The AD 1048 Yellow River flood was a natural disaster along the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

caused by the failure of a

fascine A fascine is a rough bundle of brushwood or other material used for strengthening an earthen structure, or making a path across uneven or wet terrain. Typical uses are protecting the banks of streams from erosion, covering marshy ground and so ...

Shanghu ShanghuChinese: s , p ''Shānghú''. is a former city of China. A burst fascine there shifted the course of the Yellow River north towards modern Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality a ...

.Elvin, Mark & Liu Cuirong (eds.) ''Studies in Environment and History:''
Sediments of Time: Environment and Society in Chinese History
', p. 555. Cambridge Uni. Press, 1998. . Accessed 15 Oct. 2011. After five years of failed efforts to restore the river to its previous course following the 1034 flood, the Song attempted to change their strategy and adjust their flood control efforts along the river's new paths in 1041. This was not yet complete when the 1048 flood shifted the river's main course sharply, overtaking the

Hai River The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea. The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the S ...

and further damaging the empire's northern provinces. Their revenues were reduced to about one-fifth their pre-1034 level. This course lasted until 1194. During this century and a half, the coast around modern

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

moved forward about 23 kilometers.

References

Yellow River flood, 1048 Yellow River flood, 1048 Yellow River flood, 1048 Yellow River floods 11th-century floods {{flood-stub