Once non-engineering measures for flood control and disaster reduction were proposed in the 1960s, they attracted the attention of many countries with flood problems. People have noticed that on the premise of building flood control projects to prevent flood disasters as much as possible, disaster losses caused by excessive floods can also be reduced by improving society to adapt to nature. Looking back at the Yellow River flood control 1,000 years ago, we can find that the non-engineering measures, concepts and technologies in history are very similar to those today.

1. The discovery of the hydrological phenomenon of Yellow River floods and the naming of flood conditions

The Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period

"Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals"

3 BC century, "Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals" defined floods as river water that surged and overflowed the river channel and submerged the vast plains and hills. "Mencius" and "Zhuangzi" written at the same time stated that autumn floods are river floods caused by rainfall concentrated between July and August (August and September in the Gregorian calendar). In the Western Han Dynasty (about the 1st century), people proposed the concept of Peach Flood based on the rise and fall of river water in spring.

Northern Song Dynasty

In the Northern Song Dynasty, through the observation of the correlation between seasonal phenology and water regime in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the characteristics of the Yellow River in each month of the year were summarized. The regularity of the rise and fall of water and floods, and the corresponding water regimes are given names based on the most representative natural phenomena of the season at that time, as shown in the table below.

Naming floods based on phenology clearly expresses the time, causes and characteristics of floods.

Song people also discovered the general rules of the Yellow River's water conditions: at the beginning of spring (early April), the river water rose one inch (about 3.3 centimeters); in summer and autumn, the river water rose one foot (about 33 centimeters).

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty summarized the characteristics of flood season floods based on the peak process of the Yellow River: the Yellow River rises 5 to 6 times every year, each lasting three or four days. In May and June (June to July in the Gregorian calendar), the Yellow River begins to enter the flood season, and the water level rises; in July (August in the Gregorian calendar), the water inflow from the Yellow River increases; in August (September in the Gregorian calendar), the water level begins to fall.

2. The system of reporting flood conditions in the Yellow River and its improvement

The reporting of flood conditions is referred to as the flood report. The flood reporting system can be traced back to the Warring States Period at the latest. Qin Law stipulates that counties must report local water conditions and rainfall in a timely manner.

Northern Song Dynasty

During the Northern Song Dynasty, the flood reporting system was initially established. The imperial court ordered officials along the Yellow River and Bianhe River to report the rise and fall of water levels in their rivers at all times, and required these officials to also serve as local river bank envoys.

Jin Dynasty

The Jin Dynasty stipulated by decree that the period from May to the end of July every year was the "rising water" period of the rivers. During this period, the rivers in the states and counties along the rivers were Officials must take strict precautions and report any water conditions and dangers that occur at any time.

Ming Dynasty

During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1573-1620), flood reporting on the Yellow River had been institutionalized. At the beginning, the flood situation was reported based on the border military information transmission system. It started from Tongguan and went down to Suqian. Every 30 miles was divided into sections, and it traveled 500 miles day and night. In this way, flood information can be sent to the destination before the flood arrives, so that the area can be planned.

Pan Jixun patrolled the river

Later, water control expert Pan Jixun proposed a new flood control alarm method: once the river control is in danger, it must be reported by hanging flags, hanging lights, and beating gongs. , so that downstream areas can respond and protect in a timely manner.

Qing Dynasty

In his handwritten instructions, Qianlong quoted the famous saying of water control by the Warring States thinker Mencius: "When Yu controls water, he does whatever he wants." The 18th-century emperor It is believed that the management of the Haihe River should learn from Dayu and deploy flood control projects while respecting the natural laws of the river. Under the traffic conditions at that time, the Tang-horse relay flood report was the fastest way of communication, showing the ancients' understanding of the importance of flood forecasting and their desire to predict floods.

In the Qing Dynasty, the system of reporting flood information was gradually improved and the scope of flood reporting was gradually expanded. In the Ming Dynasty, the uppermost reaches of the flood reporting system were Tongguan. In the Qing Dynasty, it was further extended to the middle and upper reaches, and later it was extended to Lanzhou. In the forty-eighth year of Kangxi (1709), Ningxia began to transmit flood conditions downstream based on the water on the left bank of the Qingtongxia Reservoir Dam.

