The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: ,
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in
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 ...
, after the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
, and the
sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the
Bayan Har Mountains
The Bayan Har Mountains, formerly known as the Bayen-káras or Bayan-Kara-Ula, are a mountain range in Qinghai Province, northwest China. The name is Mongolian for "Rich and Black". It can be viewed as one of the branches of the Kunlun Mountain ...
in
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
province of
Western China
Western China (, or rarely ) is the west of China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers one municipality (Chongqing), six provinces (Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively r ...
, it flows through nine provinces, and it empties into the
Bohai Sea
The Bohai Sea () is a marginal sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects to the east via the Bohai Strait. It has a mean depth of a ...
near the city of
Dongying
Dongying (), a prefecture-level city, lies on the northern (Bohai Sea) coast of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. As of the 2020 census, 2,193,518 people resided within its administrative area of and 1,188,656 in the built-up area ...
in
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
province. The Yellow River basin has an east–west extent of about and a north–south extent of about . Its total
drainage area
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
is about .
The Yellow River's basin was the
birthplace of ancient Chinese, and, by extension,
Far Eastern
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The ter ...
civilization, and it was the most prosperous region in early
Chinese history
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the ''Book of Documents'' (early chapter ...
. There are frequent devastating
floods and course changes produced by the continual elevation of the
river bed
A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow (channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood st ...
, sometimes above the level of its surrounding farm fields.
Etymology
Early Chinese literature including the ''
Yu Gong
The ''Yu Gong'' () or ''Tribute of Yu'' is a chapter of the ''Book of Xia'' (夏書/夏书) section of the ''Book of Documents'', one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. The chapter describes the legendary Yu the Great and the ...
'' or ''Tribute of Yu'' dating to the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
(475–221 BC) refers to the Yellow River as simply (
Old Chinese
Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...
: ''*C.gˤaj'',
[Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. '' '', p. 41 and 52. 2011.] Modern Beijing Mandarin: // or in
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...
''Hé''), a character that has come to mean "river" in modern usage. An early attestation of the name (
Eastern Han Chinese
Eastern Han Chinese or Later Han Chinese is the stage of the Chinese language revealed by poetry and glosses from the Eastern Han period (first two centuries AD).
It is considered an intermediate stage between Old Chinese and the Middle Chinese ...
: ''*ɣuaŋ-gɑi'';
Middle Chinese
Middle Chinese (formerly known as Ancient Chinese) or the Qieyun system (QYS) is the historical variety of Chinese recorded in the '' Qieyun'', a rime dictionary first published in 601 and followed by several revised and expanded editions. The ...
: ''Huang Ha''
) in the
Eastern Han
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 ...
treatise ''Kongcongzi'' 孔叢子 "The Many Kong Family Master's Anthology", attributed to
Confucius
Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
' descendant Kong Fu 孔鮒 (c. 264-208 BCE). The adjective "yellow" describes the perennial color of the muddy water in the lower course of the river, which arises from soil (
loess
Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits.
Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
) being carried downstream.
Its yellow colour and central position in China are associated in traditional
cardinal directions
The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are a ...
.
One of its older
Mongolian names was the "Black River", because the river runs clear before it enters the
Loess Plateau
The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surroun ...
, but the current name of the river among
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
ns is ''Ȟatan Gol'' (, "Queen River").
[Geonames.de](_blank)
. In Mongolia itself, it is simply called the ''Šar Mörön'' (, "Yellow River"). The river is mentioned in the
Kul Tigin stele as the "Green River" (
Old Turkic
Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic language, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested form of the Turkic languages, found in Göktürks, Göktürk and Uyghur Khaganate inscriptions dating from about the eighth to the 13th century. It ...
: ''yašïl ügüz'', 𐰖𐱁𐰞𐰽𐰺𐰍).
In
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
, the river's
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...
name is "River of the Peacock" (; )
History
Yellow River Civilization
Dynamics
![Ma Yuan - Water Album - The Yellow River Breaches its Course](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Ma_Yuan_-_Water_Album_-_The_Yellow_River_Breaches_its_Course.jpg)
The Yellow river first formed between 56 million and 34 million years ago during the
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...
epoch,
while the familar shape appeared around 7 thousand years ago.
The river has long been critical to the development of northern China, and is regarded by scholars as one
cradle of civilization
A cradle of civilization is a location and a culture where civilization was created by mankind independent of other civilizations in other locations. The formation of urban settlements (cities) is the primary characteristic of a society that c ...
. Flooding of the river has also caused much destruction, including multiple floods that have resulted in the deaths of over one million people. Among the deadliest were the
1332–33 flood during the
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 ...
, the
1887 flood during 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 ...
which killed anywhere from 900,000 to 2 million people, and a
Republic of China era 1931 flood (part of
a massive number of floods that year) that killed 1–4 million people.
The cause of the floods is the large amount of
fine-grained
Granularity (also called graininess), the condition of existing in granules or grains, refers to the extent to which a material or system is composed of distinguishable pieces. It can either refer to the extent to which a larger entity is sub ...
loess
Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits.
Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...
carried by the river from the
Loess Plateau
The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surroun ...
, which is continuously deposited along the bottom of its channel. The sedimentation causes natural dams to slowly accumulate. These subaqueous dams are unpredictable and generally undetectable. Eventually, the enormous amount of water needs to find a new way to the sea, forcing it to take the
path of least resistance
The path of least resistance is the physical or metaphorical pathway that provides the least resistance to forward motion by a given object or entity, among a set of alternative paths. The concept is often used to describe why an object or entit ...
. When this happens, it bursts out across the flat
North China Plain
The North China Plain or Huang-Huai-Hai Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bord ...
, sometimes taking a new channel and inundating most farmland, cities or towns in its path.
The traditional Chinese response of building higher and higher
levee
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
s along the banks sometimes also contributed to the severity of the floods: When flood water did break through the levees, it could no longer drain back into the river bed as it would after a normal flood, as the river bed was sometimes now higher than the surrounding countryside. These changes could cause the river's mouth to shift as much as , sometimes reaching the ocean to the north of
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
Peninsula and sometimes to the south.
[Gascoigne, Bamber and Gascoigne, Christina (2003) ''The Dynasties of China'', Perseus Books Group, ]
Another historical source of devastating floods is the collapse of upstream
ice dams in
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
with an accompanying sudden release of vast quantities of impounded water. There have been 11 such major floods in the past century, each causing tremendous loss of life and property. Nowadays, explosives dropped from aircraft are used to break the ice dams before they become dangerous.
Before modern
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 ...
s appeared in China, the Yellow River used to be extremely prone to flooding. In the 2,540 years from 595 BC to 1946 AD, the Yellow River has been reckoned to have flooded 1,593 times, shifting its course 26 times noticeably and nine times severely.
[Tregear, T. R. (1965) ''A Geography of China'', pp. 218–219.] These floods include some of the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded. Before modern disaster management, when floods occurred, some of the population might initially die from drowning and many more would suffer later from the ensuing famine and spread of diseases.
Ancient times
![Yellow River course changes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Yellow_River_course_changes.gif)
In
Chinese mythology
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions.
Much of t ...
