Chapter 19 PART 18 THE WATER OF PARADISE

If we fly like a bird and look down on Suzhou from a high altitude, we will find that it is almost a land surrounded by water.With Taihu Lake on the left and Yangtze River on the right, the beautiful Suzhou is like a lotus flower floating on the water.The petals of this lotus are dotted with green drops of water——Yangcheng Lake, Shang Lake, Kuncheng Lake, Jinji Lake, Dushu Lake, Tongli Lake, Nanxing Lake and many other lakes that cannot be counted. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal running north-south is a ribbon that floats across the soft and beautiful body of Suzhou City. "When you come to Gusu to see you, everyone sleeps in the river. There are few idle places in the ancient palace, and there are many small bridges in the water port. The night market sells water chestnut lotus roots, and the spring boats carry beautiful flowers. Knowing the sleepless moon in the distance, homesickness is in fisherman's songs." Du Xunhe, a poet of the Tang Dynasty The poem described the scene of many waters and bridges in the ancient city of Suzhou.There is water in the city, and water outside the city, since ancient times.

Suzhou is a very old city.As early as more than 2,500 years ago, during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, King Helu of Wu established his capital in Suzhou, and the doctor Wu Zixu built a city for him. There are eight land gates in the surrounding walls to resemble the eight winds of the sky; eight water gates to resemble the eight trigrams of the land. .The whole city is in a double chessboard pattern of "water and land parallel, river and street adjacent".In the city, there are white walls and black tiles, small bridges and flowing water, and gardens everywhere, with beautiful scenery.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, which communicates water transportation between the north and the south, took shape in the sixth year of King Jing of Zhou [514 BC].At that time, King Wu Fuchai wanted to go north to fight for hegemony, and countless migrant workers opened rivers to transport water, from the old city of Suzhou via Wangting, Wuxi to Benniu Town to Menghe, a total of more than 170 kilometers were excavated.It can be said that this is the earliest excavation section of the Jiangnan Canal. In the sixth year of Sui Daye [AD 610], the Jiangnan Canal was excavated for 800 miles from Zhenjiang to Hangzhou.The river is more than ten feet wide and can pass through dragon boats.

The Grand Canal flows through Suzhou leisurely and affectionately, making the city of Suzhou more prosperous and prosperous. Today's Suzhou City is still located on the original site at that time, and still maintains the double chessboard pattern of "water and land parallel, river and street adjacent" and the quaint style of "small bridges, flowing water, and houses".Numerous historical sites and cultural relics in the city show the world the Wu culture that has accumulated in the ancient city of Suzhou for more than 2,500 years. Suzhou was called "Wu" in ancient times.And "Wu" means "fish" in ancient times.In Suzhou dialect today, the pronunciation of "Wu" and "Yu" is still the same.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the city of Suzhou was named "Helu City", named after King Wu.And "Helu" contains the meaning of "ship bow".As for the word "Su" in Suzhou, "Yuhe comes from itself, and the word Su is combined."It can be seen from this that water has special significance to Suzhou.

The city of Suzhou is built on the water, and it exists by the water. The geographical location of the riverside and the lake makes the rivers in the city vertical and horizontal, and there are many corresponding bridges.When Bai Juyi and Liu Yuxi were governors of Suzhou, there were between 390 and 370 bridges in Suzhou.Residential houses are built along the water, and small boats become the means of transportation in Suzhou City. "Green waves, water from east to west, north to south, and 390 bridges on the red fence";These famous sentences are the image descriptions of the water city Suzhou by the literati in history.

Everyone knows that Suzhou gardens are the best in the world.Many beautiful gardens in Suzhou are also closely related to water, and they are closely related to each other.Suzhou classical gardens are mainly private gardens, which began in the Spring and Autumn Period [514 BC], formed in the Five Dynasties, matured in the Song Dynasty, and flourished in the Ming Dynasty.Suzhou is a water town with convenient water diversion, and the nearby Taihu Lake is rich in wrinkled and thin Taihu stones, which are suitable for stacking exquisite and delicate rockeries.Coupled with the gathering of literati in Suzhou in the old days, some bureaucratic landlords and literati also pursued "although they live in a busy city but have the interest of mountains and forests", which greatly promoted the development of Suzhou gardens.According to the local chronicles of the Qing Dynasty, there are nearly 200 large and small gardens in Suzhou City, ranking first in the country.Suzhou gardens have their own distinct artistic features in terms of layout, structure and style.Canglang Pavilion, Lion Grove, Humble Administrator's Garden and Lingering Garden, known as the four classical gardens in Suzhou, respectively represent the artistic styles of the four dynasties of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing.Suzhou has both the beauty of gardens and the beauty of mountains and rivers.The famous private garden in the early history of Suzhou was the Pijiang Garden in the Jin Dynasty. During the heyday of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, private gardens spread all over the ancient city.There are more than 60 classical gardens.

Suzhou gardens are a comprehensive art composed of basic elements such as mountains and rocks, water flow, flowers and trees, and buildings. Although the garden covers a small area, the artistic techniques used are eclectic. The artistic techniques of Chinese freehand landscapes, the artistic conception of Tang poetry and Song poetry , Dotted with rockery, flowers and trees, set up pavilions, ponds and small bridges in a limited space, making the small garden reflect the natural mountain and forest wild interest, and contains strong traditional Chinese cultural connotations. Suzhou is located in a water town in the south of the Yangtze River. Its gardens are naturally centered on water, with small and elegant structures.People in the garden are like being in poetry and painting.Art comes from life, and life imitates art. Life and art are integrated and reflect each other.

In today's Suzhou, the custom of building private gardens is still very strong.There are many Shiku gates hidden in the alleys, and there are definitely hidden caves inside.Although the garden is small, there are all kinds of pavilions, terraces, pavilions, rockery and ponds.Suzhou painter Ye Fang built the private garden "Nanshipiji" beside the bustling Shiquan Street. Although it occupies a small area, it is famous at home and abroad because it not only inherits the tradition of Suzhou gardening, but also has a modern living concept. It has become today. A frequent gathering place for new Suzhou literati.It is also a must-see for celebrities from other places when they come to Suzhou. In "The Story of Nanshipi", a pond is the center and the soul.Rockery, half pavilions, curved bridges, and living rooms are all built around the water.The most wonderful thing is a stage, which is separated from the auditorium by a piece of water.Across this piece of water, the euphemistic and pleasant Pingtan and Kunqu Opera are transmitted to the listener's ears, and the sound is particularly beautiful.The water here is both a spacer and a loudspeaker.At the same time, it is also a strange setting, giving the soft and beautiful Suzhou art a layer of blurred and dreamy color.Umberto Vardani, chairman of Venice International University, came to "South Stone Piji" and was deeply fascinated by this oriental garden.He sighed: "It blurs my memory of other gardens." After that, there was a plan to invite Ye Fang to build a garden in Venice. In 2009, the 2,000-square-meter "contemporary" Suzhou garden "Da Garden" designed and built by Chinese painter Ye Fang appeared on the campus of Venice International University.

