TAN Xu-ming, CHEN Fang-zhou, LI Yun-peng, WAN Jin-hong

Department of Water Resources History, IWHR, Beijing 100038, China

Abstract: In 1128AD, the Yellow River changed its course from the Sishui River to the Huai River, which changed the relationship between the canal and other natural rivers since Warring States. The Huitong River and the Canal south of Xuzhou section, which was excavated in the Yuan dynasty, formed a special structure between the Canal and the Yellow River: in term of advantage, the Yellow River served both as the water source and as the waterway for the Canal, however, the Yellow River also brought the Canal a big distraction as its frequent burst. The paper studied the process of reconstruction of the Canal between the Yellow River and the Huai River as weel as the evolution of the regional water environment. The processes are listed as follows: (1) The waterway north of Xuzhou, the Nailaopo River, which was created by the flood of the Yellow River, has played a crucial role in the evolution of the waterway in south of Jining section and the Sishui basin. (2) The breach of the Yellow River, north of Xuzhou section had a direct impact on the yield of the Canal water between the Huitong caral and the Yellow River. In early Ming dynasty, with much effort of taking the water from the Bianhe River and Qinhe River to the Yellow River, the navigation between the Huitong canal and the Yellow River had been maintained for nearly 200 years. However, it was interrupted because of the siltation of the Xuzhou Hong channel and the Lvliang Hong Channel at last. (3) The silting of the Huitong River from Jining to Xuzhou section, was the main cause of regional water environmental change, and also the major reason for forming of the Jiahe River, the Middle Canal, Weishan Lake and other Lakes. Since these lakes could regulate the water as well as water tanks, the waterway of the Grand Canal finally separated from the Yellow River, and then navigation became more unimpeded in the later 200 years. Therefore, the thesis conclusion are summarized as follows: during the period of 700 years, the natural environment of the Huaibei Plain had changed drastically under the combined action of silt accumulation by the flood of the Yellow River, and the application of the Canal engineering system, which becomes an inconvenient natural historical characteristic of the Canal heritage system.

Key words: natural history, Yellow River, Sishui River, Grand Canal, Huitong Canal, Middle Canal

Published in: Journal of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (Vol. 12 No. 1, 2014)