What about the ruins of the Sui and Tang Grand Canal that declined 700 years ago?

The Grand Canal in Sui and Tang Dynasties declined 700 years ago. So, what about its remains today?

This is a big problem, which deserves serious investigation and study.

After the field trip, I was surprised: still there! It is not completely invisible as people initially thought.

Sui and Tang Grand Canal

The situation is more complicated: some river sections merged into the later Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, mainly connected end to end, such as the Jiangnan Canal in the south of the Yangtze River and the middle section of Yongji Canal in the north of Linqing, Shandong Province, which are all tangible. Moreover, Guyangou and Jiangnan Canal are rich in water resources and have busy traffic. Some river sections are abandoned, mainly in the middle and upper section of Yongji Canal north of the Yellow River.

One result of this survey is that the lower limit of abandonment time is actually very close, that is, more than 30 years ago. This section of the river is now called Weihe River, and the whole river is on the water, so it is easy to find. Sadly, the first half of the Grand Canal in Sui and Tang Dynasties, which existed for more than 1400 years, was not protected after being abandoned. Instead, it became a dirty sewer and was seriously polluted. Many places have become "Longxugou", which is terrible. The main pollution sources are industrial wastewater from Jiaozuo and Xinxiang in Henan Province and industrial and domestic garbage along the coast of Hebei Province.

According to the memories of local old boatmen and fishermen, when there was a lot of water in the 1970s, there were always cargo ships arriving in Tianjin from the north of Hebi, Henan Province via Weihe River, and the stone transportation was unimpeded. Once upon a time, due to the rise of roads and railways and the shortage of water resources, the northern section of the Sui and Tang Grand Canal declined rapidly. Its tragic situation is really deplorable and unimaginable.

Sui and Tang Grand Canal

The third case is buried underground. The reason is that the Yellow River has flooded many times in history, and the old channel of the Grand Canal was buried underground by yellow sand and silt. This part is also very long, generally in the second half of the Sui and Tang Grand Canal, that is, in Henan and Anhui. This part is in a few places, such as Changgou Town, Sixian County, Suzhou City, Anhui Province, where there is an ancient canal with water in Duan Yiran, which is 25 kilometers long. Besides, for most of the second half of the year, the old road of the Sui and Tang Grand Canal has disappeared on the surface, and nothing can be found. Only archaeological excavations can prove it.

Fortunately, the Grand Canal in Sui and Tang Dynasties existed objectively. There are traces of the Grand Canal so long and so wide in the underground loess, just need to dig and look for it. Practice has proved that this discovery is not difficult, and with a little action, there will be amazing and huge gains. People will scream loudly when they look at the excavated docks, sunken ships, cellars and porcelain. What a prosperous Grand Canal!