, is another cross-basin canal located in the west of the Taihu Lake area.Eastern Wu, Eastern Jin and Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen all established Jiankang as their capitals. However, the Ningzhen hills where Jiankang is located are not rich in products. After the establishment of the capital, with the increase in population and consumption demand, food and other materials need to be supplied by the three Wus. .Land transportation is expensive due to the long journey, while water transportation must go from the Jiangnan Canal to the Jingkou and go westward to the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River from Jingkou to Jiankang is vast, windy and dangerous, and ships often encounter accidents.Therefore, in the eighth year of Chiwu, Sun Quan "sent school lieutenant Chen Xun to garrison fields and 30,000 scholars to chisel the middle way of Jurong", with the aim of connecting the Qinhuai River and the Jiangnan Canal, so that Wuhui ships could enter the capital through this, avoiding the embarrassment. The danger of the Yangtze River.
The Jurong Middle Road was originally a land road at the northern foot of Maoshan Mountain, with mountains and hills connected along the way, so it was named Pogangdu after it was opened as a canal.The Pogangdu River is steep and requires water storage to be navigable. Therefore, there are 14 dais to the east of Fangshan to store water. "The upper seven dais enter the Yanling boundary, and the lower seven dais enter the Jiangning boundary."When crossing the dam, it must be pulled by cattle or manpower, the voyage is very difficult, and once the dam is blocked, the whole route will be blocked.In order to increase the water level of the river and ensure the smooth communication between the capital and Sanwu, the Liang Dynasty sent Shen Yu to repair Fangshan Dai and open four floods, but still failed to solve the water source problem of Pogangdu.Therefore, Shangrongdu had to be opened on the north side of this river.Although the process of going to Rongdu is short, it is more inconvenient than Pogangdu and Lidai.The Chen Dynasty then abolished Shangrong Du, and still broke the Gangdu.After Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty destroyed Chen, he issued an imperial edict to abolish Erdu together.
Pogangdu and Shangrongdu were the economic lifelines of the regimes of the Six Dynasties, especially Pogangdu, which was used for a long time and had a large amount of water transportation. It was the most important canal in the west of the Taihu Lake Basin at that time, and the rich products in the Taihu Lake area were continuously transported. Arrived in Jiankang.As the number of passing ships far exceeds the carrying capacity of the waterway, even ship jams often occur.
The opening and use of the Xuxi Canal, Pogangdu Canal, and Jiangnan Canal have strengthened the connection between the Taihu Lake Basin, the Qinhuai River Basin, the Qingyi River Basin, and the Zhejiang and Zhejiang regions. There is no danger of obstacles in the prefecture, and the accessible water transportation facilitates the circulation of materials and cultural exchanges, which is an important prerequisite for the great economic and cultural development of the region during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.The rulers of the Six Dynasties were lackluster politically, and water conservancy construction can be regarded as one of their few historical contributions.
Not long after the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the construction of the Grand Canal running through the north and south began.After Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty ascended the throne, the progress of the project was further accelerated, running through the waterway from Zhuojun in the north to the Yangtze River in the south.In December of the sixth year of Daye, he ordered the excavation of the Jiangnan River, "more than 800 miles from Jingkou to Yuhang, and more than ten feet wide, so that dragon boats can pass through it."The Jiangnan River circles the east of Taihu Lake, starting from Jingkou, passing through Qu'a, Piling, Wuxi, Wujun, Jiaxing, and arriving at Yuhang, passing through the most affluent areas in the south of the Yangtze River.In fact, this is the widening, renovation and dredging of the canals since the Wei, Jin and Southern Dynasties, thereby greatly enhancing the navigability, drainage and irrigation capabilities.
History is determined by the victors. Therefore, the maladministration and evil deeds of Emperor Sui Yang, the short-lived emperor of the subjugated dynasty, were naturally exaggerated, and the credit was deliberately erased, making him the most notorious emperor in the history of our country. The opening of the canal is also said to be for the pleasure of personal cruising.In fact, the capital of the Sui Dynasty was Chang'an, and it was difficult for Qinchuan, which was 800 miles away, to provide all the grain supply for the capital. It had to rely on water transport from all over the country, and the northward transport of grain in the increasingly prosperous Jiangnan was indispensable; The rulers had to strengthen their control over large-scale anti-Sui rebellions. Furthermore, the Taihu Lake Basin was criss-crossed and the people were good at building and sailing boats. Once a war broke out, there would be a water battle, and preparations had to be made for dispatching naval forces.Political, economic and military needs were the main motivations for digging the Grand Canal. Even if Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty had the purpose of cruising and enjoying himself, it could only be incidental.
