An Analysis Of The Reason Of The Shifting Of Zhanghe River Watercourse

The Plain Reach of Zhanghe River was famous for its fierce flow, abundant sand and tendency to silt, change the route, and burst the dyke. Since the early Ming Dynasty, the reach down from Jiangwu City changed its route frequently, which could be divided, according to the spatial location of the flow direction, into three types: first, Zhanghe River shifted to the north and interflowed with Fuyang River. This route was called North Route, which generally started from Linzhang and flowed through Guangping to Qiu County,and through the northwest of Wei County to Xinhe County. Second, Zhanghe River shifted to the south and interflowed with Weihe River. This route was called South Route, which generally flowed from Linzhang and Wei County, through Darning, to Guantao where it interflowed with Weihe River. This flow direction is basically the same to the Zhanghe River today. Third, this route was between the North Route and South Route, so it was called Middle Route. It generally flowed through Feixiang, the northeast of Guangping. to Jizhou where it interflowed with Hutuo River, and then flowed to the north and finally reached Tianjin. Throughout the history, the North Route lasted the longest time and had the longest runoff, which is mainly influenced by the north-shifting of Huanghe River and the excavation of canals. Because of the needs of agricultural irrigation and Fuyang River transportation, the North Route of Zhanghe River was mainly used in the early and late periods of Ming Dynasty. Since the Kangxi Period of the Qing Dynasty, in order to ensure the smooth of Weihe River transportation, the government carried out the project of diverting the water of Zhanghe River to the Grand Canal, therefore the South Route was remained till now.