Suzhou has beautiful lakes and mountains, ingenious garden art, brilliant historical and cultural relics and beautiful legends. Although it has gone through more than 2,000 years, it still exudes the unique quaint charm of an ancient city.And this beauty, this spirituality, and this poetic feeling are all related to water. Suzhou is a paradise surrounded by clear water. Water creates the culture of Suzhou, and water also provides rich food for Suzhou people. Almost every Suzhou person knows the "Eight Immortals of Water".They are: water bamboo, lotus root, cress, citrus mushroom, water chestnut, water shield, water chestnut and chicken head rice.

Among the "Water Eight Immortals", what needs to be mentioned in particular is "Chicken Head Rice".Its scientific name is "Gorgon fruit", because the fruit is too similar to a hen's head, so it has this common name.There are many places in the country where Gorgon is available, and the technique of "thickening Gorgon" commonly used in Chinese cooking is inseparable from it.However, the Gorgon fruit in Suzhou, which can be nicknamed "Chicken Head Rice" by the people, is quite different.It is particularly water-based, fragrant, delicate, and slippery, just like the watery eyes of women in water villages.Compared with all other Gorgon seeds, its pearl-like shape has a kind of softness and waxiness bestowed by God, just like the words of Suzhou people.In the world, only Suzhou, or even Nantang in Suzhou, produces chicken head rice that is precious, soft and waxy, fragrant and smooth, and delicious.Every year around the Mid-Autumn Festival, chicken head rice is on the market. In many small alleys in Suzhou, you can see the scene of many people sitting and peeling chicken head rice. "Chicken head" is a big fruit, which contains many small pearls.And each pearl-sized chicken head rice has a thin shell.Many hands, around the Mid-Autumn Festival every year, will move very deftly, peeling out the round and jade-like chicken head rice.And the fragrance spread in the air.It is a unique smell of a season, a unique smell of a region in a city, and it often floats over inadvertently, which makes people kindly happy.Of course, occasionally there will be a little bit of sadness caused by the changing seasons.

A market of peeled chicken head rice has sold for a high price of 58 yuan this year.I roughly calculated that the price of a "rice" the size of a pearl is 5 cents.However, this does not affect the enthusiasm of Suzhou people to buy and store chicken head rice in this short season.In addition to "eating fresh food", many people will also buy several catties and store them for storage.The storage method is also very "watery": put chicken head rice and water in half, put it in a plastic bag, and put it in the refrigerator for quick freezing.Such a small bag is frozen, and when you want to eat it, take it out, melt it, and boil it with clean water.If you eat it like this, it won't go bad in the coming year.If you are a little hungry on a cold winter night, take out a small bag of chicken head rice from the refrigerator, rinse it on the tap, melt the ice, and then boil it with clean water. Once the water is boiled, you can eat it.The fragrance and warmth will go deep into the deepest part of the body, making people feel happy. Chicken head rice is not only delicious, but also nutritious.It is very rich in minerals and trace elements. And the other seven items in the "Eight Immortals of Water" also have their own flavors. In addition to the "Water Eight Immortals", the famous "Taihu Sanbai" is also produced in water.They are: white shrimp, whitebait and white fish. Taihu Sanbai can not be eaten at any time, it is quite limited by the seasons.Moreover, these three kinds of white fish and shrimp often die when they come out of the water.This makes transportation and storage impossible.The most fundamental feature of Subang cuisine is that the raw materials are all fresh in season.This is true of the Water Eight Immortals, and the same is true of Taihu Sanbai. Whether it is the Eight Immortals of Water or the Three Whites of Taihu Lake, they are all masterpieces of water and dedication of water.For thousands of years, Suzhou's water has contributed incomparably rich products to Suzhou people, and Suzhou people are blessed. In Suzhou, there are also the sayings of "water wrapping skin" and "skin wrapping water". The specific statement is: water in the morning and water in the evening. It is a way of life indulging in the "white-faced people" [leisure class] in Suzhou in the old days. Packing water in the morning refers to drinking tea in the teahouse in the morning.The tasteful Suzhou people in the old days were not willing to sleep late.Zhu Ziye, the protagonist in Lu Wenfu's famous novel "Gourmet", is such a person.He always gets up at dawn, washes up, takes a rickshaw to the time-honored "Zhu Hongxing" noodle shop, and eats a bowl of noodle soup.The noodles in Suzhou are different from those in the north. They are not chewy, thin and soft.Almost as soon as it was put into the boiling water pot, it was about to be fished out immediately.Early in the morning, the noodle shop had just opened, and the water in the pot below was clear.This is the noodle soup.The advantage of the head soup noodles is that the noodles are cooked without being rotten, slippery but with bite.With the secret clear soup, it is so fresh that people's eyebrows will fall off.If you go to Taiyang Laogao to eat noodles again, the soup in the noodle pot will be as muddy as a pot of porridge.The noodles that come out of this kind of soup are greasy and raw, and old eaters absolutely disdain to touch them.Zhu Ziye and his colleagues get up early every day, just for this bowl of delicious and smooth noodle soup. After eating a bowl of noodles, you have to go to the teahouse to "bag water". Suzhou people really have deep feelings for water.Sitting in the teahouse, talking