The Discussion on Management of the Grand Canal of China in the Context of World Heritage Wang Yuan Southeast University.China 23.Sep.2010 Rochester
Grand Canal, Great Job Like the Great Wall, the Grand Canal of China which is 2,000 kilometers long and 2,000 years old is widely regarded as one of the most magnificent and wondrous constructions in ancient China The Grand Canal, which extends from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, in the south, to Beijing, in the north, connects five major rivers including Qiantang River, Yangtze River, Huai River, Yellow River and Hai River, and flowed through thirty- five cities. 2
Historically, the Grand Canal was built in segments, beginning twenty-five centuries ago, by many separated kingdoms. Fuchai, the king of Wu, dug the first section named Hangou which connected Huai and Yangtze rivers. Fuchai 3
The work of combining these segments together was done by Sui Dynasty when the need to link the capital at Luoyang with the key economic area of the lower Yangtze valley became imperative. In the last decades of the 13th century, under Yuan emperors, the same need continued, but as the capital was now in Beijing, a vast remodeling of the canal was carried out, so that it finally formed a continuous waterway following the 118th meridian in an S-shaped course from Hangzhou in the south to the furthest northern parts of the North China plain. Grand Canal and connected river system 4
Canals needed to be able to rise out of one river valley and into the next in order to create networks able to facilitate the bulk carriage of cargoes across considerable distance. The Grand Canal was the first to do this To achieve the adjustment of water levels from one terrain level to the next, they modified the adjustable sluice gate to function as a lock. The first recorded double-gate or pound lock in the world was built at the northern end of the Shan-yang Yun-Tao section between the Yangtze and Huai-yin in AD 984 by Chhiao Wei-Yo, Assistant Commissioner of Transport for Huainan. 5
Chinese canal builders also utilized the geographical contours and water supplies of existing river systems to facilitate the construction of canals. The Grand Canal takes existed waterways as its route as much as possible, include Yellow River. Every time the Yellow River overflowed, the Grand Canal has been influenced badly. From the experience of fighting with the Yellow River, many spectacular achievements have been achieved. The most famous was the concept of Shu Shui Gong Sha (clearing sands with converging flow) proposed by Panjixun, the famous hydraulic expert of Ming Dynasty. 6
Hongze Dike and Drainage System and the Grand Canal-Yellow River Junction Canal Head and Clear Passage at Grand Canal-Yellow River Junction If there was one feature in China which impressed the early modern European travelers, there more than any other, it was the great abundance of waterworks and canals. 7
Current situation of embankment of Hongze Lake 8
Current situation The Grand Canal has gone through a glorious destiny from its beginning. Although it is always mentioned together with the Great Wall, the Grand Canal has never received as much attention in history as has the Great Wall, but it is infinitely more interesting and considerably more useful, even in today. 9
Northern part of the Grand Canal 10
Southern part of the Grand Canal 11
Water interchange 12
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Transportation South-to-North Water Transfers 14
In 2004 preparing list of world heritage of China for the first time, which means the Grand Canal is proposed to be inscribed in world heritage list. In 2006, the Grand Canal had been designated as the sixth batch of major sites to be protected at the national level. In March 2008, the conference held by the State Bureau of Cultural Heritage in Yangzhou indicated the work of the Grand Canal applying to be inscribed in the world heritage list started formally. Logo of applying for WHL 15
Guideline of the Conservation Planning of the Grand Canal. Firstly, the engineering features of the canal itself channels, retaining walls, wharves, locks, dykes and bridges and sites related to the infrastructure of the canal, such as government offices, granaries, inns 16
Secondly, the historical towns and villages that line the Grand Canal 17
Thirdly, tangible cultural heritages that line the Grand Canal such as historical architectures, ancient tombs, temples, steles and early modern and modern heritage sites 18
Fourthly, the landscape environment of the Grand Canal 19
Fifthly the intangible cultural heritage relates to the Grand Canal. 20
Current Management Situation The Grand Canal remains a transport system and the fact that it is a working system sets it apart from other Chinese heritage sites. 21
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Conflicts: 1. Among different departments The conflict between water resources and transportation lasts for quite a long time According to guidelines of water resource According to the guidelines of transportation 23
2.Among departments and local government 24
3.With applying for WHL The Grand Canal is prepared to be inscribed on World Heritage List in the near future, its management must be corresponded with the guidelines of world heritage, and must be monitored by UN Guideline of the Conservation Planning of the Grand Canal 25
Suggestions in the context of World Heritage According to current situation, different function of the Grand Canal served determines its multi-department management. Department-based decision making for the Grand Canal bears a major problem that manager makes decision only out of its own department. This is not to say that decisions made by every department are motivated by opportunistic behavior, but that without a dialogical justification. In order to conserve and manage the Grand Canal well, the first thing we should do is to establish an effective cooperative platform supplies sufficient communication and collaboration among different departments which lacks now. 26
Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention mentions: Each nominated property should have an appropriate management plan or other documented management system which should specify how the outstanding universal value of a property should be preserved, preferably through participatory means. 27
Collaboration is a process of joint decision making among key stakeholders of a problem domain about the future of that domain stakeholders any group or individual who can affect, or is affected by, the achievement of the organization s objectives 28
Reaching a consensus in collaborative policymaking involves a discursive process where the participants learn about and respect each other and their differing points of view, come to reflect on their own point of view, work together with this combined local knowledge to establish a new discourse or story about the issues and the policy direction, and come to value and respond to the new policy direction. Collaborations may be more successful if they include the stakeholders likely to be responsible for policy implementation 29
Secondly, laws and guidelines should be issued Water Law of the People's Republic of China (1988) revised in 2002, Flood Control Law of the People Republic of China (1997). Regulations of the People's Republic of China Governing the Administration of Channel (1987) revised in 2009, Law of the People s Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics (1982) revised in2002. 30
All properties inscribed on the World Heritage List must have adequate long-term legislative, regulatory, institutional and/or traditional protection and management to ensure their safeguarding. Regulation on the Protection of Great Wall was promulgated by the government in 2006 31
Last but not the least, the proper role local government and public should play Firstly, local government actions have a major influence on the historic environment as a whole, through management of the strategic planning at local level and their day-to-day management of the historic environment. Secondly, they exert a major influence on the management of heritage items through the development assessment process. Thirdly, as major owners of heritage places, they can demonstrate leadership in best practice management of our rural and urban historic environment. 32
THE END THANKS! 33
The Discussion on Management of the Grand Canal of China in the Context of World Heritage Wang Yuan, PHD student, Institute of History and Theory of Architecture, School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing, CHINA wangyuan8211@yahoo.com.cn Like the Great Wall, the Grand Canal of China which is 2,000 kilometers long and 2,000 years old is widely regarded as one of the most magnificent and wondrous constructions in ancient China. In recent years the protection of the Grand Canal in China is drawing more and more attention and it is proposed to be inscribed in the World Heritage List in the near future. Due to different departments take in charge of the Grand Canal because of its different functions in current China, there are some contradictions among them which will do harm to the conservation of the Grand Canal. This paper tries to find out solutions of management of the Grand Canal in the context of world heritage in order to conserve it well. I am Wang Yuan, female, born on 1ST, Jan, 1982. Currently I am pursuing my PhD degree in Southeast University China. My area of research is the conservation and management of architectural heritage, for which the multi-subject study background----tourism management, history and architecture is an advantage. The title of my dissertation is the Research on Management of the Grand Canal of China in the Context of World Heritage. I have been to University of Cambridge from last October to this March as a visiting student.