View of the Grand Canal

Hi everyone, I still remember the first article we published here on 86insights, which was about Trump's visit to the Forbidden City. Not only Trump, Obama, Putin, Merkel, but also every foreigner who enters Beijing's Forbidden City, will be stunned by its magnificence. In fact, the Forbidden City is not one palace, but an aggregation of nearly 100 palaces. It is one of the most symbolic landmarks of China.

However, I'm not sure if you are aware: as early as 1000 years ago, the economic center in China started to shift southward from the north. The Forbidden City that we see today could not have been built merely based on the production of grains, bricks, and timber in cities near Beijing; it was even more impossible to establish Beijing as the new capital 866 years ago, because it was a city destroyed by frequent wars.

866 years ago (1151 A.D.), the fourth Emperor of Jin Dynasty, Emperor Hailing, with 400,000 troops and 800,000 migrant workers, proclaimed Beijing to be the new capital of the Jin Dynasty. At that time, the total population in Beijing was no more than 500,000. Of course, relying on the local workers in Beijing, it was impossible to make full use of the labor force of 1.2 million to build the new capital of the Jin Dynasty.

Nightscape of the Tongzhou Section of the Grand Canal

As a result, the government of the Jin Dynasty decided to use water carriage to collect the grains and building materials it levied in Tianjin, and then transport them to a small area called Lu County before finally moving them on land to where the capital of Jin Dynasty was built.

Due to the crucial geographical location of Lu County - the gateway was almost the only gateway for entry of goods from all over the country into Beijing City - the government of Jin Dynasty upgraded Lu County and renamed it "Tongzhou". And that is the Tongzhou District we know today. It is the eastern gate of Beijing, and is at the northern end of the Grand Canal.

Two years later, in 1153 A.D., with the joint efforts of 1.2 million troops and citizens, Beijing, the new capital of the Jin Dynasty, was finally established. Because of this episode, there was a common saying that "first there was Tongzhou, then there was Beijing".

Aerial View of Beijing Forbidden City.

114 years later, the government of Yuan Dynasty unified China, and began the construction of the capital of Yuan Dynasty in Beijing through the Grand Canal and Tongzhou. 139 years after the construction took off, another new dynasty took over the rule of China. The Ming government unified China, and began the reconstruction of the Ming capital. The Forbidden City we see in Beijing today was built from then on.

After the Ming dynasty, the two famous emperors of the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong, left the city of Beijing several times from Tongzhou, the northernmost point of the Grand Canal, and took a cruise straight down to the south.

Now, you may ask, "why mention the many changes in dynasties?"

I would like to say that the one palace that epitomizes the essence of Chinese culture in the past millennium has to be the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City could not have been established without the Grand Canal, which brought China's precious wood, bricks, cloth, food, and artwork to Beijing.

Therefore, in my opinion, the Grand Canal is actually a flowing palace. As the water flows from south to north, it carries many stories, history and culture. The northernmost point of the Grand Canal - the Tongzhou District in Beijing, enjoys the greatest value of the Chinese culture. It was the ancient capital that shared a bond with the whole of China.

After learning about all this, we could not wait to shift our attention to the canal in Tongzhou District, Beijing. We can still see the cultural imprint of the Grand Canal on Tongzhou. Over the past thousand years, the bridges, dams, wharves, warehouses, streets, shops, hotels, government offices and city walls left behind by the Grand Canal are still clearly visible.

View of the Lighted Lighthouse.

Walking to the bank of the Grand Canal in Tongzhou, we are attracted by the sight of the Lighted Lighthouse from the Yuan Dynasty. The Lighted Lighthouse was dedicated to the master of Buddha Sakyamuni, Buddha Dipamkara. Boya Tower, the symbol of one of China's most prestigious universities, Peking University, was designed based on the Lighted Lighthouse. Seeing the 54-meter-high tower, the crew in ancient times would be relieved that Beijing was right ahead of them.