After the Jiangnan Canal was excavated, it became the hub of irrigation and shipping in the Taihu Lake area, and played a huge role in agricultural production and commodity exchange.Since then, the Taihu Lake Basin has communicated with the vast Central Plains via the Hangou, Tongji Canal, and Yongji Canal. Political ties have been greatly strengthened, and economic and cultural exchanges have become closer. As a result, the economy and culture of this area have developed rapidly, and the country's large The unified situation has also been maintained again.All this is of great significance in Chinese history.Not only modern historians have re-evaluated this, but there was also a fair conclusion in the poems of the predecessors: "The river was destroyed by the Sui Dynasty, and it has been relying on Tongbo for thousands of miles. If there is no dragon boat in the water palace, Gongyu's merits will not compare. many!"
The three hundred years of the Tang Dynasty, especially the period from the early Tang Dynasty to the middle Tang Dynasty, was the golden age of Chinese feudal society.In a relatively stable social environment, the cause of water control and farming has also been highly valued.After the mid-Tang Dynasty, the northern vassals and towns were separatist, and "the world's great plans should be given to the southeast". The rulers had to devote themselves to the development of the southern economy. Water conservancy construction in the Taihu Lake area became more frequent. Reclamation.In the Tang Dynasty, the Taihu Lake area had many famous officials who were immortalized in history because of their contributions to water control.
Yu GFBC2, who served as the governor of Huzhou and Suzhou successively, made a lot of achievements in water conservancy construction.During the reign of Zhenyuan, on the basis of Ditang, he "completed the embankment, dredged and dug the land, lined up trees to show the way, and broke the water to irrigate the fields".To commemorate him, later generations rewritten Ditang as GFBC2tang with the same pronunciation. GFBC2pond protects a large area of farmland in the south of the pond from being flooded, and creates good conditions for the reclamation and construction of low-lying farmland in the southeast of Taihu Lake.During the Yuanhe period, Xue Rong, the governor of Huzhou, saw that the Ditang was "blocked with silt and water, and the boat could not be carried", so he continued to dredge the original project, so that the Ditang continued to play the role of protecting the fields and blocking floods.
In addition to building embankments, opening ponds to vent the lake water was also an important method for the Tang Dynasty to regulate Taihu Lake.In the fourth year of Yuanhe, Changshu ordered Li Su to excavate Yunhetang, which was used to store water for irrigation in normal times, and became one of the channels for Taihu Lake to flow directly into the Yangtze River during the rainy season.
During the reign of Guangde, the government began to garrison land in western Zhejiang, of which Jiaxing garrison was the largest.The Tuntian army built ponds and ditched ditches. It twists and turns for more than a thousand miles from Taihu Lake to the East China Sea. There are roads on the shore and boats in Hanoi to form a complete drainage and irrigation system.During the Yuanhe period, Fan Chuanzheng, governor of Huzhou, excavated the Pingwangguan River along the embankment built at GFBC2, which provided a pivotal channel for lake water drainage and farmland irrigation.
In the Tang Dynasty, the lowest terrain between Pingwang and Baji was the discharge channel from Taihu Lake to the canal. The water surface was wide and the wind and waves were high, so the tank boats in the Jiangnan canal often sank.In the fifth year of Yuanhe, Suzhou governor Wang Zhongshu built a tens of miles long Wujiang pond road on the west bank of the canal by "embanking the Songjiang River as a road". The comprehensive development of agriculture in Wujiang area has since laid the foundation.Wang Zhongshu also built a bridge at the outlet of Taihu Lake, which is convenient for pulling boats and pulling fibers. The bridge is 53 holes long, and the bridge deck is long and flat. The big ship sails.In order to raise funds for the construction of the bridge, it is said that he donated his precious belt at all costs.Later generations named the bridge Baodai Bridge in memory of him.However, the pond road was built in the upper reaches of the Wusong River, which greatly reduced the flow of Taihu Lake water to the east, resulting in silting of the lower reaches of the Wusong River.Since the Changqing reign of Emperor Mu Zong, the Taihu Lake area has often suffered from floods. This is certainly related to climate change and other factors, but the obstruction of the ponds prevents the water from Taihu Lake from effectively passing through the Wusong River into the sea, and timely lowering the water level is also an important reason.It can be seen that the negative impact of Wujiangtang Road is also very serious.
