The development history of Fenhe River is very early. Shipping on Fenhe River began in the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period. In 647 BC, there was a famine in the state of Jin. Starting from Guanzhong, the State of Qin transported a large amount of grain to the State of Jin along the Weihe River, the Yellow River and the Fenhe River with a wooden boat capable of carrying tens of thousands of kilograms of grain.
During the Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties, irrigation and planting in Fenhe River basin were paid attention to. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in order to develop agricultural production in Hedong and avoid the difficulty of water transportation to the east of Sanmenxia, the prefect of Hedong County suggested that Pi's family (now Hejin) should be irrigated through canals. Later, according to the suggestion of Fan Bu, tens of thousands of people were sent to make the canal. After the canal was completed, some gains were made. During the Yongping period of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 58-75), it was planned to build an east-west canal between the Hutuo River to "transfer to Shandong Cao Cao and use Qin Jin". According to the research of Yang Shoujing, a geographer in Qing Dynasty, the route is "Jiaocheng, Beishan, Taiyuan, grave digging and Yangqu". From Xinzhou North to Dingxianghui, floods flooded.
Sui and Tang dynasties were the prosperous periods of Fenhe River's water transportation and irrigation. In the third year of Emperor Yangdi's reign (AD 583), Chang 'an warehouse was empty, and Cao Fenjin's millet was given to the capital. "Cao Zhou from Wei (water) into the river, the river into Fen, Cao Fen Jin" ("Jincheng slightly" volume 14). During the reign of Tang Kaiyuan, Pei Yaoqing "Li Cao". ("The Book of the New Tang Dynasty") It can be seen that the navigation capacity of Fenhe River is very high, and the water transport capacity is great.
During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, due to the relocation of the capital and the diversion of water from Fenhe River and Shanxi River to Taiyuan many times in the early Song Dynasty, the Fenhe levee in Taiyuan was artificially destroyed. As a result, the shipping of Fenhe River dropped sharply than before, and there was no record of water transportation for a long time, only a small amount of navigation activities.
According to documents, after the mid-Tang Dynasty, all the trees in the Qinling Mountains and Longshan Mountains were cut down, which could not meet the needs of building palaces. "There are no giant trees near the mountain, so it is better to ask for a house than a orchid" (Book of the New Tang Dynasty (volume 137), Biography of Pei Yanling). Luliang Mountain, close to Kaifeng, Luoyang and Beijing, and with the convenience of the Yellow River, Fenhe River and land transportation, has become a key area for logging timber. After logging near the capitals, it was taken from Shanxi. Here, "there are different trees in the north of Shanxi, and those who seek wood for the palace belong to the world" (Liu Zongyuan's Jinwen). By the Northern Song Dynasty (A.D.10/0-1016), cypress trees had been cut down in Lanxian, Lishi and Fenyang, with as many as 30,000 to 40,000 people. A lot of wood was cut down. "First, it drifted into Fenhe River along the tributaries, and then the raft went down the Fenhe River. So at that time, there was a scene of thousands of rafts going down the river. Fenhe River Basin was reclaimed and cut in Tang, Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties. Prior to this, the lush green mountains and green waters became barren hills and mountains everywhere, the water volume was greatly reduced, and soil erosion was intensified. Fenhe River, which is convenient for irrigation and shipping, has gradually become the turbid flow of Nana Ogawa with uncertain droughts and floods, shrinking water sources and bare feet.
Before the three-year drought in Guangxu, due to the pressure of population, the phenomenon of deforestation, reclamation and planting increased, soil erosion became more and more serious, and the water volume of Fenhe River decreased greatly. In the Ming dynasty, boats could only be put on the river in autumn and summer, and the earth bridge was used as crossing the river in winter and spring. In the Qing Dynasty, although some people imagined that "boats could be built on the Fenhe River and boats could be built in the south", there was no possibility of shipping on the Fenhe River.