lazily, talking, eating tea, always filling myself like a thermos bottle, and filling my belly with water, I feel that a new day can really start here. In the evening, after finishing the work that should be done, or playing all the things that should be played, and going to the bathroom to take a dip, it is called "night water foreskin".In Suzhou dialect, it is customary to call the bathroom "huntang".This "mixed" does not mean that men and women bathe together, but that all male bathers soak in a large pool.The water is hot enough and the water is big enough.Old Yuke is not afraid of hot food, just like people in Sichuan and Hunan are not afraid of spicy food.The old Yuke is not afraid of being hot, not afraid of being hot, but afraid of not being hot.I will never give up until I burn my whole body to be as crimson as a shrimp.Close your eyes, almost scalding yourself in the bath, this is the most beautiful enjoyment. The city of Suzhou seems to have been a hedonistic city from ancient times to the present.There's too much water here, too much tenderness. Today, the leisure life of Suzhou people is still inseparable from water.The best place to drink tea is the back mountain of Huqiu, which is rich in green and rarely visited by tourists.There are also small gardens such as Art Garden, Coupling Garden, Canglang Pavilion, Yi Garden, and Tuisi Garden. Drinking tea, chatting and watching fish by the pavilion next to the pool, time always passes quietly in a very pleasant way. Abundant Suzhou water is the characteristic and the soul of Suzhou city. Water brings a lot to Suzhou people, food, play, material, spiritual and cultural.Water has given Suzhou prosperity, comfort, abundance and beauty, given Suzhou gardens and leisure, given Suzhou Tang Bohu, Zhu Zhishan, Wen Zhengming, and given countless champions in Suzhou. However, throughout the ages, water has frequently brought disasters to Suzhou. In 251 A.D., which is the first year of Wu Taiyuan, "on the first day of August, there was a strong wind, the river and the sea overflowed, and the water was eight feet deep on the flat ground."At the beginning of its construction, Suzhou City suffered from major floods. In the following three hundred years, there were more than ten recorded major floods. After entering the Tang Dynasty, there were more than ten records of floods of considerable scale.In the fourth year of Tang Changqing [824], "Suzhou, Wujiang Xia Dashui, Taihu Lake overflowed, harming crops."In the fourth year of Tang Taihe [830], "in summer, Su and Hu prefectures ring six embankments, live in Kuo, and drown in Lujing". We can fully imagine how Taihu Lake, which looks calm and gentle on weekdays, suddenly changed its face and revealed a ferocious expression, from the short description without the slightest literary color. During the nearly 400 years of the Song and Yuan Dynasties, there were more than 30 major floods recorded in the Suzhou area.In the first year of Yuanfeng in the Northern Song Dynasty [1078], "Suzhou, Changshu, Zhaowen, Wujiang, Wuxian County, July 4th night, heavy wind and rain, the tide was more than two feet high, drifting from Yinshan to the bank of Wujiang pond, washing the bridges, and all the sand and soil were exhausted. There are only stones left; there are six hundred households in Zhangpusha, Kunshan, all of which have been wiped out, and there are only five households left, and there are no empty houses left."In the fourth year of Yuanfeng in the Northern Song Dynasty [1081], "in July, Taihu Lake overflowed, flooding Suzhou, Wuxian, and Wujiang, and the houses from Wujiang to Pingwang were destroyed, half of the long bridge was pushed away, and more than 10,000 people died."In the fifth year of Dade in the Yuan Dynasty [1301], "the sea overflowed on the first day of July in Suzhou, and the hurricane pulled Pingjiang Road and Changzhou County Government; Wujiang, bad houses, Taihu Lake water poured into the city. Wu County Taihu Lake flooded into the city road with the hurricane. Most of the residents of the office were caught in the air, and eighteen or ninety-nine people died; Changshu was overwhelmed by the hurricane, and the tide was several feet high; Taicang and Kunshan were floating in the houses, and eighty-nine people died in Kunshan.”In the second year of Yuan Zhizhi [1322], "the flood in November damaged 49,600 hectares of people's fields." Judging from these short and cold historical records, what the flood brought to the people of Suzhou area was simply a catastrophe.The monstrous waves, the howling wind, the houses collapsed, the farmlands were flooded, and countless people and animals were killed and injured.Such a scene is really hell on earth.It is hard to believe that such tragedies have happened time and time again in Suzhou, a gentle and affluent place. Perhaps with the development of society, people pay more and more attention to natural disasters.According to the records of Suzhou in the Ming Dynasty, floods of a certain scale occurred almost every year.Looking through these brief or detailed records, I simply wonder why Suzhou at that time had the reputation of "paradise on earth"?It's clearly a hell on earth where the lives of the people are overwhelmed!And see: In the 23rd year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty [1390], "in July, the sea breeze in Kunshan, the high and steep hills and hills were all drifted away. More than 1,700 houses in the three prefectures were buried with fish bellies; In July, strong winds pulled out trees, blowing sand, and all the gardens of Buqiu collapsed."More than a thousand families were buried in the belly of fish in an instant. Such a description should not be literary imagination and exaggeration, right? In the fourth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty [1491], "Suzhou is flooded in August; Changshu is full of rain from the first month to June, and there is no harvest; Wujiang