Meng Jian, the governor of Changzhou, also spared no effort in water conservancy construction. He made some investigations and researches on the terrain and water conditions at the beginning of his tenure. The northwest of the county lacks a large river, and the terrain is so high that it is difficult to guarantee farmland irrigation.So in the eighth year of Yuanhe, more than 150,000 migrant workers from Changzhou County and nearby areas were recruited to dredge and dredge the old river from the bank of the Yangtze River near Hezhuang in the north to Benniu Wanyuan Bridge in the south.During the construction period, Meng Jian personally went to the river bank to monitor.After the river was opened, it ran through more than ten rivers, including the Pu River, Yangji River, Wutang River, and Xiaoheng River. The river flows into the Grand Canal from north to south, "irrigating more than 4,000 hectares of fertile soil" and increasing crop production. .At the same time, water boats can also enter the river through this river, cross the river and enter the North Canal, diverting the water transportation.To commemorate Meng Jian's achievements, later generations called the newly opened river "Meng River", which is still in use today.Meng Jian also opened Taibodu in Wuxi, which also used the original old waterways to fully dredge and irrigate thousands of hectares of land.Zhu Shuzhen, a poetess in the Song Dynasty, wrote a poem praising Meng Jian’s contribution: “Due to the traces of the most virtuous, it was excavated and returned to Meng Jiantong. It originated from Qianlibi in Longshan, and the flowers bloomed in Meili Wanjiahong.”
