Abstract
On the basis of re-exploring the formation and evolution of Poyang Lake, the present article investigates waterway transportation in Jiangxi during the Tang and Song dynasties, which was mainly affected by two factors, both internal and external: the former was the formation and expansion of Poyang Lake, which changed the hydrological environment of the Qiaoyang Plain, with the newly formed lake and its river delta system becoming the geographical basis for the development of waterway transportation; the latter was the change in the location of state-level transportation, namely that the political center gradually moved southeast from Chang’an to Kaifeng and finally to Lin’an, gradually increasing the advantages of Jiangxi’s transportation. In the middle and late Tang, the hydrology of the rivers and lakes between Hongzhou and Raozhou had initially formed a waterway network. Among them, the route of Danshi Lake to the main stream of the Gan River and the route of the Wuzigang River (distributary of the Xin River) to Danshi Lake and to the Zhaowei River (distributary of the Gan River) became two north–south transportation waterways. Moving to the Northern Song, the route of Poyang Lake to the Wuchengshan River (distributary of the Gan River) replaced them; however, after waters subsided, the main stream of the Gan River still served as the main waterway for shipping. In the Southern Song, the capital was moved to Lin’an, and the Wuzigang–Poyang–Zhaowei route increased in importance, becoming one of the main routes of east–west waterway transportation. Ultimately, a triangular waterway transportation network of Nankang Military Prefecture, Longxing Prefecture, and Yugan County as the vertices was formed, which connected state-level water and land transportation, with the Yangtze River in the north, the Gan River in the southwest, and the Xin River in the southeast. The ebb and flow with the seasons of Poyang Lake greatly affected the navigation of the waters in the area. When the lake water rose in late spring and early autumn, the turbulent waters could endanger safety, forcing boats to avoid the waterways. As the lake water receded in late autumn and early spring, reduced water levels in the tributaries meant boats could not pass. With that said, conditions in the upper and middle-lower reaches of the Gan River differed.
Keywords
Tang and Song dynasties; Jiangxi; waterway transportation; Poyang Lake; Gan River
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