From Facility to Antique:The'Circle Field'and Canal Projects in the Gaoyou Lake of the Ming Dynasty
During the Hongzhi Period,Bai Ang(白昂)dug the Kangji River,a new waterway in the east of Gaoyou Lake through farmland,thus an extensive lake field called'circle field'(圈田)was created between the new river and the lake.It acted as a barrier of the canal to circumvent the dangers posed by the lake's turbulent floods.In the period of Zhengde and Jiajing,changes in land cultivation along the lakeside and alterations in levy methods led to the disruption of canal infrastructure and organization,which resulted in a worse trend of canal siltation and lake water level rise.From Longqing to Wanli era,the canal embankment repeatedly breached,leading to different views among local elites and river officials regarding whether to retain the Kangji River and the circle fields or not.The former tried to consolidate the field as taxable assets,while the latter emphasized on the importance of the embankment.Finally,Wu Guifang rebuilt the Gaoyou canal and the old embankment.The Kangji River was abandoned.The submerged circle fields also lost their significance.The dynamic interplay between the lakeside fields in Gaoyou and the changes of the water environment,intertwining in the process of the reform of the tax and levy,jointly influenced the canal projects.
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