is flooded, and the flat land is like a river and lake, and there is no harvest."Seeing such a description, I couldn't help but go to the window and look out at my lovely home.Wujiang, a small city located in the southern suburbs of Suzhou, is so clean and beautiful, and always exudes a quiet and peaceful atmosphere.And in a certain spring and summer more than five hundred years ago, it was "flat like a river and a lake"?Water, a transparent and flowing substance, is it an angel or a devil?Is it good, or evil?It is so gentle, but it is often unpredictable. The flood in the fifth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty [1510] had a wider scope: "Suzhou, flood in November; Jiangyin, flood in Xia, soaked in sex for three months, with almost no smoke from cooking; Changshu, flood; Wuxian, flood in November; Taicang overflows with water in summer, and death spreads; Kunshan has a spring and summer rain, and the water force is greater than that of Zhengde in four years. , the roads in Guantang City are diffuse and indistinguishable; the long bridge is more than a foot long." The long bridge mentioned here is the "Chuihong Bridge" located in the east of Wujiang City.Chuihong Bridge is known as "the longest bridge in the south of the Yangtze River".It was first built in the eighth year of Song Qingli, and it was a wooden structure. It was rebuilt by Yishi in the second year of Taibao in the Yuan Dynasty, with 62 holes, and later added 72 holes, about 450 meters long. "Ring like a half moon, as long as a hanging rainbow", "three ups and downs, winding like a dragon", the dangerous pavilion in the center of the bridge stands with wings, its magnificence and beauty are unique in the south of the Yangtze River, and more than 100 celebrities have written poems and paintings for it in history , full of praise.Jiang Baishi went to Shihu to visit Fan Chengda, and the latter gave him a bright and beautiful maid named Xiaohong.Mr. Jiang was proud of the horseshoe disease in the spring breeze. He took Xiaohong in a boat and passed the Chuihong Bridge. When he passed the Chuihong Bridge, he wrote a well-known masterpiece: "The rhyme of the new words is the most delicate. Xiaohong sings and I blow the flute. The end of the song is over Songling Looking back at Yanbo 14th Bridge." Such a long bridge with such a majestic rainbow was almost completely submerged in the water, which makes people sigh. In the first year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty [1522], "On July 25, there was a heavy wind and rain, and the sea tide in Changshu overflowed; the hurricane in Taicang swirled in all directions, and the rain poured into the sea to overflow, and the people drifted away without counting; countless people were lost in Kunshan boat trip; The water is more than ten feet high, and within 30 miles of the lakeside, there is no way to drown people and animals in their huts." In the 40th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty [1561], "Changshu and Zhaowen are flooded, and the year is hungry. Taicang is flooded, people are hungry, and zombies are everywhere. Kunshan and Xinyang are full of spring snow, April and May are rainy, the rivers and lakes are overflowing, and the seedlings are exhausted. Flooded, there is a white area outside the Guomen, and most of the old and young people who avoid the water and enter the city will starve to death. The Wujiang River has been raining continuously since spring and summer, and the heights have disappeared. It was determined that the water from the five weirs would be poured down, and the six counties of Taihu Lake would be completely flooded. Those who compared the water said, "It is more than five inches in five years of Zhengde, and the change has never been seen since the Kingdom of China". In the seventh year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty [1579], "Suzhou flooded, the floods were severe, and the people were displaced. Taicang flooded, Changshu expected heavy rain from May to July, and it was cloudy, and the fields and cottages were flooded. Wujiang and Wuxian County were flooded by storms and lakes. Rolling up and down, ups and downs disappear." In the tenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty [1582], "Suzhou's sea overflowed in July, the fields were destroyed, and many people drowned. In Wu County, on July 15, there was a heavy wind and rain, trees were pulled out, Taihu Lake overflowed, and the Taihu Lake in Wujiang flooded. Two or three out of ten residents drifted away, and countless drowned. In Changshu, on the evening of July 13th, a hurricane broke out, and the sea overflowed by about ten feet, flooding coastal cottages in Fushan, Meili, and Baimao. Twenty-three out of ten men and women died. Tens of thousands". In the fifteenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty [1587], "Suzhou and Wu counties suffered heavy rain from May to July. Taicang was flooded. In July, Jiangyin was flooded. Wujiang was rained in summer. On July 21, there was a heavy storm and a day and night. Tianwei Cracked, the water overflowed more than ten feet, and the seedlings drifted away. Changshu and Zhaowen had thunderstorms, hail and heavy rain on New Year's Day. It was mixed with rain and snow, and there was no wheat in the flood. There were many hurricanes in autumn, and there were no grains. This year, there were more than 20 counties in the Taihu Lake area Floods have occurred in the Taihu Lake Basin several times." In the nineteenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty [1591], "Suzhou suffered from excessive rains in May and June, and the floods were abnormal, and tens of thousands of people drowned." In the thirty-sixth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty [1608], "in Changshu, it rained heavily from late April to late July. For the sake of ambition, sailing from the eaves of others, the high and low fields became