Why is the Grand Canal from Jining, Shandong Province to Hangzhou a living canal?

The statement that the Grand Canal from Jining, Shandong Province to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province is "alive" and the Grand Canal from Jining to Beijing is "dead" is reasonable, but not completely correct.

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is a man-made north-south waterway, connecting Qiantang River, Yangtze River, Huaihe River, Yellow River and Haihe River. It can be said that the purpose of digging the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the life value of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal in history are mainly for transportation. At present, the section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal that is still navigable is from Jining, Shandong to Hangzhou, Zhejiang. However, due to the terrain, water volume, the Yellow River barrier, and the replacement of railways and highways, the cargo transportation from Jining to Beijing has stopped, and some sections have even dried up and abandoned. From this perspective, it makes sense that the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is "alive" from Jining, Shandong Province to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and "dead" from Jining to Beijing.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, canals were called Caoqu or Caohe and Qu Yun. Including Guangtong Canal, Tongji Canal, Shanyangdu, Hangou, Jiangnan River and Yongji Canal, it was only called the Canal in the Song Dynasty.

The Sui Dynasty was a capital and a prosperous city. Although Guanzhong is known as fertile land, its land is narrow and densely populated, and its output is not enough for the use of the capital, so it can only rely on taxes from the East. Sui Wendi Sui Wendi ordered Yuwen Kai to lead the hydraulic engineering to open another water channel in the fourth year of Emperor Kaihuang because of the impermanence of Weihe River and the shallow sand and deep water. The Weihe River leads from the arrogant northwest of Xingcheng, slightly follows the old path of Cao Canal in Han Dynasty, and joins the Yellow River in Tongguan, with a total length of more than 300 miles, which is called Guangtong Canal. Since then, water transportation has been favorable, and Guanzhong relies on it, so it is also called Fumin Canal. Renshou changed its name to Yongtong Canal in four years.

In the seventh year of Sui Dynasty, in order to make preparations, it started from the north and was connected with Hangou by Sheyang Lake in the southeast. In this way, the waterway from the Huaihe River to the Yangtze River between Yang Shan and Jiangdu is unblocked.