The largest irrigation area in the Huzhou area in the Tang Dynasty was the Wucheng Lake irrigation area in the southwest of Changxing County.Wucheng Lake, also known as West Lake, can irrigate 3,000 hectares of fields, but it was already obsolete at that time.In the thirteenth year of Zhenyuan, the governor Yu GFBC2 "set up dikes and ponds to restore them", which became the largest water conservancy project in the area.In memory of Yu GFBC2, later generations renamed Changxing West Lake as Yugongtang.When Quan Fengji was the magistrate of Changxing County, he reorganized the water source of the West Lake.The West Lake used to draw Fangshan spring water to supplement the water source, but it was cut off by powerful landlords. The villagers suffered a lot from it but dared not object.Quan Fengji led people to open the road weir built by Haoqiang, "still leading the spring to irrigate the field", and restored the original function of Wucheng Lake.
The most famous water conservancy project in Hangzhou is Qiantang Lake, which is today's West Lake.In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, Li Mi, the governor, built a stone bridge in Hubei, "setting up sluices to discharge the lake water, and it is useless to irrigate the fields."Later, when Bai Juyi served as the governor, he built dikes to defend the lake, set up sluices, dug channels, set up spillways, built artificial reservoirs, increased the water storage volume, and improved water supply and flood control facilities, which can be used for both irrigation and water supply to the city.The management of West Lake has greatly benefited agricultural production. "Where water is released to irrigate the field, every inch that is reduced can irrigate more than 15 hectares; every time it is restored, it can irrigate more than 50 hectares."As a result, more than a thousand hectares of farmland near Hangzhou were saved from a bad year.When Bai Juyi left Hangzhou, he felt that the greatest good he had done for the people of Hangzhou was to enable them to irrigate their fields with lake water.他在诗中说道：“税重多贫户，农饥足旱田。惟留一湖水，与汝救凶年。”
