The ancient and modern history of Yangzhou ancient canal

China Ancient Canal is an artificial river with the earliest digging time and the longest flow in the world. Together with the Great Wall of Wan Li, it is called the two great engineering wonders in ancient China, which originated in Yangzhou, China. In 486 BC, Fu Cha, the king of Wu, dug the Han ditch, which was its origin.

Nowadays, people pay more and more attention to the historical and cultural value of the ancient canal. Cities along the Yangtze River are scrambling for this historical "business card"; The country also plans to declare the ancient canal as a world cultural heritage project.

Yangzhou is the only city that grew up with the ancient canal, and the ancient canal in Yangzhou will undoubtedly attract more world attention.

The main venue of this year's "Fireworks March" International Economic and Trade Tourism Festival is determined to "set up a stage" and sing "Canal Opera" by the ancient canal.

Today, on the occasion of the first publication of the book "Yangzhou Ancient Canal" compiled by the CPPCC Academic Committee on Literature and History, this newspaper and the CPPCC Academic Committee jointly set up a column "Searching for Yangzhou Ancient Canal" to put aside the dusty history, explore the "past life" of the ancient canal and highlight the unique canal civilization.

One of "Searching for Yangzhou Ancient Canal"

Background: The controversy about "Canal City" has not been fully clarified. Gongshu District of Hangzhou took the lead in establishing the China Ancient Canal Museum, and held many seminars on the ancient canal culture in China. Hangzhou, Liaocheng, Jining and other cities have successively held the "Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Culture and Art Festival"; Wuxi implemented a permanent ban on navigation of the ancient canal in the urban area, protected the historical block of the ancient canal, and vigorously developed the "tour of the ancient canal". A number of cultural facilities have been built in Tongzhou District of Beijing, including the Canal Cultural Square.

The neighboring Huai 'an shouted out the voice of "Canal City" more clearly and loudly, and the momentum was "magnificent".

In the early morning of winter, the cold is pressing, the busy Hangou road is sparsely populated, and the clear water beside Hangou is frozen.

Pavilions and pavilions and waterside pavilions are simple and elegant, and a little snow falls on the embankment, adding a bit of poetry.

Imagine that in 486 BC, Fu Cha, the king of Wu, dug a ditch here. What a difficult scene this is! Similarly, Fu Cha, the king of Wu who built the ancient city of Yangzhou, would not have thought that a section of ditches he ordered to dig would "flow" through the ages!

1800 km long ancient canal, like a giant chain link, flows through dozens of cities across the country, nourishing the descendants of Chinese generations along the river and gestating splendid canal civilization.

At present, many cities along the Canal in China proudly call themselves "Canal Cities".

Who is the undisputed "Canal City"? At that time, there was endless debate.

To answer this question, there is only one way to go-to explore the historical past of the ancient canal.

Wang, director of the CPPCC Committee of Literature and History, said: "Tracing back to the source, the ancient canal originated from the Han ditch dug by Fu Cha, King of Wu in 486 BC, and the first shovel of the ancient canal was dug here in Yangzhou.

This is an irrefutable historical fact.

Emperor Yang Di dug the Grand Canal, and his name will remain immortal.

The predecessor of Yiyang Canal was dug in Yonghe period of Eastern Jin Dynasty.

In the Tang Dynasty, Qi Huan dug the Yilou River, and Guazhou became famous all over the world.

The ancient canal connecting the five major water systems was born in the Yuan Dynasty.

At the same time, Yang Di opened the ancient canal on a large scale, and expanded and connected the north and south with Yangzhou as the center.

In the long years that followed, although the ancient canal moved, the central position of Yangzhou never changed.

Hangou is the earliest canal in the world, while Yangzhou is the earliest in the world and the only canal city of the same age as the ancient canal in China.

In Wang's mind, Yangzhou is the "Canal City" in A Chinese Odyssey. He said, "Without the ancient canal, there would be no ancient city of Yangzhou; The history of the rise and fall of the ancient canal is also the history of the rise and fall of Yangzhou ancient city.

The ancient canal gave birth to the city of Yangzhou, infiltrated the lakes and mountains of Yangzhou, expanded the region of Yangzhou and laid out the streets and lanes of Yangzhou.

Yangzhou ancient canal is the' mother river' of Yangzhou city, and Yangzhou is the only city with the same length as China ancient canal, and it is the unique' canal city' in the world.

The ancient canal is of irreplaceable significance to the birth and growth of Yangzhou city and the development and prosperity of Yangzhou culture. "

Now, most of Yangzhou's canals are consistent with the route of Guhan ditch more than 2,000 years ago, and basically consistent with the canals dug by Emperor Yang Di.

The total length of the ancient canal from Guazhou to Baoying is about125km.

Among them, the Yangzhou section is about 30 kilometers long from Guazhou to Wantou. This section of the canal is the oldest, with numerous historical sites and numerous cultural landscapes.

Wang said that it is the sacred and glorious historical mission of Yangzhou people to protect, renovate and utilize the ancient canal and inherit and carry forward the ancient canal culture.

The state plans to declare the ancient canal as a world cultural heritage project, and the status of Yangzhou ancient canal is more unique and important.

From the perspective of continuing and developing historical civilization, our responsibility for the protection and utilization of Yangzhou ancient canal is more significant and far-reaching.