Volume 128 Treatises 103: Rivers and Canals 3, Huai He, Yong Ding He, Hai Tang

志一百三

Treatise 103.

河渠三

Rivers and Canals, Part 3.

淮河永定河海塘

The Huai River, the Yongding River, and the Sea Dikes.

淮水源出桐柏山，東南經隨州，復北折過桐柏東，歷信陽、確山、羅山、正陽、息、光山、固始、阜陽、霍丘、潁上，所挾支水合而東注，達正陽關。其下有沙河、東西淝河、洛河、洱河、芡河、天河，俱入於淮。過鳳陽，又有渦河、澥河、東西濠及漴、澮、沱、潼諸水，俱匯淮而注洪澤湖。又東北，逕清河、山陽、安東，由雲梯關入海。逕行湖北、河南、安徽、江蘇四省，千有七百餘里，淮固不為害也。自北宋黃河南徙，奪淮瀆下游而入海，於是淮受其病。淮病而入淮諸水泛溢四齣，江、安兩省無不病。夫下壅則上潰，水性實然，故治河即所以治淮，而治淮莫先於治河。有清一代，經營於淮、黃交匯之區，致力綦勤，糜帑尤鉅。迨咸豐中，銅瓦廂決，黃流北徙，宋、元來河道為之一變。然河徙淤留，導淮之舉又烏容已。今於淮流之源委分合，及清口之蓄泄，洪澤湖之堰壩工築，皆備列焉。

The Huai rises on Mount Tongbai, flows southeast through Suizhou, then bends north again east of Tongbai. It passes Xinyang, Queshan, Luoshan, Zhengyang, Xi, Guangshan, Gushi, Fuyang, Huoqiu, and Yingshang, where its tributaries merge and run east to Zhengyang Pass. Downstream tributaries include the Sha, the eastern and western Fei, the Luo, the Er, the Qian, and the Tian Rivers, all of which flow into the Huai. Beyond Fengyang come the Wo and Xie Rivers, the eastern and western Hao, and the Chong, Hui, Tuo, and Tong streams, all of which join the Huai and pour into Hongze Lake. It then runs northeast through Qinghe, Shanyang, and Andong, and reaches the sea by way of Yunti Pass. Its course of more than seventeen hundred li crossed Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, and in itself the Huai was no great menace. After the Northern Song, when the Yellow River shifted south and took over the Huai's lower channel to reach the sea, the Huai bore the brunt of the damage. Once the Huai sickened, its tributaries spilled in every direction, and both Jiangsu and Anhui suffered alike. Block the lower reach and the upper will break out—that is the nature of water. To manage the Huai one must manage the Yellow River, and managing the Huai begins with managing the river. Throughout the Qing, work at the Huai–Yellow River confluence was pursued with extraordinary diligence at enormous cost to the treasury. In the Xianfeng period the breach at Tongwaxiang sent the Yellow River north again, transforming the channel pattern that had held since Song and Yuan times. Yet the river's shift left silt behind, and efforts to guide the Huai could not be abandoned. What follows records in full the Huai's sources and branches, the storage and release at Qingkou, and the dikes and dams built on Hongze Lake.

順治六年夏，淮溢息縣，壞民田舍。康熙元年，盱、泗民由古溝鎮南及谷家橋北盜決小渠八，淮水強半分泄高、寶諸湖，而清口淮弱，無力敵黃。六七年間，淮大漲，沖潰古溝、翟家墩，由高、寶諸湖直射運河，決清水潭，又溢武家墩、高良澗，清口湮而黃流上潰。十五年，淮又大漲，合睢湖諸水並力東激，高良澗板工決口二十六，高堰石工決口七，涓滴不出清口。黃又乘高四潰，一入洪澤湖，由高堰決口會淮，並歸清水潭，下流益淤墊。

In the summer of Shunzhi 6, the Huai flooded Xi County and destroyed farmland and homes. In Kangxi 1, residents of Xuyi and Sizhou illegally cut eight small channels south of Gugou Town and north of Gujia Bridge, diverting more than half the Huai into the Gaoyou and Baoying lakes. At Qingkou the Huai ran too weak to hold back the Yellow River. In Kangxi 6–7 the Huai swelled, broke through Gugou and Zhaijiadun, and poured from the Gaoyou and Baoying lakes straight into the Grand Canal. It breached Qingshui Tan and flooded Wujiadun and Gaoliangjian; Qingkou silted shut while the Yellow River backed up. In Kangxi 15 the Huai rose again, joined by Sui Lake and other waters driving east together. Twenty-six breaches opened in the plank revetments at Gaoliangjian and seven in the stone works at Gaoyan, and not a drop passed Qingkou. The Yellow River, riding high, broke out in four directions. One stream entered Hongze Lake, met the Huai through the Gaoyan breaches, and all poured toward Qingshui Tan as the lower course silted ever deeper.

總河靳輔言：「洪澤下流，自高堰西至清口約二十里，原系汪洋巨浸，為全淮會黃之所。自淮東決、黃內灌，一帶湖身漸成平陸，止存寬十餘丈、深五六尺至一二尺之小河，淤沙萬頃，挑濬甚難。惟有於兩旁離水二十丈許，各挑引河一，俾分頭沖刷，庶淮河下注，可以沖辟淤泥，徑奔清口，會黃刷沙，而無阻滯散漫之虞。」輔又言：「下流既治，淮可直行會黃刷沙，但臨湖一帶堤岸，除決口外，無不殘缺單薄，危險堪虞。板工固易壞，即石工之傾圮亦不可勝數。惟堤下系土坦坡，雖遇大水不易沖，今求費省工堅，惟有於堤外近湖處挑土幫築坦坡。每堤一丈，築坦坡寬五尺，密布草根草子其上，俟其長茂，則土益堅。至高堰石工，亦宜幫築坦坡，埋石工於內，更為堅穩，較之用板用石用埽，可省二十一萬有奇，且免衝激頹卸之患。」又言：「自周家閘歷古溝、唐埂至翟家壩南，估計築三十二里之堤，並堵此原沖成之九河，及高良澗、高家堰、武家墩大小決口三十四，需費七十萬五千有奇，皆系用埽，不過三年，悉皆朽壞。臣斟酌變通，除鑲邊裹頭必須用埽，餘俱宜密下排椿，多加板纜，用蒲包裹土，繩扎而填之，費可省半，而堅久過之。今擬改下埽為包土，仍築坦坡。」制可。十八年，大濬清口、爛泥淺、裴家場、帥家莊引河，使淮水全出清口，會黃東下。

Director-General Jin Fu reported: "The lower reach of Hongze, from Gaoyan west to Qingkou—about twenty li—was once a vast sheet of water where the entire Huai met the Yellow River. After the Huai broke east and the Yellow River flooded in, that stretch of lakebed has silted into level ground, leaving only a channel ten-odd zhang wide and five or six chi deep—or as little as one or two. Tens of thousands of mu of silt make dredging extremely difficult. The only remedy is to dig a diversion channel on each bank about twenty zhang from the waterline so they can scour separately. Then the Huai descending can cut through the silt, run straight to Qingkou, meet the Yellow River and scour away sand, without risk of blockage or spreading." Fu added: "Once the lower course is repaired, the Huai can run straight to meet the Yellow River and scour sand. But along the lakeshore, apart from the breach sites, every dike is broken and thin—dangerously unsafe. Plank revetments fail easily, and even the stone works that have collapsed are beyond counting. Earthen slopes below the dike resist even major floods. To save cost and build solidly, earth should be taken from the lakeside face of the dike and built into supporting slopes. For each zhang of dike, build a five-chi-wide slope and densely sow grass roots and seed on it; once they grow thick, the earth will bind firmer still. At Gaoyan's stone works, supporting slopes should be built as well, with the stonework buried inside for greater stability. Compared with planks, stone, and fascines, this saves more than 210,000 taels and avoids the hazard of impact and collapse." He also said: "From Zhoujia Sluice through Gugou and Tang'eng to south of Zhaijiaba, building thirty-two li of dike, blocking the nine channels cut by earlier floods, and repairing the thirty-four breaches large and small at Gaoliangjian, Gaojiayan, and Wujiadun is estimated at more than 705,000 taels—all in fascines that rot within three years. I have weighed alternatives: fascines are needed only for edging and capping. Elsewhere rows of piles should be set closely, with extra plank cables, earth wrapped in rushes and bound with rope—halving the cost while lasting longer. The plan is to replace fascines with wrapped earth and still build supporting slopes." The court approved. In Kangxi 18, Qingkou and the diversion channels at Lanniqian, Peijiachang, and Shuaizhuang were heavily dredged so the full Huai discharge reached Qingkou and joined the Yellow River flowing east.

三十五年，總河董安國因泗州知州莫之翰議，請開盱眙聖人山禹王河，導淮注江，略言：「禹王古河，自盱眙聖人山歷黑林橋、桐城鎮、楊村、天長縣迄六合之八里橋，各有河形溪澗崗不等。若開引入江，則天長、楊村、桐城各汊澗，大水時可不入高郵湖，湖水不致泛溢，而下河之水可減。至古河之口，現與淮不通流，必立閘座，水小閉閘以濟漕，漲則開閘以泄水，庶淮水洶湧之勢可減。」格廷議不行。明年，上有宜堵塞高堰壩之諭。逾二年，總河于成龍申塞六壩之請。會病卒，未底厥績。其年水復大至，已堵三壩，旋委洪流。三十九年，張鵬翮為總河，盡塞之，使淮無所漏，悉歸清口；又開張福、裴家場、張家莊、爛泥淺、三岔及天然、天賜引河七，導淮以刷清口；又以清口引河寬僅三十餘丈，不足暢泄全湖之水，加開寬闊。於是十餘年斷絕之清流，一旦奮涌而出，淮高於黃者尺餘。四十年，築高堰大堤。

In Kangxi 35, Director-General Dong Anguo, following Sizhou Prefect Mo Zhihan's proposal, asked to open the Yuwang River at Shengren Mountain in Xuyi to divert the Huai toward the Yangtze. He summarized: "The ancient Yuwang channel from Shengren Mountain in Xuyi through Heilin Bridge, Tongcheng, Yangcun, and Tianchang to Bali Bridge in Liuhe still shows traces—streams, ravines, and ridges in varying degrees. If opened to the Yangtze, the branches at Tianchang, Yangcun, and Tongcheng could carry floodwater without pouring into Gaoyou Lake, easing overflow and reducing pressure on the lower river. At the ancient mouth, which no longer connects to the Huai, sluice gates must be built: closed when water is low to aid the grain transport, opened when it rises to discharge flood, easing the Huai's surging force." Court deliberation rejected the plan. The following year the throne ordered that the Gaoyan dams be sealed. Two years later Director-General Yu Chenglong petitioned to seal the six dams. He fell ill and died before the work was finished. That year floods returned; three dams had been sealed, but they soon gave way to the torrent. In Kangxi 39 Zhang Penghe became Director-General, sealed them all so the Huai had no escape, and sent the full discharge to Qingkou; he also opened seven diversion channels—Zhangfu, Peijiachang, Zhangjiazhuang, Lanniqian, Sancha, and the Natural and Heavenly Gift channels—to guide the Huai and scour Qingkou; Because the Qingkou diversion was only thirty-odd zhang wide—too narrow to release the full lake discharge—he widened it further. Clear water cut off for more than ten years burst forth at once, and the Huai stood more than a chi above the Yellow River. In Kangxi 40 the great Gaoyan dike was built.

四十四年，聖祖南巡，閱高堰堤工，詔於三壩下濬河築堤，束水入高郵、邵伯諸湖。又洪湖水漲，泗、盱均被水災，應於受水處酌量築堤束水。四十五年，兩江總督阿山等請於泗州溜淮套別開河道，直達張福口，以分淮勢，計費三百十餘萬。部議靳之。廷臣亦以河工重大，請上親臨指示。逾年，上南巡閱河，諭曰：「詳勘溜淮套地勢甚高，雖開鑿成河，亦不能直達清口。且所立標杆多在墳上，若依此開河，不獨壞田廬，甚至毀墳冢，何必多此一事。今欲開溜淮套，必鑿山穿嶺，不獨斷難成功，且恐汛水泛溢，不浸入洪湖，必衝決運河。」命撤去標杆，並譴阿山、鵬翮等有差。上又謂：「明代淮、黃與今迥異。明代淮弱，故有倒灌之虞。今則淮強黃弱。與其開溜淮套無益之河，不若於洪湖出水處再行挑濬寬深，使清水愈加暢流，為利不淺。」四十九年，加長御黃西壩工程，從河督趙世顯請也。

In Kangxi 44 the Kangxi Emperor toured south, inspected the Gaoyan works, and ordered dredging and dikes below the three dams to confine water in Gaoyou, Shaobo, and the other lakes. Hongze Lake also rose, flooding Sizhou and Xuyi; dikes should be built proportionately at the points receiving water to confine it. In Kangxi 45 Liangjiang Governor-General Ashan and others proposed cutting a new channel at Liuhuaitao in Sizhou straight to Zhangfukou to split the Huai's force, at an estimated cost of more than 3.1 million taels. The Ministry rejected the plan. Court officials, deeming the project too momentous, asked the emperor to inspect in person. The next year the emperor toured south to inspect the river and said: "Survey shows Liuhuaitao lies very high; even if a channel were cut, it could not reach Qingkou directly. Moreover the survey stakes stand mostly on graves. Opening a channel on this line would ruin fields and homes—and destroy tombs as well. Why add this needless work? Opening Liuhuaitao would require cutting through mountains and ridges—surely impossible—and flood-season overflow would bypass Hongze Lake and burst the Grand Canal instead." He ordered the stakes removed and punished Ashan, Penghe, and others accordingly. The emperor also said: "In Ming times the Huai and Yellow River bore no resemblance to today. In the Ming the Huai was weak, hence the fear of the Yellow River backing up into it. Now the Huai is strong and the Yellow River weak. Rather than opening the useless Liuhuaitao channel, dredge Hongze Lake's outflow wider and deeper so clear water runs more freely—the benefit would be considerable." In Kangxi 49 the western Yellow River-control dam was extended, at River Director Zhao Shixian's request.

雍正元年，重建清口東西束水壩於風神廟前以蓄清，各長二十餘丈。三年，總河齊蘇勒因硃家海衝決，湖底沙淤，恐高堰難保，改低三壩門檻一尺五寸以洩湖水，而救一時之急。不知水愈落，淮愈不得出，致力微不能敵黃，連年倒灌，分溜直趨。李衛頗非之。先是高堰石工未能一律堅厚。至七年冬，發帑百萬，命總河孔繼珣、總督尹繼善將堤身卑薄傾圮處拆砌，務令一律堅實。十年秋，高堰石工成。

In Yongzheng 1 the eastern and western clear-water retention dams at Qingkou were rebuilt before the Fengshen Temple to store clear water, each more than twenty zhang long. In Yongzheng 3 Director-General Qi Sule, after Zhujiahai burst and the lakebed silted, fearing Gaoyan could not hold, lowered the three dams' sills by one chi five cun to release lake water—a stopgap measure. He did not realize that as the water level dropped, the Huai could discharge even less—too weak to hold back the Yellow River. Year after year the river backed up and split currents rushed onward. Li Wei strongly disapproved. Previously the Gaoyan stonework had not been uniformly solid. In the winter of Yongzheng 7 a million taels were issued, and Director-General Kong Jixun and Governor-General Yin Jishan were ordered to rebuild every low, thin, or collapsed section until the dike was uniformly solid. In the autumn of Yongzheng 10 the Gaoyan stonework was completed.