"Yangbao" is similar to the current "sheepskin raft"

In the first year of Qianlong (1736), tributaries of the Yellow River such as Qinhe and Luohe began to set up water logs. It is used to indicate the rise and fall of water levels and report accordingly to the court. The Qing Dynasty also used the "sheep newspaper" method on the Yellow River, in which the entire sheepskin was inflated to make a raft. Whenever the water rises near Lanzhou, the observed water level is engraved on a label. Then, a sailor carried these tags down the river on a raft, and when he arrived in Henan Province, he started throwing tags to call the police one after another.

Telegraph operators in the late Qing Dynasty

In the late Qing Dynasty, advanced communication tools such as telegraphs and telephones replaced the original methods of communicating water conditions such as foot police, horse police, gongs, and horns. , the timeliness and accuracy of flood reporting are greatly improved. In the fifteenth year of Guangxu's reign (1889), telegraphs began to be used to convey water conditions. In the 25th year of Guangxu's reign (1899), wired telephones began to be installed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Yellow River. Thereafter, the water conditions of large rivers can be reported to the downstream or superiors at any time.

3. Development and management of the Yellow River flood storage and detention area

Warring States Period

"Guanzi"

As late as the Warring States Period, people had The concept of flood storage and detention areas was put forward, and it was recommended to open flood storage and detention areas in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. "Guanzi" recommends using saline-alkali land that cannot be cultivated as "sacs" to "prepare for water shortages." This bag is what is known today as a flood storage and detention area. The flood storage and detention area is surrounded by embankments to contain floods, which must be maintained frequently and used in a controlled manner.

Western Han Dynasty

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, an official named Guan Bing also advocated the opening of flood storage and detention areas as the main means of controlling the Yellow River. At that time, the Yellow River repeatedly broke through in the area today's northeast of Henan and northwest of Shandong. The terrain here is low-lying and the soil is poor. Guan Bin followed the legend that Dayu once regarded this as "water bad" and called for the area about 180 miles from north to south to be vacated as a flood storage and detention area.

Tang Dynasty

In the Tang Dynasty, three flood storage and detention areas were opened in Luoyang, the eastern capital, with good results. At that time, the Gu and Luo rivers flowed through the Royal Garden in the west of Luoyang, causing frequent flooding. The garden covers an area of ??more than 120 miles and has 11 palaces. In the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan (736), the emperor ordered three flood storage and detention areas to be opened here, named Jicui, Yuexi and Shangyang respectively. As a result, not only the Gu and Luo rivers became much tamer, but three more lakes were added to the garden, further improving Luoyang's urban environment.

Yuan Dynasty

In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a heated discussion on the pros and cons of flood storage and detention areas. At that time, the Yellow River burst southward in Xiaohuang Village, Kaifeng, and today's Chenliu, Tongxu, Taikang and other counties became places to contain floods. Later, due to the increasing siltation at the entrance, some areas began to be opened up as farmland, and the river problems intensified. After some debate, the relevant departments finally reached an agreement: if this flood storage and detention area is used for farming, the disaster will have to be moved elsewhere. It is better to sacrifice the underdeveloped flood storage and detention area to preserve the developed area. Residents in flood storage and detention areas may be asked to relocate to other places, or relief measures such as tax exemptions may be provided.

Qing Dynasty

Emperor Qianlong’s edict on opening up the Yellow River to store floods

The river bank also has a similar flood storage function, especially for floods and low water volumes like the Yellow River. Rivers with widely different shapes and sharp peaks. Although the flood lasts a short time and does not cause serious damage in normal seasons, temporary embankments must be used to protect it during the flood season. Over time, small embankments turned into large embankments, and new embankments were built within the embankments, forming multiple embankments. The river channel is narrowed, the stagnation capacity is reduced, and the Yellow River overflows increasingly. In 1758 and 1772, Emperor Qianlong issued two edicts specifically on the creation of flood storage and detention areas for the Yellow River and Haihe River.

Source: South-to-North Water Diversion and Water Conservancy Technology

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