Rowing - Souun

A system in which successive Chinese governments transported part of their tax revenue (canned food) by water to the capital to support their financial base. Successive dynasties organized the military and civilian forces and established their legal systems, beginning with the Han dynasty. After that, each dynasty responded by establishing water transport routes, even when the capital moved or the economic sphere changed. At first, it moved from Jiangbei to Chang'an, after the Sui dynasty it moved from Jiangnan to Chang'an and Bianjing (Kaifeng), and after the Yuan dynasty it moved from Jiangnan to Dadu (Beijing), and it can be said that the success or failure of the management of this route determined the rise and fall of the government. The Tang Dynasty established its capital in Chang'an in 618, created a rich, international culture that was unparalleled in the world at the time, and made its name known and survived for nearly 300 years. This was because it made full use of the Grand Canal that the Sui Dynasty had risked its fate to open, created a transportation system called the Zhuanfanfa, in which the military and civilians cooperated, and improved on this system under Pei Yaoqing and Liu Yan, transporting 2 to 3 million koku (1 koku is equivalent to 3 to 4 to 1 sho in modern Japanese terms; 1 sho is 1.5 kilograms) by water every year, thereby continuing to cover the expanding national budget and successfully connecting the emerging economic power of Jiangnan to Chang'an. In contrast, the Yuan dynasty established its capital in Dadu in 1271 and built a vast empire that stretched all the way to the European continent, but collapsed after less than 100 years of rule over China. One reason for this was that, in an attempt to utilize the economic power of Jiangnan in Dadu, they opened a sea route from the mouth of the Yangtze River to Dadu, but the weak shipping organization of the Mongols, who were unfamiliar with maritime affairs, and frequent shipwrecks meant that the amount of canned food transported was unstable, and therefore their financial base was unstable.The Ming dynasty then succeeded in repairing the Grand Canal in 1415, created a transportation organization incorporated into the military system, and improved its shipping methods to suit the times, such as the Chiun Fa, Duiun Fa, and Kaidui Fa, while constantly supplying canned food from Jiangnan at a fixed annual rate of 4 million koku (1 koku at that time is about 6 tou in today's Japan), which ensured political stability for about 300 years. Although the Qing dynasty also moved its capital to Beijing in 1644, it prospered for nearly 300 years without the same failures as the Yuan dynasty, largely due to the shipping system it established after inheriting and slightly improving on the Ming dynasty's methods.

[Hoshi Hideo]

"The History of the Development of the Grand Canal" by Hoshi Binfu (Heibonsha, Toyo Bunko)" ▽ "The Grand Canal - Shipping in China" by Hoshi Binfu (1971, Kondo Publishing)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国の歴代政権が、租税収入の一部（漕糧）を、財政基盤を支えるために、首都へ水運する制度。歴代の王朝は軍・民を組織し、その法制を定めたが、その初めは漢で、以後、歴朝は首都が移っても経済圏がかわっても、水運ルートを整えてこれに対応した。初めは江北から長安へ、隋(ずい)以後は江南から長安、汴京(べんけい)（開封(かいほう)）へ、元以後は江南から大都（北京(ペキン)）へとかわり、その運営の成否が政権の盛衰を左右したといえる。唐が618年長安に都し、国際色豊かな、当時の世界に冠たる文化を創造し、その名をとどろかして300年近くの命脈を保ったのは、隋がその命運を賭(か)けて開いた大運河を十分に利用し、軍・民の協力する転般法という輸送組織をつくり、裴耀卿(はいようけい)、劉晏(りゅうあん)らがこれを改善しながら、毎年200万～300万石（1石はいまの日本の3斗3升～4斗1升。1升は1.5キログラム）を水運し、膨張する国費をまかない続けるなど、江南の新興経済力を長安に直結することに成功したためである。これに反し、元が1271年大都に都し、ヨーロッパ大陸まで広がる大帝国を建設しながら100年足らずの中国支配で滅んだ一因は、江南の経済力を大都に生かそうとして揚子江(ようすこう)口から大都へ海上の漕運路を開いたものの、海事に疎いモンゴル人の海運組織の弱さと海難事故の頻発とによって、漕糧の輸送額が安定せず、したがって財政基盤が不安だったことにある。そして明(みん)は、1415年大運河の改修に成功し、兵制に繰り込まれた輸送組織をつくり、支運法、兌(だ)運法、改兌法などと時勢にあわせて漕運法を改善しながら、年400万石（当時の1石はいまの日本の約6斗）を定額として漕糧を絶えず江南から供給したので、約300年の政治的安定を得た。清(しん)も1644年北京に都しながらも、元のように失敗せずにほぼ300年間栄えたのは、明の方式を継承し多少改良して確立した漕運制度に負うところが多い。

［星　斌夫］

『星斌夫著『大運河発展史』（平凡社・東洋文庫）』▽『星斌夫著『大運河――中国の漕運』（1971・近藤出版社）』

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