huge floods. Taicang rained continuously for 40 days in April and May, and the river overflowed. Stop. It rained continuously for 50 days in April and May in Kunshan. The fields in Wuzhong were flooded, and the streets in the city were flooded, deep enough for a boat. The Wujiang River was rainy from March to May, and the water floated to the shore. Both the high and low fields were submerged. In Wu County, from March 29 to May 24, it rained heavily, hurting the crops, and leaving the houses in ruins." In the fourth year of Mingqi [1624], "in Jiangyin County, there was an accumulation of ten days of rain in April, which hurt the wheat; After planting, the late rice drifted away again. Taicang was flooded. In Wu County, it was rainy in March, and in May, the farmland was flooded. Eight out of ten farmlands were flooded. Drought and hunger. Wujiang has continuous rains in March and May. In May, there was a heavy rain for five days and nights. The water overflowed. In the sixth year of Tomorrow Qi [1626], "Changshu, Zhaowen, and Wu counties suffered severe wind and rain on the first day of July, pulling out wood and destroying houses, many rivers and rivers were sunk, huge ships were destroyed, and floating corpses belonged to each other; Kunshan and Xinyang counties pulled out wood from houses; In Jiangyin, trees were pulled out, crops were extinguished, the river overflowed, and many people drowned." Tomorrow will start for seven years, "Jiangyin has heavy rain in the first month, 18 consecutive days and nights, and rain in September. The water from Taihu Lake overflows into Jian Village, Wujiang County, drowning more than a thousand families. Taicang floods." In the sixth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty [1633], "Changshu and Zhaowen counties experienced heavy rain on the morning of June 25, and the water gushed two and a half feet until midnight. Many stone archways collapsed in Kunshan and Xinyang counties. Six On the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, there was a heavy wind and rain, all bridges and trees were pulled out, houses collapsed, battlements collapsed, and the top of Ruiguang Pagoda crashed.” After entering the Qing Dynasty, in the eighth year of Shunzhi [1651], "Suzhou, Wujiang, and Wu counties continued to rain from summer to autumn, and the heights disappeared. In Xia Dashui, the fields are not planted, and many people die." In the ninth, tenth, fifteenth, and eighteenth years of Shunzhi, there were records of floods and droughts. In the ninth year of Kangxi [1670], "Suzhou, Wuzi in June, rain and snow, one day after the eleventh day, strong winds in the 1890s, Taihu Lake overflowed, and people's fields and houses were drifted away; Wujiang River entered the county government, and the July was over, the earthquake sounded, and the sea overflowed. Many people drowned in Binhai; in Wu County, the Taihu Lake overflowed, and the level water was five or six feet high, the fields were submerged, and the refugees carried their way. There are no vegetables and grass, and the houses are bad; Taicang has heavy rains in summer, and the high and low fields are gone, and the houses are worthless; in Changshu, the floods in July, the sea overflows the seashore, and many people drown and die every year." According to "Suzhou Water Conservancy Records", Kangxi reigned for 61 years, of which 21 years had records of floods and droughts.Natural wind and rain are not afraid of the all-powerful Emperor Kangxi at all. In the tenth year of Yongzheng [1732], a catastrophic flood "unseen in a hundred years" occurred in the Suzhou area: "In Suzhou, in July, there was a heavy wind and rain in Gengzi, and the sea overflowed. ;Wujiang leaped in May, and the bank was horizontal. On July 16, a strong storm capsized the boat and destroyed the house; Death is never counted. On August 11th the sea overflowed again, and the survivors on the seashore begged for food; on July 16th in Taicang, the hurricane, the tide overflowed, and the houses were wiped out. The dead of people and animals were innumerable. Extending inland for more than forty miles. In Wuxian, Changshu, and Zhaowen, there was heavy wind and rain in July, and the sea overflowed. , followed by torrential rains, all houses were destroyed, and thousands of residents drowned in Bujiang and various sands, which was a disaster unseen in a century." The sixty years of Qianlong's reign were relatively peaceful.Only the third year, 12th year, 20th year, 27th year, 34th year, 46th year and 50th year of Qianlong's reign had major floods.Among them, the forty-sixth year of Qianlong [1781] is the most: "Suzhou and Wu County, June is ugly, the hurricane is strong, and the tide reaches Xukou. Changshu, Zhaowen, Taicang, Jiangyin, the hurricane is strong on June 18, the tide The sandbanks and riverside cottages were all destroyed, and many residents were flooded. In Wujiang County, there was a hurricane in June, and the sea tide came from the northeast. It is red, crosses Hetang, and flows westward to the moat of Suzhou City. The water in the territory suddenly rises four or five feet, and the water in Dianhu Lake dries up until it bottoms out, and it will not recover for several days." Since then, until the fall of the Qing Dynasty, floods continued.According to the "Chronology of Disasters in Jiangsu Province", in the third year of Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty [1823], the flood in June washed away houses and drowned people and animals.The flood that hit again in July even washed away all the coffins of the deceased.What a tragedy! The period of the Republic of China can be described as an eventful year for the Chinese nation.The frequent floods in the Suzhou area echo the chaos in the world, mourning the hardships of the people's lives!In the first year of the Republic of China [1912], the flood fell by 300 millimeters, and the suburbs were covered with ocean.The