, the giant
Kua Fu
Kuafu () is a giant in Chinese mythology who wished to capture the Sun. He was a grandson of Houtu.
Story
One day, Kuafu decided to chase and catch the Sun. He followed the Sun from the East to the West, draining the Yellow River and the Wei R ...
drained the Yellow River and the
Wei River
The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization.
The source of the Wei River is close to ...
to quench his burning thirst as he pursued the Sun. Historical documents from the
Spring and Autumn period
The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...
[Gernet, Jacques. ''Le monde chinois'', p. 59. Map "4. Major states of the Chunqiu period (Spring and Autumn)". ]
English version: and
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), ...
indicate that the Yellow River at that time flowed considerably north of its present course. These accounts show that after the river passed
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
, it flowed along the border between
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
and
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 ...
Provinces, then continued along the border between
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
and Shandong before emptying into
Bohai Bay
Bohai Bay () is one of the three major bays of the Bohai Sea, the northwestern and innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. It is bounded by the coastlines of eastern Hebei province (Tangshan and Cangzhou), Tianjin municipality and northern Shando ...
near present-day
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 ...
. Another outlet followed essentially the present course.
The river left these paths in 602 BC and shifted several hundred kilometers to the east.
Sabotage of dikes, canals, and reservoirs and deliberate flooding of rival states became a standard military tactic during the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
.
[Allaby, Michael & Garrat, Richard. ''Facts on File Dangerous Weather Series]
Floods
', p. 142. Infobase Pub., 2003. . Accessed 15 October 2011. As the Yellow River valley was the major entryway to the
Guanzhong
Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ce ...
area and the
state of Qin from the
North China Plain
The North China Plain or Huang-Huai-Hai Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bord ...
, Qin heavily fortified the
Hangu Pass
Hangu Pass or Hanguguan is a pass separating the upper Yellow River and Wei valleys—the cradle of Chinese civilization and seat of its longtime capital Xi'an—from the fertile North China Plain. It lies on the south bank of the Yellow River ...
; it saw numerous battles and was also an important chokepoint protecting the
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
capitals of
Chang'an
Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...
and
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
. Major flooding in AD 11 is credited with the downfall of the short-lived
Xin dynasty
The Xin dynasty (; ), also known as Xin Mang () in Chinese historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty which lasted from 9 to 23 AD, established by the Han dynasty consort kin Wang Mang, who usurped the throne of the Emperor Ping o ...
, and another flood in AD 70 returned the river north of Shandong on essentially its present course.
Medieval times
From around the beginning of the 3rd century, the importance of the
Hangu Pass
Hangu Pass or Hanguguan is a pass separating the upper Yellow River and Wei valleys—the cradle of Chinese civilization and seat of its longtime capital Xi'an—from the fertile North China Plain. It lies on the south bank of the Yellow River ...
was reduced, with the major fortifications and military bases moved upriver to
Tongguan. In AD 923, the desperate
Later Liang general
Duan Ning
Duan Ning () (died November 8, 928?''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 276.Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar ConverterNovember 8, 928 was the date when Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang issued an edict ordering Duan Ning and Wen Tao to commit suicide; ...
again broke the dikes, flooding in a failed attempt to protect his realm's capital from the
Later Tang
Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history.
The first three of the Later Tang's four ...
. A similar proposal from the
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 ...
engineer Li Chun concerning flooding the lower reaches of the river to protect the central plains from the
Khitai Khitan or Khitai may refer to:
*Khitan (circumcision), the Islamic circumcision rite
* Khitan people, an ancient nomadic people located in Mongolia and northern China
*Liao dynasty (916–1125), a dynasty of China ruled by the Khitan Yelü clan
**No ...
was overruled in 1020: the
Chanyuan Treaty
The Chanyuan Treaty () was signed between the Northern Song dynasty and the Liao dynasty in 1005, and marked a pivotal point in Chinese history and in the relations between the two dynasties. The treaty laid the foundation for approximately a cent ...
between the two states had expressly forbidden the Song from establishing new moats or changing river courses.
[Elvin, Mark & Liu Cuirong (eds.) ''Studies in Environment and History:'' ]
Sediments of Time: Environment and Society in Chinese History
', pp. 554 ff. Cambridge Uni. Press, 1998. .
Breaches occurred regardless:
one at Henglong in 1034 divided the course in three and repeatedly flooded the northern regions of
Dezhou
Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei t ...
and
Bozhou
Bozhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Anhui province, China. It borders Huaibei to the northeast, Bengbu to the southeast, Huainan to the south, Fuyang to the southwest, and Henan to the north. Its population was 4,996,844 at the ...
.
The Song worked for five years futilely attempting to restore the previous courseusing over 35,000 employees, 100,000 conscripts, and 220,000 tons of wood and bamboo in a single year
before abandoning the project in 1041. The more sluggish river then occasioned a breach at
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 ...
that sent the main outlet north towards
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 ...
in 1048
In 1128, the Song troops breached the southern dikes of the Yellow River in an effort to stop the advancing
Jin army. The resulting major river
avulsion allowed the Yellow to
capture tributaries of the
Huai River
The Huai River (), Postal Map Romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...
. For the first time in recorded history, the Yellow River shifted completely south of
Shandong Peninsula
The Shandong (Shantung) Peninsula or Jiaodong (Chiaotung) Peninsula is a peninsula in Shandong Province in eastern China, between the Bohai Sea to the north and the Yellow Sea to the south. The latter name refers to the east and Jiaozhou.
G ...
and flowed into the
Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour terms ...
. By 1194, the mouth of the Huai had been blocked.
[Grousset, Rene. ''The Rise and Splendour of the Chinese Empire'', p. 303. University of California Press, 1959.] The buildup of silt deposits was such that even after the Yellow River later shifted its course, the Huai could no longer flow along its historic course, but instead, its water pools into
Hongze Lake
Hongze Lake or Lake Hungtse () is the fourth largest freshwater lake in China, in Jiangsu Province, China and is encompassed by the prefecture-level cities Suqian (Sihong County and Siyang County) and Huai'an (Xuyi County and Hongze County).
La ...
and then runs southward toward the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
.
A flood in
1344 returned the Yellow River south of Shandong. The
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 ...
was waning, and the emperor forced enormous teams to build new embankments for the river. The terrible conditions helped to fuel rebellions that led to the founding of the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
.
The course changed again in
1391 when the river flooded from Kaifeng to Fengyang in Anhui. It was finally stabilized by the eunuch Li Xing during the public works projects following the
1494 flood.
The river flooded many times in the 16th century, including in 1526, 1534, 1558, and 1587. Each flood affected the river's lower course.
[Tsai, Shih-Shan Henry. ''SUNY Series in Chinese Local Studies'': ]
The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty
'. SUNY Press, 1996. , 9780791426876.
The
1642 flood was man-made, caused by the attempt of the Ming governor of
Kaifeng
Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...
to use the river to destroy the peasant rebels under
Li Zicheng
Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 1645), born Li Hongji, also known by the nickname, Dashing King, was a Chinese peasant rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over northern China briefly as the emperor of the short-li ...
who had been besieging the city for the past six months. He directed his men to break the dikes in an attempt to flood the rebels, but destroyed his own city instead: the flood and the ensuing famine and plague are estimated to have killed 300,000 of the city's previous population of 378,000. The once-prosperous city was nearly abandoned until its rebuilding under the
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...
