The story of Kangxi and Huinong Canal

The Story of Kangxi and Huinong Canal

In Andingmen, Dongcheng District, Beijing, sits the Imperial College, the highest institution of learning and educational management institution in ancient my country. Here stands a "monument of meritorious service" called "The Monument of the Imperial System to Ping Shuomo and the Imperial Academy", which records the deeds of Emperor Kangxi's three personal expeditions to defeat the Galdan Mongol regime in the northwest and safeguard the Qing government's national unity.

In the 29th year of Kangxi, Galdan led his troops southward into Inner Mongolia to invade and plunder under the pretext of pursuing the Khalkha Mongolian religious leaders Jebzundamba and Tushetu Khan, seriously threatening the northern part of the Qing Dynasty. With the frontier secure, Emperor Kangxi began three campaigns against Galdan, the leader of the Junggar tribe. In the end, the separatist rebellion of the Junggar nobles was put down, the northwest border was consolidated, and the unity of the motherland was maintained.

During Kangxi’s three personal expeditions, many interesting stories happened, one of which was related to the Yellow River. In February of the thirty-sixth year of Kangxi's reign, he went on his third personal expedition and came to Ningxia to command the search and annihilation of Galdan. During this period, Kangxi once conducted private interviews with the people. According to folklore, Emperor Kangxi saw the water flowing in the canals along the way and the grain growing at a gratifying rate, and praised: "It's really a fortress in the south of the Yangtze River." When he came to Pingluo City, he walked along the road, but there were few people and the fields were deserted. So he found an old man and asked. The old man said that because the river was unstable, no one dared to stay here, which was why it was so desolate. Kangxi spent all his time thinking hard about ways to regulate the river. In an inn, the waiter made a pot of tea for Kangxi. Kangxi reached out to bring the tea and accidentally knocked over the teacup, causing the tea to flow into his arms. The waiter was afraid that Kangxi's clothes would be dirty, so he picked up a few chopsticks on the table. The tea was placed in front of Kangxi in a straight line, and the tea flowed to both sides of the chopsticks. Kangxi suddenly realized that he had a way to control the river.

The next day, Kangxi returned to Ningxia City and told the officials of Ningxia Prefecture about his idea of ??opening up the Yellow River. He recruited tens of thousands of migrant workers to build a tall earth dam from the east to west of the Huangqu Bridge. . Sure enough, the main stream of the Yellow River slowly moved to the east. Since then, it has never moved to the west again. In the fourth year of the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, Tongzhi, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, presided over the construction of a 200-mile-long agricultural canal, which was based on the earthen dam at that time. The canal was completed in May of the seventh year of Yongzheng Emperor's reign. It originally opened from Huajia Bay, Yujiazui, Ye Shengbao on the left bank of the Yellow River, and entered the Xihe River at Xihebao, Pingluo County. Yongzheng gave it the name "Huinong". Today, the folklore of Kangxi and the "Huinong Canal" is still passed down orally in Pingluo.

Today’s Huinong Canal is the longest main canal in the Qingtongxia Hexi Irrigation District of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It diverts water from the original Tangsan Gate of the Qingtongxia Hexi Main Canal, and is adjacent to the west bank of the Yellow River. It flows through Qingtongxia, It is one of the main channels for irrigation from the Yellow River in the Ningxia Plain from the six cities and counties of Yongning, Yinchuan, Helan, Pingluo and Huinong to Weizha Township in Huinong County.

The Yellow River passes through Ningxia. Artesian irrigation water conservancy has been available since the Qin and Han Dynasties. There are Han Yan Canal and Huinong Canal in the west of the river, and Qin Canal and Han Canal in the east of the river. The construction of these canals has nourished the vast Yinchuan Plain. The farmland will benefit future generations, and behind it is the wisdom of water conservancy that adapts to natural conditions for our use.

Review丨Chen Rui

Producer丨Fan Yizi

Coordinator丨Luo Jingyue

Copywriter and editor丨Luo Jingyue

Proofreading丨Wang Yu (trainee)

References丨"Ningxia Zhijianzheng" "Ningxia Historical Geography Examination" "If you want to know the road, you must History first - Supplement to the Monument of Emperor Kangxi's Ping of Shuomo and Conquest of Imperial College"

Produced by the New Media Center (Film and Television Production and Broadcasting Center) of China Water Conservancy Newspaper Company