Lake Wēishān

Lake Weishan occupies low ground in southern Shandong, among a chain of lakes shaped by floods and the Grand Canal. It did not always exist as one great lake: smaller waters spread and joined during the late Ming and early Qing, as floods and canal works transformed the region. The lake supplied water for navigation, while embankments and sluices controlled its flow. In the eighteenth century officials built stone works near Hanzhuang and along the lakeshore to manage its waters.