Once a thousand-mile long river opens, waves will come in nine days. The brocade sails have not yet fallen and the war has begun, and the melancholy dragon boat will not return. (Hu Zeng: "Bianshui")
How serious is the emperor's fortune when he dies? The romance is still traced by itself. But I wish to die and look at the moon in Yangzhou, and I don’t want to return to Kowloon in life. (Ding of the Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty: "Mound of Emperor Yang")
The Bianshui River leads to the Huaihe River, which brings the most benefits, but harmoniously harmonizes with others. In the forty-three states in the southeast, this river is where all the ointment is drained. (Li Jingfang: "The Bianhe River goes straight to the boat")
This river was the last river in the Sui Dynasty, and it still relies on Tongbo for thousands of miles. If there was no dragon boat incident in the Water Palace, Yu would not have made much merit. (Pi Rixiu: "Reminiscing about the Bianhe River")
The Grand Canal has promoted the development, integration and unification of Chinese culture
Evaluation: The Chinese culture formed over thousands of years is a pluralistic unity culture, the opening of the Grand Canal became a catalyst for the formation of Chinese culture. The penetration and development of the Grand Canal not only make economic exchanges and Sino-foreign exchanges easier and more frequent, but also promote the great exchanges of north-south culture, east-west culture, and Chinese and foreign culture, allowing various regional cultures and foreign cultures to contact, integrate, and integrate with each other. A unique canal culture has been formed. The canal culture is inclusive, unified, diffusive and open, and has strong
cohesion and centripetal force. It not only promotes the cultural integration of the Qilu region, the birthplace of Chinese traditional thought and culture, with the Central Plains and Jiangnan regions , and also connected cultural centers such as Chang'an, Luoyang, Kaifeng, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Beijing, which were once the capitals of the feudal dynasties, into one, so that the cultures of various regions are continuously integrated into the unified culture of the Chinese nation. At the same time, the water of the Grand Canal has also nurtured many politicians, military strategists, thinkers, scientists, writers, artists, etc., making the canal area a gathering place for talents and a prosperous literary style. The canal area is also the frontier area for economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. After foreign missions and caravans came to China, they sailed along the canal to the capital and other places to conduct economic and cultural exchanges. Some even settled directly in the canal area, bringing outstanding foreign talents to China. The introduction of culture into China has enriched the content of canal culture and promoted the all-round development of Chinese culture; at the same time, it has also spread Chinese culture to various places, expanding China's influence in the world. The scenic spots and historic sites left along both sides of the canal are dotted all over the place, becoming an important carrier of Chinese history and culture for more than two thousand years. The author uses this clue to put the canal culture into the general environment of Chinese culture for analysis and research, thereby highlighting the status of canal culture and filling the academic gap in canal research. The excavation and connection of the Grand Canal created a new natural environment, improved the ecological environment and production environment, and turned the canal area into a prosperous new economic belt. The canal originated from war and water transportation, but it is a water conservancy project, and its development is closely linked to farmland water conservancy construction. While the canal channel was being developed, farmland drainage and irrigation projects with the main content of eliminating floods and diverting water for irrigation were also constructed in various places along the north and south of the canal, which greatly expanded the water conservancy fields in the canal area, especially the polder fields in the south of the Yangtze River and the silt fields in the north. Various types of water conservancy fields, as well as government farms and camp fields in areas along the canal, have increased significantly. The connection of the Grand Canal directly promoted the extensive exchange of agricultural production technology between the north and the south, and the mutual transplantation and cultivation of crop varieties from the north and the south, significantly improving the agricultural productivity in the canal area. The shipping of the Grand Canal also promoted the development of the agricultural commodity economy, making the canal area the most densely populated area in the country and the most developed agricultural economy in the country. Secondly, the connection of the Grand Canal has opened up new transportation routes, greatly strengthened economic exchanges between regions, and greatly promoted the development of industry and commerce in the canal area. In the canal area, especially in the cities along both sides of the canal, all kinds of industries are flourishing, and the commercial atmosphere is strong. Government and private industry and commerce such as shipbuilding, porcelain, brewing, textiles, weaving, papermaking, printing, metal manufacturing, etc. and various other handicrafts are booming. The water-based sales channel with the canal as the main line transports huge amounts of commodities from various regions to various urban markets, enabling unprecedented exchanges of materials between the north and the south, forming a complete and systematic commercial sales network, and closely connecting the regional markets. Promoted the formation of the national market. Especially in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, in certain industries in the canal area cities with developed commodity economies, such as Suzhou and Hangzhou, capitalist handicraft workshops and contract merchants appeared. This was the first germ of capitalism in China. The prosperity of the commodity economy directly led to the rise of canal cities, which started from Beijing southward along the canal, passing through Tianjin, Cangzhou, Dezhou, Linqing, Liaocheng, Jining, Xuzhou, Huai'an, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Jiaxing, and Hangzhou , Shaoxing, and Ningbo are like a string of pearls inlaid on both sides of the canal. Chang'an and Luoyang were the capitals of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Kaifeng was the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou was the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Beijing was the capital of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. It was the political, economic, commercial and cultural center of the canal area and even the whole country. Through this clue, the author thoroughly analyzes and discusses the relationship between the Grand Canal and the national feudal economy.