唐末的景福二年，淮南节度使杨行密占据宣州，被黄巢部将孙儒包围，五月未能解。杨行密部将台蒙在胥溪河岭脊以东河段自西向东修筑土堰五道，依次为银林堰、分水堰、苦李堰、何家堰和余家堰，银林、分水两堰节制西水东流，苦李、何家、余家三堰蓄水行舟，目的是“拖轻舟以馈军”，解宣州之围。意外的收获是，胥溪河下游地区的水患也因五堰筑成得到缓解。
隋唐前期江南运河的入江口在丹徒，江对面就是今天扬州的扬子桥，江面宽有四十里。但由于镇江附近长江主泓道的变迁，运河入江口日益被江潮挟带的泥沙淤塞。隋唐时期扬子桥以南的江面已经积沙为洲，形状如瓜，故而称为瓜洲。瓜洲渐渐与江北合拢，至开元时洲上已有百姓定居，而江面则日渐狭窄，仅为二十余里。为减少漕船在江中迂回航行的风涛危险，润州刺史齐瀚于开元二十五年奏请，由京口埭下直趋渡江，并在扬州南边的瓜洲浦开伊娄河直达扬子镇。这样，运河的入江口在开元年间作了改变，从丹徒口移到了京口埭。京口埭是唐朝在江南运河上设置的四处堰埭之一，这些堰埭发挥了节水济运，维持航道水深的作用，可以防止长江和钱塘江的水位变化及江潮涨落影响通航。
太湖母亲是公正的，她不仅惩罚人们的愚昧行径，对于儿女们的悉心侍奉也给予了丰厚的回报。太湖流域不再是偏远落后地区了，已经迅速发展成富庶膏腴之地，中唐以后在全国的地位愈益飙升。文化教育、文学艺术也相应地得到长足进步，为中国文化中心的南移创造了条件。太湖地区的稻米在唐代开始北运，安史之乱以后更成为唐王朝的主要供粮依靠。苏州、杭州、湖州、润州、常州等城市成为地方经济中心，这些城市的茶盐酒税在国家财政收入中占有相当高的比例。当时韩愈就曾指出：“赋出天下，而江南居十九。”白居易也说：“当今国用，分出江南，江南诸州，苏为最大。”唐代太湖地区在全国的重要性由此可见。
似乎是巧合，在中国历史的又一动乱年代，太湖水利建设的高潮又一次出现。其实这并非偶然，而是因为五代时期据有太湖流域地区的吴越、吴、南唐等政权都认识到，为了巩固统治，在强敌环伺的险恶处境中求取生存，必须重视水利事业，以发展农业生产，培植国家的根本。出身贫贱的吴越国开国君主钱镠这方面的贡献尤其卓著。由于他治水卓有成效，民间甚至尊称他为“海龙王”。
钱镠是浙江临安人，幼年贫苦，为了养家曾经参与贩卖私盐，唐末动乱给了他崛起于行伍之中的机会，先被唐昭宗封为吴王，后又被后梁太祖敕封为吴越王。吴越国辖杭州、嘉兴、湖州、苏州、松江、常州、镇江七郡，都治设在杭州。土生土长又曾经生活于社会底层的钱镠深知水利对农业的决定性作用，为了“富境御敌”稳定统治，他初据两浙便经常巡视各地，根据亲自考察的结果因地制宜地经营水利。他确立了治水治田相结合、治水为治田服务的正确方针，在治下七个郡都设置了“营田司”，统一规划、建设、管理水利事业。
他在调查研究的基础上准确地判断，三吴水患的一个重要原因是吴淞江等水道不能尽泄太湖洪水，而常熟、昆山地卑，又处于太湖下游，为行洪要道，于是对这一区域的吴淞江、浏河及常熟、昆山之间的三十六浦通海河道进行疏导。例如昆山境内的新洋江，“本有故道，钱氏时常浚治之，号曰新洋江，既可排流潦以注松江，又可引江流溉冈身”，实现了应有功能。
他又招募了七八千人，分为四部，“号曰撩浅军，亦谓之撩清”，专司浚湖、筑堤、疏河浦之职。
吴越和吴、南唐都注重农田灌溉渠道的修建，陆续开挖和疏浚的主要塘浦有梅里塘、七丫塘、茜泾、大盈浦、清水浦等数十条。一些地区塘浦的兴修特别密集，如嘉兴、湖州等低洼农业区，每七里左右修一纵浦，每十里左右筑一横塘，纵横交错，状如棋盘，脉络贯通，居民旱则运水种田，涝则引水出田。吴越统治者又创立了一套比较完善的制度，使塘浦圩田系统的管理、加固、养护制度化。还制定了严格的护水法令，禁止富户豪强独霸水利。
南唐政权也曾全面整治陂塘堰闸，许多旧有塘陂都得以维修而重新发挥作用。如保大初重修武进县孟渎水门，使之恢复了功能。升元年间，丹阳县令吕延桢对练湖进行全面疏浚整治，“筑塞环岸，疏凿斗门”，使练湖灌溉丹阳、金坛、延陵三县近万顷良田的功能重又发挥——旱时可以将湖水注入运河灌溉农田，涝时可以吸纳周围四十八条河流之水免其满溢成灾。练湖的修治对太湖西部地区的经济发展作用很大。
通江河流的沿江入口常常会有泥沙堵塞，影响太湖水的外泄，这一问题也是吴越当政者整治的重点。钱镠的儿子钱传壕在苏州任中吴节度使时，海潮挟沙入江，淤塞港河出口，钱传壕便命部将梅世忠为都水使，率兵募民，“设锸港口，按时启闭，以备旱涝”。