乾隆二年，用總河高斌言，飭疏濬毛城鋪迤下河道，經徐、蕭、睢、宿、靈、虹各州縣，至泗州之安門陡河，紆曲六百餘里，以達洪湖，出清口，而淮揚京員夏之芳等言其不便。下各督撫及河、漕督會議，並召詢斌。斌至，進圖陳說，乃知芳等所言非現在情形，卒從斌議。明年，毛城鋪河道工竣。四年，高宗以高堰三壩既改低，過岸之水足泄，用大學士鄂爾泰言，永禁開放天然二壩。五年秋，西風大暴，湖浪洶湧，高堰汛第八堡舊堤撞擊，倒卸十四段，旋修補之。六年，斌言：「江都三汊河乃瓜、儀二河口門，瓜河地勢低，淮水入瓜河分數少，故溜緩不能刷深，河道致日漸淤墊。應築壩堵閉瓜河舊口門，于洋子橋營房迤下別挑越河，減淮水入瓜河之分數，則儀河可分流刷淤，並堵閉瓜洲廣惠閘之舊越河，於閘下別開越河，使閘越二河水勢均平，既緩淮水直下入江之勢，於運道更為便利。」七年，河湖並漲，議者又謂淮河上游諸水俱匯入洪湖，邵伯以下宜多開入江之路。斌亦以為言。於是開濬石羊溝舊河直達於江，築滾壩四十丈，並開通芒稻閘下之董家油房、白塔河之孔家涵三處河流，增建滾壩，使淮水暢流無阻。八年，淮暴漲丈餘，逼臨淮城，改治於周樑橋。

In Qianlong 2, following Director-General Gao Bin's proposal, orders went out to dredge the channel from Maochengpu downstream through Xu, Xiao, Sui, Su, Ling, and Hong to Anmen Douhe in Sizhou—a winding six-hundred-li course to Hongze Lake and Qingkou—while Huai-Yang capital officials Xia Zhifang and others objected that it was impracticable. The matter was referred to the governors-general, governors, and river and grain transport directors for conference, and Bin was summoned for questioning. Bin arrived, presented maps and explained, and it became clear that Fang and others were describing conditions that no longer held. In the end Bin's plan was adopted. The following year the Maochengpu channel works were completed. In Qianlong 4 the Qianlong Emperor, since the three Gaoyan dams had been lowered and overtopping water could be fully discharged, following Grand Secretary Ortai permanently forbade opening the two Natural dams. In the autumn of Qianlong 5 a violent west wind raised surging lake waves; the old dike at the eighth bastion of the Gaoyan flood section was struck and fourteen sections collapsed, and were soon repaired. In Qianlong 6 Bin reported: "The San Cha River at Jiangdu is the mouth of the Guazhou and Yizhen channels. Guazhou lies low, so little Huai water enters it; the current is too slow to scour deep, and the channel silts daily. A dam should block the old Guazhou mouth; below Yangzi Bridge camp a new overflow channel should be cut to reduce Huai water entering Guazhou so Yizhen can divide flow and scour silt. The old overflow at Guazhou's Guanghui Sluice should be blocked and a new one opened below the sluice to balance the currents, easing the Huai's direct rush into the Yangtze and aiding the transport route." In Qianlong 7 river and lake rose together; advocates again argued that all upstream Huai waters gathered in Hongze Lake and that below Shaobo more outlets to the Yangtze should be opened. Bin agreed. The old Shiyang Gou channel was dredged straight to the Yangtze and a forty-zhang rolling dam built. The streams at Dongjiayoufang below Mangdao Sluice and Kongjiahan on Baita River were opened and rolling dams added so Huai water could flow freely. In Qianlong 8 the Huai rose more than a zhang in a sudden flood, threatening Linhuai city; the seat of government was moved to Zhouliang Bridge.

十六年，上以天然壩乃高堰尾閭，盛漲輒開，下游州縣悉被其患，命立石永禁開放。並用斌言，於三壩外增建智、信二壩，以資宣洩。十八年七月，淮溢高郵，壞車邏壩、邵伯二閘，下河田廬多沒。二十二年，以湖水出清口，賴東西二壩堵束，並力刷黃，湖水過大，奔溢五壩，亦恐為下河患。因定制五壩過水一寸，東壩開寬二丈，以此遞增，泐石東壩。嗣是遇湖水增長，即展寬東壩以洩盛漲，有展寬至六七十丈者。二十七年，上言：「江南濱湖之區，每遇大汛，霖潦堪虞，洪澤一湖，尤為橐籥關鍵。為澤國計安全，莫如廣疏清口，為及今第一要義。現在高堰五壩高於水面七尺有奇，清口口門見寬三十丈，當即依此酌定成算。將來兩壩水增長至一尺，拆寬清口十丈，水遞長，口遞寬，以此為率。」是年六月，五壩水志逾一尺。河督高晉遵旨拆寬清口十丈，宣洩甚暢。三十二年，南河總督李宏言：「正陽關三官廟舊立水志，考驗水痕，本年所報消長，與下游不符。請於荊山、塗山間及臨淮鎮，各增設水志一，以驗諸水消長。」允之。三十四年，上恐高堰五壩頂封土障水，不足當風浪，命酌加石工。高晉等言其不便，乃增用柴柳。四十年，大修堰、盱各壩及臨河磚石工。

In Qianlong 16 the emperor, noting that the Natural Dam at the tail of Gaoyan was opened in every major flood and devastated downstream counties, ordered a stone inscription permanently forbidding its opening. Following Bin's advice, the Zhi and Xin dams were added beyond the three dams to aid discharge. In the seventh month of Qianlong 18 the Huai flooded Gaoyou, destroying the Cheluo Dam and the two Shaobo sluices; many fields and homes in the lower river were submerged. In Qianlong 22, since lake water issued at Qingkou only because the eastern and western dams confined it to scour the Yellow River together, excessive lake water spilled over the five dams—a feared calamity for the lower river. A rule was fixed: one cun over the five dams, the eastern dam opened two zhang wide, increasing by that ratio, and the rule was carved on the eastern dam. Thereafter whenever lake water rose, the eastern dam was widened to release major floods—sometimes to sixty or seventy zhang. In Qianlong 27 the emperor said: "In Jiangnan's lake-border regions, every major flood season brings prolonged rain and inundation; Hongze Lake above all is the critical valve. To secure this water country, nothing matters more than broadly dredging Qingkou—that is the first priority now. At present the five Gaoyan dams stand more than seven chi above water and the Qingkou mouth is thirty zhang wide—plans should be fixed accordingly at once. When water at the two dams rises one chi, widen Qingkou ten zhang; as water rises, widen the mouth proportionally—that shall be the rule." That year in the sixth month the flood mark at the five dams exceeded one chi. River Director Gao Jin followed the edict and widened Qingkou ten zhang; discharge ran very freely. In Qianlong 32 Southern Rivers Governor-General Li Hong reported: "The old flood mark at Sanguan Temple at Zhengyang Pass no longer matches downstream conditions—the rise and fall reported this year do not agree. Please add flood marks between Jing Mountain and Tu Mountain and at Linhuai Town to verify water levels throughout the system." The request was approved. In Qianlong 34 the emperor feared the earthen caps on the five Gaoyan dams could not withstand wind and waves, and ordered stone reinforcement. Gao Jin and others said stone was impracticable, and brush and willow were added instead. In Qianlong 40 major repairs were made to the dams at Yan and Xu and the riverside brick and stonework.

先是上以清口倒灌，詔循康熙中張鵬翮所開陶庄引河舊跡挑挖，導黃使北，遣鄂爾泰偕斌往勘，以汛水驟至而止。旋完顏偉繼斌為河督，慮引河不易就，乃用斌議，自清口迤西，設木龍挑溜北趨，而陶庄終不敢議。次年，南河督吳嗣爵內召，極言倒灌為害。薩載繼任，亦主改口議。上乃決意開之。於是清口東西壩基移下百六十丈之平成台，築攔黃壩百三十丈，並於陶庄迤北開引河，使黃離清口較遠，清水暢流，有力攻刷淤沙。明年二月，引河成，黃流直注周家莊，會清東下，清口免倒灌之患者近十年。

Earlier, because of backflow at Qingkou, the emperor ordered dredging along the old Taozhuang diversion trace opened by Zhang Penghe in Kangxi times to divert the Yellow River north. Ortai and Bin were sent to survey, but work stopped when flood-season water arrived suddenly. Soon Wanyan Wei succeeded Bin as River Director. Fearing the diversion would be hard to complete, he adopted Bin's plan to set wooden deflectors west of Qingkou to turn the current north, but Taozhuang was never proposed again. The following year Southern Rivers Director Wu Sijue was summoned to court and urgently reported the harm caused by backflow. Sa Zai succeeded him and also advocated changing the river outlet. The emperor then resolved to open it. The eastern and western dam foundations at Qingkou were moved down 160 zhang to Pingcheng Terrace, a 130-zhang Yellow River-blocking dam was built, and a diversion channel was opened north of Taozhuang so the Yellow River stood farther from Qingkou, clear water could flow freely, and scour silt with force. In the second month of the following year the diversion was completed. The Yellow River flowed straight to Zhoujiazhuang, met the clear current flowing east, and Qingkou was spared backflow for nearly ten years.

五十年，洪湖旱涸，黃流淤及清口，命河南巡撫畢沅祭淮瀆，疏賈魯、惠濟諸河流以助清，湖水仍不出，黃復內灌。上欲開毛城鋪、王家營減壩，下大學士阿桂等議。阿桂言：「欲治清口之病，必去老壩工以下之淤，尤當掣低黃水，使清水暢出攻沙，不勞自治。」於是閉張福口四引河，浚通湖支河，蓄清水至七尺以上，治開王營壩減泄黃水，盡啟諸河，出清口滌沙，修清口兜水壩，易名束清壩。復移下惠濟祠前之東西束水壩三百丈於福神巷前，加長東壩以御黃，縮短西壩以出清，易名御黃壩。

In Qianlong 50 Hongze Lake dried in drought and Yellow River silt reached Qingkou. Henan Governor Bi Yuan was ordered to sacrifice at the Huai channel and dredge the Jia Lu, Huiji, and other rivers to aid clear water, but lake water still would not discharge and the Yellow River backed in again. The emperor wished to open the reduction dams at Maochengpu and Wangjiaying and referred the matter to Grand Secretary Agui and others. Agui said: "To cure Qingkou's ailment, silt below the old dam works must be removed, and above all the Yellow River must be drawn lower so clear water can issue freely and scour sand—the problem will right itself without forced effort." The four diversion channels at Zhangfukou were closed, lake branch rivers dredged, clear water stored above seven chi, the Wangying reduction dam opened to release Yellow River water, all channels opened, clear water issued at Qingkou to wash sand, the Qingkou water-catching dam was repaired and renamed the Clear-Water Retention Dam. The eastern and western clear-water retention dams before the Huiji Temple were moved down 300 zhang to Fushen Lane; the eastern dam was lengthened to repel the Yellow River and the western shortened to release clear water, and the structure was renamed the Yellow River-Control Dam.

嘉慶元年，湖水弱，清低於黃者丈餘，淮遏不出。淮漲則開山盱五壩、吳城七堡，黃漲或減水入湖，以救清口之倒灌。五年，用江督費淳、河督吳璥言，開吳城七堡引渠，使泄湖水入黃，以減盛漲。八年，黃流入海不暢，直注洪澤湖。璥赴海口相度，請力收運口各壩，止留口門，清雖力弱難出，黃亦不能再入。七月，淮漲，高堰危甚，開信、義兩壩泄水。西風大作，壞仁、智兩壩，淮南奔清口。上責璥，遂罷免。九年春，湖水稍發，伏汛黃仍倒灌。河督徐端以束清壩在運口北，分溜入運，致不敵黃，請移建湖口迤南。從之。十一年，江督鐵保言：「潘季馴、靳輔治河，專力清口，誠以清口暢出，則河腹刷深，海口亦順，洪澤亦不致泛濫。為今之計，大修閘壩，借清刷沙，不能不多蓄湖水。即不能不保護石堤，尤不能不急籌去路。」又偕徐端陳河工數事：一，外河廳之方家馬頭及三老壩為淮、揚保障，宜填護碎石；一，義壩宜堵築；一，仁、智、禮、信四壩殘損宜拆修。廷議如所請。上恐四壩同修，清水過泄，命次第舉行。

In the first year of Jiaqing lake water was weak; clear water stood more than a zhang below the Yellow River, and the Huai was blocked from discharging. When the Huai rose, the five dams at Shanxu and the seven forts at Wucheng were opened; when the Yellow rose, reduction dams might release water into the lake to relieve backflow at Qingkou. In the fifth year, acting on Yangtze Governor-General Fei Chun and Canal Governor Wu Jing's proposal, the diversion channel at Wucheng's seven forts was opened to discharge lake water into the Yellow River and reduce excessive flooding. In the eighth year the Yellow River's passage to the sea was obstructed, and it poured straight into Hongze Lake. Jing went to survey the river mouth and requested vigorously closing all dams at the transport junction, leaving only the outlet gates—clear water, though too weak to issue freely, could at least keep the Yellow River from entering again. In the seventh month the Huai swelled; the high weir was in grave danger, and the Xin and Yi dams were opened to release water. A strong west wind arose; the Ren and Zhi dams were destroyed, and the Huai south of the embankments rushed toward Qingkou. The emperor reproached Jing and dismissed him from office. In the spring of the ninth year lake water issued somewhat, but during the summer flood season the Yellow River still backed in. Canal Governor Xu Duan argued that the Clear-Water Retention Dam north of the transport junction diverted flow into the canal and left clear water unable to match the Yellow River; he asked to rebuild it south of the lake outlet. The request was approved. In the eleventh year Yangtze Governor-General Tie Bao said: "Pan Jixun and Jin Fu devoted their river works to Qingkou—rightly so, for when Qingkou discharges freely the river channel scours deeper, the estuary runs smoothly, and Hongze need not overflow. For the present plan, sluices and dams must be heavily repaired, clear water must be used to scour sand, and lake water must be stored in greater volume—there is no avoiding it. Nor can stone embankments go unprotected; above all, outlets for discharge must be urgently planned." He also joined Xu Duan in submitting several river projects: first, Fangjiamatou and the Three Old Dams in the outer-river office district, bulwarks of Huai and Yangzhou, should be filled and armored with rubble; second, the Yi dam should be closed and rebuilt; third, the four Ren, Zhi, Li, and Xin dams, damaged in places, should be dismantled and repaired. The court deliberation granted the requests. The emperor feared that repairing all four dams at once would discharge too much clear water and ordered them carried out in sequence.

