Yangzhou grand canal : qualitative and quantitative analyses of the vulnerabilities of a world heritage site

Abstract

The Yangzhou portion of the Grand Canal (referred to in this dissertation as the “Yangzhou Grand Canal”) is the mother river of Yangzhou, it has made Yangzhou used to be the southeast water transport center, salt distribution center and the port for Chinese and foreigners to have friendly exchanges. Because of its great location, Yangzhou used to be the most important water and land transportation hub in ancient China. Yangzhou Grand Canal has played a huge role in promoting the development of Yangzhou economy. At the same time, relying on the increasingly prosperous Jiangnan region (江南地区) economy, Yangzhou developed rapidly. In Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou became one of the largest commercial city. At present, the research on the conservation of Yangzhou Grand Canal is hard to search, it is clear that the study of Yangzhou Grand Canal is more complicated than we imagine. Apart from the whole canal itself, it also has unique characteristics relevant to the canal. Take Yangzhou Grand Canal as a basis to study the Grand Canal, not only will benefit the Yangzhou Grand Canal's heritage conservation work, but also the author hopes to give a good conservation example for other developing canal cities. The research scope for this dissertation is the portion of the Grand Canal in Yangzhou, which starts from Baoying(宝应)town to Guazhou(瓜州) town with 125 kilometers in total length. The purpose of this research is to achieve a future sustainable conservation of the Yangzhou Grand Canal by first understanding its heritage vulnerabilities. In this dissertation, the author will examine and analyze the vulnerabilities of the 120 established tangible heritage elements of Yangzhou Grand Canal through statistical analysis of their vulnerability.