CHAPTER XVIII.

CHINESE WATERWAYS. “But if, with bays and dams, they strive to force His channel to a new or narrow course, No longer then within his banks he dwells, First to a torrent, then a deluge swells.” —_Denham._ The most remarkable canal in the world is, in many respects, the Grand Canal of China. It is also, probably, the canal of all others of which the least is known. The fullest account hitherto extant, relative to this waterway, is that published by Marco Polo, and therefore dates as far back as the thirteenth century.[126] Several writers state that the Grand Canal of China was constructed in the tenth century, and Priestley—who does not, however, quote the source of his information—declares that it was completed in the year 980. Seeing, however, that Polo, writing from Tartary in 1278, speaks as if the canal were then in course of construction, this is hardly likely to be correct. “You must understand,” he says, “that the Emperor has caused a water communication to be made from this city (Kwachan) to Camboluc, in the hope of a wide and deep channel, dug between stream and stream, between lake and lake, forming, as it were, a great river on which large vessels can ply.” Polo is confirmed by other writers, and Dr. Williams, in one of the most recent and reliable works on China,[127] states that “the canal was designed by Kublai to reach from his own capital as far as Hangchau, the former capital of the Sung dynasty.” This, again, seems to be at variance with the testimony of Pére Mailla,[128] who, writing in the last century, declared that he and his brother Jesuits gazed with astonishment and admiration at the chasms which the Emperor Yu caused to be cut through solid mountains for the waters of the Yellow River.[129] If this does not refer to the Grand Canal, it may be presumed, as a writer in the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica’ has pointed out,[130] that it was the water itself and not the Emperor Yu that opened these channels. The date of the construction of the Grand Canal of China is thus, like many other matters pertaining to the history of that country, involved in obscurity. But no such uncertainty hangs over its extent and importance. The canal is nearly 700 miles in length, and reaches from Hang-choo-foo to Yan-liang river, having connections with the rivers Yang-tse-kiang and Ho-hang-ho, or the Yellow River.[131] Davis has given a description of the work,[132] from which it would appear that for some distance after the canal joins the Yu-ho, on its eastern bank, as that river flows towards the Peiho, it evidently follows the bed of a natural river. Its course is winding, and its banks are irregular and inartificial. It has, however, stone abutments and flood-gates for the purpose of regulating its waters. The distance between the stone piers in some of the flood-gates is often very narrow. The course of the water through these gates is arrested in rather a primitive fashion. Stout boards, with ropes fastened to each end, are let down edgeways over each other, through grooves in the stone piers. A number of soldiers and workmen always attend at the sluices, and shield the boats from danger by letting down coils of rope, in the same way as a ship’s “fender,” to break the force of the blows. The highest point of the canal appears to be at the influx of the Yun-ho, which enters the canal on its eastern side nearly at right angles, while part of its waters flow north and part south. At this point, where a strong facing of stone on the western bank sustains the force of the influx, there is an interesting temple, erected to the Dragon King, or genius of the watery element, who is supposed to have the canal in his special keeping. The work of joining the Yun-ho, and the Grand Canal is attributed to Sung Li, who lived under Hungwa, the first Emperor of the Ming dynasty, about 1375. It was accomplished in this wise. A part of the canal in Shantung became so impassable in the time of Sung Li, that the roundabout coasting passage by sea had to be resorted to. An old man, named Piying, thereupon proposed to Sung a scheme for the concentration of the waters on the Yun-ho and neighbouring streams and their diversion into the canal, as at present. It is said that Sung employed 300,000 men to carry out the work, and that it was completed in seven months; but the Chinese historians are not, unfortunately, the most veracious. For a great part of its route the Grand Canal runs through a level and marshy district. In some places, indeed, the canal becomes merged in the lakes and swamps which surround it. In other places, however, where there appears to be a special risk of inundation, the banks of the canal are well faced with stone. The canal, before leaving the lakes in the southern part of Shanting, used to run nearly parallel with that stream for more than a hundred miles, and between it and the New Salt River for a great part of that distance. This river, formerly described as one well adapted for navigation, has now become completely silted up, and at Kiafung the difference of level is so trifling that the siltage there has been enough to turn the current into the river Wei and elsewhere. At the opening of the canal there is a sluice nearly 100 yards across, through which the water is said to rush into the river like a mill-race. There is, however, a makeshift sort of appearance about the canal works generally. The banks are in many places constructed of earth, strengthened with sorghum stalks and strongly bound with cordage; and Davis, in speaking of the attempt made to repair the damage caused by the inundation of the Yellow River in this way, remarks very justly that if the science of a Brunel[133] could be allowed to operate on the Yellow River and Grand Canal, “a benefit might be conferred on the Chinese that would more than compensate for all the evil we have inflicted with our opium and our guns.” At about 70 miles from its mouth the Grand Canal reaches the Yellow River, and between the Yellow and Yantsz’ rivers, a distance of 90 miles, it is carried largely upon a raised work of earth, kept together by retaining walls of stone, which are in some places not