十五年十月，大風激浪，義壩決，堰、盱兩工掣坍千餘丈。議者謂宜築碎石坦坡，以費鉅不果。璥與端請加培大堤外靳輔所築二堤，以為重門保障，亦為廷議所駁。及陳鳳翔督南河，復申二堤之請。下江督百齡議。百齡言不若培修大堤。十七年，遣協辦大學士松筠履勘，亦主百齡議。於是築大堤子堰，自束清壩尾至信壩迤南止。鳳翔以不知蓄清於湖未漲之先，即啟智、禮兩壩，致禮壩潰，下游淹，清水消耗，貽誤全河，為百齡所劾，奪職遣戍。十八年，百齡及南河督黎世序以仁、義、禮三壩屢經開放，壞基跌塘，請移建三壩於蔣家壩南近山岡處，各挑引河，先建仁、義壩，因禮壩基改築草壩，備本年宣洩。上命先建義壩，如節宣得宜，再分年遞修。二十三年，增建束清二壩於束清壩北，收蓄湖水。

In the fifteenth year, tenth month, gale-driven waves breached the Yi dam and tore more than a thousand zhang from the works at Yan and Xu. Some proposed building rubble-covered gentle slopes, but the cost was deemed too great and the plan was not carried out. Jing and Xu Duan asked to heighten the two embankments Jin Fu had built outside the main dike as a second line of defense; the court discussion also rejected this. When Chen Fengxiang took charge of the Southern Canal, he renewed the request for the two embankments. The matter was referred to Yangtze Governor-General Bai Ling for deliberation. Bai Ling said strengthening the main dike was preferable. In the seventeenth year Coordinating Grand Secretary Songyun was sent on an inspection tour and also upheld Bai Ling's view. Thereupon a subsidiary weir was built along the main dike from the end of the Clear-Water Retention Dam southward to the Xin Dam. Fengxiang was impeached by Bai Ling for opening the Zhi and Li dams before clear water was stored while the lake had not yet risen, causing the Li dam to burst, flooding downstream, depleting clear water, and harming the whole river system; he was stripped of office and sent into exile. In the eighteenth year Bai Ling and Southern Canal Governor Li Shixu reported that the Ren, Yi, and Li dams, opened repeatedly, had ruined foundations and scoured plunge pools; they asked to relocate the three dams to a hilly site south of Jiangjiaba, each with a diversion channel, building Ren and Yi first and replacing the Li foundation with a straw dam for that year's release. The emperor ordered the Yi dam built first; if regulation proved satisfactory, the rest would be repaired year by year. In the twenty-third year a second Clear-Water Retention dam was added north of the first to store lake water.

道光二年，增修高堰石工。四年冬，河漲，洪澤湖蓄水至丈七尺，尚低於黃尺許，高堰十三堡堤頂被大水掣動，山盱周橋之息浪菴亦過水八九尺，各壩均有坍損。上遣尚書文孚、汪廷珍履勘，而褫河督張文浩職。十三堡缺口旋塞。侍郎硃士彥言：「高堰石工在事諸臣，惟務節省，辦理草率。又因搶築大堤，就近二堤取土，事後亦不培補。至山盱五壩，宣洩洪湖盛漲，未能謹守舊章，相機開放，致石工掣卸。」並下文孚等勘覈。明年春，從文孚等議，改湖堤土坦坡為碎石，於仁、義、禮舊壩處所各增建石滾壩，以防異漲。

In Daoguang 2 the stone works of the high weir were further repaired. In the winter of the fourth year the river rose; Hongze Lake stored water to 1.7 zhang yet still stood about a chi below the Yellow River; the crest of the thirteen forts at the high weir was torn by flood, Xilang'an at Zhouqiao in Shanxu took eight or nine chi of water, and every dam suffered damage. The emperor sent Ministers Wen Fu and Wang Tingzhen on inspection and dismissed Canal Governor Zhang Wenhao from office. The breach at the thirteen forts was soon closed. Vice Minister Zhu Shiyan said: "In the high-weir stone works the officials concerned sought only economy and executed the work carelessly. They also took earth from the nearby secondary dikes for emergency repairs to the main dike and did not restore them afterward. As for the five Shanxu dams, meant to release Hongze's peak floods, they failed to observe the old regulations and open according to conditions, so the stone works were torn away. The memorial was also sent down to Wen Fu and others to verify on inspection. The following spring, following Wen Fu's recommendation, earthen slopes on the lake dike were converted to rubble, and stone roller dams were added at the old Ren, Yi, and Li dam sites against extraordinary floods.

八年，上以御黃壩上下積淤丈餘，清水不能多蓄，御黃壩終不可開，下南總河張井等籌議。井等言：「乾隆間湖高於河七八尺或丈餘，入夏拆展御黃壩，洩清刷淤，至冬始閉。嘉慶間，因河淤，改夏閉秋啟。而黃水偶漲，即行倒灌。今積淤日久，縱清水能出，止高於黃數寸及尺餘，暫開即閉，僅免倒灌，未能收刷淤之效。」上不懌，曰：「以昔證今，已成不可救藥之勢。為河督者，祗知洩清水以保堰，閉御壩以免倒灌，增工請帑，但顧目前，不思經久，如國計何？如民生何？如後日何？」

In the eighth year the emperor noted more than a zhang of silt above and below the Yellow River-Control Dam, clear water could not be stored in quantity, and that dam could never be opened; he referred the matter to Southern Canal Director-General Zhang Jing and others for deliberation. Jing and others said: "Under Qianlong the lake stood seven or eight chi, sometimes more than a zhang, above the river; in summer the Yellow River-Control Dam was dismantled and extended to release clear water and scour silt, and was closed only in winter. In Jiaqing, because the river had silted, the practice was changed to closing in summer and opening in autumn. Yet whenever the Yellow rose even briefly, backflow followed at once. Now silt has accumulated for years; even if clear water can issue, it stands only a few cun or a chi or so above the Yellow; the dam is opened briefly then closed—enough to avoid backflow but not to scour silt effectively." The emperor was displeased and said: "Judging the present by the past, the situation has become incurable. Canal governors know only to release clear water to protect the weir and close the control dam to prevent backflow, adding works and requesting funds while caring for the moment alone and not for the long term—what of state finances? What of the people's livelihood? What of days to come?"

十年，井言：「淮水歸海之路不暢，請於揚糧廳之八塔鋪、商家溝各斜挑一河，匯流入江，分減漲水，並拆除芒稻河東西閘，挑挖淤灘，可抵新辟一河之用。」從之。十二年，移建信壩於夏家橋。十四年，以義字引河跌深三四丈，堵閉不易，允河督麟慶請，改挑義字河頭。二十一年，河決祥符，奪溜注洪澤湖，而江潮盛漲，又復頂托，因拆展御黃、束清及禮、智、仁各壩，並啟放車邏等壩，以泄湖水。二十三年，河決中牟，全溜下注洪澤湖，高堰石工掣卸四千餘丈，先後拆展束清、御黃、智、信各壩，並啟放順清、禮、義等河，金灣舊壩及東西灣壩同時並啟，減水入江。

In the tenth year Jing said: "The Huai's path to the sea is obstructed. I propose cutting diversion channels at Batapu and Shangjiagou in the Yangzhou grain office district to join the Yangtze and split flood peaks, and removing the eastern and western sluices of the Mangdao River while dredging silt bars—equal to opening a new channel." The proposal was approved. In the twelfth year the Xin dam was relocated to Xiajiaqiao. In the fourteenth year, because the Yi-character diversion had scoured three or four zhang deep and was hard to close, Canal Governor Lin Qing's request was granted to recut the head of the Yi-character channel. In the twenty-first year the river breached at Xiangfu; the diverted current poured into Hongze Lake, tidal floods on the Yangtze backed it up again, and the Yellow River-Control, Clear-Water Retention, and Li, Zhi, and Ren dams were dismantled and extended, along with Cheli and other dams, to release lake water. In the twenty-third year the river breached at Zhongmou; the entire current poured into Hongze Lake; more than four thousand zhang of high-weir stonework was torn away; the Clear-Water Retention, Yellow River-Control, Zhi, and Xin dams were opened in turn, along with the Shunqing, Li, and Yi channels, the old Jinwan dam, and the eastern and western bay dams together, reducing water into the Yangtze.

咸豐五年，河復決銅瓦廂，東注大清河入海。黃河自北宋時一決滑州，再決澶州，分趨東南，合泗入淮。蓋淮下游為河所奪者七百七十餘年，河病而淮亦病。至是北徙，江南之患息。士民請復淮水故道者，歲有所聞。

In Xianfeng 5 the river breached again at Tongwaxiang and flowed east via the Daqing River to the sea. Since the Northern Song the Yellow River had broken once at Huazhou and again at Danzhou, dividing toward the southeast and joining the Si to enter the Huai. For more than seven hundred seventy years the Huai's lower reaches had been seized by the river; when the river was sick, the Huai was sick too. Now it shifted north, and the calamity south of the Yangtze subsided. Each year there were petitions from scholars and commoners to restore the Huai's old course.

同治八年，江督馬新貽濬張福口引河，淮遂由清口達運。嗣又挑楊庄以下之淤黃河，以泄中運河盛漲。九年，新貽等言：「測量雲梯關以下河身，及成子河、張福口、高良澗一帶湖心，始知黃河底高於洪湖底一丈至丈五六尺不等，必先大濬淤黃，使淮得暢流入海，繼辟清口，導之入舊黃河，再堵三河，以杜旁洩而資抬蓄。然非修復堰、盱石工，堅築運河兩堤，不敢遽堵三河、辟清口。統籌各工，非數百萬金不能集事。擬分別緩急，次第籌辦，不求利多，但求患減，為得寸得尺之計，收循序漸進之功。」

In Tongzhi 8 Yangtze Governor-General Ma Xinyi dredged the Zhangfukou diversion, and the Huai then reached the Grand Canal via Qingkou. Later the silted Yellow River channel below Yangzhuang was also cut to release floods on the Middle Canal. In the ninth year Ma Xinyi and others said: "Surveying the channel below Yuntiguan and the lake bed at Chengzihé, Zhangfukou, and Gaoliangjian, we found the Yellow River bed one to one-and-a-half zhang higher than Hongze's; the silted Yellow River must be heavily dredged so the Huai can reach the sea, then Qingkou opened to guide it into the old Yellow River channel, then the three rivers blocked to stop side leakage and aid storage. Yet without restoring the Yan and Xu stonework and solidly building both Grand Canal dikes, we dare not hastily block the three rivers or open Qingkou. Coordinating all works will require several million taels before they can be brought together. We propose sorting urgent from deferred tasks and proceeding step by step—seeking not great gain but reduced calamity, inch by inch, with gradual progress."

光緒七年，江督劉坤一言：「臣此次周曆河湖，知淮揚水利有關國計民生。前議導淮，未可中輟。自楊庄以下，舊黃河淤平，則山東昭陽、微山等湖之水，由中運河直趨南運河，夏秋之間，三閘甚形吃重。自洪澤湖淤淺，淮水不能合溜，北高於南，水之分入張福引河者無多，大溜由禮河徑趨高、寶等湖。上年挑濬舊黃河後，山東蛟水屢次暴發，由此分瀉入海。築禮壩後，湖水瀦深，且由張福河入運口者頗旺。此挑舊河、築禮壩之不無微效也。惟是張福河淺，湖水仍趨重禮河越壩，終為可慮。倘遇湖水汎濫，禮河即無越壩，亦難分消，必開信、智兩壩，由高寶湖入南運河，亦必開車邏、南關等壩，由里下河入海，沿途淹沒田廬，所損匪細。今擬就張福河開挖寬深，以引洪澤湖之水，復挖碎石河，以分張福河之水，由吳城七堡匯順清河。水小則由順清入運，途紆而勢稍舒，水大則由舊黃河入海，途直而勢自順。約三四年間，便可告竣，所費尚不過鉅。議者或謂導淮入海，當盡瀉洪湖之水，有妨官運民田。臣以為別開引河，或不免有此患。今循張福河、碎石河故道以歸順清河，自非淮漲一二丈，則順清河之水何能高過中運河，溢出舊黃河？如使淮水暴漲，方有潰決之虞，惟恐水無去路，此正導淮之本意也。議者或謂多引湖水入運，恐三閘不能支持。不思洪湖未淤以前，湖水四平，蓄水深廣，張福以外，有四引河以濟漕運。維時黃未北徙，每遇漕船過閘，方且蓄清敵黃，以五引河全注運口，而三閘屹然，今特張福一河，決無致損三閘之理。且上年挑通舊黃河，已分減中運河水，其入南運河者不過三四成。湖水雖增，與前略等，即遇大水，有舊黃河可以分減，亦不至專出三閘也。議者又謂如此，導淮無弊，亦屬無利，何必虛費帑藏。其說亦不盡然。夫治水之道，必須通盤規畫，並須預防變遷。洪湖南有禮河，北有張福河，均為分泄淮水。而水勢就下，禮河常苦水大，築禮河壩所以蓄張福之水，濬張福口所以顧禮河之堤，彼此互相維繫。如使禮河受全湖之沖，新壩恐不能保，續修則所費彌鉅，不修則為害滋深，下者益下，高者益高，張福河漸形壅塞矣。且導淮之舉，原防盛漲肆虐。如引湖由張福出順清，以舊黃河為出海之路，偶有泛溢，該處土曠人稀，趨避尚易。若張福不暢，全湖之水折而南趨，則淮揚繁盛之區，億萬生靈將有其魚之嘆。導淮之利，見於目前者猶小，見於日後者乃大也。」疏入，下部知之。

