Japanese troops guarding Chinese refugees displaced by war and the Yellow River Flood, China Jun-Jul 1938 Besides the massive death toll, the flooded areas were affected for years to come. The flooded countryside was more or less abandoned and all the crops destroyed.
What caused the Yellow River to flood in China?
Yellow River Flood – China – 1887 AD High rain fall caused the Yellow River to overtop its banks leading to a widespread flood and the deaths of 900,000. Throughout China’s history, on both of its major rivers, flooding has always been a common experience.
What were the effects of the Yellow River floods?
The floods covered and destroyed thousands of square kilometers of farmland, and shifted the course of the Yellow River hundreds of kilometers to the south. Thousands of villages were inundated, and several million villagers were forced from their homes and made refugees.
Why is the Yellow River important to China?
The Yellow River in Modern China. A northward course-change in the river in the early 1850s helped fuel the Taiping Rebellion, one of China's deadliest peasant revolts. As populations grew ever larger along the treacherous river's banks, so too did the death tolls from flooding.
Where can I find information about the Yellow River floods?
In addition to the files held at Academia Sinica, a wealth of documents related to the floods can be found at the Yellow River Archives in Zhengzhou. The Second Historical Archives in Nanjing also holds documents related to the disaster, though access has been quite limited in recent years.
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How did the Yellow River flood impact China?
Impact on Chinese Population In addition, the flood killed an estimated 800,000 people in the counties of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu. It destroyed an estimated 91 percent of the villages in Fugou county. The flood also created a refugee crisis as it left 4 million people homeless.
How do floods affect China?
China's largest coal-producing region was hit by severe flooding, threatening the country's already strained power supply and displacing more than 120,000 people as residents called for help from other regions.
How much rain did China get in the flood?
China's Henan Province experienced flooding between 17 and 31 July 2021 as a result of heavy rainfall. On July 20, Zhengzhou, the provincial capital, recorded 201.9 millimetres (7.95 in) of rainfall within an hour, the highest ever figure recorded since measurements began in 1951.
Why is China flooded?
Several floods struck China starting in June 2021, most of them caused by heavy rainfalls in different areas. According to the World Meteorological Organization, such heavy rains are frequently a result of climate change.
When did the Huai River flood?
In early July 1938 the floodwaters entered the headwaters of the Huai River, turning northeast to cut across the Jin-Pu railway before pouring into Hongze Lake. The lake overflowed and waters burst into Jiangsu, flowing in three streams toward the Pacific Ocean.
Where does the Yellow River flow?
For the next nine years, the Yellow River’s waters spread southeast into the Huai River system via its tributaries, inundating vast quantities of land in Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces.
What happened in 2008 in Guilin?
Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue chubanshe, 2008. Once Wuhan fell, the Sino-Japanese War settled into a stalemate. The major battles were over, though guerilla warfare continued. With its advance halted, the Japanese army occupied most rail lines and urban centers in northern and eastern China.
How fast did the Huai floods spread?
Advancing at a steady rate of around 16 kilometers per day, floods spread into narrow, shallow beds of rivers and streams that flowed toward the Huai. Floodwaters filled these waterways and broke their embankments, causing them to overflow and inundate fields to the east and west.
What river did the Japanese attack?
But the Japanese simply redirected their advance from a north–south land attack along the railways to an amphibious assault along the Yangzi River that combined naval and infantry forces. Wuhan fell in October 1938, after the Nationalist central government had withdrawn into China’s interior.
What was the Japanese advance in the early summer?
The Japanese advance came in the early summer rainy season, when the river’s floodwaters were at their highest . Over the next few days, the river rose and weakened defenses at Zhaokou as well. From this point, the Yellow River flowed southeast across Henan’s flat eastern plain.
What was the plain of eastern Henan covered with?
Yet the flat, alluvial plain of eastern Henan was densely covered with farm villages and fields. The Japanese advance came in the early summer rainy season, when the river’s floodwaters were at their highest.
