Chapter 6 Section 5: Five Canals Connecting All Rivers in Hebei
The Hebei Plain is located to the north of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, to the east of the Taihang Mountains, to the south of the Yanshan Mountains, and to the east of the Bohai Sea.There are many rivers and waterways here.In the south, there are many old courses of the Yellow River, which flow from southwest to northeast; in the middle, most of the water flows in the west-east direction, originating from Dahang Mountain; in the north, the rivers flow in the north-south direction, originating in Yanshan Mountain.They all flow into the Bohai Sea, with short streams and little water, making it inconvenient for shipping.However, if canals can be dug between the various rivers to connect them, the water sources can be adjusted and concentrated, and the efficiency of shipping will be greatly improved.At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, starting from political and military needs, did a lot of work to improve the water transportation here, and successively dug five waterways including Baigou, Pinglu, Quanzhou, Xinhe and Licao.
In the fifth year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty (200 A.D.), although Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shang, Shao's son, still occupied Yecheng (now southeast of Ci County, Hebei) and resisted stubbornly.In the ninth year of Jian'an (204 A.D.), Cao Cao personally led the army to march across Hebei.Starting from the needs of military transportation, he first built a canal named Baigou in Hebei.One of the main projects of Baigou is to build weirs to force the Qi River to flow northward.The ancient Qishui, which is now the Qihe River, originates from the Taihang Mountains, flows southeast, and flows into the Yellow River in two ways.Therefore, there are two weirs, large and small.The small weir is built of stone, known as the stone weir. Its main purpose is to block the small river and concentrate all the Qi water in the right flow.The big weir is called Fangyan. It was built not far from where the Qi River was flowing into the river.The Qishui is not abundant, so we can't build a water diversion project like the Lingqu canal on the Haiyang River. We can only block all the Qishui and make it flow northward.Therefore, when a river boat enters a ditch or a ditch boat enters a river, the dam must be unloaded, the cargo is unloaded from the boat, the empty boat is pulled over the dam along the slope of the dam, and the cargo is loaded on the boat to continue sailing.Another project is to cross the canal in the north of Fangyan to divert Qi water into Baigou, another natural river.Baigou is connected to the ancient Qinghe River, the old course of the Yellow River, and the Qinghe River reaches today's Tianjin border, where it meets the Tuohe River (滹〔huhu〕Tuohe River).In this way, although the Baigou project has the work of damming, it has improved the water transportation in the north and south of the Yellow River after all.
After Yuan Shang was defeated by Cao Cao, he defected to Ta Dun, the leader of Liaoxi, in an attempt to make a comeback.In order to eradicate future troubles, in the eleventh year of Jian'an (AD 206), Cao Cao made a northern expedition to Wuhuan.During the march, he ordered Dong Zhao to be responsible for organizing the construction of forces, and successively dug three grain transportation channels in Pinglu, Quanzhou, and Xinhe, and opened up a waterway leading to western Liaoning.Pinglu Canal is located in Jinghai County, Tianjin City today, starting from Tuoshui in the south and ending in Gugu in the north.The lower reaches of the Shui River are generally the section where the Daqing River enters the sea.Quanzhou Canal is a channel connecting the lower reaches of Boshui River and Baoqiu River (Chaobai River), and it got its name because it is located in Quanzhou County (where the government is located in the southwest of Wuqing County today).Xinhe starts from Baoqiu Water in the west, passes through the territory of Tangshan today, and connects with Ru Ru River in the east.Rushui is the Luan River today.These three channels, especially the latter two, probably did not work because of the roughness of the army and the fact that there were many swamps in eastern Jidong, so the construction was difficult and the engineering was rough.
If the drilling of the above-mentioned four canals is mainly due to military needs, the Kaili Canal is different, mainly based on political needs.Yecheng controls the Hebei Plain in the north and connects the hinterland of the Central Plains in the south. It has an important position. It was originally the base camp of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shang's father and son.After Cao Cao eliminated Yuan's forces, he moved his political center from Xudu (now Xuchang City, Henan Province) to the north.Therefore, he attached great importance to the construction of Yecheng.The development of waterway transportation here and the construction of Licao Canal are one of the aspects.It was chiseled in the eighteenth year of Jian'an (AD 213), with Zhangshui as the water source, passing through Yecheng, eastward to the southwest of Guantao County, and connecting with Baigou.Baigou was an important water communication line in Hebei at that time. After the Licao Canal was dug, Yecheng’s control over the central and northern parts of Youyan and its connection to the south of the Yellow River were greatly strengthened because of the benefits of Baigou.Due to the abundant water in Zhangshui and the increase in water sources, the waterway of Baigou is smoother.In addition to the above five canals, the Baima Canal was opened during Cao Wei Dynasty to communicate with Tuo River and Zhang River.
After thousands of years of hard work, by the time of the Han Dynasty, my country's canal project had made great achievements. It started from the coastal areas in the east, went to Guanzhong in the west, started from Hunan and Guangxi in the south, and reached Youyan in the north.It plays an important role in promoting economic and cultural exchanges between regions and ethnic groups, in the development of frontier areas, and in the formation and consolidation of a unified, multi-ethnic country.
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