In Guangxu 7 Yangtze Governor-General Liu Kunyi said: "On this tour of rivers and lakes I have learned that Huai-Yang waterworks bear on state finances and the people's livelihood. The plan to guide the Huai must not be abandoned midway. Since the old Yellow River below Yangzhuang has silted level, water from Shandong's Zhaoyang, Weishan, and other lakes runs straight down the Middle Canal into the Southern Canal; in summer and autumn the three locks are heavily strained. Hongze Lake has shoaled; the Huai cannot gather its current; the north stands higher than the south; little water enters the Zhangfu diversion; the main current rushes via the Li channel toward Gaoyou and Baoying lakes. After last year's dredging of the old Yellow River, Shandong floodwaters erupted repeatedly and were split here to discharge to the sea. After the Li dam was built, lake water pooled deeper, and the flow into the canal mouth via Zhangfu grew strong. Thus dredging the old channel and building the Li dam have had some small effect. Yet Zhangfu remains shallow; lake water still favors the Li channel, and overtopping the dam remains a worry. If the lake floods, even without overtopping, the Li channel cannot absorb it; the Xin and Zhi dams must open, sending water from Gaobao into the Southern Canal, and Cheli, Nanguan, and other dams must open to the sea via the Lixiahe—fields and homes flooded along the way at no small loss. We now propose widening and deepening Zhangfu to draw Hongze Lake water, reopening the rubble channel to split Zhangfu's flow, and joining Shunqing via Wucheng's seven forts. When water is low it enters the canal via Shunqing—the route is winding and the force gentler; when water is high it reaches the sea via the old Yellow River—the route is direct and the force naturally runs true. In about three or four years the work can be finished at no excessive cost. Some argue that guiding the Huai to the sea means draining Hongze entirely, harming grain transport and private fields. I hold that opening a separate diversion might indeed bring such harm. Following Zhangfu and the rubble channel's old course back to Shunqing, unless the Huai rises one or two zhang, how could Shunqing's water stand above the Middle Canal and spill into the old Yellow River? If the Huai surged violently, there would indeed be fear of breach—but the very fear is that water has no outlet; that is precisely the purpose of guiding the Huai. Others say drawing more lake water into the canal may overwhelm the three locks. They forget that before Hongze shoaled the lake was level and deep; beyond Zhangfu four diversion channels aided transport. Then the Yellow had not shifted north; when transport fleets passed the locks clear water was stored to repel the Yellow—all five diversions poured into the canal mouth, yet the three locks stood firm; today with only Zhangfu, there is no reason the three locks should fail. Moreover last year's dredging of the old Yellow River already splits Middle Canal flow; what reaches the Southern Canal is scarcely thirty or forty percent. Though lake water increases, it is much as before; even in great floods the old Yellow River can divide the volume—it need not all pass the three locks. Others again say that thus guided the Huai has neither harm nor benefit—why waste the treasury? That view is not entirely so. The art of water control demands comprehensive planning and foresight against future shifts. South of Hongze Lake lies the Li River; to the north is the Zhangfu River—both serve to divert and discharge the Huai. Water seeks the lower course, so the Li River often bears too much flow. The Li River dam holds back water for Zhangfu; dredging Zhangfu's mouth protects the Li River dikes—the two works depend on each other. If the Li River took the entire lake's force, the new dam might not stand; endless repairs would cost a fortune, yet leaving it unrepaired would deepen the damage—the low growing lower, the high higher, until Zhangfu River slowly silted shut. Moreover, the whole purpose of guiding the Huai was to guard against catastrophic floods at peak rise. If lake water were routed through Zhangfu to Shunqing and then down the old Yellow River to the sea, occasional overflow would hit open country with few people—evacuation would still be manageable. If Zhangfu did not run freely and the whole lake turned south instead, the teeming Huai-Yang heartland and its millions would face the old cry of men becoming fish beneath the flood. The gains from guiding the Huai may look modest now, but they will prove far greater in years to come. The memorial was submitted, and the ministry took note.

八年，江督左宗棠言：「濬沂、泗為導淮先路，洵為確論。惟云梯關以下二百餘里，河身高仰，且有遠年沙灘。昔以全黃之力所不能通者，今欲以沂、泗分流通之，其勢良難。大通在雲梯關下十餘里，舊黃河北岸，系嘉慶中漫口，東北流四十餘里，至響水口，接連潮河，至灌河口入海。就此加挑寬深，出海較便。沂、泗來源，當大為分減，淮未復而運道亦可稍安，淮既復而歸海無虞阻滯。此疏濬下游，宣洩沂、泗，實導淮先路，不可不亟籌者也。淮挾眾流，匯為洪澤，本江、皖巨浸。自道光間為黃所淤，北高南下，由禮河趨高寶湖以入運者垂三十年。今欲導之復故，不啻挽之逆流。自張福口過大通、響水口入海，三百五十餘里，節節窒兒，非下游暢其去路，上游塞其漏卮，其不能舍下就高入黃歸海也明甚。查張福口及天然引河，皆北趨陳家集之大沖，至碎石河以達吳城七堡，又北至順清河口，接楊庄舊黃河。張福河面六十餘丈，宜加寬深，天然河更須疏瀹，吳城七堡一帶高於張福河底丈六七尺，尤必大加挑濬，使湖水果能入黃，然後可堵禮河，以截旁趨之出路，堵順清河，以杜運河之奪河。此引淮入海工程，當以次接辦者也。湖水不高，不能入黃。太高，不特堰、盱石工可慮，運口閘壩難支，且於盱眙、五河近湖民田有礙。擬修復智、信等壩以泄湖漲，更建閘大沖，俾湖水操縱由人，多入淮而少入運。此又預籌以善其後者也。」

In the eighth year, the governor-general of the Jiang provinces, Zuo Zongtang, wrote: "Dredging the Yi and Si rivers as the first step in guiding the Huai is sound doctrine. Yet for more than two hundred li below Yunti Pass the channel bed stands high and steep, littered with sandbars built up over many years. What the full force of the Yellow River once could not cut through, one now hopes to open with only the divided flow of the Yi and Si—a very hard prospect indeed. Datong lies just over ten li below Yunti Pass on the north bank of the old Yellow River—a Jiaqing-era breach that ran northeast for forty-odd li to Xiangshui mouth, linked the Chao River, and reached the sea at Guanhe mouth. Widening and deepening that stretch would make the outlet to sea far easier. The Yi and Si headwaters should be sharply reduced: even before the Huai is restored the Grand Canal would gain some relief, and once restored the river could reach the sea without fear of obstruction. Clearing the lower reach to discharge the Yi and Si is the true first step in guiding the Huai—a matter that brooks no delay. The Huai, gathering countless tributaries into Hongze Lake, was once a vast inland sea spanning Jiangsu and Anhui. Since the Daoguang era Yellow silt has left the lake higher in the north and lower in the south; for nearly thirty years the Huai has reached the canal only via the Li River into the Gaobao lakes. To guide it back to its old course now is little short of forcing water uphill. From Zhangfu mouth by way of Datong and Xiangshui mouth to the sea is more than three hundred fifty li, choked at every stage—unless the lower course opens an outlet and the upper course stops every leak, it is plain that water cannot leave the low for the high, enter the Yellow, and reach the sea. Survey shows that Zhangfu mouth and the natural diversion both run north to the great Chong at Chenjiaji, then via the rubble channel to Wucheng's seven forts, and north again to Shunqing mouth, where they join the old Yellow River at Yangzhuang. Zhangfu River is over sixty zhang across and should be widened and deepened; the natural channel needs dredging all the more. Near Wucheng's seven forts the bed stands one zhang six or seven chi above Zhangfu's bottom and must be cut down hard so lake water can truly enter the Yellow—only then can the Li River be sealed to block side escapes and Shunqing River closed to keep the Grand Canal from stealing the channel. This work of drawing the Huai to the sea should be taken up step by step in proper order. If the lake level is too low, water cannot enter the Yellow River. If it is too high, not only are the Yan and Xu embankments at risk and the canal mouth locks hard to hold, but farmland near the lake at Xuyi and Wuhe would also suffer. We propose restoring the Zhi, Xin, and other dams to bleed off lake floods, and building a sluice at Chong so the lake level can be managed deliberately—sending more water into the Huai and less into the canal. This too is advance planning to handle what comes afterward."

三十四年，江督端方會勘淮河故道，力陳導淮四難，因於清江浦設局，遴紳籌議。久之無端緒，乃撤局。宣統元年，江蘇諮議局開，總督張人駿以導淮事列案交議，決定設江淮水利公司，先行測量，務使導淮復故，專趨入海。二年，侍讀學士惲毓鼎以濱淮水患日深，上言：「自魏、晉以降，瀕淮田畝，類皆引水開渠，灌溉悉成膏腴。近則沿淮州縣，年報水災，浸灌城邑，漂沒田廬，自正陽至高、寶，盡為澤國，實緣近百年間，河身淤塞，下游不通，水無所歸，浸成汎濫。是則高堰壩之為害也。異時黃、淮合流，有南下之勢，治河者欲束淮以敵黃，故特堅築高堰壩頭，逼淮由天妃閘以濟運。今黃久北徙，堰壩無所用之，當別籌入海之途。其道有二，以由清口西壩、鹽河至北潮河為便。尾閭既暢，水有所歸，不獨潁、壽、鳳、泗永澹沈災，即高、寶、興、泰亦百年高枕矣。」事下江督張人駿、蘇撫程德全、皖撫硃家寶勘議。人駿等言：「正事測量，俟測勘竣，即遴員開辦。」報聞。三年，御史石長信言：「導淮一舉，詢謀僉同。美國紅十字會亦擬遣工程師來華查勘。則我之思患預防，尤不可緩。江蘇水利公司既允部撥費用，安徽亦應設局測量，以為消弭巨災之圖。」下部議允之。

In the thirty-fourth year, Governor Duanfang of the Jiang provinces jointly inspected the Huai's old channel, argued forcefully for four difficulties in guiding the Huai, and set up an office at Qingjiangpu where selected local gentry were to deliberate. After a long time with no clear lead, the office was abolished. In the first year of Xuantong the Jiangsu Consultative Assembly convened; Governor-General Zhang Renjun put guiding the Huai on the agenda. It was resolved to found the Jiang-Huai Water Conservancy Company, begin with surveying, and restore the Huai to its old course so it would run straight to the sea. In the second year, Academician Reader Yun Yuding, alarmed that floods along the Huai were worsening by the day, memorialized: "Since Wei and Jin times, fields along the Huai mostly drew water and dug channels for irrigation until the land became rich cropland. Lately the Huai-border prefectures report floods every year—towns submerged, fields and homes swept away. From Zhengyang to Gaobao all has become a water wilderness, truly because over the past century the channel silted up, the lower reach would not run, water had nowhere to go, and inundation spread. That is the harm done by the Gaoyan dam. In earlier times, when the Yellow and Huai ran together with a southward thrust, river engineers tried to pin the Huai against the Yellow and so built the Gaoyan dam head solid, forcing the Huai through Tianfei Lock to feed the transport canal. Today the Yellow has long shifted north; the dam no longer serves its purpose, and another route to the sea must be planned. There are two possible routes; the more convenient runs from Qingkou's west dam along the Salt River to the North Chao River. Once the lower outlet is open and water has somewhere to go, not only will Ying, Shou, Feng, and Si be freed from chronic flooding—even Gaobao, Xing, and Tai could sleep easy for a century. The matter was referred to Governor-General Zhang Renjun, Jiangsu Governor Cheng Dequan, and Anhui Governor Zhu Jiabao for survey and deliberation. Renjun and the others replied: "Survey work is under way; once the survey is finished, officials will be chosen to begin implementation. The court took note of the report. In the third year, Censor Shi Changxin wrote: "On guiding the Huai, every consultation ends in unanimous agreement. The American Red Cross also plans to send engineers to China for a survey. Our own efforts to think ahead and prevent disaster must be all the more urgent. Since the Jiangsu Water Conservancy Company has accepted ministry funding, Anhui should also set up a survey office as part of a plan to avert catastrophe. The ministry deliberated and approved.

導淮之舉，經始於同治六年。時曾國籓督兩江，嘗謂「復瀆之大利，不敢謂其遽興，淮揚之大害，不可不思稍減」。迨黃流北徙，言者益多，大要不出兩策。一謂宜堵三河，辟清口，濬舊河，排雲梯關，使由故道入海。一謂導淮當自上流始，洪澤湖乃淮之委，非淮之源，宜於上游辟新道，循睢、汴北行，使淮未注湖，中途已泄其半，再由桃源之成子河穿舊黃河，經中河雙金閘入鹽河，至安東入海，使全淮分南北二道，納少瀉多，淮患從此可減。二說所持各異。然同、光以來，濬成子、碎石、沂、泗等河，疏楊庄以下至雲梯關故道，固已小試其端。卒之淮為黃淤，積數百年，已無經行之渠，由運入江，勢難盡挽，迄於國變，終鮮成功。

The effort to guide the Huai began in the sixth year of the Tongzhi reign. At that time Zeng Guofan governed the two Jiang provinces and said: "I dare not claim the great benefit of restoring the old channel will come quickly, but the great harm to Huai and Yangzhou cannot go unaddressed—we must at least ease it somewhat." Once the Yellow River shifted north, advocates multiplied, but the debate still boiled down to two main strategies. One camp held that the three diversion rivers should be sealed, Qingkou opened, the old channel dredged, and Yunti Pass cleared so the Huai could reach the sea along its former course. The other held that guiding the Huai must start upstream: Hongze Lake is where the Huai ends, not where it begins. A new channel should be cut upstream along the Su and Bian rivers northward so that before the Huai even reaches the lake half its volume is already discharged; then through Chenzi River at Taoyuan it would pierce the old Yellow River, pass Shuangjin Lock on the Middle Canal into the Salt River, and reach the sea at Andong—splitting the whole Huai into northern and southern courses that take in less and release more, so Huai floods could finally be eased. The two schools disagreed on the essentials. Yet from the Tongzhi and Guangxu reigns onward, dredging the Chenzi, rubble, Yi, and Si rivers and clearing the old channel from Yangzhuang down to Yunti Pass had already tested both approaches in modest ways. In the end centuries of Yellow silt left the Huai without a passable channel; forcing it through the canal into the Yangtze was a current too strong to reverse. Down to the fall of the dynasty, little was ever truly achieved.

永定河亦名無定河，即桑乾下游。源出山西太原之天池，伏流至朔州、馬邑復出，匯眾流，經直隸宣化之西寧、懷來，東南入順天宛平界，逕盧師台下，始名盧溝河，下匯鳳河入海。以其經大同合渾水東北流，故又名渾河，元史名曰小黃河。從古未曾設官營治。其曰永定，則康熙間所錫名也。永定河匯邊外諸水，挾泥沙建瓴而下，重巒夾峙，故鮮潰決。至京西四十里石景山而南，逕盧溝橋，地勢陡而土性疏，縱橫蕩漾，遷徙弗常，為害頗鉅。於是建堤壩，疏引河，宣防之工亟焉。

The Yongding River, also known as the Wuding or "Restless" River, is the lower course of the Sanggan. It rises at Heaven Pool near Taiyuan in Shanxi, runs underground, re-emerges at Shuozhou and Mayi, gathers tributaries, passes Xining and Huailai in Zhili's Xuanhua prefecture, and enters Wanping in Shuntian. Below Lushitai it first takes the name Lugou River; farther down it joins the Feng River and reaches the sea. Where it passes Datong and joins the muddy Sanggan it flows northeast and is also called the Hun River; the Yuan History names it the Little Yellow River. Until modern times no government office was charged with managing it. The name Yongding, "Forever Settled," was granted in the Kangxi reign. The Yongding gathers frontier streams and rushes down laden with sand and mud like water tipped from a rooftop jar; steep mountains hem it in on both sides, so breaches were rare. But forty li west of the capital, from Shijingshan southward past Lugou Bridge, the slope steepens and the soil turns loose; the river surges and wanders without fixed course, and the damage grows severe. There dikes and dams were built, diversion channels dredged, and flood-control work became urgent.