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 ...
.
The question of how aggressively flooding should be controlled, and whether it should be steered back to its original channels when it migrated, was a topic of controversy in the imperial court. Rival cliques made arguments based on budgetary, technical and strategic criteria. Geographer Charles Greer identifies two competing schools of thought on how to control the Yellow River. One, which he identifies as Confucian, advocated containing the river between higher levees, thus maximizing the amount of river basin land that could be cultivated. The other, which he associates with Taoism, favored lower levees separated by as much as 5-10 kilometers. In one particular long-running debate during the 11th century reigns of the
Renzong and
Shenzong emperors, when the river repeatedly broke its levees and migrated north and west, officials battled over whether expensive measures should be taken to return the river to its former channels. The Shenzong emperor ultimately decreed that the river be allowed to remain in its new course.
Traditional
flood control
Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...
techniques made use of
levee
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
s,
revetment
A revetment in stream restoration, river engineering or coastal engineering is a facing of impact-resistant material (such as stone, concrete, sandbags, or wooden piles) applied to a bank or wall in order to absorb the energy of incoming water
...
s to absorb the energy of the water, overflow basins, drainage canals and
polder
A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are:
# Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed
# Flood plains s ...
s. Treatises on traditional flood control techniques were written by officials such as
Pan Jixun (1528-1599), who argued that joining branches of the river increased the water's power and this in turn increased its ability to flush sediment.
Recent times
Between 1851 and 1855,
the Yellow River returned to the north amid the floods that provoked the
Nien and
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted fr ...
s. The
1887 flood has been estimated to have killed between 900,000 and 2 million people,
[International Rivers Report.]
Before the Deluge
. 2007. and is the
second-worst natural disaster in history (excluding famines and epidemics). The Yellow River more or less adopted its present course during the
1897 flood.
The
1931 flood killed an estimated 1,000,000 to 4,000,000,
and is the worst natural disaster recorded (excluding famines and epidemics).
On 9 June 1938, during the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
,
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
troops under
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...
broke the levees holding back the river near the village of
Huayuankou in Henan, causing what has been called by Canadian historian, Diana Lary, a "war-induced natural disaster". The goal of the operation was to stop the advancing Japanese troops by following a strategy of "using water as a substitute for soldiers" (''yishui daibing''). The
1938 flood of an area covering took some 500,000 to 900,000 Chinese lives, along with an unknown number of Japanese soldiers. The flood prevented the Japanese Army from taking
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...
, on the southern bank of the Yellow River, but did not stop them from reaching their goal of capturing
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...
, which was the temporary seat of the Chinese government and straddles the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
.
Geography
![YellowRiver](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/YellowRiver.jpg)
According to the China Exploration and Research Society, the source of the Yellow River is at in the
Bayan Har Mountains
The Bayan Har Mountains, formerly known as the Bayen-káras or Bayan-Kara-Ula, are a mountain range in Qinghai Province, northwest China. The name is Mongolian for "Rich and Black". It can be viewed as one of the branches of the Kunlun Mountain ...
near the eastern edge of the
Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (, , retranscribed into Tibetan as ), also transliterated as Yüxü or Yulshul, is an autonomous prefecture
Autonomous prefectures () are one type of autonomous administrative divisions of China, existing ...
. The source tributaries drain into
Gyaring Lake and
Ngoring Lake on the western edge of
Golog Prefecture high in the Bayan Har Mountains of
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
. In the Zoige Basin along the boundary with
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
, the Yellow River loops northwest and then northeast before turning south, creating the "
Ordos Loop", and then flows generally eastward across the
North China Plain
The North China Plain or Huang-Huai-Hai Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bord ...
to the
Gulf of Bohai
The Bohai Sea () is a marginal sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects to the east via the Bohai Strait. It has a mean depth of a ...
, draining a
basin of which nourishes 140 million people with drinking water and irrigation.
The Yellow River passes through seven present-day
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
and two
autonomous regions
An autonomous administrative division (also referred to as an autonomous area, entity, unit, region, subdivision, or territory) is a subnational administrative division or internal territory of a sovereign state that has a degree of autonomy— ...
, namely (from west to east)
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
,
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
,
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
,
Ningxia
Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in ...
,
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
,
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
,
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
,
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 ...
, and
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
. Major cities along the present course of the Yellow River include (from west to east)
Lanzhou
Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
,
Yinchuan
Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...
,
Wuhai
Wuhai (; mn, ''Üqai qota'', Mongolian cyrillic.Үхай хот) is a prefecture-level city and regional center in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, and is by area the smallest prefecture-level division of the region. It is located ...
,
Baotou
Baotou (; mn, Buɣutu qota, Бугат хот) is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is h ...
,
Luoyang
Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...
,
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...
,
Kaifeng
Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...
, and
Jinan
Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...
. The current mouth of the Yellow River is located at
Kenli County, Shandong.
The river is commonly divided into three stages. These are roughly the northeast of the mountainous
Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the Ti ...
, the
Ordos Loop and
Loess Plateau
The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surroun ...
, and the
North China Plain
The North China Plain or Huang-Huai-Hai Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bord ...
.
However, different scholars have different opinions on how the three stages are divided. This article mainly adopts the division used by the
Yellow River Conservancy Commission
{{Use mdy dates, date = February 2019
Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC) is a government agency of Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China. YRCC takes responsibility of water administration of the Yellow River basin ...
.
The Yellow River derived sediments have been transported out of the Bohai Sea, all way to the North Yellow Sea and South Yellow Sea, and formed a Distal Depocenter around the Shandong Peninsula.
Upper reaches
![VM 6056 Liujiaxia Town](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/VM_6056_Liujiaxia_Town.jpg)
The upper reaches of the Yellow River constitute a segment starting from its source in the Bayan Har Mountains and ending at Hekou Town (
Togtoh County
Togtoh County ( Mongolian: ''Toɣtaqu siyan'', Тогтох шянь; ) is a county of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, North China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, located o ...
),
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
just before it turns sharply to the south. This segment has a total length of and total basin area of , 51.4% of the total basin area. Along this length, the elevation of the Yellow River drops , with an average
grade
Grade most commonly refers to:
* Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance
* Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage
* Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope
Grade or grading may also ref ...
of 0.10%.
The source section flows mainly through pastures, swamps, and knolls between the
Bayan Har Mountains
The Bayan Har Mountains, formerly known as the Bayen-káras or Bayan-Kara-Ula, are a mountain range in Qinghai Province, northwest China. The name is Mongolian for "Rich and Black". It can be viewed as one of the branches of the Kunlun Mountain ...
, and the Anemaqen (
Amne Machin) Mountains in
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
. The river water is clear and flows steadily. Crystal clear lakes are characteristic of this section. The two main lakes along this section are Lake Gyaring (Zhaling) and Lake Ngoring (Eling), with capacities of 4.7 billion and 10.8 billion m
3 (166 and 381 billion ft
3), respectively. At elevations over ) above sea level they are the two largest plateau freshwater lakes nationwide. A significant amount of land in the Yellow River's source area has been designated as the
Sanjiangyuan ("'Three Rivers' Sources") National Nature Reserve, to protect the source region of the Yellow River, the
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
, and the
Mekong
The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , ...