Why is the Yellow River so flooded?
This has been especially true on the Yellow River, locally known as the Huanghe, because of the large volume of loess silt that it carries. This kind of light silt can easily be dislodged from the side of the river and carried along by the stream. At the lower reaches of the river, where the land is relatively flat the speed of the river decreases, much of the silt is deposited. The dykes on both sides of the river were originally built to prevent river overflows that would destroy the farmlands, the only source of livelihood for the peasants who own and work the farms. From time to time, however, sudden heavy rainfall can make the river overtop these dykes and flood the neighboring farms. That is what happened in 1887 when the worst flood in Chinese history occurred. The Yellow River overtopped its dikes in Henan Province in the lower reaches of the river. Five thousand square miles were inundated. Eleven large towns and hundreds of villages were destroyed. Nine hundred thousand people died, and two million were left homeless. “River of Sorrow” is another name that has been given to the Hwanghe and it is easy to understand why.
When did China return the Yellow River?
The plain remained flooded until the end of World War II and the surrender of Japan, seven years later. In 1947, with help from the United Nations, China returned the Yellow River to its former channel and two million acres of farmland was once again in productive use. Political. Sport.
Why were dykes broken?
In ancient times, dykes would often be deliberately broken in order to flood the fields of an attacking enemy but no one was prepared for the use of that same technique in the twentieth century.
Why are dykes built on both sides of rivers?
The dykes on both sides of the river were originally built to prevent river overflows ...
How many people died in the River of Sorrow?
Nine hundred thousand people died, and two million were left homeless. “River of Sorrow” is another name that has been given to the Hwanghe and it is easy to understand why. The process by which a catastrophic flood occurs is tied to both the amount of silt and the height of the dykes.
What is the North China Plain?
It is often referred to as the North China Plain. Immediately after the break in the dykes the alarm was sounded and a large number of people rushed quickly to the river in the hope of repairing the breaches. Before they could reach the river, the breaks had expanded to more than 2,000 feet in length.
What is the name of the province in China that was near the Yellow River?
The province of Henan where this happened has an average elevation above sea level of six hundred feet or less, very different from the mountainous regions from which the Yellow River had come. Henan is close to the sea and close to the mouth of the Yellow River. It is often referred to as the North China Plain.
How did the Yellow River flood affect the Japanese?
The floods covered and destroyed thousands of square kilometers of farmland, and shifted the course of the Yellow River hundreds of kilometers to the south. Thousands of villages were inundated, and several million villagers were forced from their homes and made refugees. An unknown number of Japanese soldiers were killed by the flood.
What was the Yellow River Flood?
The 1938 Yellow River flood ( Chinese: 花園口決隄事件, literally "Huayuankou embankment breach incident") was a flood created by the Nationalist Government in central China during the early stage of the Second Sino-Japanese War in an attempt to halt the rapid advance of Japanese forces.
What happened to the flooded countryside?
The flooded countryside was more or less abandoned and all the crops destroyed. Upon the recession of the waters, much of the ground was uncultivable as much of the soil was covered in silt. Many of the public structures and housing were also destroyed, leaving any survivors destitute.
How many people died in the 1994 flood?
A 1994 PRC ( People's Republic of China) official history of the war put the dead in the flood at 900,000 and the number of refugees at nearly 10 million. Scholars exploring the archives now give much lower figures: 400,000–500,000 dead, 3 million refugees, and 5 million people affected (another estimate puts the number of dead at 500,000, ...
When was the dike of Zhaokou destroyed?
The original plan was to destroy the dike of Zhaokou, but due to difficulties at that location, the dike of Huayuankou, on the Yellow River's south bank, was destroyed on June 5 and June 7 via tunneling, with waters flooding into Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu.
Did the Japanese occupy Henan?
The Japanese did not occupy much of Henan until late in the war, and their hold on Anhui and Jiangsu remained tenuous. Most of the flooded towns and transport lines had already been captured by the Japanese; after the flood, the Japanese could not consolidate their control over the area.