following year, there was a severe drought. "In July and August in Changshu, it was sunny and dry without rain, and the fields withered." "Changshu County Water Conservancy Records" records that at that time, wealthy and gentlemen in Changshu City gathered to pray for rain in the Dragon King Temple.They slaughtered pigs and sheep, burned incense and offered candles, and begged God for rain devoutly.The result was nothing. Consult books such as "Changshu County Water Conservancy Chronicle", "Taicang County Water Conservancy Chronicle", "Wujiang County Water Conservancy Chronicle", "Taihu Lake Water Conservancy History Draft", "Jiangsu Province Disaster Chronology" and "Disaster Climate" and other books, we can see the floods in Suzhou during the Republic of China High frequency and high intensity.Of course, the records are also more detailed than before.Meanwhile, disaster relief measures by local governments have also been recorded.For example, in the eighth year of the Republic of China [1919], "From July 10th to 11th in Suzhou and Wuxian County, heavy rains continued, the lakes outside the city overflowed, and the streets near the river in the city had no water. Several townships were severely affected. The counties gave porridge and relief. Kunshan indica rice earing When the water comes out, Shipai and Maoxu will accumulate more than a foot of water. Wujiang started to rain in late June and the water surged. After liberation, floods were still the main form of natural disasters in the Jiangnan area. During the 21-day Meiyu period in 1949, strong typhoons, heavy rains, and high tides all struck together, one wave after another. The rainfall was astonishing, and the water level of the canal was as high as 4.03 meters.This summer, more than 30,000 houses collapsed and more than 3,000 people were drowned. The loss was very heavy. Looking through the "Chronology of Natural Disasters in Jiangsu Province", there are records of floods and droughts every year after liberation.Floods are the main disasters, sometimes droughts, and in some years there are both floods and droughts.However, compared with before liberation, the number of casualties caused by floods is much less.Often large areas of farmland are affected. In 1977, it was directly hit by Typhoon No. 8, the maximum wind force was 10 to 11, and 1.03 million mu of farmland was affected. In 1984, the city's average rainfall from May to September was 703 millimeters, about 15% more than normal. On June 13, there was widespread rainfall in the city, and the heavy rain was concentrated along the Taihu Lake area, with the maximum daily rainfall exceeding 200 mm.Wuxian Guangfu Airport received 287 mm of rain in two and a half hours, and flash floods broke out in an instant, and the disaster spread to 10 townships.More than 1.55 million mu of farmland was affected that year. In 1985, a strong typhoon ruthlessly destroyed a large number of trees and all telephone poles in five townships and eleven villages in Wujiang and Wuxian County.After the heavy rain, the water level of Taihu Lake rose rapidly, and the water level of Xishan Island rose by 74 centimeters.This year, the affected farmland reached 1.06 million mu.Until 1990, the flood destroyed 924 dikes, nearly 30 kilometers away, collapsed 4,487 houses, sunk 116 ships, flooded 10,924 houses, and 360 units were flooded.Nearly one million mu of farmland was affected. Gu Yanwu, a great Confucian in the Ming Dynasty, known as Mr. Tinglin in the world, was born in Kunshan, Suzhou.This person is well-read and has in-depth research on Confucian classics, history, astronomy, geography and other subjects.His academic idea is "practicing the world", and he regards the specific things related to the national economy and the people's livelihood as the main object of textual research.He pointed out in the book "Tianxiajunguoli Disease Book": "Taihu Lake extends for five hundred miles, spans the three counties of Su, Chang, and Hu, and the whole Wu is huge. There is nothing greater than this. In terms of water conservancy, the three counties are rich in land. Sorry, but in terms of military defense, the safety and security of the three counties are closely related. The interests of the whole Wu are not greater than this." Gu Yanwu's point of view is obviously very correct.Suzhou is the only corridor through which the Taihu Lake floods are discharged back to the sea, and Taihu Lake is a reliable source of water supply for Suzhou.Historical practice throughout the ages has fully proved that if the inflow of water from the upper reaches of Tai Lake, the amount of water drained from the lower reaches, and the storage capacity of Tai Lake itself, if the three are balanced, there will be no danger of floods and droughts, and if the three are out of balance, floods and droughts will wreak havoc.Therefore, the river network and water system in Suzhou basically takes Taihu Lake as the hub and is restricted by the water of Taihu Lake. "Taihu Lake is beautiful. Taihu Lake is beautiful. The beauty lies in the water of Taihu Lake. There are white sails on the water, red water chestnuts under the water, green reeds on the water's edge, and fat fish and shrimps on the bottom. The lake water weaves an irrigation network, and the fragrance of rice and fruit flies around the lake. , Oh, hey, Taihu Lake is beautiful, Taihu Lake is beautiful." Taihu Lake was called Zhenze in ancient times, also known as Lize, with a surface length of 68 kilometers, an average width of 35.7 kilometers, and a total area of ​​2,338 square kilometers.Tang Bohu once had a poem "Taihu Lake is 36,000 hectares, and the shadow of the sky is indistinct", which expresses the vastness of Taihu Lake.Taihu Lake is one of the five largest freshwater lakes in my country, and it is also the largest natural regulation and storage reservoir in the Taihu Lake Basin, with a total storage capacity of 9 billion cubic meters.The