less than 20 feet above the surrounding country. The width of the channel at this point is about 200 feet, and the current is stated to be three miles an hour. South of the Hwang-ho there are several large towns below the level of these walls, which would be overwhelmed with destruction if they were to give way. From these towns—the principal being Hwai-ngang and Pauying—the canal falls to the Yantsz’, and at Yangchan its level is again below that of the houses on either side. Every stream or lake whose waters can be led into it has a connection with the canal, which has several inlets into the great river Yantsz’, whence navigation is possible for a distance of 2900 miles. East of Chin Kiang the canal leaves the Yantsz’, and proceeds through a rich and fertile country, highly cultivated, and supporting an enormous population, Suchan and Hangchan being among the principal towns on its banks. The northern end of the canal is a channel, 14 miles in length, between Tung-chan and Pekin, which, passing under the city walls, finishes its course of some 600 miles at the palace walls, close by the British Legation. The section between Pekin and the Yellow River is said to have been opened by the Mongols about 1289, by merely joining the rivers and lakes to each other as they now exist. One of the old passages, from Hungtsih Lake northwards, has long been closed, but an attempt has been recently made to open it, so that boats can reach Tientsin from Kwachan. In many works, some of them of considerable pretensions, a great deal more is claimed for this waterway than it really deserves. No doubt there was no work in the world equal to it when it was first opened, and probably in Asia it is still unrivalled. Dr. Williams is correct also in his statement that it reflects far more credit upon the monarchs who devised and executed it than the Great Wall.[134] But the whole structure is crude and primitive in a high degree, compared with more modern canals. Without efficient locks, the canal has to be conducted around the different elevations met with in its course. The boats that use the canal have to be dragged through and up the sluices close to the banks, by large windlasses, whereby they are brought into still water by a very tedious process. The canal is largely used for passenger traffic, but the rate of progress seldom exceeds 25 to 30 miles a day, and is often under 20. The greater part of the work has been expended in the simple labour of constructing embankments, and not, as in the case of the Panama and Suez Canals, in digging a deep channel. The rudiments, if not the complete essentials, of this waterway were already available when the Mongols joined the rivers and lakes to each other by means of the canal; but it is creditable to the successive dynasties that have ruled over China, and especially to the Ming and Tsing emperors, that they have always kept the waterway open and in tolerable repair. Mr. William Chapman, in his ‘Obervations on the various systems of Canal Navigation,’ states that the “grand canal of China is in fact only a river or stream navigation, although greatly diverted by art from its ancient course in some parts; the current of the water being slow, and prevented from running off too rapidly by its descent being occasionally checked by flood gates, consisting of two abutments of stone, one projecting from each bank, and leaving a space in the middle just wide enough to admit a passage for the largest vessels employed upon the canal. To prevent unnecessary waste of water through the flood gates, the passages are occasionally closed by planks let down transversely and separately, one above the other, their ends resting in a vertical groove in each abutment.” The same author has observed that it was probably between the years of the Christian era 605 and 618 that these were introduced. Again, he says:—“The Chinese method of overcoming ascents appears to be long subsequent to the attempts of the Egyptians, under the successors of Alexander, who, according to Mons. Huet, Bishop of Avranches, had the art of constructing sluices, or locks of one set of gates, so as to stop the impetuosity of the current, and be occasionally opened. Though termed gates, the openings were most probably closed with beams of timber, let down in grooves, as gates of large width and depth could not be opened without difficulty.” There are many subsidiary canals in China. In a country that has no railways and very few roads, water transport is of much more importance than in any European State. Canals have been cut from the Grand Canal in every direction, and are largely used. FOOTNOTES: [126] Marco Polo spent seventeen years at the court of Kublai, the great Khan of the Tartars. The first edition of his travels appeared in 1496, and the work has been translated into several languages. He gave a better description of China than had previously been written, and although much of what he wrote was at the time doubted, his narratives have been largely verified by subsequent travellers. Colonel Yule has published an admirable edition of Polo’s travels for English readers. [127] ‘The Middle Kingdom,’ vol. i. p. 31. [128] Mailla was despatched by the Jesuits in 1703 on a mission into the interior of China, and had a good opportunity of knowing the country, where he lived for forty-five years, and of which he was employed by the emperor to construct a map. [129] ‘Histoire générale de la Chine, ou Annales de cet Empire, traduite du Tong-Kien-Kang-Mou.’ 13 vols. [130] 8th edition, art. “China.” [131] The Ho-hang-ho, or Yellow River, sometimes described as “China’s sorrow,” is about 2000 miles in length, and its periodical overflowings cause frequent damage to the canal. [132] ‘Sketches of China,’ vol. i. p. 245. [133] Brunel, by the way, was not specially identified with canal construction. Perhaps the writer means Brindley. Brunel had, however, no doubt sufficient knowledge of his art to serve the purpose in view. [134] This enormous undertaking was, however, erected at least 1100 years before the Grand Canal, having been finished B.C. 204. Its entire length is 1255 miles in a straight line, and it was ten years in building.