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FOCUS ON
HERITAGE OF THE GRAND CANALIn March 2007, the Grand Canal became a focus of media attention in China as government advisors and legislators discussed whether it should be listed for world cultural heritage status. In this issue we focus on topics related to the history, heritage and conservation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal (Jing-Hang yunhe). Today, long stretches of the 1,800 kilometre-long waterway are polluted or impassable, but many other parts of the canal are working waterways which annually shift three times more cargo than is moved by rail between Beijing and the Lower Yangtze region. The massive canal system was constructed to address the needs of administration, human transport, grain movement and flood control, yet it also altered the cultures of the areas it connected. Thus, like the Great Wall, the Grand Canal is a feat of ancient engineering that defines a vast and distinctive cultural landscape. Completed in the Sui dynasty (581-618), the Grand Canal laid the formation for the prosperity of the Tang and subsequent dynasties. In this issue, two feature articles, 'The Southern Expeditions of Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong' and 'Acquiring Gardens', address aspects of the political role and cultural significance of the Grand Canal during China's period of greatest prosperity, the 17th and 18th centuries. The latter article adding to our reflections on Yuanming Yuan (the Garden of Perfect Brightness), the focus of our December 2006 issue. We also review China: The Three Emperors, 1662-1795, which documents those two centuries in terms of their artistic achievements. Also presented in this issue is 'Chinese Myths of the Deluge,' an article discussing the revival of the cult of Da Yu, 'Great Yu', one of the earliest names in the history and mythology surrounding Chinese hydrology. |
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