順治八年，河由永清徙固安，與白溝合。明年，決口始塞。十一年，由固安西宮村與清水合，經霸州東，出清河；又決九花台、南里諸口，霸州西南遂成巨浸。康熙七年，決盧溝橋堤，命侍郎羅多等築之。三十一年，以河道漸次北移，永清、霸州、固安、文安時被水災，用直隸巡撫郭世隆議，疏永清東北故道，使順流歸淀。

In the eighth year of Shunzhi the river shifted from Yongqing to Gu'an and joined the Baigou River. The following year the breach was first closed. In the eleventh year it left Xigong Village in Gu'an, joined the Qing River, passed east of Bazhou, and issued at Qinghe; It broke again at Jiuhuatai, Nanli, and other points, and southwest Bazhou became a vast inland sea. In the seventh year of Kangxi the Lugou Bridge dike burst; Vice Minister Luo Duo and others were ordered to repair it. In the thirty-first year, as the channel drifted steadily north and Yongqing, Bazhou, Gu'an, and Wen'an suffered floods year after year, Zhili Governor Guo Shilong's plan was adopted: the old channel northeast of Yongqing was dredged so the river could run smoothly into the marshes.

三十七年，以保定以南諸水與渾水匯流，勢不能容，時有汎濫，聖祖臨視。巡撫于成龍疏築兼施，自良鄉老君堂舊河口起，逕固安北十里鋪、永清東南硃家莊，會東安狼城河，出霸州柳岔口三角淀，達西沽入海，濬河百四十五里，築南北堤百八十餘里，賜名永定。自是渾流改注東北，無遷徙者垂四十年。三十九年，郎城淀河淤且平，上游壅塞，命河督王新命開新河，改南岸為北岸，南岸接筑西堤，自郭家務起，北岸接築東堤，自何麻子營起，均至柳岔口止。四十年，加築南岸排椿遙堤，修金門閘。四十八年，決永清王虎庄，旋塞。五十六年，修兩岸沙堤大堤，決賀堯營。六十一年，復決賀堯營，隨塞。

In the thirty-seventh year, because the streams south of Baoding and the muddy Hun could not be held in one channel and often spilled over, the Kangxi Emperor inspected the river in person. Governor Yu Chenglong combined dredging with dike-building from the old mouth at Laojuntang in Liangxiang through Shilipu north of Gu'an and Zhujiazhuang southeast of Yongqing, joining Dong'an's Langcheng River and issuing at Liuchakou in Bazhou into the Sanjiao marshes and on to Xigu and the sea. He dredged 145 li of channel and built more than 180 li of north and south dikes, and the river was granted the name Yongding. From then the muddy current ran northeast and did not shift course for nearly forty years. In the thirty-ninth year the Langcheng marsh channel silted nearly flat and the upper reach backed up. River Director Wang Xinming was ordered to cut a new channel, making the old south bank the north bank; the south bank's west dike was extended from Guojiawu and the north bank's east dike from Hemazi Camp, both ending at Liuchakou. In the fortieth year distant pile dikes on the south bank were strengthened and the Jinmen Sluice was repaired. In the forty-eighth year the dike broke at Wanghuzhuang in Yongqing and was soon closed again. In the fifty-sixth year sand dikes and main dikes on both banks were repaired, but Heyaoying burst. In the sixty-first year Heyaoying broke again and was promptly sealed.

雍正二年，修郭家務大堤，築清涼寺月堤，修金門閘，築霸州堂二鋪南堤決口。三年，因郭家務以下兩岸頓狹，永清受害特重，命怡親王允祥、大學士硃軾，引渾水別由一道入海，毋使入淀，遂於柳岔口少北改為下口，開新河自郭家務至長河，凡七十里，經三角淀達津歸海，築三角淀圍堤，以防北軼。又築南堤自武家莊至王慶坨，北堤自何麻子營至范甕口，其冰窖至柳岔口堤工遂廢。十二年，決梁各庄、四聖口等處三百餘丈，黃家灣河溜全奪，水穿永清縣郭下注霸州之津水窪歸淀。總河顧琮督兵夫塞之。十三年，決南岸硃家莊、北岸趙家樓，水由六道口小堤仍歸三角淀。

In the second year of Yongzheng the main dike at Guojiawu was repaired, a moon dike built at Qingliang Temple, Jinmen Sluice restored, and the south dike breach at Tang'erpupu in Bazhou closed. In the third year, because the banks below Guojiawu narrowed sharply and Yongqing suffered especially hard, Prince Yi Yunxiang and Grand Secretary Zhu Fushi were ordered to send the muddy river to sea by a separate route and keep it out of the marshes. The outlet was moved slightly north of Liuchakou, a new channel cut from Guojiawu to Changhe for seventy li, reaching Tianjin through the Sanjiao marshes and then the sea, with ring dikes built around the marshes to block northward spill. A south dike was built from Wujiazhuang to Wangqingtuo and a north dike from Hemazi Camp to Fankou, while the dike works from Bingjiao to Liuchakou were abandoned. In the twelfth year breaches opened at Lianggezhuang, Sishengkou, and elsewhere for more than three hundred zhang; the Huangjiawan current was wholly diverted; water cut through below Yongqing's city wall and via Bazhou's Jinshuipo back into the marshes. Overall River Director Gu Zong supervised troops and laborers in closing the breaches. In the thirteenth year Zhujiazhuang on the south bank and Zhaojialou on the north bank burst; water still returned to the Sanjiao marshes by way of the small dike at Liudaokou.

乾隆二年，總河劉勷勘修南北堤，開黃家灣、求賢庄、曹家新莊各引河，濬雙口、下口、黃花套。六月，漲漫南岸鐵狗、北岸張客等村四十餘處，奪溜由張客決口下歸鳳河。命吏部尚書顧琮察勘，請仿黃河築遙堤之法。大學士鄂爾泰持不可，議「於北截河堤北改挑新河，以北堤為南堤，沿之東下，下游作泄潮埝數段，復於南北岸分建滾水石壩四，各開引河：一於北岸張家水口建壩，即以所沖水道為引河，東匯鳳河；一於南岸寺台建壩，以民間泄水舊渠入小清河者為引河；一於南岸金門閘建壩，以渾河故道接檿牛河者為引河；一於南岸郭家務建壩，即以舊河身為引河。合清隔濁，條理自明」。詔從其請。

In the second year of Qianlong Overall River Director Liu Kan surveyed and repaired the north and south dikes, opened diversion channels at Huangjiawan, Qiuxianzhuang, and Caojiaxinzhuang, and dredged Shuangkou, the lower outlet, and Huanghuatao. In the sixth month floodwaters spread over more than forty villages, including Tie'gou on the south bank and Zhangke on the north; the main current was seized and ran down through the breach at Zhangke into the Feng River. Minister of Personnel Gu Zong was ordered to inspect the damage and proposed following the Yellow River practice of building distant protective dikes. Grand Secretary Ertai objected and proposed instead: "North of the intercepting dike on the north bank, cut a new channel, treat the north dike as the south dike, and follow it east; downstream build several tidal discharge embankments; and on both banks erect four stone overflow dams, each with a diversion channel: one on the north bank at Zhangjia mouth, using the scoured channel as the diversion, east into the Feng River; one on the south bank at Satai, using the old civilian drainage channel that entered the Xiaoqing River; one on the south bank at Jinmen Sluice, using the old Hun River channel that joined the Zhenniu River; one on the south bank at Guojiawu, using the old riverbed itself as the diversion channel. Clear water and muddy water kept apart—the plan is self-evident." An edict approved his proposal.

四年，直督孫嘉淦請移寺台壩於曹家務，張客壩於求賢庄。又於金門閘、長安城添築草壩，定以四分過水。顧琮言，金門閘、長安城兩壩水勢僅一河宣洩，恐汛發難容，擬分引河為兩股，一由南窪入中亭河，一由楊青口入津水窪。又言郭家務、小梁村等處舊有遙河千七百丈，年久淤塞，請發帑興修。均從之。五年，孫嘉淦請開金門閘重堤，濬西引河，開南堤，放水復行故道。六年，凌汛漫溢，固、良、新、涿、雄、霸各境多淹。從鄂爾泰議，堵閉新引河，展寬雙口等河，挑葛漁城河槽，築張客、曹家務月堤，改築郭家務等壩。八年，濬新河下口，及董家河、三道河口，修新河南岸及鳳河以東堤埝。又疏穆家口以下至東蕭庄、鳳河邊二十里有奇。九年，以范甕口下統以沙、葉兩淀為歸宿，兩汛水多歸葉淀，遂疏注沙淀路，並將南北舊減河濬歸鳳河。

In the fourth year Zhili Governor Sun Jiaxing asked to move the Satai dam to Caojiawu and the Zhangke dam to Qiuxianzhuang. Grass overflow dams were also added at Jinmen Sluice and Chang'ancheng, set to pass one quarter of the flow. Gu Zong reported that at Jinmen Sluice and Chang'ancheng a single channel could barely carry the discharge and might fail in flood season; he proposed splitting the diversion into two branches, one through Nan'wa into the Zhongting River and one through Yangqing mouth into Jinshuipo. He also reported that near Guojiawu and Xiaoliangcun an old distant channel 1,700 zhang long had silted up over the years and asked that treasury funds be allocated for its restoration. All proposals were approved. In the fifth year Sun Jiaxing asked to open the heavy dike at Jinmen Sluice, dredge the western diversion channel, open the south dike, and release water back into the old course. In the sixth year spring ice floods spilled over and inundated much of Gu'an, Liangxiang, Xinhe, Zhuo, Xiong, and Bazhou. Following Ertai's plan, the new diversion was sealed off, Shuangkou and other channels were widened, the Geyucheng riverbed was excavated, moon dikes were built at Zhangke and Caojiawu, and the dams at Guojiawu and elsewhere were rebuilt. In the eighth year the lower outlet of the new channel was dredged, along with the Dongjia River, Sandaohe mouth, and other points, and dikes on the south bank of the new channel and east of the Feng River were repaired. The channel was also dredged from below Mukou to Dongxiaozhuang and the Feng River bank, a distance of a little over twenty li. In the ninth year the reach below Fanweng Kou was arranged to discharge into the Sha and Ye marshes; water from both flood seasons mostly ran into Ye Marsh, so the route to Sha Marsh was cleared and the old relief channels on both banks were dredged back into the Feng River.

十五年五月，河水驟漲，由南岸第四溝奪溜出，逕固安城下至牛坨，循黃家河入津水窪，一由檿牛河入中亭河。命侍郎三和同直督堵御，於口門下另挑引河，截溜築壩，遏水南溢，使歸故道。十六年，凌汛水發，全河奔注冰窖堤口，即於王慶坨南開引河，導經流入葉淀，以順水性。十九年，南埝水漫堤頂，決下口東西老堤，奪溜南行，漫勝芳舊淀，逕永清之武家廠、三聖口，霸州之信安入口。明年，高宗臨視，改下游由調河頭入海，挑引河二十餘里，加培埝身二千二百餘丈。二十一年，直督方觀承請於北埝外更作遙堤，預為行水地，鳳河東堤亦接築至遙埝尾。從之。二十四年，大雨，直隸各河並漲，下游悉歸淀內，大清河不能宣洩，轉由鳳河倒漾，阻遏渾流，南岸四工堤決。命御前侍衛赫爾景額協同直督剋日堵築。

In the fifth month of the fifteenth year the river rose abruptly; the main current broke out through the fourth gully on the south bank, ran below Gu'an city to Niutuo, followed the Huangjia River into Jinshuipo, while another branch entered the Zhongting River by way of the Zhenniu River. Vice Minister Sanhe and the Zhili governor were ordered to block the breach together; below the mouth they cut a new diversion channel, intercepted the current, built dams to hold back southward overflow, and sent the water back into the old course. In the sixteenth year the spring ice flood broke loose; the entire river surged toward the Bingjiao dike mouth; a diversion was opened just south of Wangqingtuo to lead the current into Ye Marsh in accord with the water's natural tendency. In the nineteenth year water on the south embankment topped the dike; the old east and west dikes at the lower outlet gave way; the main current was seized southward, spread through Shengfang's old marsh, and ran by way of Wujia Factory and Sanshengkou in Yongqing and the Xin'an mouth in Bazhou. The following year the Gaozong Emperor inspected the works in person; the lower course was redirected to reach the sea through Tiaohe Tou; a diversion channel more than twenty li long was cut, and more than 2,200 zhang were added to the embankment body. In the twenty-first year Zhili Governor Fang Guancheng proposed building a further distant dike outside the north embankment to reserve space for flood flow, and extending the Feng River's east dike to the end of the distant embankment. The proposal was approved. In the twenty-fourth year heavy rains raised every river in Zhili at once; the lower reach emptied entirely into the marshes; the Daqing River could not carry the discharge; water backed up through the Feng River and checked the muddy current, and the fourth-section dike on the south bank burst. Imperial Bodyguard He'er Jing'e was ordered to join the Zhili governor in closing the breach and rebuilding the dike within a fixed deadline.

三十五年、三十六年，兩岸屢決。三十七年，命尚書高晉、裘曰修偕直督周元理履勘，疏言：「永定河自康熙間築堤以來，凡六改道。救弊之法，惟有疏中洪、挑下口，以暢奔流，築岸堤以防衝突，濬減河以分盛漲。」遂興大工，用帑十四萬有奇。自是水由調河頭逕毛家窪、沙家淀達津入海。三十八年，調河頭受淤，其澄清之水散漫而下，別由東安響水村直趨沙家淀。四十年，堵北三工、南頭工漫口。四十四年，展築新北堤，加培舊越堤，廢去瀕河舊堤，使河身寬展。四十五年，盧溝橋西岸漫溢，北頭工衝決，由良鄉之前官營散溢求賢村減河歸黃花店，爰開引溝八百丈，引溜歸河。五十九年，決北二工堤，溜注求賢村引河，至永定河下游入海。旋即斷流，又漫南頭工堤，水由老君堂、庄馬頭入大清河，凡築南堤百餘丈。又於玉皇廟前築挑水壩。

In the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth years breaches opened repeatedly on both banks. In the thirty-seventh year Ministers Gao Jin and Qiu Yuexiu were sent with Zhili Governor Zhou Yuanli to inspect the river on site and reported: "Since dikes were first built in the Kangxi reign, the Yongding River has changed course six times. The only way to remedy the damage is to dredge the central channel, open the lower outlet to ease the swift current, build bank dikes against impact, and dredge relief channels to divide peak floods." A major project was then launched at a treasury cost of a little over 140,000 taels. From then on the river ran from Tiaohe Tou through Maojiawa and Shajia Marsh to Tianjin and the sea. In the thirty-eighth year Tiaohe Tou silted up; its clearer water spread downstream and separately ran straight from Xiangshui village in Dong'an to Shajia Marsh. In the fortieth year the overflow breaches at the north third section and the south head section were sealed. In the forty-fourth year the new north dike was extended, the old transverse dike was raised, the old riverside dikes were abandoned, and the river channel was widened. In the forty-fifth year the west bank at Lugou Bridge overflowed and the north head section was breached; water spread from Qiangguanying in Liangxiang through the Qiuxianzhuang relief channel to Huanghuadian; an eight-hundred-zhang diversion ditch was then cut to lead the current back into the main river. In the fifty-ninth year the north second-section dike burst; the current poured into the Qiuxianzhuang diversion and reached the sea by way of the lower Yongding River. The flow soon cut off again; then the south head-section dike overflowed; water entered the Daqing River through Laojuntang and Zhuangmatou; in all more than one hundred zhang of south dike were built. A deflection dam was also built in front of Yuhuang Temple.

