Decline of the Grand Canal under the Yuan

Timeline

1. 1351–1354Canal sections of the Yellow River–Huai River · ChinaYears of floods and neglected dredging worsened the problems of the Yellow River capturing the Huai and canal siltation; navigation capacity on key sections such as the Huitong Canal and Tonghui Canal dropped sharply, with grain barges often forced to detour or run aground, sharply reducing transport efficiency.
2. 1351–1352Lower Yellow River · ChinaThe Yuan court conscripted 150,000 laborers for river works; officials embezzled rations and flogged the workers. Although the works temporarily opened some sections, they inflamed the Red Turban uprisings of Han Shantong and Liu Futong in Yingzhou, and public order along the canal collapsed.
3. 1353–1360Jiangnan–Dadu grain transport route · ChinaAfter the Red Turban armies carved out Jianghuai and forces like Zhang Shicheng controlled canal hubs, Yuan grain transport nearly stalled; Dadu relied on sea transport and local levies, Jiangnan tax revenues could not be shipped north, and the rupture of north-south economic ties accelerated the Yuan court's fiscal collapse.