The Change Of West Lake Dredging Authority And Environmental Influence Of Dredging From The Middle And Late Qing Dynasty To The Early Republic Of China(1724-1927)

This paper takes the change of West Lake dredging authority from the middle and late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China as the research object,exploring the environmental impact of West Lake dredging project,and then emphasizes the great contribution of West Lake dredging project to the West Lake cultural heritage.Since the Tang Dynasty,West Lake in Hangzhou has been repeatedly dredged and managed so as to be maintained until now.Therefore,there are many cases of dredging during the past dynasties,whose process is also complicated.It can reflect the different characteristics of the interaction between officials and society in different periods.From the middle and late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China,it was a critical stage of Chinese evolution from traditional society to modern society.During this period,China experienced peace and wars,from insisting on Chinese traditional culture to learning from the West,and from the imperial power to democratic republic.Therefore,this period around the West Lake dredging work can be regarded as a typical.This article takes West Lake dredging work as an example in order to explore the process of West Lake dredging work in the middle and late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China,as well as the different institutions and personnel operation,which could reveal the complex situation of the interaction between officials and society.This paper is divided into four periods:in the reign of Emperor Yongzheng,in the reign of Emperor Daoguang,the late years of Qing Dynasty and the early years of the Republic of China.(1)During the reign of Emperor Yongzheng,West Lake dredging project presented a typical government-led feature.Almost all the officials from Zhejiang Province took part in the project,which was a typical case of large-scale projects carried out by ancient Chinese dynasties.(2)During the reign of Emperor Daoguang,the government established a special dredging bureau—"Suijun Bureau".The managers of this bureau ware folk gentlemen,who ware still under the supervision of official government.This dredging bureau was a people-led orgnaization supervised by the government.(3)After Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebellion,Many of the official agencies,including the lake agency,ware unlikely to recover in the short term because of the war.Folk gentlemen in Hangzhou took most of the social responsibility,even a part of administrative functions to rebuild the city,which included West Lake dredging bureau—"Junhu Bureau".This bureau present a kind of folk dominant form.(4)In the late years of Qing Dynasty,as the reconstruction of social order and institutions,Qing government tried to implement"New Deal",which withdrew West Lake dredging power.Qing government replaced"Junhu Bureau"by "Project and Patrol Bureau".However,due to the outbreak of "the Revolution of 1911",this process failed in the late Qing Dynasty.Lastly,after the Revolution of 1911,officials of the Republic of China substituted "West Lake Engineering Bureau" for Project and Patrol Bureau,which was under the management of Zhejiang Province.However,during this period,due to the changes of political and administrative systems,government agencies were constantly reorganized,and the organizations leading West Lake dredging were also constantly changing.In 1924,"West Lake Engineering Bureau"became "Provincial Engineering Bureau".However,after three years,in 1927,due to the establishment of Hangzhou local government,"Provincial Engineering Bureau"was replaced by "Works Bureau".From the middle and late Qing dynasty to the early Republic of China,the environmental impact of the West Lake dredging projects was mainly from the perspective of natural environment and human beings.The natural environment perspective contains:(1)the increase of irrigation area and the change of cultivated land area;(2)the space scope and the landscape expansion;(3)the impact on the downstream water sources of the West Lake;(4)urban construction and commercial prosperity.Human perspective is changes in environmental concepts.On the basis of the above research,this paper holds that The West Lake dredging project in history has laid a good foundation for the governance of the West Lake today.It is not only the model for the governance of the West Lake today,but also the solid foundation and important guarantee for West Lake cultural heritage.