Yes, Beijing is right ahead. The high speed trains and airplanes shortened the time and distance between Beijing and us. I am in Shanghai, only 5 hours away from Beijing by high speed train. But no matter how technology develops, we cannot forget that the city of Beijing was built by a group of people, and a canal. We also look forward to working with the World Historic and Cultural Canal Cities Cooperation Organization (WCCO) to explore the cultural heritage and economic value of the Grand Canal.

The pictures from this article are retrieved from the internet.

Chinese:

大家好~我记得我们86insights发布的第一篇文章，是从特朗普访华游故宫写起的。除了特朗普，还有奥巴马、普京、默克尔等等，每一个走进北京故宫的外国人，都会被故宫的雄伟壮丽所震撼。故宫其实不是一座宫殿，而是近百座宫殿的集合，更是中国的标志性建筑之一。

但是，我不知道大家有没有思考过：早在1000年前，中国的经济中心就开始，从北方向南移。单单依靠北京附近城市产出的粮食、砖块、木材，是不可能建成我们现在看到的故宫；更不可能在866年前，将经历过战火洗礼的城市建设为新首都。

866年前，也就是公元1151年，金朝第四代皇帝海陵王下令：从征调40万军队、80万民工来北京创建金朝新首都。当时的北京地区的总人口也不超过50万。很明显，依靠北京当地的力量，是不可能充分利用120万人的劳动力来建成金朝首都的。

于是，金朝政府决定利用水运把征收来的粮食、建材聚集在天津，然后再水运到一个叫潞县的小城，最后陆运到创建金朝首都的地方。

由于潞县的地理位置极其重要，几乎是全国物资进入北京城的唯一路口，金朝政府将潞县升级、更名为“通州”。而通州就是我们今天中国首都北京的东大门——通州区，处于京杭大运河的最北端。

2年后的1153年，在120万军民的共同努力下，金朝位于北京的新首都建成。于是，“先有通州，后有北京。”的说法一直流传到今天。

114年后，王朝更替，元朝政府统一中国，借着京杭大运河和通州，在北京开工建设元朝首都。元朝首都开工后的139年，王朝再次更替，明朝政府一统中国，开工重建明朝首都。我们今天在北京看到的故宫就是从那时建起的。

从明朝以后，清朝很出名的两位皇帝——康熙、乾隆也是多次从京杭大运河的最北端——通州走出北京，乘船直下江南。

读到这里，有人会问：讲了这么多王朝的更替，你想说明什么？

我想说，聚集近千年来中国文化精华的宫殿一定是故宫。而故宫的创建，离不开京杭大运河。京杭大运河把全中国的珍贵木材、砖块、布匹、粮食、艺术品运往北京。

所以，在我看来：京杭大运河其实是一座流动的宫殿。京杭大运河从南到北的运河水，所运载载的中华文化也是由少到多。而京杭大运河的最北端——北京的通州区，曾经聚集的中华文化是最多的。北京通州区是古代首都北京，与整个中国连接的核心纽带。

了解到这一切后，我们迫不及待地把视线转移到北京通州区的运河上，仍然可以看到京杭大运河给打上通州的文化印记。近千年来京杭大运河遗留在通州的桥梁、堤坝、码头、仓库、街巷、商铺、旅馆、政府驻地、城墙，依然出现清晰可见。

走到北京通州运河岸边，我们更会被元的燃灯塔所吸引。燃灯塔供奉着释迦牟尼的老师燃灯佛祖。中国最高学府之一北京大学的标志建筑博雅塔，就是参照燃灯塔而设计的。古代的船员们远远地看到这座54米高的塔，就会松了口气，因为北京就在眼前了。

是啊，北京就在眼前了。高铁飞机拉近了北京与我们的时间距离。我在上海，乘高铁到北京只需5个小时左右。但不论科技如何发展，我们都不能忘记这座北京城是由一群人、一条河建成的。我们也都期待与世界运河城市历史文化组织（WCCO）一起去发掘京杭大运河的文化内涵、经济价值。