The Expansion Of The Yuan Dynasty Waterway Traffic And Economic Development

Based on the analysis of water traffic in the Yuan Dynasty, this article tries to make an inquiry into the interactive model of traffic development and economy development in the hope of providing some historical references for modern development of Chinese economy. Among the driving forces, the traffic, especially, water traffic, played a most important role in the economic development of the Yuan Dynasty. The improvement of Yuan's water traffic brought about a relatively all-round development for the Yuan's economy.This article mainly contains six parts:1. The Economic Unbalance between the North and the SouthThe economic unbalance between the North and the South dates from the middle age of Tang Dynasty. However, during the Tang Dynasty, the gap was still small. In the Northern Song Dynasty, the majority of national taxes came from the South, and the gap became larger in the Southern Song Dynasty. The developmental gap between the North and the South was more obvious than the past periods.2. The Separation of Yuan's Political Center and Economic Center.The capital of the Yuan Dynasty was Dadu (the present-day Beijing). Judgaig from whether the administrative divisions or the statistics of Yuan's agricultural and commercial taxes as well as the transit stations on traffic Lines, we can easily see an annual increase in transporting the southern grain to theNorth. It reflects the separation of Yuan's political center and economic center and Dadu's financial and crereal dependence on the South.3. The Water Traffic Lines Connecting the North and the South in Early Yuan Dynasty.Before the exploration of Yuan's sea traffic Lines, the grain and other goods which the North (mainly the capital) needed were transported through the canal made in the Sui Dynasty. Now ever, the canal was zigzag and it needed the help of land transportation. As a result, it was inconvenient and the cost was very high.4. Yuan's Digging and dredging the Great CanalTo improve the communications between the North and the South, the central government of Yuan Dynasty decided to dig and dredge the South-North canal. It starts from the area south of the Yangtze River and reaches Dadu via Jiangsu and Shandong province. It consists of the following parts: a. the part south of the Yangtze River; b. the part between the Huai River and the Yangtze River; c. the imperial River. Besides the three available rivers, the Yuan government also dug three new canals, namely'd. the Jizhou Canal; e. the Huiteng Canal; f. the Tonghui Canal. Then, the Great Canal north to Dadu and south to Hangzhou with a total length of over 1500 km came into being. As there were few rivers in south-north direction in China, the Great Canal played a very important role in forming the south-North network of water traffic. The government of the Yuan Dynasty also set up an administration to maintain andmanage the Great Canal.5. The Sea Traffic LinesNot only did the Yuan Dynasty have inland water traffic, bat also it had sea traffic lines. There were three main inland water traffic lines, starting from Liujia Port (the present-day Taicang in Jiangsu provinces) and reaching Zhigu (now Tianjin). There were two main sea traffic lines. One was the East Sea Line to Korea and Japan, and the other was the South Sea Line to the countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and the northern parts and the eastern coastal areas of Africa. The Yuan government also set a special administration to mange its sea traffic lines.6. The Influence of Water Traffic Development on Yuan's EconomyNot only did Yuan's water traffic development promote its agricultural production and handicraft development, but also it brought along the prosperity of domestic commerce, foreign trade and city economy.To sum up, the improvement of Yuan's water traffic development and its economic development were mutually promotive and brought the Yuan Dynasty a relatively all-round economic development.