average water depth of the whole lake is 2.12 meters, and the maximum water depth is 3.33 meters.There are many islands in the lake. According to historical records, "there are seventy-two mountains in the lake".According to the survey data in 1960, there are 48 mountains in total.Among them, Xishan Island is the largest.There are 6 larger peninsulas extending into the lake, 4 of which are in Suzhou City, namely Dongting Dongshan, Chongshan, Shangshan and Yuyangshan peninsulas.The Dongting Dongshan Peninsula is the largest. It was originally an island standing in the lake. Due to sedimentation, it became a peninsula with a history of only a hundred years ago.After the formation of the Dongting Dongshan Peninsula, Taihu Lake was divided into West Taihu Lake and East Taihu Lake.The area of ​​East Taihu Lake is about 1,500 square kilometers, accounting for more than 60% of the total area of ​​Taihu Lake. The bottom of the lake is relatively high, the water depth is generally about one meter, and the annual sediment deposition is 3 mm. The source of Taihu Lake is divided into South and West.The south road is the Tiaoxi water system in the Tianmu mountain area in northern Zhejiang, and the west road is the Nanxi water system in the Yili mountain area in the west of the lake.In addition, when the water level of the Yangtze River rises during the flood season, part of the river water flows in even though there are no gates to control the Tongjiang River Port. The water outlets of Taihu Lake are mainly distributed on the east bank of East Taihu Lake, and part of them come from the northern part of West Taihu Lake.The east bank of Taihu Lake was called "a piece of white water" in ancient times.During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Sujia Canal south of Suzhou was excavated; during the Tang and Song Dynasties, the "Wujiang Tang Road" was built, thus forming an obvious lake boundary.The east and west sides of the pond road are gradually developed into low-lying polders.In the process of reclamation along the west side of the beach, the ancients dredged a lot of outflow ports along the lake, which were called "Zhenze 72 ports" and "Wujiang 18 ports".According to the records of the Ming Dynasty, there are more than 140 large and small lakes and ports.According to "Suzhou Water Conservancy Chronicle", when the survey was conducted in 1952, there were still 90 water outlets in Taihu Lake, of which Catharkou, Xukou Port, Shadun Port, Guajingkou, Wujiagang, and Yanggang Bay could play a cathartic role. , Taipu Port and more than a dozen.These water outlet ports are all in Wujiang and Wu County, which are not only the gateway for flood intrusion, but also the window for water supply.In addition, the Jiangnan Canal from Zhenjiang to Hangzhou runs around the Taihu Lake, east, and south. There are many river ports on both sides. It connects to the Yangtze River in the north and Taihu Lake in the south. Due to geographical changes and water control activities of past dynasties, the channel where the water from Taihu Lake discharges eastward into the river and returns to the sea has undergone great changes from ancient to modern times.Before the Tang Dynasty, Wusong River, Lou River, and Dongjiang River flowed into the river and sea in three directions: east, northeast, and southeast.At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Lou River and Dongjiang River were abandoned one after another, and were gradually replaced by "Thirty-six Pus" in the southeast and northeast respectively, and the three-way drainage outlets were still unimpeded.After the Song Dynasty, due to various reasons such as the eastward extension of the coastline, the siltation of the Haikou section of the Wusong River was accelerated.At the beginning of Yongle in the Ming Dynasty [1403], Xiayuanji ruled the water, opened Fanjiabang to connect with Dahuangpu, and led the accumulated water around Dianshan Lake into the sea; and dredged Xiajiapu and Gupu to divide the Wusong River into Liujiagang [also known as Liujiagang today] River]; and then dredged Fushan, Baimao and other big puddles, and dredged the lakes of Kuncheng, Yangcheng and the Northeast to flow out of the Yangtze River.In this water control, the three-way drainage pattern is basically maintained.Less than half a century after Xia Yuanji opened Fanjiabang, it was naturally scoured to become the deep and wide Huangpu River, resulting in the prosperity and decline of the Song Dynasty. The Huangpu River replaced the Wusong River as the main drainage of Taihu Lake.At the same time, the Pus along the southeast coast were successively dammed and cut off from the main road in the Southern Song Dynasty to the Chenghua period in the Ming Dynasty, and the three-way drainage became two-way drainage.Since then, the drainage of Taihu Lake has not been smooth, and the threat of floods has become serious, which has become a prominent problem in Suzhou's water conservancy. For Suzhou, the outfall of Taihu Lake not only determines the drought and flood, but also plays an important role in the natural environment of Suzhou City.In the first year of Helu [514 B.C.] Wu Zixu built Suzhou City. The so-called "the city is thick and revered, and the pool is wide and deep". The dirty water in the city makes the water clean and the fish happy. The blessings that Taihu Lake has brought to Suzhou have been as high as the sky and as deep as the sea since ancient times.Without Taihu Lake, there would be no Suzhou, let alone what Suzhou is today.It is not an exaggeration to compare Taihu Lake to a breast, a mother, and the life of Suzhou.太湖的水，千百年来灌溉着苏州地区广大农田，为人们提供食粮。流入人们的血液，给我们生命，给我们灵感，给我们一切。直到今天，我们依然吸吮着太湖的乳汁。我们每天所需的水，都是从太湖汲取。每当我沿太湖景观大道驱车时，我总会在太湖取水口放慢车速。我看着浩渺烟波上的取水口，仿佛能感到一种生命的能量，通过管道注入我的身体，注入整个世界，给世界以力量和生机，给我以切切实实的活着的感觉。我无法不对太湖说谢谢！我总是向她行注目礼，把我的爱和敬意，以深情的目光向她投注。 甚至大上海，所需的生命之水，也是拜太湖所赐。2002年，“上海正在投资建一个大泵站，还要深挖此处太湖，以便抽水。目的是引太浦河水冲上海境内苏州河的脏水。吴江的太浦河水不仅是'春来江水绿如蓝'，而且一年四季都是清澈的。