The Yellow River is the mother river of China. In ancient times, the Yellow River was a relatively clear river called "river water". From the Spring and Autumn period, the Yellow River gradually became turbid, and by the Han Dynasty had formed an above-ground river in the North China Plain. The Yellow River floods frequently, bringing serious disasters to the inhabitants downstream. In order to control the Yellow River, the two Han Dynasties made continuous efforts and finally succeeded in the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty. After that, the Yellow River settled for about 800 years, and only flooded again in the late Tang Dynasty. So, how did the Han Dynasty people successfully manage the Yellow River?
First, how the Yellow River became a "harmful river"
During the Xia Shang period, China's climate was relatively warm and humid, and the subtropical region moved north to the Yanshan Mountains. At that time, the Yellow River Basin was lush and green, and even the Loess Plateau was full of forests. During the Xia Shang and Zhou Dynasty, the Yellow River Ancient Road was relatively fixed and was called the "Yu River", which shows that the ecological environment at that time was very good. According to the study of "Chinese Historical Geography", the forest coverage rate of China during the Xia Shang and Zhou Dynasties could reach about 50%. At that time, the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River were lush with vegetation and wild beasts, and the Guanzhong area was also "beautiful in mountains, forests, rivers and valleys, and the benefits of natural materials".
Distribution of forests on the Loess Plateau during the Western Zhou Dynasty
However, this situation began to change during the Spring and Autumn Warring States period. During this period, great social changes occurred, iron ploughs and oxen farming appeared, and land development accelerated. An unprecedented land development campaign began throughout the North, and the population grew massively. As the land develops, the forest decreases. During the Warring States period, Henan had "no long forest", Shandong region had "no forest spare", and the forests of the Loess Plateau also decreased sharply.
The Loess Plateau was originally a very loose plateau, which was less difficult to develop, so it became one of the main areas for agricultural development in the Sanjin and Qin states. The Loess Plateau is located in the transition zone from the monsoon zone to the non-monsoon zone, and although there are many forests here, it is difficult to regrow once destroyed. After a large number of forests are developed, there is serious soil erosion on the Loess Plateau, and a large amount of sediment will flow into the Yellow River with its tributaries. In addition, after the destruction of forests, the river's ability to conserve water sources decreases, resulting in a more uneven seasonal distribution of water from the Yellow River, and the risk of summer flooding increases.
Loess plateau
The Yellow River has increased its sediment, and the once clear river water has gradually become the Yellow River. Due to the continuous silt of sediment, the course of the Yellow River continues to rise, so it gradually becomes a "harmful river". In 602 BC, the Yellow River underwent the first major diversion recorded in history, and the new Yellow River formed a new river south of the Yu River.
Every diversion of the Yellow River is a large-scale flood. During this period, in order to prevent the flooding of the Yellow River, the princes along the Yellow River built embankments along the Yellow River, and the princes' alliance at that time emphasized that it was not allowed to dig the dikes at will. But the silt of the Yellow River will continue to silt, so the bed of the Yellow River will continue to rise, and the dikes will be built higher and higher. The Yellow River has since become a "river on the ground".
Diversion of the Yellow River
During the Western Han Dynasty, the sediment content in the Yellow River was already very alarming, reaching the situation of "one stone and six mud". During the Western Han Dynasty, the Yellow River embankments were 2 to 10 meters high, but this still could not stop the Yellow River from breaking its banks. In 168 BC, the Yellow River burst its banks in Yanjin, Henan, flooding large areas of northern China. In the 237 years from 168 to 69 BC, the Yellow River was diverted five times and had 10 major breaches. It can be seen that the flooding of the Yellow River has reached the point where it is indispensable.
After the Yellow River burst its embankment in 168 BC, Emperor Wen of Han immediately issued an edict to deal with it, sending "thousands of people from the county to dike, and tens of millions of dollars to buy salaries" to increase the dike. However, the construction of dikes is only a temporary measure and cannot fundamentally change the harm of the Yellow River's bursting banks. In 138 BC, the Yellow River broke its banks in Pingyuan County. In 132 BC, the Yellow River burst its banks at Dunqiu; In the same year, the Yellow River burst its banks in Puyang, causing 16 counties to be flooded.
