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 ...

has been recognized by Chinese as "the mother river". But in ancient times, people living by the Yellow River often suffered its floods.

Xuzhou Xuzhou (徐州), also known as Pengcheng (彭城) in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in the built-up area ma ...

was one such city. Located by the after-bay of the Yellow River, Xuzhou suffered from Yellow River floods since the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

until the Yellow River changed its course in 1855, the 5th Year of Xianfeng in the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

(). During the years that the Yellow River passed Xuzhou, the city was flooded more than 400 times, ten times in the Qin and Han Dynasty, 19 times in the Wei and Jin () Dynasty, 20 times in the Sui and

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, 50 times in the Liao,

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

and

Yuan Dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

, 120 times, and two hundred and three times in the

Qin Dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...

Five heaviest floods recorded

The earliest flood recorded happened in 132 B.C., the 3rd Year of Yuanguang () in the West Han Dynasty (206–9 B.C.). One of the major

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

s built in Hu Zi (瓠子),

Puyang Puyang is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Located on the northern shore of the Yellow River, it borders Anyang in the west, Xinxiang in the southwest, and the provinces of Shandong and Hebei ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

was suddenly burst and the river flooded 16 cities by the after-bay. Due to the blocked watercourse in Hu Zi in the 2nd Year of Yuanfeng (), the Yellow River changed its course to flow through Xuzhou. The flood continued for 24 years. Worried about the terrible situation, Emperor

Han Wudi Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), formally enshrined as Emperor Wu the Filial (), born Liu Che (劉徹) and courtesy name Tong (通), was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of ancient China, ruling from 141 to 87 BC. His reign las ...

(156–87 B.C.) wrote down "Huzi ge" () to express his sorrow and deep concern for the people in the flooded areas. In 1077 A.D., the 10th Year of Xining, Song Dynasty (), the river broke its banks in Tanzhou (). The flood was just surrounding the city wall of Xuzhou and the depth of the water reached two Zhang and eight Chi (). Owing to the efforts of the official head Su Shi ( 苏轼), solidifying the dam and keeping the city in order, the water didn't rise above the wall and flow into the city; no one was hurt. The other heaviest floods all happened in the Ming Dynasty. The floods of the Ming Dynasty have been more severe than in other dynasties. In the 5th Year of Longqing (), the river broke and poured into the city from the west gate, which resulted in thousands of houses ruined and countless citizens killed. In 1590 A.D., the 18th Year of Wanli (), undulated by the pouring Autumn rain, Xuzhou city was flooded again. Houses were all submerged and the flood continued for two years. After that the city was advised to move somewhere else, but the central government did not approved of it. The most serious flood in Xuzhou's history happened on 16 July 1624 A.D., the 4th Year of Tianqi (). Happening at midnight, the flood poured into the city and the southeast wall of the city collapsed. The depth of the water in the city reached more than four meters. Not being prepared for the sudden flood, citizens had to leave the flooded houses and move to Mountain Yunlong (云龙山) to escape the flood. Since the Yellow River is the river which has the greatest concentration of sediment in the world, Xuzhou was buried completely by the sand of the Yellow River after the flood went back down, with the height of the sand accumulation ranging from one to ten meters. The relocation of the city was proposed again but was still denied by the central government. People had to rebuild the city right above the buried one.

Influence of the floods

The loss of agricultural production and the loss of public and private possessions were inevitable.

The Abandoned Yellow River

The Yellow River changed its course in the 5th Year of Xianfeng, Qing Dynasty and never passed Xuzhou again, so the river course in Xuzhou was abandoned. Now the Abandoned Yellow River has become a famous

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural b ...

in Xuzhou. In the Abandoned River park, there are five posts standing by the shore with the flood history recorded on them called Shui Jing Shi Zhu Ji ().http://sqtg.cnxz.com.cn/xzrb/html/2010-01/26/content_368409.htm

The underground city

After the flood in 1624, people in Xuzhou built a new city resembling to the buried one. In the 1950s, part of the buried one was found. The old city was gradually exposed in the following 50 years’ excavation. The underground city has an essential meaning to the origin, development and evolution of Xuzhou City.

References

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History of Jiangsu