以后，此地的水会更清了。太浦河是1958年挖的，当时老百姓吃了多少苦！今天成为一条苏南最清澈的大河，不仅可以排洪，还可以成为上海的水源，不禁使人高兴”。【惠海鸣《疏浚东太湖、吴淞江、娄江》】。我小时候便熟知一句联语“上海自来水来自海上”，据说无有下联。且不管它是否孤对，可以肯定的是，其内容是错误的，毫无根据的。因为上海市的用水，都不是取自海上，而是取自太湖，以及淀山湖。 然而自古以来，人们对太湖的索取，可谓不遗余力，甚至是不计后果。明清时期，鲇鱼口、瓜泾口的泄水就已经很不畅通。因此明清两代就对东太湖多次开浚。明代曾拆除吴江长桥南北两滩和吴淞江口围田及苇荻数千库存。清代林则徐等曾开浚瓜泾港。到了清末民初，“数口之外，芦墟高涨，近成数里，远者十数里，湖流东趋，仅有一线”。【《民国江南水利志》】此后，围田和退垦之事不断重复发生，就像荡秋千一样。1934年吴江大旱，东太湖几乎干涸，又围垦数万亩。 而人民公社以后，围湖造田达到登峰造极的地步。东太湖沿岸，陆地从长桥推出去数公里。对吴江松陵镇的居民而言，原本太湖的涛音是如在枕畔，后来就远在了天边。 历朝对蚕食太湖的做法松松紧紧，屡禁不止。其实，太湖泄水问题的重要性，历朝历代政府都非常清楚。从清代到民国，都有永禁占水碑。1935年，曾废拆围田两万余亩。1937年立钢筋混凝土界桩，界线之外为禁垦区。惠海鸣在《疏浚东太湖、吴淞江、娄江》一文中说：“1993年我坐船去东太湖，还见过这样的一两根界桩。”解放后，1954年江苏省政府仍定禁垦区为1937年所划定的区域。但是到了文化大革命，与天奋斗，“向太湖要田”，几近狂热，东太湖被大肆围垦。今天地域广阔的“部队农场”，当年曾经是波光粼粼的湖面。今天东太湖原界桩外，已有数万亩围垦田，或种稻麦，或开鱼池，外围又有新的东太湖包围圈。 东太湖之田旱潦兴废无定准，历来有利可图。多次重复禁止围垦，有时实在是“饰虚文，应故事，应之而已”。不仅是吴江松陵，吴中区横泾在此也围垦数万亩，包括东山南面，登高而望，已不见湖面，只见鱼塘。 顾炎武曾说，江南水利必先治吴淞江，“故昔之治水者，必先治吴淞江”。【《天下郡国利病书》】归有光则说：“吴淞江为三吴水道之咽喉，此而不治，为吾民之害未有已也。”【归震川《论三区赋役水利书》】海瑞在苏州为官不过一年多时间，但他却非常明白，“娄江、东江系入海小道，惟吴淞江尽泄太湖之水，由黄浦入海。”【《海瑞集·开吴淞江疏》】他指出，开浚吴淞江，乃“国计所关”。 江南的水患和水利，确乎大多与太湖有关。因此从古到今苏州的治水，也都以太湖为核心。 苏州最早关于水利的记载，见于战国时人作的《禹贡篇》。其中有“三江既入，震泽底定”的句子。震泽，就是太湖的名字。三江的解释，自古以来众说纷纭。晋顾夷《吴地记》和庾伸初《扬都赋》注称，《禹贡篇》说的三江，就是指太湖下游的吴淞江、东江和娄江。这三江的畅通与否，关乎太湖的恩惠与祸患，这一点，早在公元前21世纪就被人们清楚地认识到了。 公元前1122年，吴泰伯开渎，后从名曰泰伯渎，它就是今天无锡县【旧属苏州地区】境内的伯渎港。 周敬王六年【公元前514年】，吴王阖闾命伍子胥筑阖闾大城，也就是今天的苏州城。伍子胥建立了水陆城门各八座，沟通了苏州城内外河流，开创了苏州城市水利的先例。 周敬王二十五年【公元前495年】，吴王夫差欲图北上争霸，役夫开河运漕，自苏州境经望亭、无锡至奔牛镇达于孟河，计长170余里。这是江南运河最早开挖段。 周元王元年【公元前475年】，越国大夫范蠡伐吴，于苏州西北开漕河转馈。后人名曰蠡渎、蠡湖，亦称常昭漕河。 庄襄王二年【公元前248年】，楚春申君黄歇徙封于吴，治水淞江，导流入海。又封闭苏州城的胥门水门和增辟葑门水门，整治城内部分河道。 秦代，始皇帝南巡至太湖地区时，从嘉兴起“治陵水道到钱塘【今杭州市】通浙江”【东汉彭康《越绝书·吴地传》】，一般认为这段陵水道就是江南运河杭嘉段的前身。 汉代，高祖十二年【公元前195年】，相传吴王刘濞为运盐铁，役夫循沿海古冈身内侧开凿成河，冠名盐铁塘。唐代在盐铁塘东岸筑斗门、冈门，既可堰水于冈身之东灌溉高田，又可遏冈身之水倒灌危害冈西之塘浦圩田，为中国历史上较早的高低分开治理工程。 汉武帝【公元前140年至公元前87年】，沿太湖东缘开运河通闽越贡赋，首尾亘百余里，接通了江南运河的苏嘉段。 隋炀帝敕开江南运河，则是亘古以来几乎家喻户晓的事件。大业六年【610年】，自镇江至杭州号称800余里的运河被开凿出来，河面阔10余丈，可通龙舟。 在长期战乱之后，唐宋均获得较长时期的社会安定，为经济发展提供了先决条件。经过六朝的经营，江南水利迅速发展。唐中叶安史之乱后，江浙地区圩田兴盛，成为封建政权财赋的主要来源。 这一时期南方水利工程类型很多，除引水渠系外，主要有蓄水塘堰、拒咸蓄淡、滨湖圩田等形式。 唐宋时期苏州塘堰迅速发展。元代初年著名农学家王祯说：“惟南方熟于水利，官陂官塘处处有之，民间所自为溪曷水塘难以数计，大可灌田数百顷，小可灌田数十亩。”可以代表这一时期的发展水平。东南地区水利受海潮影响，形成一种可称之为拒咸蓄淡的独特工程形式。即采用一组闸坝建筑物，抗御海潮入侵，蓄引内河淡水灌溉。 唐代，贞元八年【792年】，苏州刺史于GFBC2重修荻塘，开疏两岸沟渠，以利灌溉。又于塘上广植树木，以便牵挽。民颂其德，易名GFBC2塘。 元和二年【807年】，苏州刺史李素督开常熟塘，自苏州齐门起北达常熟，长90公里，名元和塘。 元和五年【810年】，苏州刺史王仲舒沿太湖东缘运河西侧筑堤为路。时松陵南北皆水，无路抵郡，至是北路始通。元和十一年，王仲舒又建宝带桥。 宝历元年【825年】，苏州刺史白居易沿虎丘山南麓凿渠筑堤，吴人谓之白公堤，后亦称十里山塘。 五代贞明元年【915年】，置都水营田使，主水事，募卒组织撩浅军，专业治筑堤。 隋唐时期江南水利成就最大、功效最突出的是太湖流域圩田水利。圩田一般是在滨湖区，用圩岸将其与湖水隔开。一圩往往方圆数十里。苏州地区湖泊、河网密布，雨量丰富而又不均匀，于是产生圩田这一特定的水利类型。圩田起源较早，至唐代后期，太湖圩田已较发达。 圩田水利系统的形式是，在圩岸上建闸，引水入圩。圩内有人工开挖的形如网格状的塘浦灌溉渠系，旱则开闸引江湖水灌溉，圩外水位过高时，则闭闸拒水，低田可自流引灌，高田借助水车提水灌溉。由于圩田濒临湖泊和河流，有着优越的灌溉条件，“故谓天下之利莫大于水田，水田之美莫过于浙右。”【《三吴水利录·周文英书》】然而圩田也有它的水利问题。太湖流域形似浅碟，中部凹陷，排水不畅。其上游接受天目山和大茅山七十二溪来水，排水出路有东北、东和东南方向诸河道，其中以东面的吴淞江为主。但是，由于滩地围垦和河道自然淤积，排水河道逐渐浅狭。运河纤道自南而北横穿太湖出水路，阻遏泄水。加之海潮顶托等原因，圩田常受洪涝威胁，遂形成以排水为重点的灌溉、排水、航运、御潮等综合水利问题。 宋代天禧二年【1018年】，江淮发运副使张纶督知苏州孙冕疏常昆诸浦，导太湖水入海。 天圣元年【1023年】苏州水环太湖外塘。八月，诏两浙转运使徐弼、江淮发运使赵贺董其事。自市泾【今王江泾】以北，赤门【今葑门】以南，筑古堤90里，建桥18座。次年4月塘成，复良田数千顷。 景祐元年【1034年】，连年大水，良田荒芜。知苏州范仲淹亲临灾区视察，以官粮募饥民兴修水利，督浚茜泾、下张、七鸦、白茆、浒浦五大浦，使诸邑之水东南入吴淞江，东北入长江与大海。 庆历二年【1042年】，苏州通判李禹卿又筑长堤界于太湖东缘南端，横贯五六十里。八年，吴江知县李向又建利往桥【即垂虹桥】，沟通松陵至平望的陆道。自此，太湖东缘形成一条南北贯通、水陆俱利的塘路，史称吴江塘路。 至和二年【1055年】，昆山主簿邱与权重筑昆山塘70里，建桥52座。时苏昆间均为沼泽，人舟难行。自唐代起，官民数欲筑之，皆因工艰未果。工罢，邱作《至和塘记》以志纪念，并易名至和塘。 嘉祐四年【1059年】，诏置苏州开江兵士，立吴江、常熟、昆山、城下四指挥。主事河道撩浅、岁修之责。 嘉祐五年，转运使王纯臣请令苏湖常秀四州各县官教诱受益户自传塍岸。塘浦大圩古制隳坏后，修士由民自办从此推行。 熙宁二年【1069年】十二月，颁《农田水利约束》。也即农田水利法。 熙宁六年五月，杭州于潜令郏亶上书《苏州治水六失六得》及《治田利害七论》，十一月，命郏亶兴修水利，然措置乖方，民多愁怨，仅一年罢役。 元丰六年【1083年】，枢密院裁定苏州开江兵役800人，专治浦闸。 元祐三年【1088年】，宜兴人单锷撰《吴中水利书》，议复太湖上游五堰以节水，凿下游吴江塘路，为木桥千座，以泄太湖之水，但事不果行。 宣和元年【1119年】，立浙西诸水则碑。吴江水则碑立于垂虹桥亭北之左右，左碑为横道碑。右碑为竖道碑，分别记录水位及发生时间。此碑为太湖及湖东地区最早的水文测量标志。 绍兴二十九年【1159年】，监察御史任古督浚平江水道，从常熟东栅至雉浦入丁泾。开福山塘自丁泾口至高墅桥，北注长江。是年，知平江府陈正同报经户部奏准禁止围垦湖田，并立界碑，约束人户。 隆兴二年【1164年】七月，平江大水，浸城郭，坏庐舍，淹圩田，决堤岸。人操舟行市累数月。八月，知平江沈度，役夫浚浒浦、白茆、崔浦、黄泗、茜泾、下张、七鸦、川涉、杨林、掘浦等常昆十浦，用工300余万。 乾道五年【1169年】，增置平江撩湖军民，确定太湖管辖范围，不许人户佃种茭菱等阻水易淤的水生植物，以畅河流。 淳熙元年【1174年】，提举浙西常平薛元鼎督开茜泾、七鸦、下张等浦及运河。是年，平江府知府韩彦左与浒浦驻军戚世明，组织军民开浚浒浦港。淳熙二年，立庸田司于平江，专责苏州的水利工程。是年，平江知府陈岘开浒浦，浚塘筑堤，植柳一万株。淳熙十三年，常平提举罗点，以淀山湖泄水诸道为戚里豪强侵占为田，宣泄不畅，民田积水，上疏开浚，从之。民闻欢跃，不等告谕，各带粮合伙先行开挖。积水骤退，复为良田。 嘉定十年【1217年】，知平江府赵彦肃疏锦帆泾，纵横四出，以达运河，建桥55座，开河1190丈，计工3万，费钱3000余缗。 至元二十四年【1287年】，苏州水灾。宣慰使朱清喻上户循娄江故道开浚，导水由刘家港入海，并通海运。 大德二年【1298年】，置浙西都水监庸田使司于平江路，专主水利。大德十年，行都水少监任仁发役夫大浚吴淞江下游段。 至大元年【1308年】，江浙行省督治田围之岸，岸分五等，高止七尺五寸，低止三尺，以水与田相等，地分高下为差。此为苏州修圩堤有统一防洪高程的开始。 天历二年【1329年】，吴江知州孙伯恭以巨石大修吴江塘路，并相其地势，凿水窦百余个，以通太湖泄水，翌年塘成，长四十余里。后于至正六年至七年【1346年至1347年】又续建加固，表名至正石塘，由张天英撰《至正石塘记》。至正二十四年，张士诚据吴为王，起兵、民夫十万，命左丞吕珍督浚白茆港，堑其地为港，长亘90里，广36丈。 封建后期农田水利建设多由地方自办，兴修普遍，而著名的大型工程则较少。成绩突出的是江南地区的水利。随着东南地区的进一步开发，海塘因而大规模兴修。这一时期，是古代农田水利技术的总结时期，水利专著大量出现。除《农书》、《农政全书》、《授时通考》等外，就农田水利而言，出版了许多流域范围的水利书。如归有光的《三吴水利录》、王太岳的《经渠志》和康基田的《河渠纪闻》等。 太湖地区经过历史上长期的开发及经营，逐渐成为天下富庶之地。明代，经济比前代更为发达。明初建都南京，经济上直接依赖太湖地区。永乐以后迁都北京，仍然靠南方运去大批漕粮。据明代《万历会典》统计，成化八年【1472年】定全国漕运总数为400万石，其中江浙地区漕粮就近200万石。又如明天顺时全国税粮总数为2656万石，其中苏、松、常、镇、杭、嘉、湖七府税粮为586万石。在七府中，漕粮和税粮又以苏、松二府为最多。由于太湖地区经济地位重要，所以明代对太湖水利的治理，也颇重视。 明时太湖下游排洪干流吴淞江淤塞严重，为了减少吴淞江的排泄负担，明代在上游修建工程，减少太湖的来水。明初建都南京，苏浙漕粮要逆长江而上，为了避免江涛之险，洪武二十五年【1392年】疏浚胥溪运河，在今天的东坝处建了一座石闸，名为广通镇闸。又开凿了溧水县胭脂岗，通过胭脂河把石臼湖与秦淮河连接起来。苏浙漕运由太湖经荆溪、胥溪，过广通镇闸，到固城、石臼二湖，东北入胭脂河，下秦淮河，直达南京。永乐十九年，迁都北京，江浙漕舟改由京口渡江北上，胥溪运河遂失去其重要地位。当时太湖下游水患严重，苏州人吴相五引宋单锷议上奏，认为筑坝可减轻苏松地区水患。单锷的意见当时被采纳，于是废闸为坝，称为上坝或东坝。设官吏看守，每年派溧阳、溧水民夫各四十人看守。自此宣、歙之水很少进入太湖。但坝犹低薄，水易漏泄，船只还能越坝而过。正统六年【1441年】长江水泛涨，坝大决，苏、常一带遭受水灾。巡抚周忱召集民工重新修筑，并订定坝规，规定极严，如有走漏水，淹没苏松田禾的，坝官吏处斩，民夫充军十二年。 明代太湖水利由朝廷派官员主持较大的治理工程的有十多人。成绩比较显著的有永乐初夏原吉、正统间周忱、天顺初崔恭、弘治间徐贯、正德嘉靖间李充嗣、隆庆时海瑞、万历初林应训等人。 明洪武元年【1368年】，敕工部遣官修筑苏南海塘，南起嘉定县界，北至刘家港。洪武九年，开浚刘家港、白茆塘及邻近昆承湖南诸泾、至和塘等淤浅处，并置长洲、常熟、昆山三县吐纳湖海水堰坝。 永乐元年【1403年】，苏松水患，工部尚书夏原吉奉命治水。夏弃吴淞江下游易淤段不治，而浚吴淞江南北诸浦，导水入浏河入海。史称“制淞入浏”。夏又于淀山湖、泖湖众水汇集之处，开范家浜，上接大黄浦，导水向东出海。这条水道，百余年后，逐渐被冲大淘深，成为太湖排水主干黄浦江。夏原吉又督浚白茆、福山、耿泾等入江港浦，导昆承、阳澄诸湖以及东北地区涝水入长江。 天顺二年【1458年】，巡抚崔薛檄苏州知府姚堂、松江通判洪景德和有关知县等大浚吴淞江，自苏州夏驾口，经上海白鹤江、嘉定卡家渡至庄家泾出旧长，长万余丈，底宽四丈。此为夏原吉治水五十余年后的第一次复治吴淞江。 成化八年【1472年】，置苏松水利浙江佥事，专治苏松水利。是年，兴筑海塘自宝山北至刘家港两千丈，为浙西海塘延筑至苏境之始。是年，吴县知县雍泰修复穹窿山废堰，为苏州历史上最大的山塘。 弘治六年【1493年】，苏州府水利通判应能主持浚治府城内河，又浚枫塘、虎丘山塘。 嘉靖二