Transport Hub between River and Canal: The Rise and Fall of Guotanghang and the Transportation Revolution of the Qiantang River (1750—1950)

The Grand Canal connects to the Qiantang River at Hangzhou.However,on a small scale,due to the elevation of the Grand Canal higher than the Qiantang River,there are stone embankments and sluice dams separating them,preventing direct navigation.Thus,along Jianggan,the riverside of the Qiantang River to the south of Hangzhou City,there thrived Guotanghang (“过塘行”,freight transfer house),which was involved in the shipment transfer of passengers and goods,and also provided merchants with tax filing,warehousing,and accommodation services,booming during the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China (approx.1750—1950).The emergence of Guotanghang originated from the Guotang Yaren (freight forwarding middlemen),a combination of sluice dam managers and middlemen in the mid to late Ming Dynasty (approx.1573—1644).The Guotanghang did not fully flourish until the mid to late Qianlong period (approx.1750—1795),as there was a significant change in the Qiantang River's main flow from the southern to the northern channel in the early Qing Dynasty (approx.1644—1720),which exacerbating costal hazards.It was not until the early Qianlong period (approx.1745) that stable stone embankments were completed in Jianggan.With the opening of the Shanghai-Hangzhou railway and the Huizhou-Hangzhou highway,transfer companies emerged,leading to the gradual disappearance of Guotanghang as an independent industry,relying on water transport.Following the severe impact of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression,this traditional industry gradually dissolved into the burgeoning transfer companies near railway or highway.