1931 China Floods
In 1931, China experienced one of the most devastating natural disasters in its history. The 1931 China floods were the result of both natural causes and human factors and submerged much of the central portion of the country.
1931 China Floods Causes
The Yangtze River flood was not caused by a single event. Many historians point to the root cause of the natural disaster as being the heavy winter of 1930 that China had experienced. The large amounts of melting snow from the mountains brought a significantly higher amount of water to the lowlands than China had recently experienced.
Effects of 1931 China Floods
Because of the variety of causes and factors present in China at the time, the effects of the 1931 China floods were more far-reaching than they should have been. The floods were one of the deadliest events to face the country throughout the course of its history.
How many times did the Yellow River flood?
Between 608 BC and 1938 AD, the Yellow River changed course 26 times, and flooded over 1,500 times .
When did the Yellow River dry up?
The Yellow River Has Dried Up Annually Since 1972. With global warming, decrease in rainfall in the Yellow River Basin, and increasing water demands for irrigation, industry, etc., the Yellow River has been used up by its lower reaches since 1972, when it ran dry for the first time in recorded history.
What is the Yellow River Basin?
Almost all Chinese agree that the Yellow River Basin was the cradle of Chinese Civilization. A great amount of archeological information proves that the Yellow River was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history (2100–1046 BC). The Yellow River is not just a river of China, but also the symbol of the Chinese spirit: bearing burdens ...
What is the average flow rate of the Yellow River?
The average flow rate of the Yellow River is 1,800 cubic meters per second. Its biggest tributary is the Wei River which flows past Xi'an. The upper reaches, about 3,500 km (2,000 mi), includes the upland swamps and pastures of the Tibetan Plateau and gorges in foothill country to the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia.
What is the government doing to deal with the Yellow River?
The government is taking measures to deal with Yellow River pollution, such as setting limits on the volume of major pollutants discharged into rivers and lakes, and controlling overuse of water resources.
Why is the Yellow River important?
The Yellow River is the most important water resource for the dry north of China, playing an irreplaceable role in economic development, and agriculture. Since 1960 over 14 dams have been constructed on the river for hydroelectric power, which is vital to northern China's infrastructure.
Where to visit on the Yellow River?
Visit Tourist Cities on the Yellow River with China Highlights. The Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang. Along the Yellow River, there are many worthwhile attractions and many tourist cities, such as Lanzhou, Zhongwei, Yinchuan, Baotou, Yan'an, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng.
How long did the Yellow River flood last?
The resulting flood could plausibly have travelled 2,000 km (1,200 mi) down the river and the resulting instability of river channels might have lasted up to twenty years. About this time, the Neolithic gave way to the Bronze Age in the Yellow River valley.
What was the flood of Yao?
It was during the reign of Emperor Yao that the Great Flood began, a flood so vast that no part of Yao's territory was spared, and both the Yellow River and the Yangtze valleys flooded. The alleged nature of the flood is shown in the following quote: Like endless boiling water, the flood is pouring forth destruction.
How did Gun control the flood?
According to the main mythological tradition, Gun's plan of flood control was through the use of a miraculously continuously self-expanding soil, Xirang. Gun chose to obtain the Xirang by stealing it from the Supreme Divinity, which he did; however, the Supreme Divinity became quite angered at this importunity. Year in and year out, many times, and to great extents; Gun applied the magical Xirang earth in attempt to block and barricade the flood waters with dams, dikes, and embankments (which he built with the special powers of the magic soil). However, Gun was never able to abate the problems of the Great Flood. Whether his failure to abate the flood was due to divine wrath or to engineering defects remains an unanswered question – although one pointed out over two thousand years ago by Qu Yuan, in his " Heavenly Questions ".
What is the narrative of the Great Flood of Prehistoric China?
The narrative of the Great Flood of prehistoric China may provide some insight into social development during this era. David Hawkes comments on the way that the various versions of the Gun-Yu story seem to contrast the relative success or failure, or at least the differences, between Gun, the father, and his son, Yu.