嘉慶六年，決盧溝橋東西岸石堤四、土堤十八，命侍郎那彥寶、高杞分駐堵築，並疏濬下游，集民夫五萬餘治之。御制河決嘆，頒示群臣。兩月餘工竣。十五年，永定河兩岸同時漫口，直督溫承惠駐工堵合之。十七年，河勢北趨，葛漁城淤塞，水由黃花店下注。乃於舊淤河內挑挖引河，並於上游築草壩，挑溜東行，另建圈堤以防泛衍。二十年，拆鳳河東堤民埝以去下壅。六月大雨，北岸七工漫塌，開引河，由舊河身稍南，直至黃花店，東抵西洲，長五千六百九丈。九月，水復故道。二十四年，北岸二工漫溢，頭工繼溢，側注口門三百餘丈，大興、宛平所屬各村被淹。九月塞決口，並重濬北上引河。

In the sixth year of Jiaqing four stone sections and eighteen earth sections of the Lugou Bridge banks on east and west gave way; Vice Ministers Nayinbao and Gao Qi were ordered to take separate posts to close the breaches and rebuild, dredge the lower reach, and mobilize more than fifty thousand laborers for the work. The emperor composed the "Lament on the River Breach" and circulated it among his ministers. The work was finished in a little over two months. In the fifteenth year both banks of the Yongding River overflowed at once; Zhili Governor Wen Chenghui stayed on the works to seal the breaches. In the seventeenth year the river turned northward; Geyucheng silted up; water discharged through Huanghuadian. A diversion channel was cut within the old silted bed; grass overflow dams were built upstream; the current was turned east; and a ring dike was added to guard against widespread flooding. In the twentieth year civilian embankments along the east dike of the Feng River were removed to clear downstream obstruction. In the sixth month heavy rains caused the seventh section on the north bank to overflow and collapse; a diversion was cut slightly south of the old bed as far as Huanghuadian and east to Xizhou, 5,690 zhang in length. In the ninth month the water returned to the old course. In the twenty-fourth year the second section on the north bank overflowed and the head section soon after; water poured through the mouth for more than three hundred zhang; villages in Daxing and Wanping were flooded. In the ninth month the breach was sealed and the northern diversion channel was dredged anew.

道光三年，河由南八工堤盡處決而南，直趨汪兒淀。四年，侍郎程含章勘議濬復，未果。十年，直督那彥成請於大范甕口挑引河，並將新堤南遙埝加高培厚。報可。十一年春，河溜改向東北，逕竇淀，歷六道口，注大清河，汪兒淀口始塞，水由范甕口新槽復歸王慶坨故道。十四年，宛平界北中、北下汛決口，水由龐各庄循舊減河至武清之黃花店，仍歸正河尾閭入海。良鄉界南二工決口，水由金門閘減河入清河，經白溝河歸大清河。爰挑引河，自漫口迤下至單家溝，間段修築二萬七千四百餘丈。二十四年，南七工漫口，就迤北三里許之河西營為河頭，挑引河七十餘里，直達鳳河。三十年五月，上游山水下注，河驟漲，北七工漫三十餘丈，由舊減河逕母豬泊注鳳河。勘於馮家場北河灣開引河，十月竣工。

In the third year of Daoguang the river burst south at the end of the south eighth-section dike and ran directly toward Wang'er Marsh. In the fourth year Vice Minister Cheng Hanzhang inspected the river and proposed dredging to restore the old course, but the plan was not implemented. In the tenth year Zhili Governor Nayancheng asked to cut a diversion channel at Dafanweng Kou and to raise and thicken the distant embankment south of the new dike. The request was approved. In the spring of the eleventh year the current shifted northeast, passed through Dou Marsh and Liudaokou into the Daqing River; the Wang'er Marsh outlet was then sealed, and water through the new channel at Fanweng Kou returned to the old course at Wangqingtuo. In the fourteenth year breaches opened in Wanping at the north middle and north lower flood sections; water from Panggezhuang followed the old relief channel to Huanghuadian in Wuqing and still reentered the sea through the main river's lower outlet. On the Liangxiang border the south second section burst; water entered the Qing River through the Jinmen Sluice relief channel and returned to the Daqing River by way of the Baigou River. A diversion channel was then cut from the overflow point down to Danjiagou, with sectional construction totaling more than 27,400 zhang. In the twenty-fourth year the south seventh section overflowed; Hexiying, about three li to the north, was made the new river head; a diversion more than seventy li long was cut straight to the Feng River. In the fifth month of the thirtieth year mountain runoff poured in from upstream and the river rose abruptly; the north seventh section overflowed for more than thirty zhang; water ran through Muzhubo into the Feng River by way of the old relief channel. After inspection a diversion was cut at the north bend of the river at Fengjiachang; the project was completed in the tenth month.

咸豐間，南北堤潰決四次。時軍務方棘，工費減發，補苴罅漏而已。

During the Xianfeng reign the north and south dikes burst four times. Military affairs were then urgent; project funds were reduced; repairs could do no more than patch the worst gaps.

同治三年，因河日北徙，去路淤淺，於柳坨築壩，堵截北流，引歸舊河，展寬挑深張坨、胡家房河身，經東安、武清、天津入海。六年以後，時有潰決。八年，直督曾國籓請於南七工築截水大壩，兩旁修築圈埝，並挑濬中洪，疏通下口，以免壅潰。從之。十年，南岸石堤漫口，奪溜逕良鄉、涿州注大清河入海。明年，允直督李鴻章請，修金門閘壩，疏濬引河，由童村入小清河。石堤決口塞。十二年，南四工漫口，由霸州檿牛河東流。爰將引河增長，復築挑水壩一。

In the third year of Tongzhi, because the river was shifting steadily northward and its outlet had silted up, a dam was built at Liutuo to cut off the northward flow and return the water to the old course; the beds at Zhangtuo and Hujiafang were widened and deepened, and the river again reached the sea through Dong'an, Wuqing, and Tianjin. After the sixth year breaches continued to occur from time to time. In the eighth year Zhili Governor Zeng Guofan proposed building a major intercepting dam at the south seventh section, ring embankments on both flanks, and dredging the central channel while clearing the lower outlet to prevent backup and collapse. The proposal was approved. In the tenth year the stone dike on the south bank overflowed; the main current was diverted through Liangxiang and Zhuo into the Daqing River and on to the sea. The following year Li Hongzhang's request as Zhili governor was approved: the Jinmen Sluice dam was repaired, the diversion channel dredged, and water led from Tongcun into the Xiaoqing River. The breach in the stone dike was sealed. In the twelfth year the south fourth section overflowed; water ran east through the Zhenniu River in Bazhou. The diversion channel was lengthened and another deflection dam was built.

光緒元年，南二汛漫口，隨塞。四年，北六汛決口，築合後，復於坦坡埝尾接築民埝至青光以下。十年，以鳳河當永定河之沖，年久淤墊，以工代賑，起南苑五空閘，訖武清緱上村，間段挑濬，並培築堤壩決口。十六年，大水，畿輔各河並漲，永定北上汛、南三汛同時漫決。命直督迅籌堵築，添修挑壩岸堤，又疏引河六十餘里。十八年夏，大雨，河水陡漲，南上汛灰壩漫口四十餘丈。給事中洪良品言北岸頭工關係最重，請接連石景山以下添砌石堤，以資捍衛。下所司籌議。因工艱費鉅，擇要接築石堤八里，並添修石格。十九年冬，因頻年潰決為患，命河督許振禕偕直督會勘籌辦。振禕陳疏下游、保近險、濬中洪、建減壩、治上游五事。直隸按察使周馥並建議於盧溝南岸築減水大石壩，以水抵涵洞上楣為準，逾則瀉去。詔如所請。二十二年，北六工、北中汛先後漫溢，由韓家樹匯大清河，遂挑濬大清河積淤二十餘里。

In the first year of Guangxu the south second flood section overflowed and was sealed at once. In the fourth year the north sixth flood section burst; after the breach was closed, civilian embankments were extended from the end of the Tanpo embankment down to below Qingguang. In the tenth year, because the Feng River bore the full force of the Yongding and had silted up over many years, public works were used for famine relief; from Wukong Sluice in Nanyuan to Goushang village in Wuqing the channel was dredged in sections, and breaches in dikes and dams were raised and sealed. In the sixteenth year catastrophic floods raised every river in the capital region at once; the north upper and south third flood sections of the Yongding overflowed and burst together. The Zhili governor was ordered to plan blocking and rebuilding at once, add deflection dams and bank dikes, and dredge a diversion channel more than sixty li long. In the summer of the eighteenth year heavy rains sent the river up abruptly; the lime dam in the south upper flood section overflowed for more than forty zhang. Supervising Secretary Hong Liangpin reported that the north bank head section was the most critical point and asked that stone dikes be added continuously below Shijingshan for protection. The matter was referred to the responsible offices for deliberation. Because the work was arduous and the cost enormous, eight li of stone dike were built at the most critical points and stone grids were added. In the winter of the nineteenth year, because repeated breaches had plagued the river for years, River Director Xu Zhenyi was ordered to inspect the works jointly with the Zhili governor and draw up a plan. Zhenyi proposed five measures: regulate the lower course, secure the nearest danger points, dredge the central channel, build relief dams, and manage the upper reach. Zhili Judicial Commissioner Zhou Fu also proposed building a major stone flood-relief dam on the south bank at Lugou, set so that when the water reached the lintel of the culvert it would be discharged. An edict approved the proposals. In the twenty-second year the north sixth section and the north middle flood section overflowed in turn; water collected at Hanjiashu into the Daqing River; more than twenty li of accumulated silt in the Daqing were then dredged.

二十五年，詔直督裕祿詳勘全河形勢，以紓水患。裕祿言：「畿輔緯川百道，總匯於南北運、大清、永定、子牙五經河，由海河達海，惟永定水渾善淤，變遷無定。從前下口遙堤寬四十餘里，分南、北、中三洪。嗣因南、中兩洪淤墊，全由北洪穿鳳入運。」因陳統籌疏築之策七：一，先治海河，俾暢尾閭，然後施工上游；一，宜以鳳河東堤外大窪為永定下口；一，修筑北運河西堤；一，規復大清河下口故道於西沽；一，修築格淀；一，修築韓家樹橫直各堤；一，疏濬中亭河，以期一勞永逸。需費七十七萬有奇。帝命分年籌辦。適有拳匪之亂，不果行。

In the twenty-fifth year an edict ordered Zhili Governor Yulu to survey the entire river in detail so as to relieve flood damage. Yulu reported: "In the capital region hundreds of streams cross the plain, all converging on the five trunk rivers—the North and South Canal, Daqing, Yongding, and Ziya—and reaching the sea through the Hai River; only the Yongding runs muddy, silts easily, and shifts without a fixed course. Formerly the distant dike at the lower outlet was more than forty li wide and divided the flow into south, north, and central channels. Later, when the south and central channels silted up, the entire current passed through the north channel via the Feng River into the Canal." He then proposed seven coordinated measures for dredging and construction: first, regulate the Hai River so the lower outlet runs freely, then work upstream; second, the great depression east of the Feng River's east dike should be made the Yongding's lower outlet; third, build the west dike of the North Canal; fourth, plan to restore the Daqing River's old lower course at Xigu; fifth, build and repair the Gedian embankment; sixth, build the transverse and longitudinal dikes at Hanjiashu; seventh, dredge the Zhongting River in the hope of a lasting remedy. The project would require a little over 770,000 taels. The emperor ordered the work to be planned and carried out over successive years. The Boxer uprising intervened, and the plan was never carried out.

三十年後，南北岸屢見潰決，均隨時堵合。論者以為若將險工全作石堤，灣狹處改從寬直，並於南七工放水東行，傍淀達津，再加以石壩分泄盛漲，庶幾永保安瀾雲。

In the decades that followed, breaches opened repeatedly on both banks, and each was sealed as soon as it appeared. Commentators argued that if every danger point were faced with stone dikes, narrow bends were widened and straightened, water were released eastward from the south seventh section along the marshes to Tianjin, and stone overflow dams were added to divide peak floods, the river might at last be kept permanently secure.

海塘惟江、浙有之。于海濱衛以塘，所以捍禦咸潮，奠民居而便耕稼也。在江南者，自松江之金山至寶山，長三萬六千四百餘丈。在浙江者，自仁和之烏龍廟至江南金山界，長三萬七千二百餘丈。江南地方平洋暗潮，水勢尚緩。浙則江水順流而下，海潮逆江而上，其衝突激涌，勢尤猛險。唐、宋以來，屢有修建，其制未備。清代易土塘為石塘，更民修為官修，鉅工累作，力求鞏固，濱海生靈，始獲樂利矣。

Sea dikes exist only in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Along the coast dikes are maintained to hold back the salt tide, secure settlements, and protect the fields. In Jiangnan the dikes run from Jinshan in Songjiang to Baoshan, more than 36,400 zhang in length. In Zhejiang they run from Wulong Temple in Renhe to the Jinshan border with Jiangnan, more than 37,200 zhang in length. Jiangnan's coast is level and its tides comparatively mild; the force of the water is still moderate. In Zhejiang the river runs downstream while the sea tide runs up against it; where they meet the surge is fierce and the danger especially great. Since Tang and Song the dikes had been rebuilt many times, but the system was never fully established. Under the Qing earth dikes were replaced with stone dikes and private upkeep with official maintenance; great projects were undertaken again and again in pursuit of strength, and the coastal population at last enjoyed security and prosperity.