.
Flowing east at the eastern edge of the Amne Machin Mountains, the Yellow River enters
Maqu County
Maqu County (; ) is a county of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the south of Gansu province of the People's Republic of China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the east and southeast, and Qinghai to the southwest, west and northwes ...
in
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
. Here, the river skirts through the high-altitude peat bog known as the
Zoigê Wetlands and makes a sharp turn towards the northwest forming the border between Maqu and
Zoigê County
Ruoergai County or Zoigê County (; ) is a county of Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan, China, bordering Gansu to the north. It is the northernmost county of the province. It is part of the Tibetan traditional region of Amdo ...
in
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
. Flowing now along the northern edge of Amne Machin, the river reenters Qinghai and gradually curves north towards the Longyang Gorge at
Xinghai.
The valley section stretches from Longyang Gorge in Qinghai to Qingtong Gorge in Gansu. Steep cliffs line both sides of the river. The water bed is narrow and the average drop is large, so the flow in this section is extremely turbulent and fast. There are 20 gorges in this section, the most famous of these being the
Longyang, Jishi,
Liujia, Bapan, and
Qingtong gorges. The flow conditions in this section makes it the best location for
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
plants. The Yellow River exits Qinghai for the second and final time in these gorges and enters Gansu for the second time just before Liujia Gorge. Downstream from the Yanguo Gorge, the provincial capital of
Lanzhou
Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
is built upon the Yellow River's banks. The Yellow River flows northeasterly out of Gansu and into
Ningxia
Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in ...
before the Qingtong Gorge.
After emerging from the Qingtong Gorge, the river comes into a section of vast
alluvial plain
An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the sma ...
s, the
Yinchuan Plain and
Hetao Plain. In this section, the regions along the river are mostly
deserts
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one ...
and
grasslands
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natural ...
, with very few tributaries. The flow is slow. The Hetao Plain has a length of and width of . It is historically the most important irrigation plain along the Yellow River.
Middle reaches
![Luoyang-most](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Luoyang-most.przez.rzeke.LuoHe.przed.ujsciem.do.HuangHe.jpg)
The
Ordos Loop formed by an enormous twist of the Yellow River, beginning at
Zhongning County
Zhongning County is a county under the administration of Zhongwei city in west-central Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is the point at which the northern twist of the ...
in
Ningxia
Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in ...
and ending with a drastic eastward turn at its confluence with the
Wei at
Tongguan in
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
. However, the official division for the middle reaches of the river run from
Hekou in
Togtoh County
Togtoh County ( Mongolian: ''Toɣtaqu siyan'', Тогтох шянь; ) is a county of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, North China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, located o ...
,
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
, to
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...
,
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 ...
. The middle reaches are long, with a basin area of , 45.7% of the total, with a total elevation drop of , an average drop of 0.074%. There are 30 large tributaries along the middle reaches, and the water flow is increased by 43.5% on this stage. The middle reaches contribute 92% of the river's silts.
The middle stream of the Yellow River passes through the
Loess Plateau
The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surroun ...
, where substantial erosion takes place. The large amount of mud and sand discharged into the river makes the Yellow River the most
sediment
Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...
-laden river in the world. The highest recorded annual level of silts discharged into the Yellow River is 3.91 billion tons in 1933. The highest silt concentration level was recorded in 1977 at 920 kg/m
3 (57.4 lb/ft
3). These sediments later deposit in the slower lower reaches of the river, elevating the
river bed
A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow (channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood st ...
and creating the famous "river above ground". From Hekou to Yumenkou, the river passes through the longest series of continuous valleys on its main course, collectively called the Jinshan Valley. The abundant hydrodynamic resources stored in this section make it the second most suitable area to build hydroelectric power plants. The famous
Hukou Waterfall
The Hukou Waterfall (), is the largest waterfall on the Yellow River, the second largest waterfall in China (after the Huangguoshu Waterfall in Guizhou), and the world's largest yellow waterfall. It is located at the intersection of the province ...
is in the lower part of this valley on the border of
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
and
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
.
Lower reaches
In the lower reaches, from
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...
,
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 ...
to its mouth, a distance of , the river is confined to a
levee
A levee (), dike (American English), dyke (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is a structure that is usually soil, earthen and that often runs parallel (geometry), parallel to ...
-lined course as it flows to the northeast across the
North China Plain
The North China Plain or Huang-Huai-Hai Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bord ...
before emptying into the
Bohai Sea
The Bohai Sea () is a marginal sea approximately in area on the east coast of Mainland China. It is the northwestern and innermost extension of the Yellow Sea, to which it connects to the east via the Bohai Strait. It has a mean depth of a ...
. The basin area in this stage is only , a mere 3% of the total, because few tributaries add to the flow in this stage; nearly all rivers to the south drain into the
Huai River
The Huai River (), Postal Map Romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...
, whereas those to the north drain into 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 ...
. The Huai River Basin, for example, is separated from the Yellow River Basin by the south dike of the Yellow River. The total drop in elevation of the lower reaches is , with an average grade of 0.012%.
The silts received from the middle reaches form sediments here, elevating the river bed. Excessive sediment deposits have raised the riverbed several meters above the surrounding ground. At
Kaifeng
Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...
, Henan, the Yellow River is above the ground level.
Tributaries
![5922-Daxia-River-fall-into-Liujiaxia-Reservoir](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/5922-Daxia-River-fall-into-Liujiaxia-Reservoir.jpg)
Tributaries of the Yellow River listed from its source to its mouth include:
*
White River
*
Daxia River
The Daxia River () is a tributary of the Yellow River in southern Gansu Province in China's west.
The Daxia River starts in eastern Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai, then flows easterly through northern Gannan Tibetan Autonomo ...
*
Tao River
Tao River () is a right tributary of China's Yellow River. It starts in Xiqing Mountains () near the Gansu–Qinghai border, flows eastward across Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and then northward more or less along the border between Di ...
*
Huang Shui
**
Datong River
The Datong River (), known as the Julak Chu in Amdo Tibetan, is a river in China in the Yellow River basin. It has a total length of , and a basin area of . It has an average annual flow of 90.5 cubic meters per second. It was previously spelled T ...
*
Zhuanglang River
*
Zuli River
*
Qingshui River
*
Dahei River
*
Kuye River
*
Wuding River
The Wuding River (Chinese: 无定河) begins in the Ordos Desert in Shaanxi Province, Inner Mongolia and flows south into loess canyons and farmland. After around 100 miles it flows into the great Yellow River. The Wuding has its own tributaries, ...
*
Fen River
The Fen River drains the center of Shanxi Province, China. It originates in the Guancen Mountains of Ningwu County in northeast Shanxi, flows southeast into the basin of Taiyuan, and then south through the central valley of Shanxi before turni ...
*
Wei River
The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization.
The source of the Wei River is close to ...
(the Wei River is the largest of these tributaries)
*
Luo River
*
Qin River
*
Dawen River
Dawen River () or River Dawenhe is a river in Shandong Province, China.
