Abstract: The natural barrier of JinSha River blocked the traffic from Yunnan to inland. During the years of Zhengtong, Jiajing of the Ming dynasty and Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, some officials suggested that the government should dredge the JinSha River. Because of the pressure of transporting the copper from Yunnan to Beijing, the Qing government began to dredge the JinSha River in 1740. The length of the river is 1300 li (650 kilometers), from Xiao Jiang Kou, Dongchuan to Xin Kai Tan, Sichuan. Qingfu and Zhang Yunsui, governors of Yunnan, took charge this project successively within eight years, with the silver cost of 170840 liang (8542 kilograms). But, this project did not achieve the expected goal of the Qing government. Through exploring, only the route from Huang Cao Ping to Xin Kai Tan was navigable, and the upstream was abolished in 1749.

Key words: the Qing Government, Zhang Yunsui, the Jin Sha River