Yangtze River Shipping Network

Timeline

1. 501–550Jiankang (modern Nanjing) · JiangsuDuring the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, the south had a dense network of rivers and water transport was the main mode of travel. He Xun described it as 'ten thousand li of river routes, reaching five provinces'; Jiankang was the capital hub, where routes along the Xiang River, Gan River, and sea lanes converged, supporting tribute, trade, and the flow of goods.
2. 587Yangzhou (Jiangdu) · JiangsuEmperor Wen of Sui dug the Shanyang Canal, running from Huai'an eastward and southward to the Yangtze's mouth, extending the Yangtze shipping network northward into the Huai River system and breaking the relatively independent regional water transport pattern of the Yangtze that had prevailed since the Southern Dynasties.
3. 589–600Jingkou to Yuhang · JiangnanAfter the Sui destroyed Chen and unified the realm, lower Yangtze shipping shifted from a regional network to part of the imperial water transport system. The court planned the Jiangnan Canal linking Jingkou and Yuhang, bringing the waterways of the Taihu Plain and the Yangtze mainstem into the north–south Grand Canal system.