The main branch of the river originates from Yiyuan, flows through Xintai, Laiwu, and merges with Chaiwen River at Dawenkou (, it literally translates into river mouth of ...
Characteristics
![Yellow River Delta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Yellow_River_Delta.jpeg)
The Yellow River is notable for the large amount of
silt
Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension with water. Silt usually has a floury feel when ...
it carries—1.6 billion tons annually at the point where it descends from the
Loess Plateau
The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surroun ...
. If it is running to the sea with sufficient volume, 1.4 billion tons are carried to the sea per year. One estimate gives 34 kilograms of silt per cubic meter as opposed to 10 for the
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
and 1 for the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
.
Its average discharge is said to be 2,110 cubic meters per second (32,000 for the Yangtze), with a maximum of 25,000 and minimum of 245. However, since 1972, it often runs dry before it reaches the sea. The low volume is due to increased agricultural
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
, increased by a factor of five since 1950. Water diverted from the river as of 1999 served 140 million people and irrigated 74,000 km
2 (48,572 mi
2) of land.
[China's Yellow River, Part 1](_blank)
''The New York Times'' (2007-05-30) The Yellow River delta totals 8,000 square kilometers (3,090 mi
2). However, with the decrease in silt reaching the sea, it has been reported to be shrinking slightly each year since 1996 through erosion.
The highest volume occurs during the rainy season from July to October, when 60% of the annual volume of the river flows. Maximum demand for irrigation is needed between March and June. In order to capture excess water for use when needed and for flood control and electricity generation, several dams have been built, but their expected life is limited due to the high silt load. A proposed
South–North Water Transfer Project
The South–North Water Transfer Project, also translated as the South-to-North Water Diversion Project () is a multi-decade infrastructure mega-project in China. Ultimately it aims to channel 44.8 billion cubic meters of fresh water annually f ...
involves several schemes to divert water from the
Yangtze River
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...
: one in the western headwaters of the rivers where they are closest to one another, another from the upper reaches of the
Han River, and a third using the route of the old
Grand Canal.
Due to its heavy load of silt the Yellow River is a
depositing streamthat is, it deposits part of its carried burden of soil in its bed in stretches where it is flowing slowly. These deposits elevate the riverbed which flows between
natural levees in its lower reaches. Should a flood occur, the river may break out of the levees into the surrounding lower flood plain and take
a new channel. Historically this has occurred about once every hundred years. In modern times, considerable effort has been made to strengthen levees and control floods.
Hydroelectric power dams
![Smxgongcheng zengmian](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/Smxgongcheng_zengmian.jpg)
Below is the list of
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
power stations built on the Yellow River, arranged according to the first year of operation (in brackets):
*
Sanmenxia Dam
The Sanmenxia Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the middle-reaches of the Yellow River near Sanmenxia Gorge on the border between Shanxi province and Henan Province, China. The dam is multi-purpose and was constructed for flood and ice control alon ...
(1960;
Sanmenxia
Sanmenxia (; postal: Sanmenhsia) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Henan Province, China. The westernmost prefecture-level city in Henan, Sanmenxia borders Luoyang to the east, Nanyang to the southeast, Shaanxi Province to the west and Sh ...
, Henan)
*
Sanshenggong Dam (1966)
*
Qingtong Gorge hydroelectric power station (1968;
Qingtongxia, Ningxia)
*
Liujiaxia Dam
The Liujiaxia Dam () is a major hydroelectric dam on the upper Yellow River, in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of China's Gansu Province. The dam and its hydroelectric facility (Liujiaxia Hydroelectric Station, ) are located in Liujia Gorge, or ...
(Liujia Gorge) (1974;
Yongjing County
Yongjing (, Xiao'erjing: ) is a county in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture in China's Gansu Province. The county seat, the town (''zhen'') of Liujiaxia (), is located about 80 km south-west from the provincial capital city, Lanzhou. As is t ...
, Gansu)
*
Lijiaxia Dam (1997) (
Jainca County
Jainca County, Chentsa County or Jainzha County (; ) is a county in Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, China, to Tibetans in the area known as Malho Prefecture, part of Amdo. There are six townships, three towns and a tot ...
, Qinghai)
*
Yanguoxia Dam (Yanguo Gorge) hydroelectric power station (1975; Yongjing County, Gansu)
*
Tianqiao Dam (1977)
*
Bapanxia Dam (Bapan Gorge) (1980;
Xigu District
Xigu District () is one of 5 districts of the prefecture-level city of Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, Northwest China. It is the westernmost part of the city of Lanzhou proper. Until 1952, Xigu was part of Gaolan County as a township ...
,
Lanzhou
Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
, Gansu)
*
Longyangxia Dam
The Longyangxia Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam at the entrance of the Longyangxia canyon on the Yellow River in Gonghe County, Qinghai Province, China. The dam is tall and was built for the purposes of hydroelectric power generation, irrig ...
(1992;
Gonghe County
Gonghe County (; ), also known as Kungho, is a county of Qinghai Province, China under the administration of Hainan Prefecture. The seat of Gonghe County is in the town of Qabqa.
Demographics
In 2006, 55% of the population were Tibetans, with ...
, Qinghai)
*
Da Gorge hydroelectric power station (1998)
*
Li Gorge hydroelectric power station (1999)
*
Wanjiazhai Dam (1999;
Pianguan County, Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia)
*
Xiaolangdi Dam (2001) (
Jiyuan
Jiyuan () is a sub-prefecture-level city in northwestern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders the prefecture-level cities of Jiaozuo and Luoyang to the east and southwest respectively, as well as the province of Shanxi to the n ...
, Henan)
*
Laxiwa Dam
The Laxiwa Dam () is an arch dam on the Yellow River in Qinghai Province, northwest China. It is downstream of the Longyangxia Dam and upstream from the Lijiaxia Dam. The main purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it supports ...
(2010) (
Guide County
Guide County is a county in the east of Qinghai Province, China. It is under the administration of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. In Tibetan it's known as Trika. In 2015 it had a population of 108,800, of which 37.8% Tibetans, and 16.1% o ...
, Qinghai)
*
Yangqu Dam (2016) (
Xinghai County
Xinghai County (; ) is county under the jurisdiction of Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, in the east-central part of Qinghai Province, People's Republic of China
Xinghai has an area of , and a 2001 population of .
Postal code: 813300; Area ...
, Qinghai)
*
Maerdang Dam (2018) (
Maqên County
Maqên or Maqin County is a county of Qinghai Province, China. It is under the administration of Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.
Name
The county is named for Anyê Maqên, the Tibetan name for a revered local mountain.
Administrative div ...
, Qinghai)
As reported in 2000, the 7 largest hydro power plants (Longyangxia, Lijiaxia, Liujiaxia, Yanguoxia, Bapanxia, Daxia and Qinglongxia) had the total installed capacity of 5,618 MW.
Crossings
![Yellow river pontoon bridge jinan 2008 05](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Yellow_river_pontoon_bridge_jinan_2008_05.jpg)
The main bridges and ferries by the province names in the order of downstream to upstream are:
Shandong
Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region.
Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...
*
Dongying Yellow River Bridge
*
Shengli Yellow River Bridge (
Dongying
Dongying (), a prefecture-level city, lies on the northern (Bohai Sea) coast of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. As of the 2020 census, 2,193,518 people resided within its administrative area of and 1,188,656 in the built-up area ...
)
*
Lijin Yellow River Bridge (Dongying)
*
Binzhou Yellow River Road-Railway Bridge
*
Binzhou Yellow River Highway Bridge
*
Binzhou–Laiwu Expressway Binzhou Yellow River Bridge (
Binzhou
Binzhou (, ), formerly Putai, is a prefecture-level city in northern Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China. The city proper sits on the northern bank of the Yellow River, while its administrative area straddles both sides of its ...
–
Zibo
Zibo (, ) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital Jinan to the west, Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou to the ...
)
*
Huiqing Yellow River Bridge (Binzhou–Zibo)
*
Jiyang Yellow River Bridge (
Jinan
Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...
)
*
G20 Qingdao–Yinchuan Expressway Jinan Yellow River Bridge (Jinan)
*
Jinan Yellow River Bridge
*
Luokou Yellow River Railway Bridge
The Luokou Yellow River Railway Bridge () is a railway bridge across the Yellow River in Jinan, Shandong, China, built in the early 20th century. The bridge represented a major engineering achievement that was unique in the region at the time. T ...
(Jinan)
*
Jinan Jianbang Yellow River Bridge
*
Beijing–Shanghai High-speed Railway Jinan Yellow River Bridge (Jinan–
Dezhou
Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest, Binzhou to the northeast, and the province of Hebei t ...
)
*
Beijing–Taipei Expressway Jinan Yellow River Bridge (Jinan–Dezhou)
*
Beijing–Shanghai Railway Jinan Yellow River New Bridge (Jinan–Dezhou)
*
Pingyin Yellow River Bridge (Jinan-
Liaocheng
Liaocheng (), is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Dezhou to the northeast, Tai'an to the south, and the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the west. The Grand ...
)
Shandong–
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 ...
*
Beijing–Kowloon Railway Sunkou Yellow River Bridge (
Jining
Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the northwest and south respectively. Jining ...
–
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 ...
)
*
Juancheng Yellow River Highway Bridge (
Heze
Heze, formerly known as Caozhou, is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively.
History
Caozhou was at the center ...
–Puyang)
*
Dongming Yellow River Highway Bridge
Dongming County in Heze Prefecture is the westernmost county of Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China. It borders Henan Province to the west across the Yellow River. Dongming County had a population of 677,563 in 1999.
History
Mo ...
(Heze–Puyang)
Henan
*
Kaifeng Yellow River Bridge (
Kaifeng
Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...
)
*
Zhengzhou Yellow River Bridge (
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...
)
Shanxi
Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
–Henan
*
Sanmen Yellow River Bridge Sanmen, may refer to:
* Sanmen County, a county in Taizhou, Zhejiang, China.
* Sanmen, Longsheng County, a town in Longsheng Various Nationalities Autonomous County, Guangxi, China.
{{Geodis ...
(
Sanmenxia
Sanmenxia (; postal: Sanmenhsia) is a prefecture-level city in the west of Henan Province, China. The westernmost prefecture-level city in Henan, Sanmenxia borders Luoyang to the east, Nanyang to the southeast, Shaanxi Province to the west and Sh ...
)
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
–Henan
*
Hancheng Yumenkou Yellow River Bridge
Ningxia
Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in ...
*
Yinchuan Yellow River Bridge (
Yinchuan
Yinchuan (, ; ) is the capital of the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China, and was the capital of the Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty. It has an area of and a total population of 2,859,074 according to the 2020 Chinese census, and its built- ...
)
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
*
Baotou Yellow River Bridge (
Baotou
Baotou (; mn, Buɣutu qota, Бугат хот) is the largest city by urban population in Inner Mongolia, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, as of the 2020 census, its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of its 5 urban districts is h ...
)
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
*
Lanzhou Yellow River Bridge
*
Zhongshan Bridge (
Lanzhou
Lanzhou (, ; ) is the capital and largest city of Gansu Province in Northwest China. Located on the banks of the Yellow River, it is a key regional transportation hub, connecting areas further west by rail to the eastern half of the country. H ...
)
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
*
Dari Yellow River Bridge
Fauna
Fish
![DV Paradise fish male 03](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/DV_Paradise_fish_male_03.jpg)
The Yellow River basin is rich in fish, being the home of more than 160 native species in 92
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
and 28
families
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...
, including 19 species found nowhere else in the world (
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
).
[ ] However, due to habitat loss, pollution,
introduced species
An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...
and overfishing many of the natives have declined or disappeared entirely; several are recognized as
threatened
Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensat ...
on China's Red List.
Dams and their reservoirs have increased the habitat for species of slow-moving and static waters, while it excluded species of flowing waters and prevented the up- and down-stream breeding migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
of others.[ In the 2000s, only 80 native fish in 63 genera and 18 families were recorded in the Yellow River basin.][ In contrast, introduced fish have risen in both abundance and number of species; only one introduced fish species was recorded in the 1960s when ichthyologist Li Sizhong published his original survey of fish fauna of the region, but by the 2000s there were 26.][
As typical of Asian rivers, ]Cyprinidae
Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...
is by far the most diverse family in the Yellow River basin. More than 85 cyprinids have been recorded in this basin, including species that still are present and species that no longer are present. Other highly diverse families are the stone loaches (more than 20 species), gobies
Gobiidae or gobies is a family of bony fish in the order Gobiiformes, one of the largest fish families comprising more than 2,000 species in more than 200 genera. Most of gobiid fish are relatively small, typically less than in length, and the ...
( 15 species), true loaches ( 10 species) and bagrid catfish
The Bagridae are a family of catfish that are native to Africa ('' Bagrus'') and Asia (all other genera) from Japan to Borneo. It includes about 245 species. These fish are commonly known as naked catfishes or bagrid catfishes.
Many large bagri ...
( 10 species).[ Although there are species found throughout much of the river, several have a more restricted range. For example, the uppermost, highest parts on the ]Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central Asia, Central, South Asia, South and East Asi ...
has relatively few native species, notably snowtrout and allies (''Gymnocypris
''Gymnocypris'' is a genus of fish in the family Cyprinidae endemic to China.
Species
There are currently 10 recognized species in this genus:
* ''Gymnocypris chilianensis'' S. C. Li & S. Y. Chang, 1974
* ''Gymnocypris chui'' T. L. Tchang, T ...
'', ''Gymnodiptychus
''Gymnodiptychus'' is a genus of cyprinid fish found in freshwater habitats in the highlands of China, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.Kustareva, L.A., and A.M. Naseka (2015). Fish diversity in Kyrgyzstan: Species composition, fisheries and management ...
'', '' Platypharodon'' and ''Schizopygopsis
''Schizopygopsis'' is a genus of cyprinid fish. Most species are endemic to river basins in the Himalayas and Qinghai–Tibet Plateau of China, but ''S. stoliczkai'' extends into the highlands of Afghanistan, Iran, northern India, Kyrgyzstan, Pa ...