Second, is it a man-made disaster or a natural disaster?
The Yellow River flooded, but people's understanding of the flooding of the Yellow River is seriously inadequate. In 138 BC, when the Yellow River burst its embankments at Dunqiu and Gourd, Emperor Wudi of Han immediately dispatched 100,000 men to build the embankment, but the newly built dike was quickly washed away. At that time, the land of Prime Minister Tianqi was in Hebei, and he thought that the collapse of the southern embankment of the Yellow River was conducive to protecting his pastoral garden, so he suggested to Emperor Wudi of Han not to artificially block the flow of the Yellow River, because it was the will of God. This is what some people often talk about: don't try to change nature, or you will be punished by nature.
Emperor Wudi of Han really listened to Tian Yu's words, so he did not build a dike, and allowed the Yellow River to flood in the Huanghuai area for 20 years, bringing devastating disasters to the economy here. It was not until 109 that Emperor Wudi of Han ordered the repair of the embankment at the mouth of the gourd.
In 1938, the garden mouth broke the embankment
However, soon the Yellow River broke its embankment again in Guantao, Hebei, fortunately, the scale of the dike was not large, but a new river was diverted from the main trunk of the Yellow River, historically known as the "Tunshi River". This new appearance shared the pressure of the main stream of the Yellow River, so Emperor Wudi of Han did not block it, so the two rivers flowed into the sea for 70 years.
During the reign of Emperor Yuan of the Han Dynasty, the Yellow River flooded at the mouth of the Qinghe Lingming Gulf, causing the Tunshi River to stop flowing. During the reign of Emperor Cheng, Feng Xiao, the capital of Qinghe, suggested dredging the "Tunshi River", but Dr. Xu Shang calculated that the amount of work was too large, so he stopped it, so the project could not be carried out.
Xu Shang, a Han Dynasty scholar, was also a "brick house" for water control in the Han Dynasty
Only three years later (28 BC), the Yellow River burst its embankment at Guantao, and Yanzhou and Yuzhou were severely flooded, "all four counties and 32 counties, more than 150,000 hectares of water dwellings, the deep, and 40,000 official pavilions." Water conservancy projects are a major plan for the benefit of the country and the people, how can they be calculated with simple economic accounts? After the incident, Yin Zhong, the imperial doctor, committed suicide, but Xu Shang was unharmed. Afterwards, Emperor Hancheng sent Wang Yanshi to build a dike on the one hand, and on the other hand, he provided disaster relief, and only then survived the crisis. After the completion of the project, Emperor Hancheng happily changed the yuan to "Heping".
In 17 BC, Prime Minister Shi Yangyan said that Dizhu Mountain blocked the flow of the Yellow River and proposed to dig the mountain. Emperor Hancheng readily agreed and soon began construction. As a result, the stones that cut the mountains fell into the Yellow River, which instead blocked the Yellow River, causing the Yellow River to flood, and "Guanxian Yi 11, defeated more than 40,000 official pavilions." This matter, regardless of the actual situation, turned good intentions into bad things.
After the flooding of the Yellow River, Xu Shang, the capital of the embankment, and Prime Minister Shi Sun Ban went to inspect the situation together, and Sun Ban suggested that the Yellow River open an opening 500 miles from the mouth of the sea to divert the floodwater. However, Xu Shang believed that this line did not conform to the "Yuhe" line and refused. The Yu River has long been silted, how can it drain the floodwater? Xu Shang's quaint thinking led to the failure of this control of the Yellow River, and then the imperial court resigned itself to the flooding of the Yellow River. In 11 AD, the Yellow River burst its banks again, and Wang Mang had no time to take care of it, causing the Yellow River to flood for nearly 60 years, bringing heavy disasters to countless people.