由于钱塘江特殊的地理环境，江潮骤涨时杭州附近各县沿江堤塘常被冲毁，田庐常被淹没，对农业生产和人民生活危害极大。后梁开平四年，钱镠兴修了我国古代著名的水利工程捍海塘。捍海塘建设过程中吴越工程人员创造了新的施工方法，编竹为笼，内装石块，积叠成堤，外打大木桩，使堤岸更加牢固。他们还用铁幢之法修海塘在海塘边放置铁幢，并用铁索串系在一起，铁幢内侧放石块，在里面填泥土。海塘筑成后，泥沙渐积，堤岸愈益坚牢。这样的海塘空前牢靠，此后钱塘潮患就明显减少。
吴越地区在钱镠的治理下政治安定，经济繁荣，文士荟萃。史载当时“民间钱五十文籴白米一石”，米价十分低贱。南唐统治的地区同样“野无闲田，桑无隙地”，“旷土尽辟，桑柘满野”。隋唐五代时期本地区文学艺术方面名人辈出、佳作迭现，证明太湖流域文化之繁荣也已经不亚于中原。在某种程度上我们可以说，不仅太湖流域的经济发展有赖于水利事业为保障，文化艺术也是与之同步前进的。
五代时期是古代太湖流域水利建设最兴盛、效果最好的时期。能取得如此成就，并不仅仅由于秉持“治国必先治水”的理念，也不仅仅凭借人力物力的大量投入。钱镠的成功经验在于，事前先对地势水情进行充分调查研究，在此基础上顺应自然界本身的规律、针对本地区具体实际采取切实有效的措施。这样的做法足以成为后世的表率！
可惜的是，五代时期太湖水利的大好局面在吴越归宋以后没有能延续下去。以武将身份通过政变夺取政权的赵匡胤在制度设计上水平相当业余，不仅军事制度铸成大错，水利机构的设置也是很不合理。北宋初年废除了都水营田使，以转运使兼代其职掌，太湖水利失去统一领导，撩浅制度废弛，养护管理放任自流，又为了方便漕运废除了河道的堰闸控制，再加上自然环境变迁的影响，自唐至五代多年来建设的塘浦圩田体系多被破坏，导致太湖地区早已潜伏的水土矛盾全面爆发。尤其严重的是，从仁宗朝开始，豪强与农民的盲目围垦日益加剧。贫苦农民围圈洼地垦荒实属迫于生计的无奈之举，他们的举动却如同“医得眼前疮，剜却心头肉”。豪强劣绅圈占湖沼湿地则纯系对自然界的贪婪掠夺，这些极端利己主义者奉行的哲学是“在我死后哪管它洪水滔天”。于是洪水真就滔天了，而且未必等到他们身后。贪得无厌的愚蠢举动造成水系紊乱，水流散漫，因而水旱灾害不断。据不完全统计，北宋年间太湖地区共发生较大水灾二十二次，远远超过吴越统治时。长达一个多世纪的时期内，苏、湖、常、秀诸州的低洼地区洪涝经常肆虐。诚如苏轼所言：此乃“人事不修之积，非特天时之罪也”。
南宋时围湖造田之风更甚，苏、湖、常、秀四州修筑圩田、坝田达一千四百八十九处之多。这些情况在元代同样存在。由于围田和水利的矛盾得不到妥善解决，南宋的水旱灾害又大大超过北宋，水灾平均五年一次，旱灾约六年一次。元代水灾频仍程度更是有过之无不及。明末顾炎武对此作过中肯的评论，他说：“宋政和以后，围湖占江，而东南之水利亦失，于是十年之中，荒恒六七，而较其所得，反不及于前人。”
受到大自然残酷报复后，宋元统治者终于认识到，必须下决心抓好太湖水利事业。庆历三年，宋仁宗给包括太湖地区的两浙等路下诏，规定将兴修水利纳入每年春耕前的安排之中。熙宁二年，王安石变法开始不久，制置三司条例司即将农田水利法颁付诸路，农田水利法将官府与民间建设农田水利的积极性都调动起来，迎来了水利建设的高潮，熙宁元丰时期遂成为太湖流城水利事业大发展的重要时期。徽宗宣和元年，又曾根据提举水利农田所建议，命官吏对历来承担蓄水灌溉与舟楫通航的港泾湖泊进行勘测，“按其地名、丈尺、四至，并镌之石”，作为管理保护的依据。元代颁布实行的《农桑之制》也颇有关于水利农田建设的条款。
虽然为时已晚，着手偿还对于太湖水系的欠债总是有积极意义的。宋元两朝将地方官的职责及奖惩与水利农田事业相挂钩，有效地保证了水利建设的组织与开展。中央设置都水监等机构，以兴修水利、修理河堤为职掌。宋代熙宁变法后还设农田水利使专管其事。元大德二年，在平江路设立浙西都水监庸田使，“专一修筑田围，疏浚河道。淀山等湖已有官定界畔，诸人不得似前侵占，复为民害，违者听庸田司追断”。泰定元年，特命行省左丞朵儿只班知水利，前都水少监任仁发董督常州、湖州、嘉兴、平江、松江府水利。
宋元两朝并在财力物力上给水利建设以一定的支持。例如北宋熙宁变法时，凡有疏导水患而开决农田时，“即以官田计其顷亩，拨还田户，如无田可拨，即计田给直”。南宋及元代也有官方投入钱物兴修水利的例子。
宋元统治者还动用军卒来保护水利，兴筑工程。嘉祐四年正式组建了苏州开江四指挥，分别为吴江、常熟、昆山、城下四部分，共两千人。开江兵的建制不仅苏州有，太湖流域其他州县也有，职能几乎涉及水利事业的方方面面。元代虽无开江营的建置，却有湖兵。宋元两朝还多次命令其他士卒参加太湖地区水利工程的建设和保卫工作。