''), and ''Triplophysa
''Triplophysa'' is a genus of fish in the family Nemacheilidae found mainly in and around the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. Currently, the genus is a mixed assemblage of species. Some lineages have been identified and treated as subgenera (''H ...
'' loaches. Of the 18 endemics in the Yellow River basin, 12 are (or were) found in the upper part.[ These in particular have become threatened and the fish fauna in many headwaters are now dominated by introduced ]salmonids
Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whit ...
.[ In contrast, the lowermost part of the river and its delta are home to many ]brackish
Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...
water or euryhaline
Euryhaline organisms are able to adapt to a wide range of salinities. An example of a euryhaline fish is the molly (''Poecilia sphenops'') which can live in fresh water, brackish water, or salt water.
The green crab (''Carcinus maenas'') is an e ...
species, like gobies (although there are also true freshwater gobies in the Yellow River), Asian seabasses, flatfish
A flatfish is a member of the Ray-finned fish, ray-finned demersal fish order (biology), order Pleuronectiformes, also called the Heterosomata, sometimes classified as a suborder of Perciformes. In many species, both eyes lie on one side of the ...
and ''Takifugu
''Takifugu'' is a genus of pufferfish, often better known by the Japanese name . There are 25 species belonging to the genus ''Takifugu'' and most of these are native to salt and brackish waters of the northwest Pacific, but a few species are ...
'' pufferfish.[
Fishing remains an important activity, but catches have declined. In 2007, it was noted that 40% fewer fish were caught in the Yellow River compared to earlier catches.][ Large cyprinids ( Asian carp, ]predatory carp
The predatory carp (''Chanodichthys erythropterus''), also known as the redfin culter or skygazer, is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Chanodichthys''. This East Asian freshwater cyprinid ranges from the Amur River south to Taiwan and ...
, Wuchang bream and Mongolian redfin) and large catfish (Amur
The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...
and Lanzhou catfish) are still present, but the largest species, the Chinese paddlefish
The Chinese paddlefish (''Psephurus gladius''; : literal translation: "white sturgeon"), also known as the Chinese swordfish, is an extinct species of fish that was formerly native to the Yangtze and Yellow River basins in China. With records of ...
, kaluga sturgeon and Yangtze sturgeon
Dabry's sturgeon (''Acipenser dabryanus''), also known as the Yangtze sturgeon, Chiangjiang sturgeon and river sturgeon, is a species of fish in the sturgeon family, Acipenseridae.Zhuang, P., et al. (1997)Biology and life history of Dabry's st ...
, have not been reported from the Yellow River basin in about 50 years. Other species that support important fisheries include white Amur bream
The white Amur bream (''Parabramis pekinensis'') is a species of cyprinid freshwater fish, of the monotypic genus ''Parabramis''. It is native to eastern Asia, where found from the Amur River basin in Russia south to Ningpo and Shanghai in Ch ...
, ayu, mandarin fish, ''Protosalanx
''Protosalanx'' is a small genus of icefishes that are native to China, Korea and Vietnam where they primarily inhabit coastal waters and nearby fresh waters. They are commercially fished and used for aquaculture in China, where also introduced ...
'' icefish, northern snakehead
The northern snakehead (''Channa argus'') is a species of snakehead fish native to China, Russia, North Korea, and South Korea, ranging from the Amur River to Hainan. It has been introduced to other regions, where it is considered invasive. In ...
, Asian swamp eel
The Asian swamp eel (''Monopterus albus''), also known as rice eel, ricefield eel, or rice paddy eel, is a commercially important, air-breathing species of fish in the family Synbranchidae. It occurs in East and Southeast Asia, where it is a ver ...
and others.[
Annual fishing ban has been implemented since 2018, covering the entire Yellow River basin from April 1 to June 30 each year. A total ban of fishing of natural fishes is being implemented in the upper reaches of the Yellow River starting April 1, 2022, covering ]Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
, Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
and Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
provinces, until the end of 2025. For the rest of the basin, the annual ban is extended to a period from April 1 to July 31.
Aquaculture
The Yellow River is generally less suitable for aquaculture
Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...
than the rivers of central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and southern China
South China () is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is that most of its citizens are not n ...
, such as the Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
or the Pearl River
The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...
, but aquaculture is also practiced in some areas along the Yellow River. An important aquaculture area is the riverside plain in Xingyang
Xingyang (), is a county-level city of Henan Province, South Central China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhengzhou. It is situated 15 kilometers to the west of Zhengzhou city proper. The population of Xingyang is ...
City, upstream from Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...
. Since the development of fish ponds started in Xingyang's riverside Wangcun Town in 1986, the pond systems in Wangcun have grown to the total size of 15,000 '' mu'' (10 km2), making the town the largest aquaculture center in North China
North China, or Huabei () is a List of regions of China, geographical region of China, consisting of the provinces of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Part of the larger region of Northern China (''Beifang''), it lies north ...
.
Two turtle species are native to the Yellow River basin: the Chinese pond turtle
''Mauremys reevesii'', commonly known as the Chinese pond turtle, the Chinese three-keeled pond turtle, or Reeves' turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae, a family which was formerly called Bataguridae. The species is native t ...
and Chinese softshell turtle
The Chinese softshell turtle (''Pelodiscus sinensis'') is a species of softshell turtle that is native to China (Inner Mongolia to Guangxi, including Hong Kong) and Taiwan, with records of escapees—some of which have established introduced po ...
. Both species—but especially the softshell—are widely farmed for food. A variety of the Chinese softshell turtle popular in Chinese gourmets is called the Yellow River turtle (). Nowadays most of the Yellow River turtles eaten in China's restaurants comes from turtle farm
Turtle farming is the practice of raising turtles and tortoises of various species commercially. Raised animals are sold for use as gourmet food, traditional medicine ingredients, or as pets. Some farms also sell young animals to other farms, e ...
s, which may or may not be near the Yellow River.
In 2007, construction started in Wangcun, 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 ...
on a large farm for raising this turtle variety. With the capacity for raising 5 million turtles a year, the facility was expected to become Henan's largest farm of this kind.
The huge, entirely aquatic Chinese giant salamander
The Chinese giant salamander (''Andrias davidianus'') is one of the largest salamanders and one of the largest amphibians in the world.[traditional medicine
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) comprises medical aspects of traditional knowledge that developed over generations within the folk beliefs of various societies, including indigenous peoples, before the ...]
, is native to the Yellow River and other Chinese rivers. It is farmed in large numbers in several parts of China and genetic studies have revealed that the captive stock mostly is of Yellow River origin. As these often are released back into the wild, the Yellow River type of the Chinese giant salamander has spread to other parts of China, which represents a problem to the other types.
Pollution
On 25 November 2008, Tania Branigan of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' filed a report "China's Mother River: the Yellow River", claiming that severe pollution has made one-third of China's Yellow River unusable even for agricultural or industrial use, due to factory discharges and sewage from fast-expanding cities. The Yellow River Conservancy Commission
{{Use mdy dates, date = February 2019
Yellow River Conservancy Commission (YRCC) is a government agency of Ministry of Water Resources of the People's Republic of China. YRCC takes responsibility of water administration of the Yellow River basin ...
had surveyed more than of the river in 2007 and said 33.8% of the river system registered worse than "level five" according to the criteria used by the UN Environment Program
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...
