Chapter 20 Chapter 6 The long history of river transport

In the primitive society, the level of productivity was very low, and most people gathered in places with water, relying on fishing and hunting for a living.Water is a necessity for human life, but sometimes it also brings great harm to human beings.In the process of dealing with water, people gradually come to know some characteristics of water.For example, "It is beneficial to cross the big river, and it is good to ride the wood" (), which means that riding on the wood is good for crossing the big river, and you understand the truth that "water can float the wood".With the development of social productivity, production tools are also constantly improving. It is possible for people to "weave wood into rafts". At the same time, they can also use fire and stone knives and stone axes to hollow out large logs and make canoes. , so that people can easily do water activities.As for ancient legends, it is mentioned that Huangdi’s ministers Gonggu and Huodi invented the boat, the tribal leader Zhuanxu [zhuanxu Zhuanxu] invented oars and poles, Diku invented the rudder and scull, Yao invented the rope, etc. Fundamentally speaking, all of these are It is the creation of the people.

The oracle bone inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty have the word "zhou", and there were already wooden boats at that time.According to oracle bone inscriptions, in the late Shang Dynasty, shipping was often used by slave owners as a tool to suppress slave resistance.During the period of King Wuding of the Shang Dynasty, a large number of slaves of the royal family fled, and Wuding ordered boats to pursue them.These boats took a lot of effort, and it took 15 days before and after, and finally captured the slaves.This incident reflects the status of navigation technology in the Shang Dynasty from one side.In the Zhou Dynasty, water transportation had further development.Waterway transportation not only utilizes natural river channels, but also digs canals.During the Spring and Autumn Period, Chen, Cai, Chu and other states were the first to dig canals.At that time, in order to improve the traffic between Chen and Cai, they dug a short canal to connect the two tributaries of the Huaihe River, Shashui and Rushui.The state of Chu also dug a waterway from the capital Ying (now north of Jiangling, Hubei) to the Han River.However, among the more important and famous canals are the Xu River connecting the Taihu Lake and the Yangtze River in the State of Wu, the Han [han Han] ditch connecting the Yangtze River and the Huai River, and the Heshui connecting the Huai River and the Yellow River, and the Wei State connecting the Yellow River and the Yellow River later. The chasm of the Huaihe River.

At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, when He Lu, Fu Chai and his son became King of Wu successively, the State of Wu gradually became stronger with the help of Wu Zixu, Sun Wu and others.In order to attack the state of Chu, the State of Wu dug the Xu River in 506 BC. Ships can pass through Taihu Lake from Suzhou, pass through Yixing and Gaochun, pass through Shijiu Lake, and flow into the Yangtze River in Wuhu, which greatly shortens the distance from Suzhou to Chaohu Lake in Anhui. .After Wu defeated the Chu State, he then broke through the Yue State and forced Yue King Goujian to submit to Wu.After two major victories, Fucha believed that Wu's dominance in the Yangtze River Basin had been established, so he decided to further use troops to the north to force the northern princes to follow his orders, so in 486 BC "Autumn, Wucheng Han, communicated with the Jianghuai River". "("Zuo Zhuan Nine Years of Ai Gong"), Hangou was repaired again.The ancient city of Han is located in the Shugang area in the northwest suburb of Yangzhou City today. Its ruins have been excavated, and its circumference is about 6 kilometers.The purpose of building Hancheng is to establish a base in Jiangbei to march to the north.Digging Hangou is convenient for transporting troops and food to the north.Hangou is also called Shanyangdu by later generations. According to the records of "Shui Jing Zhu Huai Shui Zhu", it diverts the Yangtze River water from the southwest of Han City, bypasses the east of the city, turns to the north, and flows from the two lakes of Luyang and Wuguang ( Located between east and west of today’s Gaoyou County, pass through, north to Fanliang Lake (north of today’s Gaoyou County), then turn to the northeast, pass through Bozhi and Sheyang Lakes (located between Xinghua and Baoying), and then turn to the northwest , to the end of the mouth (now northeast of Huai'an City) into the Huaihe River.The main reason why the Hangou line is more tortuous is to use the lake in order to reduce the amount of work.From then on, the army of Wu State entered the Huaihe River directly from the Yangtze River through this canal, and could attack Qi State by water and march into the Central Plains.The total length of this canal is about 150 kilometers. After its opening, it greatly facilitated the north-south shipping and laid the initial foundation for the development of the Jianghuai Canal.According to historical records, Hangou is the first large-scale canal with a definite date in my country and in the world.In the third year after Hangou was dug, that is, in 484 BC, the Wu army and the Qi army fought in Ailing (now south of Tai'an City, Shandong Province), and the Qi army was almost wiped out.After Wu State defeated Qi State, he decided to open another canal and march into the Central Plains. Backed by military power, he forced Jin State, the former leader of the northern princes, to submit.At that time, in the east between the Yellow River and the Huaihe River, there were two large natural rivers, one was Jishui, which was a fork of the original Yellow River; the other was Sishui, which finally flowed into the Huaihe River.Sishui is very close to Jishui. As long as a canal is built between the two rivers, Wu's army can enter Sishui from Huaihe River, transfer to Jishui through the canal, and go up to Jishui to reach the hinterland of the Central Plains.So in 482 BC, Wu Guofuchai dug a new waterway between the east of Yutai County and the northeast of Dingtao County in today's Shandong Province. Because the water source comes from Heze, it is called Heshui.Like Xu River and Hangou, Heshui was dug by Wu State for political and military needs, but for a long time later, it played an important role in strengthening the economic, political and cultural ties of the Yellow River, Huaihe River and Yangtze River Basin. played an important role.

475 BC to 221 BC was the Warring States Period in Chinese history.Wei State, which was the first to carry out reforms, became the first country to become strong among the seven countries during this period.During the reign of King Wei Hui (369 BC-319 BC), in order to compete with other countries, he moved his capital to Daliang (northwest of Kaifeng, Henan today).After the capital was moved, the state of Wei began to dig a canal centered on Daliang many times, which is the famous gap in history.Honggou first introduced the water with more sediment from the Yellow River into Putian Ze (in the west of Zhongmu County, Henan Province, which has been buried) in Xingyang, Henan Province, so that most of the sediment in the water was deposited in Putian Ze, which not only relieved the blockage of downstream channels , and make Putianze play the role of a water tank to adjust the water volume of the boundary.Then divert the water to the east, bypass the north and east sides of Daliang City, and connect to the south of the Huaihe River tributaries Danshui, Suishui, Weishui, Yingshui, etc. Many natural rivers are connected into a network, and ships can flow unimpeded.The excavation of the chasm not only formed a fairly complete water transportation network between the Yellow River, Huaihe River, and Jishui River, but also because the areas it connected were all areas with the most developed economy, politics, and culture in my country at that time, so in history. great influence.