It can be seen that the reason why the Yellow River always flooded repeatedly during the Western Han Dynasty, in addition to the Yellow River itself, man-made disasters cannot be ignored. At that time, the "experts" who managed the Yellow River also proposed various incredible schemes, and Qi Ren Yannian suggested that the Yellow River be diverted in the Yin Mountain area and then flow into the Xiongnu, which is to let the Yellow River flow from low altitude to high altitude, which is very absurd. During the Wang Mang period, in order to echo Wang Mang's retro mentality, Yushi Han Mu proposed to restore the Yellow River to the state of Yugong Jiuhe into the sea. Changshui Commander Wei Guan also believed that the population was sparse during the Dayu period, so there was less flooding, so he suggested that all the residents of the lower reaches of the Yellow River be emptied and the vacant land should flow out of the vacant land to flood the Yellow River.
And the opinions of these "experts" were echoed by a large number of people in the imperial court, which made it impossible to successfully control the Yellow River.
Third, Wang Jingzhihe: True practice produces true knowledge
When the Eastern Han Dynasty was founded, the Yellow River had been flooding for decades, and Yang Wuling Zhang Qi suggested that the embankment be repaired. However, another "expert" Le Jun strongly objected, believing that this was a waste of money and did not conform to the principle of rest and recuperation. Emperor Guangwu also thought it would cost money, so he did not order the construction of the embankment.
However, the flooding of the Yellow River is becoming more and more serious, and the management of the Yellow River must be put on the agenda. In 69, Emperor Han Ming again asked everyone to discuss the management of the Yellow River, and as a result, some of the ministers of the imperial court said not to care, and some said to manage it. At that time, Wang Jing, who had experience in water control, was summoned by Emperor Hanming to attend the meeting, and Wang Jing saw that everyone could not argue with results, so he put forward his opinion. Soon, Emperor Han Ming reused Wang Jing to preside over the administration of the Yellow River.
After receiving the task, Wang Jing did not drink and have fun in the office like other "experts", but went to the site non-stop to investigate the situation. In order to understand the problem of the flooding of the Yellow River, he traveled a long way along the Yellow River. After hard investigation, he finally figured out the root cause of the poor management of the Yellow River, that is, the Yellow River channel is too high and cannot be blocked no matter how much it is blocked. So Wang Jing chose to dig a new river channel 500 kilometers from Xingyang East to Qianchenghaikou, and built a dike to constrain the river. At the same time, Wang Jing also dug a number of flood distribution channels on the main stream of the Yellow River to reduce the pressure on the main trunk of the Yellow River.
If half of the officials are allowed to do such a huge project, it will take at least a few years, and a lot of oil and water will be fished out of it, and maybe some kind of officials will be made to force the people to rebel. But Wang Jing was very sharp, and under his vigorous drive, he completed this big country project in just one year, and it was completed brilliantly.
Wang Jing's management of the Yellow River was the first time in history that a new river was manually dug for the Yellow River, which provides a case study for modern China's management of the Yellow River. The riverbed of the new river has a straight channel, fast water flow, and the problem of sediment siltation has been solved to a certain extent. In the process of controlling the Yellow River, Wang Jing also dug the Bianqu canal to restore water traffic between the Yellow River and the Huai River.
Since Wang Jing governed the Yellow River, the Yellow River did not flood for the next 800 years. It was not until 893 that the Yellow River was diverted. In the 1,000 years since 893, the Yellow River has burst its banks 1,500 times and diverted several times. Therefore, people call the year 893 and 800 of Wang Jingzhi River the "Anliu period".
Of course, Wang Jing's management of the Yellow River is not fundamentally governed. If we want to fundamentally govern, we must restore the ecology of the Loess Plateau, and Wang Jing, as an ancient, has the limitations of the times, which cannot be changed.
Today, through large-scale afforestation, the Loess Plateau has greatly improved the forest coverage rate and restored its ecology. After the upstream ecology is restored, a new line can be dug for the Yellow River according to Wang Jing's method, the above-ground hanging river can be restored to a normal river channel, and the channel from the Yellow River to the Haihe River and the Huai River can be built to restore navigation on the Yellow River. I think that our era should thoroughly control the Yellow River.