. Level five is unfit for drinking, aquaculture, industrial use, or even agriculture. The report said waste and sewage discharged into the system last year totaled 4.29b tons. Industry and manufacturing made up 70% of the discharge into the river with households accounting for 23% and just over 6% coming from other sources.
In culture
In ancient times, it was believed
''Believed'' is the third and final album by American pop singer-songwriter, actor Jamie Walters with his band, Elco. It was released through indie label Leisure Records.
Track listing
#"Evilyn" (Jamie Walters
James Leland Walters Jr. (born Ju ...
that the Yellow River flowed from Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
as a continuation of the Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...
. In a Chinese legend, Zhang Qian
Zhang Qian (; died c. 114) was a Chinese official and diplomat who served as an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the late 2nd century BC during the Han dynasty. He was one of the first official diplomats to bring back valuable inf ...
is said to have been commissioned to find the source of the Yellow River. After sailing up-river for many days, he saw a girl spinning and a cow herd. Upon asking the girl where he was, she presented him with her shuttle with instructions to show it to the astrologer Yan Junping (嚴君平). When he returned, the astrologer recognized it as the shuttle of the Weaving Girl (Vega
Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, an ...
), and, moreover, said that at the time Zhang received the shuttle, he had seen a wandering star interpose itself between the Weaving Girl and the cow herd (Altair
Altair is the brightest star in the constellation of Aquila and the twelfth-brightest star in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Aquilae, which is Latinised from α Aquilae and abbreviated Alpha Aql ...
).
The provinces of Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...
and 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 ...
derive their names from the Yellow River. Their names mean, respectively, "North of the River" and "South of the River", although the border between them historically has never been stable, and currently the border between Hebei and Henan is not the Yellow River, but the Zhang River
The Zhang River is a tributary of the Wei River in China. The river commences at the confluence of the rivers Qingzhang (or Clear Zhang, 清漳河) and Zhuozhang (or Turbid Zhang, 浊漳河), where between She county of Hebei and Linzhou of ...
instead.
;Mother river, China's Sorrow, and cradle of Chinese civilization.
Traditionally, it is believed that the Chinese civilization originated in the Yellow River basin. The Chinese refer to the river as "the Mother River" and "the cradle of the Chinese civilization".
During the long history of China
The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...
, the Yellow River has been considered a blessing as well as a curse and has been nicknamed both "China's Pride" and "China's Sorrow".
;River of disaster
Despite Yellow River having a central role in the development of Chinese civilization on North China Plain, flooding and constant rerouting of the river have also caused many great disaster to population along the river for long, hence it is also known as a River of disaster (), with the disaster brought by the River said as history of disaster in the development of Chinese civilization, and the management of Yellow River have been a great political trouble to various Chinese dynasties throughout the history since ancient time. 黄河安澜呼唤生态保护和高质量发展
/ref>
;When the Yellow River flows clear
Sometimes the Yellow River is poetically called the "Muddy Flow" (). The Chinese idiom "when the Yellow River flows clear" is used to refer to an event that will never happen and is similar to the English expression "when pigs fly".
"The Yellow River running clear" was reported as a good omen during the reign of the Yongle Emperor
The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424.
Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...
, along with the appearance of such auspicious legendary beasts as ''qilin
The qilin (; ) is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. Qilin are a specific type of the mythological family of on ...
'' (an African giraffe brought to China by a Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
embassy aboard Zheng He
Zheng He (; 1371–1433 or 1435) was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family and later adopted the surname Zheng conferred ...
's ships in 1414) and ''zouyu
Zouyu (), also called ''zouwu'' () or ''zouya'' (), is a legendary creature mentioned in old Chinese literature. The earliest known appearance of the characters (''zou yu'') is in the '' Book of Songs'', but J.J.L. Duyvendak describes that the ...
'' (not positively identified) and other strange natural phenomena.
See also
* Central Plain (China)
Zhongyuan (), the Central Plain(s), also known as Zhongtu (, lit. 'central land') and Zhongzhou (, lit. 'central region'), commonly refers to the part of the North China Plain surrounding the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River, centere ...
* Geography of China
China has great physical diversity. The eastern plains and southern coasts of the country consist of fertile lowlands and foothills. They are the location of most of China's agricultural output and human population. The southern areas of th ...
* He Bo
Hebo () is the god of the Yellow River (''Huang He''). The Yellow River is the main river of northern China, one of the world's major rivers and a river of great cultural importance in China. This is reflected in Chinese mythology by the tales s ...
* List of rivers in China
This incomplete list of rivers that flow through China is organized according to the body of water into which each river empties, beginning with the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast, moving clockwise on a map and ending with the Arctic Ocean.
Se ...
* North China Plain
The North China Plain or Huang-Huai-Hai Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bord ...
*
* Water resources of China
The water resources of China are affected by both severe water shortages and severe growing population and rapid economic development as well as lax environmental oversight have increased in a large scale the water demand and pollution. China ...
* Yellow River Cantata
The ''Yellow River Cantata'' () is a cantata by Chinese composer Xian Xinghai (1905–1945). Composed in Yan'an in early 1939 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the work was inspired by a patriotic poem by Guang Weiran, which was also adapted ...
* Yellow River Map
The Yellow River Map, Scheme, or Diagram, also known by its Chinese name as the Hetu, is an ancient Chinese diagram that appears in myths concerning the invention of writing by Cangjie and other culture heroes. It is usually paired with the ...
* Yellow River Piano Concerto
The ''Yellow River Piano Concerto'' () is a piano concerto arranged by a collaboration between Chinese composers, including Yin Chengzong and Chu Wanghua, and based on the ''Yellow River Cantata'' by composer Xian Xinghai. It was originally dire ...
* Yellow Sea
The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour terms ...
* Red River (disambiguation)
References
External links
The DELIGHT Project, Delta Information System for Geoenvironmental and Human Habitat Transition
Listen to the ''Yellow River Ballade''
from the Yellow River Cantata
The ''Yellow River Cantata'' () is a cantata by Chinese composer Xian Xinghai (1905–1945). Composed in Yan'an in early 1939 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, the work was inspired by a patriotic poem by Guang Weiran, which was also adapted ...
First raft descent
of the Yellow River from its source in Qinghai to its mouth (1987)
; Works from the National Central Library
The National Central Library (NCL; ) is the national library of the Taiwan, Republic of China (Taiwan), which is located at No. 20, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 10001, Taiwan. It will soon have a subsidiary called Southe ...
about the Yellow River
*
Illustrated Work on the Storage and Drainage Activities at the Lakes and Rivers of the Yellow River and the Grand Canal
General Atlas Depicting the Conditions of the Yellow River Dykes in Henan Province
{{Authority control
Drainage basins of the Pacific Ocean
North China Plain
Rivers of Gansu
Rivers of Henan
Rivers of Inner Mongolia
Rivers of Ningxia
Rivers of Qinghai
Rivers of Shaanxi
Rivers of Shandong
Rivers of Shanxi
Rivers of Sichuan