順治十六年，禮科給事中張惟赤言：「江、浙二省，杭、嘉、湖、寧、紹、蘇、松七郡皆濱海，賴有塘以捍其外，至海鹽兩山夾峙，潮勢尤猛。故明代特編海塘夫銀，以事歲修。近此款不知銷歸何地，塘基盡圮。儻風濤大作，徑從坍口深入，恐為害七郡匪淺。請嚴飭撫、按勒限報竣，仍定限歲修，以防患未然。」下部議行。康熙三年，浙江海寧海溢，潰塘二千三百餘丈。總督趙廷臣、巡撫硃昌祚請發帑修築，並修尖山石堤五千餘丈。二十七年，修海鹽石塘千丈。三十七年，颶風大作，海潮越堤入，衝決海寧塘千六百餘丈，海鹽塘三百餘丈，築之。五十七年，巡撫硃軾請修海寧石塘，下用木櫃，外築坦水，再開濬備塘河以防泛溢。五十九年，總督滿保及軾疏言：「上虞夏蓋山迤西沿海土塘沖坍無存，其南大亹沙淤成陸，江水海潮直衝北大亹而東，並海寧老鹽倉皆坍沒。」因陳辦法五：一，築老鹽倉北岸石塘千三百餘丈，保護杭、嘉、湖三府民田水利；一，築新式石塘，使之穩固；一，開中小亹淤沙，使江海盡歸赭山、河庄山中間故道，可免潮勢北沖；一，築夏蓋山石塘千七百餘丈，以御南岸潮患；一，專員歲修，以保永固。下部議，如所請行。

In the sixteenth year of Shunzhi Supervising Secretary Zhang Weichi of the Rites Section reported: "In Jiangsu and Zhejiang the seven prefectures of Hang, Jia, Hu, Ning, Shao, Su, and Song all lie on the coast and depend on sea dikes for protection; at Haiyan, where two mountains face each other, the tide is especially violent. For this reason the Ming specially set aside funds for sea-dike labor to support annual repairs. Recently it is unclear where this fund has gone, and the dike foundations have collapsed entirely. If wind and waves rise and water pours straight through the collapsed sections, the seven prefectures may suffer no small harm. I ask that the governors and surveillance commissioners be strictly ordered to finish repairs within a fixed deadline and that annual maintenance be required again, so harm may be prevented before it arises." The memorial was referred to the ministries for deliberation and implementation. In the third year of the Kangxi reign, the sea surged over Haining in Zhejiang and breached more than twenty-three hundred zhang of tidal dike. Governor-General Zhao Tingchen and Provincial Governor Zhu Changzuo asked that treasury funds be released for repairs, and that more than five thousand zhang of stone embankment at Jianshan be restored as well. In the twenty-seventh year, one thousand zhang of stone tidal dike at Haiyan were repaired. In the thirty-seventh year a violent hurricane drove the tide over the dikes, tearing out more than sixteen hundred zhang at Haining and more than three hundred at Haiyan; the breaches were then rebuilt. In the fifty-seventh year Provincial Governor Zhu Shi proposed rebuilding the Haining stone dike with wooden cribs below, sloped revetment on the seaward face, and renewed dredging of the backup canal to contain flooding. In the fifty-ninth year Governor-General Manbao and Zhu Shi reported: "Along the coast west of Mount Xiayu in Shangyu, the earthen dikes had been scoured away entirely. South of there the sands of Da Wai had accreted into dry land, so river and tide now drove straight at Bei Dai and eastward, and the Old Salt Storehouse at Haining, among other sites, had collapsed into the sea." They proposed five remedies: first, build more than thirteen hundred zhang of stone dike along the north bank at Old Salt Storehouse to safeguard cropland and irrigation in Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou prefectures; second, construct new-style stone dikes built to endure; third, cut through the shoals at Zhong Xiao Wai so the river and sea resume their old course between Mount Zhe and Mount Hezhuang, deflecting the tide's northward push; fourth, raise more than seventeen hundred zhang of stone dike at Mount Xiayu to shield the south bank from tidal damage; fifth, assign officers to maintain the works yearly so they would stand firm for the long term. The Board deliberated and approved the plan as requested.

雍正二年，帝以塘工緊要，命吏部尚書硃軾會同浙撫法海、蘇撫何天培勘估杭、嘉、湖等府塘工，需銀十萬五千兩有奇，松江府華、婁、上海等縣塘工，需銀十九萬兩有奇，部議允之。六年，巡撫李衛請將驟決不可緩待之工，先行搶修，隨後奏聞。「搶修」之名自此始。十一年，命內大臣海望、直督李衛赴浙查勘海塘，諭曰：「如果工程永固，可保民生，即費帑千萬不必惜。」尋請於尖、塔兩山間建石壩堵水，並改建草塘及條石塊石各塘為大石塘，更於舊塘內添築上備塘。十二年，因堵尖山水口、開中小亹引河久未施工，責浙督程元章等督辦不力，命杭州副都統隆升總理，御史偏武佐之。五月工竣。十三年，命南河督嵇曾筠總理塘工。曾筠言：「海寧南門外俯臨江海，請先築魚鱗石塘五百餘丈，保衛城池。」下廷臣議行。

In the second year of Yongzheng the Emperor, deeming the tidal works critical, ordered Minister of Personnel Zhu Shi to join Zhejiang Governor Fa Hai and Jiangsu Governor He Tianpei in surveying the dikes of Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and neighboring prefectures, which would cost somewhat more than 105,000 taels, and the dikes of Huating, Lou, Shanghai, and other counties in Songjiang, which would need somewhat more than 190,000 taels; the Board approved. In the sixth year Provincial Governor Li Wei asked permission to undertake emergency repairs wherever sudden breaches could not wait, and to report afterward. From this point the term "emergency repair" entered official use. In the eleventh year he dispatched Inner Court Minister Haiwang and Zhili Governor-General Li Wei to Zhejiang to inspect the sea dikes, saying: "If the works can be made lasting and the people protected, spend ten million taels from the treasury without hesitation." They soon proposed a stone dam between Jian and Ta mountains to hold back the current, conversion of grass dikes and mixed strip- and block-stone works into great stone dikes, and construction of upper backup dikes behind the existing line. In the twelfth year, because the Jianshan closure and the Zhong Xiao Wai diversion had long remained unfinished, Zhejiang Governor Cheng Yuanzhang and his colleagues were censured for poor oversight; Deputy Lieutenant-General Long Sheng of Hangzhou was placed in overall charge, assisted by Censor Pian Wu. The work was finished in the fifth month. In the thirteenth year he appointed Southern Rivers Director-General Ji Zengyun to oversee the tidal works. Ji Zengyun reported: "South of Haining's gate the land faces river and sea; build more than five hundred zhang of scale-pattern stone dike there first to shield the city." The court was ordered to deliberate and implement the plan.

乾隆元年，署蘇撫顧琮請設海防道，專司海塘歲修事。曾筠請於仁、寧等處酌建魚鱗大石塘六千餘丈，均從之。明年，建海寧浦兒兜至尖山頭魚鱗大石塘五千九百餘丈。四年，允浙撫盧焯請，築尖山大壩，次年秋工竣，御制文記之。六年，左都御史劉統勛言：「前據閩浙總督德沛請改老鹽倉至章家菴柴塘為石塘，廷議准行。臣意以為草塘改建不必過急，南北岸塘工實不宜緩。蓋通塘形勢，海寧之潮猶屬往來滌盪，而海鹽之潮，則對面直衝，其大石塘歲久罅漏，尤宜及早補苴。臣以大概計之，動發七十萬金，而通塘可有苞桑之固。」疏入，命統勛會同浙督德沛、浙撫常安察勘。尋覆稱：「改建石工，誠經久之圖，但須寬以時日，年以三百丈為率。」七年，總督那蘇圖請先於最險處間段排築石簍，俟根腳堅實，再建石塘。越二年，遣尚書訥親勘視。疏言：「仁、寧二邑柴塘穩固，若慮護沙坍漲無常，第將中小亹故道開濬，俾潮水循規出入，上下塘俱可安堵。」於是改建石工之議遂寢。七月，蘇撫陳大受言：「寶山地濱大海，月浦土塘被潮沖刷，請建單石壩，外加椿石坦坡各百七十丈，並接築沙塘，使與土塘聯屬，中設涵洞宣洩。」下部議行。

In the first year of Qianlong, acting Jiangsu Governor Gu Cong proposed a Coastal Defense Circuit devoted solely to the yearly upkeep of the sea dikes. Ji Zengyun asked to build more than six thousand zhang of scale-pattern great stone dike at Renhe, Haining, and elsewhere as conditions required; all was approved. The following year more than five thousand nine hundred zhang of scale-pattern great stone dike were raised from Pu'erdou in Haining to Jianshantou. In the fourth year the court approved Zhejiang Governor Lu Chao's plan for the great Jianshan dam; work finished the following autumn, and the Emperor wrote an inscription to commemorate it. In the sixth year Left Censor-in-Chief Liu Tongxun wrote: "Earlier the court had approved Fujian-Zhejiang Governor-General De Pei's plan to replace the fascine dike from Old Salt Storehouse to Zhangjia'an with stone. In my view the fascine-to-stone conversion need not be rushed, but repairs along both north and south banks cannot wait. Along the full line, Haining still sees tides that surge back and forth, but at Haiyan the tide meets the dike head-on; there the great stone work, cracked and leaking after years of service, most urgently needs repair. By my rough estimate, seven hundred thousand taels would make the entire line secure as wrapped mulberry—lasting and strong." When the memorial arrived, Liu Tongxun was ordered to inspect the works jointly with Zhejiang Governor-General De Pei and Zhejiang Governor Chang An. Their reply held that stone conversion was indeed the lasting solution, but should proceed slowly—three hundred zhang a year. In the seventh year Governor-General Nasutu proposed building stone cages in sections at the worst points first, then raising stone dikes once the footings had set firm. Two years later Minister Neqin was sent to survey the coast. He reported: "The fascine dikes in Renhe and Haining are sound; if shifting protective sands are the worry, dredge the old Zhong Xiao Wai channel so the tide follows its proper course—in that case both upper and lower dikes will hold." The plan to convert the dikes to stone was therefore dropped. In the seventh month Jiangsu Governor Chen Dashou reported: "Baoshan fronts the open sea, and at Yuepu the earthen dike is being eaten by the tide. I ask to build a single-stone dam, add one hundred seventy zhang of piled-stone slope on each side, link a sand dike to the earthwork, and set culverts through it for drainage." The Board approved and ordered implementation.

十一年，常安言：「蜀山迤北有積沙四五百丈，橫亙中間。先就沙嘴開溝四，以引潮水攻刷。今伏汛已過，南沙坍卸殆盡，蜀山已在水中，潮汐漸向南趨。倘秋汛不復涌沙，則大溜竟行中小亹矣。」報聞。十二年，常安委員疏濬蜀山一帶，用切沙法疏刷。十一月朔，中小亹引河一夕沖開，大溜經由故道，南北岸水遠沙長，皆成坦途。十三年，大學士高斌、訥親先後奉命查勘塘工。斌請於東西柴石各塘後身加築土堰，扌黨護潮頭。四月，訥親疏陳善後事宜，命巡撫方觀承酌議。觀承請於北塘北大亹故道，及三里橋、掇轉廟等處，設竹簍滾壩，堵御潮溝，大小山圩改建塊石塘，南塘各工，預籌防護，並將右營員弁兵丁調派，分汛防駐。下廷議允行。十六年，允巡撫永貴請，改建山陰宋家漊土塘為石塘，加築坦水。

In the eleventh year Chang An reported: "North of Shushan a shoal four to five hundred zhang wide blocks the channel. Four cuts were first opened at the sand spit to draw the tide in and scour the shoal. The summer flood has passed, the southern shoal has largely washed away, Shushan stands in open water, and the tide is shifting southward. If the autumn tides do not rebuild the shoal, the main current will flow through Zhong Xiao Wai for good." The court took note. In the twelfth year Chang An sent officers to dredge around Shushan by cutting through the shoals. On the first day of the eleventh month the Zhong Xiao Wai diversion broke open overnight; the main current returned to its old course, water drew back on both banks as sand built up, and the ground lay level on either side. In the thirteenth year Grand Secretaries Gao Bin and Neqin were sent in turn to inspect the tidal works. Gao Bin proposed earthen weirs behind the fascine-and-stone dikes east and west to break the force of the tide. In the fourth month Neqin laid out plans for follow-up work, and Provincial Governor Fang Guancheng was told to decide the details. Fang Guancheng asked for bamboo-cage rolling dams along the north dike's old Bei Dai channel and at Sanli Bridge, Duozhuan Temple, and similar points to seal tidal cuts; block-stone dikes at Da and Xiao Shanwei; advance safeguards on the south bank; and detachments from the Right Battalion posted at divided stations along the line. The court deliberated and approved the plan. In the sixteenth year the court approved Governor Yonggui's plan to rebuild the earthen dike at Songjialou in Shanyin as stone and add sloped revetment.

十七年，巡撫雅爾哈善言：「中亹山勢僅寬六里，浮沙易淤，且南岸文堂山腳有沙嘴百三十餘丈，挑溜北趨，北岸河庄山外亦有沙嘴五十餘丈，頗礙中亹大溜。現將兩處漲沙挑切疏通，俾免阻滯。」得旨嘉勉。十九年，因浙省塘工無險，省海防道。二十一年，喀爾吉善言：「水勢南趨，北塘穩固，而險工在紹興一帶。擬於宋家漊、楊柳港，照海寧魚鱗大條石塘式，建四百丈。」從之。二十三年，增築鎮海縣海塘。二十六年，蘇撫陳宏謀言，常熟、昭文濱海地方，從太倉州境接築土塘。嗣開白茆河、徐六涇二口，建閘啟閉。本年潮漲，石牆傾圮，請改為滾壩。得旨允行。

In the seventeenth year Governor Yeerhashan wrote: "The channel between the Zhong Wai hills is barely six li wide and silts up quickly. A spit more than one hundred thirty zhang long at the foot of Wentang Mountain on the south bank turns the current north, and another of more than fifty zhang north of Hezhuang Mountain blocks the main flow through Zhong Wai. Work is under way to cut and dredge both shoals so the current will not be impeded." The Emperor responded with praise and encouragement. In the nineteenth year the Coastal Defense Circuit was abolished, the Zhejiang dikes being judged free of hazard. In the twenty-first year Ka'erjishan reported: "The current is shifting south; the north bank is secure, but the critical works lie around Shaoxing. He proposed four hundred zhang of Haining-style scale-pattern great strip-stone dike at Songjialou and Yangliu Harbor." The court approved. In the twenty-third year the sea dike at Zhenhai County was extended. In the twenty-sixth year Jiangsu Governor Chen Hongmou proposed linking earthen dikes along the Changshu and Zhaowen coast from the Taicang prefectural border. Later the mouths of the Baimao River and Xuliujing were opened and fitted with gates to regulate flow. That year a high tide brought down the stone wall; he asked to replace it with a rolling dam. The Emperor approved.

