1887 Yellow River flood

The Yellow River has always been called "Mother River" by Chinese children, but it is also a furious dragon, known as "China's sorrow", and the children of the Central Plains can be said to be both nostalgic and fearful about this Yellow River. According to statistics, from the 12th year of Emperor Wendi in the Western Han Dynasty to the 20th year of Daoguang in Qing Dynasty (2000), the Yellow River was flooded 3 16 times, with an average flood every 6.5 years. The frequency is shocking.

The Yellow River flood that occurred in the spring of 1887 set a tragic record in the world. Although there is no accurate death toll statistics, the most conservative estimate is 654.38+500,000, and some scholars estimate that it is 7 million, which is the deadliest flood in history.

1887, Henan province, the land of the Central Plains, was hit by heavy rain, which led to the execution of the Yellow River in Shibao, Zhengzhou. On September 30, the gap was only 30 feet. Three days later, it actually became more than 300 feet, ten times larger than before. The fierce river surrounded Zhengzhou City in a few seconds, with a water depth of more than ten meters, and instantly destroyed Zhongmou City. When the flood peak reached the ancient city of Kaifeng, the water level reached nearly 40 meters, completely flooding thousands of villages and towns east of Kaifeng. Wherever the flood went, the city was flooded and all government offices, temples and residential houses collapsed.

At that time, the Qing government was politically corrupt, did not build water conservancy projects for a long time, and the river course was poorly managed. 1887, many rivers burst their banks. For example, the North Canal breaches dozens of feet in Tongzhou, and the Yongding River breaches successively in Nanqigong, Lugouqiao, Zhili Wuqing and Bazhou downstream. As early as July of February1year, the Yellow River burst its banks in Kaizhou, but the Qing government did not put these into practice at all. Faced with the breach of many rivers, the first thing that the rulers think of is not rapid robbery and blockage, but worrying about bandits. At that time, the Qing court ordered Ceng Guoquan to be the governor of Liangjiang and Yulu to be the governor of Huguang, in order to prevent the possible people's uprising. It was not until June 65438+1October 65438+May that the imperial court distributed 65438+twenty-two thousand silver to the affected areas, which was simply a drop in the bucket.

65438+ 10 65438+June 6, the Qing government ordered the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to start pre-allocating Zhengzhou's disaster relief funds, and prepared to levy foreign medicine (opium) taxes on the provinces. It was not until 1 1.9 that the court ordered Li Hongzao, Minister of Justice, to inspect the river restoration in Zhengzhou. Li Hongzao is the first national leader to visit the disaster area in person. It was not until 1889 1.20 that the flood broke its banks and cut off the river for one and a half years. It can be seen how decadent the government was at that time and how difficult the people's lives were.

◆ Knowledge expansion

The Yellow River floods are mainly divided into four types: flood season, autumn flood season, ice flood season and peach flood season. The flood season refers to the rainstorm and flood in July and August, such as the flood in July1958; Autumn flood refers to the flood that occurred in September and June, 65438+ 10, such as the flood in June,1951; Ice flood refers to165438+1the flood from October 20th to the end of February of the following year; Peach flood refers to the spring flood caused by the melting of upstream ice from late March to early April. At this time, peach blossoms are in full bloom on the downstream hillside, which is called "peach flood".

★ Knowledge link ★

The Yellow River originates from Zhaqu of ChaHazra Mountain in Bayan Kara Mountain in Qinghai Province, Kariqu at the northern foot and Lequle of Yuegu Sect in the west of Haixi in Su Xing, showing a "few" shape. With a total length of about 5,464 kilometers, it is the fifth longest river in the world and the second longest river in China. The Yellow River produces1600 million tons of sediment every year, of which1200 million tons flows into the sea, and the remaining 400 million tons remain in the lower reaches of the Yellow River for many years, forming an alluvial plain, which is conducive to planting and is the most important birthplace of Chinese civilization.