宋元时代太湖水系比较全面彻底的浚治是在宋徽宗政和六年，由出任提举两浙常平的赵霖主持，总共历时十九个月，用工达二百多万，竣工后“二十年间并无水患”。针对吴淞江、娄江、刘家港、江南运河等河道的分别治理则相当频繁，较大的海塘工程也有将近二十次。
由于矫正宋初对于水利的轻忽后进行了多次治理，太湖流域在宋元时期成为全国水利田最为密集的地区。
宋元时期水患的肆虐触动了一批关心民疾时艰的知识分子，多位名垂史册的治水专家应运而生。他们在深入研究后提出各具特点的治水方略，其中不乏真知灼见，在当时或后世的太湖治理中发挥了重要作用。他们当中大部分还亲身参与太湖水系整治，将理论付诸实践。
描绘洞庭湖景色的名篇《岳阳楼记》的作者范仲淹，其实是太湖边长大的苏州人，景祐元年又出知苏州，这双重身份使他对太湖水利具有充分的了解。他的“先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐”并非空洞口号，而正是他为国计民生殚精竭虑的真实写照。在苏州任上他不但浚治五河，还较早地提出了全面治理太湖的方案。他在《上吕相公并呈中丞谘目》中指出：“水之为物，蓄而停之，何为而不害；决而流之，何为而不利？”他主张：“今疏导者不唯使东南入于松江，又使西北入于扬子之于海也。”也就是必须疏浚太湖东南流入吴淞江与西北流入长江的各条塘堰浦江，保持太湖宣泄通道的畅达。他批驳了“江水已高，不纳此流”，“日有潮来，水安得下”的错误认识。针对“沙因潮至，数年复塞”的可能性，他提出了“新导之河，必设诸闸，常时扃之，以御来潮，沙不能塞也”的解决办法。范仲淹治水方略的指导思想是正确的，保持太湖水系入江入海水道通畅的基本主张也很有针对性，他的“新导之河，必设诸闸”的建议后来曾得以实施并被证明十分有效。
郏亶、郏侨父子也是太湖水利史上的杰出人物。郏亶出身太仓农家，曾经送其子郏侨就学于王安石。王安石很赞赏他的水利农田之学，变法开始后便让他担任司农寺丞之职，不久又任提举两浙水利。郏亶治水方略中最值得重视的思想是将水利与农田建设有机地结合起来，合为一项系统性的工程。郏亶一揽子解决太湖流域水利农田问题的治水方案规模巨大、气魄恢弘，他的系统工程的思想方法、历史资料与实地考察相结合的研究方法等都是可取的。然而，正因为他的计划规模过于宏大，需要投入大量人力与财力，环太湖四州十县之民将牺牲相当大的眼前利益，而长远利益则要五年以后才能显现出来，因而遭到各方面的责难，他的治水方略仅仅实施一年就因为“措置乖方，民多愁怨”中途而废。他也被罢免了司农寺丞。
郏亶死后郏侨也献过治水方略。他继承父亲综合治理的思想方法，主张在江宁、润州、常州分别治理湖堰港浦，将太湖水系的西北支脉直接引导入长江，同时使杭州一带的东南支脉直接“决于浙江”，从而“旁分其支脉之流，不为腹内畎亩之患”。他还提出，应该把“导江开浦”与“浚泾作堓”结合起来；同时须将“置堰闸以防江潮”与“浚流以泄沙涨”结合起来。
郏亶父子的治水方略为太湖水利事业留下了一笔值得重视的遗产。
元祐年间，单锷也曾献其所著《吴中水利书》。单锷是宜兴人，嘉祐年间的进士，但他举官不仕，却终身研究水利，实地查勘太湖流域地形、水系、水情。他常独自乘坐小舟往来于苏州、常州、湖州的水道，奔走于太湖地区的山水之间，对一沟一渎、一圩一坝无不周览，并研究其地形、追溯其源流，以期充分掌握翔实资料，历时达三十多年。后接受江宁知县钱公辅的建议写出此书，阐述他对太湖水患的治理思想和治理方略。单锷全面分析了当时太湖水患的原因，主要是上游胥溪五堰的废除使安徽九阳江之水不入芜湖而东流太湖，大幅度增加了太湖上游的来水，而太湖下游又有吴江塘路阻塞了排水出路，“纳而不吐”，使洪水滞积于太湖四周，形成洪涝。由此，他提出了“上节、中分、下利”的治理措施。单锷的治水方略汲取了范仲淹北导东泄的基本思路，而着重开浚吴淞江上游与长塘湖、滆湖等关键部位的想法，却是自己独到的见解。时任杭州知府的苏东坡对《吴中水利书》颇为赞赏，慨然草疏代奏于朝廷，并按照书中治理思想确定浙西水利建设的方针和措施。然而，按照书中的主张，开长塘湖和滆湖以使太湖水系西部支脉注入江南运河再导入长江，将危及占田豪户的利益，所以未被赵宋皇朝采纳。但此书对后世的影响十分深远，明朝户部尚书夏原吉疏浚吴江水门和工部侍郎周忱巡抚江南时修筑溧阳两坝，均曾参照《吴中水利书》中的意见。明、清两代并多次将《吴中水利书》刻印出版。这部书至今仍然具有极其重要的参考价值。
出生于松江青浦的任仁发曾在元代至元年间上疏建议开浚吴淞江，后来又著有《浙西水利议答录