二十七年，帝南巡，閱海寧海塘工。諭曰：「朕念海塘為越中第一保障。比歲潮勢漸趨北大亹，實關海寧、錢塘諸邑利害。計改老鹽倉一帶柴塘為石，而議者紛歧。及昨臨勘，則柴塘沙性澀汕，石工斷難措手，惟有力繕柴塘，得補偏救弊之一策。其悉心經理，定歲修以固塘根，增坦水石簍以資擁護。」又諭曰：「尖山、塔山之間，舊有石塘。朕今見其橫截海中，直逼大溜，實海塘扼要關鍵。就目下形勢論，或多用竹簍加鑲，或改用木櫃排砌。如將來沙漲漸遠，宜即改築條石壩工，俾屹然如砥柱，庶北岸海塘永資保障。該督撫等其善體朕意，動帑儹辦，並勒石塔山，以志永久。」二十八年，蘇撫庄有恭言：「江南松、太海壖土性善坍，華亭、寶山向築坦坡，皆不足恃。應仿浙江老鹽倉改建塊石簍塘。」詔如所請。三十年春，帝南巡，閱視海寧海塘。諭曰：「繞城石塘，實為全城保障。塘下坦水，祗建兩層，潮勢似覺頂沖。若補築三層，尤資裨益。著將應建之四百六十餘丈一律添建。」三月工竣。

In the twenty-seventh year, on his southern tour, the Emperor inspected the Haining sea dikes. He said: "I regard the sea dikes as Yue's first line of defense. In recent years the tide has been shifting toward Bei Dai, which directly affects Haining, Qiantang, and the neighboring counties. There had been plans to replace the fascine dike at Old Salt Storehouse with stone, but opinion was divided. On inspection yesterday I found the sand there too loose and treacherous for stone—only a thorough repair of the fascine dike will serve, as the best way to shore up what is failing. See to it diligently: set yearly repairs to strengthen the footings, and add sloped revetment and stone cages for protection." He added: "Between Jianshan and Tashan there once stood a stone dike. I see it now spanning the sea and meeting the main current head-on—the true hinge of the whole defense. Given present conditions, either reinforce it with more bamboo cages or rebuild it with rows of wooden cribs. If the shoal continues to build out, rebuild it as a strip-stone dam standing firm as a midstream pillar, so the north-bank dikes may be secured for good. Let the governors carry out my wishes, draw on the treasury as needed, and inscribe a stone at Tashan to mark the work for posterity." In the twenty-eighth year Jiangsu Governor Zhuang Yougong wrote: "The coast of Songjiang and Taicang in Jiangnan is prone to slump; the sloped revetments at Huating and Baoshan cannot be trusted. They should be rebuilt on the block-stone cage model used at Old Salt Storehouse in Zhejiang." An edict approved the request. In the spring of the thirtieth year, on his southern tour, the Emperor inspected the Haining sea dikes. He said: "The stone dike around the city is the city's true defense. The sloped revetment below has only two tiers, and the tide seems to strike at the crest. Adding a third tier would help greatly. Order the full four hundred sixty-odd zhang still required to be built at once." The work was finished in the third month.

三十五年，巡撫熊學鵬請於蕭山、山陰、會稽改建魚鱗大石塘。帝以潮勢正趨北亹，與南岸渺不相涉，斥之。三十七年，巡撫富勒渾疏報中亹引河情形，略言：「潮頭大溜，一由蜀山直趨引河，一由岩峰山西斜入引河，至河庄山中段會合，互相撞擊，仍分兩路西行，隨令員弁於引河中段挑堰溝二十餘道，導引潮溜，俾復中亹故道。」諭曰：「潮汛遷移，乃噓吸自然之勢，若開挖引河，恐徒勞無益。止宜實力保衛堤塘，以待其自循舊軌，不必執意開溝引溜，欲以人力勝海潮也。」

In the thirty-fifth year Governor Xiong Xuepeng proposed scale-pattern great stone dikes at Xiaoshan, Shanyin, and Kuaiji. The Emperor dismissed the proposal, noting that the tide was shifting toward Bei Wai and bore no relation to the south bank. In the thirty-seventh year Governor Fulehun reported on the Zhong Wai diversion: "The tide and main current—one branch runs straight from Shushan into the channel, another enters obliquely west of Yanfeng Mountain; they meet at mid-channel by Hezhuang Mountain, collide, and split again westward. I have had officers cut more than twenty channels through the middle of the diversion to steer the tide back into the old Zhong Wai course." The Emperor replied: "Tides shift by nature, like breathing in and out; digging diversion channels may be wasted effort. Strengthen the dikes and wait for the tide to find its old course on its own; do not insist on cutting channels to steer it—human strength cannot master the sea."

四十三年，浙撫王亶望疏陳海塘情形，命江督高晉會同相度。尋疏言：「章家菴一帶柴工五百丈，潮神廟前柴塘三百丈，應添建竹簍，並排列兩層椿木以防動搖。」從之。四十五年，帝南巡，幸海寧尖山閱海塘。十二月，命大學士阿桂、南河督陳輝祖赴浙履勘。疏言：「海塘工程，應建石塘二千二百丈，若改為條石，施工易而成事速，約計三年可以蕆工。」又言：「辦理魚鱗石塘，仿東塘之例，量地勢高下，用十六層至十八層，約需三十萬。」帝命工部侍郎楊魁駐工協辦，次年八月竣工。四十九年，帝幸杭州，閱視海塘，諭曰：「老鹽倉舊有柴塘，一律添建石塘四千二百餘丈，於上年告竣，自應砌築坦水保護。乃該督撫並未慮及，設遇異漲，豈能抵禦？著將柴塘後之土順坡斜做，並於其上種柳，俾根株盤結，則石柴連為一勢，即以柴塘為石塘之坦水。至范公塘一帶，亦必接建石工，方於省城足資鞏護。著撥帑五百萬，交該督撫覈算，分限分年修築。」五十二年工竣。

In the forty-third year Zhejiang Governor Wang Tanwang reported on the state of the sea dikes, and Jiangsu Governor-General Gao Jin was ordered to survey them jointly. They soon proposed adding bamboo cages along five hundred zhang of fascine work at Zhangjia'an and three hundred zhang before the Tide God's Temple, with a double row of piles to prevent movement. The court approved. In the forty-fifth year, on his southern tour, the Emperor visited Jianshan at Haining to inspect the sea dikes. In the twelfth month Grand Secretary Agui and Southern Rivers Director-General Chen Huizu were sent to Zhejiang to inspect the works on site. They reported: "The sea-dike project calls for two thousand two hundred zhang of stone work; strip stone would be easier to build and finish sooner—about three years to completion." They added that scale-pattern stone dikes, built like the eastern dike with sixteen to eighteen courses according to the terrain, would cost about three hundred thousand taels. The Emperor ordered Vice Minister of Works Yang Kui to remain on site to assist; the work was finished the following eighth month. In the forty-ninth year the Emperor visited Hangzhou and inspected the dikes, saying: "At Old Salt Storehouse the old fascine dike was replaced last year with more than four thousand two hundred zhang of stone; sloped revetment should have been built to protect it. Yet the governors gave it no thought; if an exceptional tide should rise, how could the dike hold? Order the ground behind the fascine dike shaped into a slope and planted with willows so the roots bind the soil; stone and fascine will then work as one, and the fascine dike will serve as revetment for the stone. Along the Fan Gong Pond stretch as well, stone works must be linked in before the provincial capital can be adequately protected. Five million taels from the treasury were allocated to the governors-general and governors for verification, with repairs to proceed by stages over successive years." The works were completed in Qianlong 52.

嘉慶四年，浙撫玉德請改山陰土塘為柴塘。十三年，浙撫阮元請改蕭山土岸為柴塘。十六年，浙撫蔣攸銛請將山陰各土塘堤一律建築柴塘；蘇撫章煦請將華亭土塘加築單壩二層。均從之。

In Jiaqing 4 Zhejiang Governor Yude requested converting the earthen dikes at Shanyin to brush dikes. In Jiaqing 13 Zhejiang Governor Ruan Yuan requested converting the earthen banks at Xiaoshan to brush dikes. In Jiaqing 16 Zhejiang Governor Jiang Youqian requested that all earthen dikes at Shanyin be rebuilt uniformly as brush dikes; Jiangsu Governor Zhang Xu requested adding two layers of single dams atop the earthen dikes at Huating. All were approved.

道光十三年五月，巡撫富呢揚阿疏言「東西兩防塘工，先擇尤險者修築，需銀五十一萬二千餘兩」。十一月，又言「限內限外各工俱掣坍，需銀十九萬四千餘兩」。十二月，又言「東塘界內，應於前後兩塘中間，另建鱗塘二千六百餘丈，需銀九十二萬二千兩」。均下部議行。十四年，命刑部侍郎趙盛奎、前東河督嚴烺，會同富呢揚阿查勘應修各工。尋疏言：「外護塘根，無如坦水，擬自念里亭汛至鎮海汛，添建盤頭三座，改建柴塘三千三百餘丈；其西塘烏龍廟以東，應接築魚鱗石塊；海寧繞城石塘，應加高條石兩層。俟明年大汛時續辦。」遣左都御史吳椿往勘，留浙會辦。十六年三月工竣，計修築各工萬七千餘丈，用銀一百五十七萬有奇。三十年，巡撫吳文鎔疊陳海塘石工沖缺，令速搶辦。十月工竣。

In the fifth month of Daoguang 13 Governor Funiyang'a memorialized: "For the eastern and western protective sea-dike works, the most dangerous sections should be repaired first, at a cost of more than 512,000 taels." In the eleventh month he reported again: "Works both within and beyond the scheduled limits have collapsed, requiring more than 194,000 taels." In the twelfth month he reported again: "Within the eastern dike boundary, a scale-pattern dike of more than 2,600 zhang should be built between the front and rear dikes, at a cost of 922,000 taels." All were referred to the ministry for approval and implementation. In Daoguang 14 Vice Minister of Justice Zhao Shengkui and former Eastern Rivers Director Yan Huang were ordered to join Funiyang'a in surveying all works requiring repair. They soon memorialized: "To protect the dike foot from seaward attack, nothing surpasses level waterworks. From the Nianliting to the Zhenhai flood sections, we propose adding three disk heads and rebuilding more than 3,300 zhang of brush dike; east of Wulong Temple on the western dike, scale-pattern stone blocks should be linked in; the encircling stone dike at Haining should be raised by two layers of strip stone. Further work is to continue during the next great flood season." Left Censor-in-Chief Wu Chun was sent to survey and remained in Zhejiang to supervise the work. In the third month of Daoguang 16 the works were completed: more than seventeen thousand zhang of repairs in all, at a cost of more than 1.57 million taels. In Daoguang 30 Governor Wu Wenrong repeatedly reported breaches in the sea-dike stonework and ordered emergency repairs. The work was completed in the tenth month.

咸豐七年八月，海塘埽各工猝被風潮沖坍。十二月，次第堵合。同治三年，御史洪燕昌言浙江海塘潰決，請速籌款修理。部議將浙海關等稅撥用。五年，內閣侍讀學士鍾佩賢疏陳海塘關係東南大局，有四害三可慮。命巡撫馬新貽詳勘，修海寧魚鱗石工二百六十餘丈。六年，以浙江海塘工鉅費多，議分最要次要修築，期以十年告竣。七年，兩江總督曾國籓等請修華亭石塘護壩，嗣是塘工歲有修築。

In the eighth month of Xianfeng 7 fascine works along the sea dikes were suddenly destroyed by wind and tide. By the twelfth month they had been closed up in succession. In Tongzhi 3 Censor Hong Yanchang reported that Zhejiang sea dikes had burst and asked that funds be raised quickly for repairs. The ministry approved allocating revenues from the Zhejiang maritime customs and other taxes. In Tongzhi 5 Hanlin Bachelor Zhong Peixian memorialized that sea dikes concerned the security of the entire southeast, citing four harms and three grave concerns. Governor Ma Xinyi was ordered to survey in detail and repair more than 260 zhang of scale-pattern stonework at Haining. In Tongzhi 6, because Zhejiang sea-dike works were vast and costly, repairs were divided into essential and secondary priorities, with completion expected within ten years. In Tongzhi 7 Liangjiang Governor-General Zeng Guofan and others requested repairs to the protective dams of the Huating stone dikes; thereafter dike works were maintained annually.

光緒三年，修寶山北石塘護土，建護塘攔水各壩，及仁和、海寧魚鱗石塘千三百餘丈。十年，修昭文、華亭、寶山等處塘壩及石坦坡。十二年，浙江巡撫劉秉璋言，海鹽原建石塘四千六百餘丈，積年坍損過半，擬擇要興辦，埋砌者五百丈，建復者四百六十丈，需銀二十萬。允之。十八年，浙撫劉樹棠疏言，海寧繞城石塘坍塌日甚，請添築坦水，以塘工加抽絲捐積存餘款先行開辦，隨籌款次第興修。從之。十九年，修太倉茜涇口椿石坦坡百五十一丈，鎮洋楊林口椿石二百丈，昭文施家橋至老人濱雙椿夾石護壩二百丈，華亭外塘純石斜壩四十六丈。

In Guangxu 3 the northern stone dike at Baoshan was repaired with protective earthwork, protective and water-blocking dams were built, and more than 1,300 zhang of scale-pattern stone dikes at Renhe and Haining were restored. In Guangxu 10 dikes, dams, and stone slopes at Zhaowen, Huating, Baoshan, and elsewhere were repaired. In Guangxu 12 Zhejiang Governor Liu Bingzhang reported that the original stone dike at Haiyan, more than 4,600 zhang long, had lost more than half to collapse over the years. Essential sections were chosen for repair—500 zhang to be buried and faced in stone, 460 zhang to be rebuilt—at a cost of 200,000 taels. The request was approved. In Guangxu 18 Zhejiang Governor Liu Shutang memorialized that the encircling stone dike at Haining was collapsing daily. He requested adding level waterworks, using surplus funds from the accumulated sea-dike silk surtax to begin at once, with further funds to be raised in succession. The request was approved. In Guangxu 19 repairs included 151 zhang of pile-and-stone level slope at Qianjing Mouth in Taicang, 200 zhang at Yanglin Mouth in Zhenyang, 200 zhang of double-pile stone-protected dam from Shijia Bridge to Laorenbin in Zhaowen, and 46 zhang of pure stone sloping dam on the outer dike at Huating.

綜計兩省塘工，自道光中葉大修後，疊經兵燹，半就頹圮，迄同治初，興辦大工，庫款支絀，遂開辦海塘捐輸，並勸令兩省絲商，於正捐外，加抽塘工絲捐，給票請獎。旋即停止。光緒三十年，浙江巡撫聶緝槼請復捐輸舊章，以濟要工。因二十七年以後，潮汐猛烈，次險者變為極險，擬將柴埽各工清底拆築，非籌集鉅款，不能歷久鞏固雲。

In sum, sea-dike works in the two provinces, after the major Daoguang repairs, suffered repeated warfare until half lay in ruins. By early Tongzhi large works were launched, but treasury funds fell short, so sea-dike contributions were opened and silk merchants in both provinces were urged to pay an additional sea-dike silk surtax beyond the regular levy in exchange for award tickets. It was soon halted. In Guangxu 30 Zhejiang Governor Nie Jigui requested restoring the old contribution regulations to fund essential works. Because after Guangxu 27 tides grew violent and sections once moderately dangerous became extremely dangerous, it was proposed to clear and rebuild all fascine works from the foundation; without raising vast funds, they could not be secured for long.

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