What is the Great Flood?
The Great Flood of Gun-Yu ( Chinese: 鯀禹治水 ), also known as the Gun-Yu myth, was a major flood event in ancient China that allegedly continued for at least two generations, ...
Which dynasty was the first to control the floods?
According to legend, a comprehensive approach to societal development resulted not only in wide-scale cooperation and large-scale efforts to control the flood but also led to the establishment of the first state of China, the Xia dynasty (ca. 2070 – ca. 1600 BC).
Who did Yao appoint to control the flood?
Upon the insistence of Four Mountains, and over Yao's initial hesitation, the person Yao finally consented to appoint in charge of controlling the flood was Gun, the Prince of Chong, who was a distant relative of Yao's through common descent from the Yellow Emperor.
About The Yellow River
The Yellow River in Ancient China
- The recorded history of Chinese civilization begins on the banks of the Yellow River with the Xia Dynasty, which lasted from 2100 to 1600 BCE. According to Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian" and the "Classic of Rites," a number of different tribes originally united into the Xia Kingdom in order to combat devastating floods on the river. When a series of breakwaters faile…
The Yellow River in The Medieval Period
- In 923 CE, China was embroiled in the chaotic Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. Among those kingdoms were the Later Liang and the Later Tangdynasties. As Tang armies approached the Liang capital, a general named Tuan Ning decided to breach the Yellow River dikes and flood 1,000 square miles of the Liang Kingdom in a desperate effort to stave off the Tang. Tuan's gam…
The Yellow River in Modern China
- A northward course-change in the river in the early 1850s helped fuel the Taiping Rebellion, one of China's deadliest peasant revolts. As populations grew ever larger along the treacherous river's banks, so too did the death tolls from flooding. In 1887, a major Yellow River flood killed an estimated 900,000 to 2 million people, making it the third...
Rationale
Immediate Consequences
- The river’s turbid waters, not yet swollen by yearly summer rains, moved slowly at first. But floodwaters rolled steadily out of the dike opening and advanced southeast, cutting off the Japanese army’s path. Only people living in the immediate vicinity received any sort of warning from the Chinese authorities. Yet the flat, alluvial plain of easter...
Longer-Term Consequences
- Any immediate strategic benefits gained from the Nationalist gambit of turning the Yellow River into a weapon came at a tremendous price. Once diverted, the river flowed unimpeded across eastern Henan’s landscape, which had a generally higher elevation in the north than in the south, it left the channel it had followed since 1855 and took a new course. No topographical divisions pr…
Responsibility
- Like the numerous scorched-earth tactics that the Nationalists employed during the Sino-Japanese War, the breaking of the Yellow River dikes was undertaken in an atmosphere of high-level desperation and panic that grew from the Japanese war of terror. On the other hand, the Nationalist regime showed a willingness to sacrifice people along with resources to keep them …
Reconstruction
- Recovery from the disaster did not come until after 1945, when large-scale external assistance to the Yellow River flooded area came from the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), which launched redevelopment programs in war-damaged areas of China in conjunction with the Nationalist regime’s Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Ad…
Metrics
- Between 1938 and 1945, the precise scale of destruction caused by the flood went largely uncalculated, as wartime instability made accurate quantification impossible. Yet damage reports compiled after 1945 convey the magnitude of the catastrophe (see Table 1 and Table 2 below). Postwar investigations estimated that in the twenty counties of eastern Henan hit by the disaste…
Bibliography of Recommended Readings
- Edgerton-Tarpley, Kathryn 2014. “From ‘Nourish the People’ to ‘Sacrifice for the Nation’: Changing Responses to Disaster in Late Imperial and Modern China.” The Journal of Asian Studies73:2, 447–469. Lary, Diana 2001. “Drowned Earth: The Strategic Breaching of the Yellow River Dyke, 1938.” War in History8:2 (April), 191–207. Lary, Diana 2004. “The Waters Covered the Earth: Chin…