It is the world’s longest canal, stretching 1794km. Its full name is Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. You must be curious- who was the one who built this canal? Why did he build this canal?
With these questions, I would like to return to 1400 years ago and share the story of how the canal was built.
The person who started the restoration of this canal was an ancient dynasty emperor by the name of Yang Guang. His character has been featured in Chinese television dramas, textbooks and novels. In most of the Chinese dramas and novels, Yang Guang was portrayed as a fatuous and unjust tyrant. He did not concern himself with the livelihood of his people and indulged only in enjoying scenery, beautiful women and building the canal.
From my point of view, Yang Guang’s purpose in building the canal was far from simple. When Yang Guang was younger, he was a general who possessed great military acumen. He personally commanded armies of millions, conquered what was then China’s Jiangnan area and ended conflict that had been ongoing for 300 years. Thereafter, he oversaw the management of Yangzhou, and having lived there for 10 years, formed an inextricable bond with Yangzhou.
Yang Guang then successfully ascended to the throne and decided to start the project of building the canal. This canal connected Beijing, Yangzhou, Hangzhou and Luoyang.
In ancient China, without high-speed rail, planes and cars, Yangzhou depended on the inefficient method of horses and cows to move food supplies. Food that was harvested in Hangzhou during autumn may have only reached Yang Guang in Luoyang during winter. If a river could connect directly to Luoyang, the journey could be shortened to just one month.
In the same way, if Yang Guang were to start a war and wanted to deploy his troops in Luoyang, Hangzhou and Yangzhou to Beijing, he would require a river to make quick adjustments to his army. Hence, Yang Guang gathered more than a million people and used just half a year to open a canal from Luoyang to Yangzhou.
Why did Yang Guang use the sweat, tears and blood of a million people to build this canal?
As I mentioned previously, Yang Guang possessed keen military talents in his youth. After becoming the emperor, this gifted military man had dreams of conquering the world. In order to start the war with northern countries and to fulfil his dream of conquering the world, he did not care how many fell in the construction of the canal.
In the end, Yang Guang failed thrice in the war and the domestic movement to overthrow him gained momentum. Yang Guang sent himself to the guillotine.
After Yang Guang’s death, this canal that connected Beijing, Hangzhou and Luoyang was continued in its use. This canal allowed for tighter communication between the northern and southern fronts of China. Cities that lined both sides of the canal benefitted from the river water, the economy started to develop and people become prosperous. Merchants came from the south to the north- this gave rise to the charming canal culture.
Today, cities that have gained prosperity as a result of the canal are actively working for the canal’s ecology, culture and economic development. Yangzhou has left the deepest impression on me. I’ve been to Yangzhou many times and have interacted deeply with World Historic and Cultural Canal Cities Cooperation Organisation (WCCO), which is based there.
After gaining a deeper understanding of canal culture, here are our hopes: telling the exciting story of canal and sharing the charm of canal culture by leveraging the channels of the internet.
(The pictures from this article are retrieved from the internet.)
Chinese:
大家好~关于中国，我想你肯定知道“万里长城”，它是世界七大奇迹之一。但你可能不知道的是，中国有一条运河与长城齐名，都是中国古代最伟大的工程之一。
同时，它也是世界上最长的运河，全长1794千米。它的全名是：京杭大运河。你肯定好奇：是谁要修这条运河？他为啥要修建这么长的运河啊？
带着这些问题，我想回到1400年前，将开凿京杭大运河的故事分享给你：
发起修建这条运河的人，是一位亡国皇帝，他叫杨广。他的人物形象出现在中国的电视剧、教科书、小说里。在中国大部分的电视剧、小说里，杨广都是一个昏庸无道的暴君。他根本不管百姓死活，只为了享受享受美景、美女，而修建京杭大运河。
在我看来，杨广修运河的目的，远没有这么简单。杨广年轻时，是个非常具有军事才华的将军。他亲自率领百万军队，征服了当时中国的江南地区，结束了持续300年的战火纷争。之后，他出任扬州总管，在那里生活了10年，与扬州结下了不解之缘。
之后，顺利成为皇帝的杨广，便决定开凿京杭大运河。这条运河将北京、扬州、杭州、洛阳连接起来。
在中国古代，没有高铁、飞机、汽车，杨广只有用马、牛来运送粮食，效率非常低。可能扬州秋天收获的粮食，要等到冬天才能运到杨广所在的洛阳。那如果有一条河能直通洛阳，可能只需要一个月就能把粮食运到洛阳了。
同样的，如果杨广想发起战争，想把洛阳、杭州、扬州的部队运到北京，也需要有条河才能快速地征调军队。于是，杨广征集了一百多万人，仅用半年时间便开通了洛阳到扬州的运河。再后来，杨广又发动上百万人开凿扬州到北京、杭州的运河。这么高效率的背后，是数万人累死在运河边的悲剧。
那杨广为啥要用百万人的汗、泪、血来修这条河？
我前面提过，杨广年轻的时候就有不错的军事才能。这个有军事才华的人，当上皇帝后，便有了征服世界的梦想。为了发起对北方国家的战争，为了实现征服世界的梦想，杨广才不管开凿运河要累死多少人。
最终，杨广三次战败，国内推翻杨广统治的势力越发壮大。杨广把自己送上了断头台。
杨广死后，这条将北京、杭州、洛阳相连接的运河依旧发挥着它的功能：这条运河将中国的南方北方联系得更加紧密；运河两岸的城市受到了河水的滋润，经济得到发展，百姓变得富裕；商人们的南来北往，孕育了魅力无限的运河文化。
到了今天，运河两岸因运河而繁荣的城市，都在积极地为大运河的生态、文化、经济发展而努力。其中最令我印象深刻的便是扬州。我曾多次去过扬州，并与组织住所设立在扬州的世界运河历史文化城市合作组织（英文简称：WCCO）进行深入地交流。
在深入接触运河文化之后，我们共同期待：借助互联网的渠道，讲述精彩纷呈的运河故事，将极具魅力的运河文化分享给更多人。
（文中图片源于互联网）
