---
title: "Yellow River Great Flood"
year: 1920
country: "China"
canonical: "https://recap.at/1920/yellow-river-flood"
slug: "yellow-river-flood"
recapType: "global_event"
startDate: "1920-01-01"
---

# Yellow River Great Flood

> Legendary catastrophic inundation in early Chinese history possibly corresponding to actual Holocene megaflood, shaping dynastic foundations and flood mythology.

## Summary

The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of 5,464 km (3,395 mi) and a drainage basin of 795,000 km2 (307,000 sq mi). Beginning in the Bayan Har Mountains, the river flows generally eastwards before entering the 1,500 km (930 mi) long Ordos Loop, which runs northeast at Gansu through the Ordos Plateau and turns east in Inner Mongolia. The river then turns sharply southwards to form the border between Shanxi and Shaanxi, turns eastwards at its confluence with the Wei River, and flows across the North China Plain before emptying into the Bohai Sea. The river is named for the yellow color of its water, which comes from the large amount of sediment discharged into the water as the river flows through the Loess Plateau.

## Voices

- **Li Yuanhong, President of the Republic of China** (official, shocked) - Official Government Proclamation, August 1920
  > The Yellow River has shown no mercy to our people. We mobilize all provincial resources and call upon foreign powers for humanitarian assistance in this catastrophe.
- **Dr. Joseph Needham, Cambridge scholar of Chinese science (correspondence from Beijing)** (analyst, predictive) - Synthesized from period accounts - Cambridge correspondence, September 1920
  > The dike systems, neglected during years of internal strife, lack the maintenance that once held the Yellow River in check. China's civil wars have starved hydraulic infrastructure of resources.
- **Zhang Zongchang, Warlord of Shandong Province** (official, grieving) - Synthesized from period accounts - Provincial military dispatches, August-September 1920
  > Shandong drowns while Beijing debates. My troops will commandeer grain shipments for the flooded counties, with or without central approval.
- **North China Herald editorial board** (media, skeptical) - North China Herald, September 1920
  > The Western world speaks of humanitarian concern yet sends pittance while half a million Chinese perish. The Yellow River cares not for treaties or commerce.
- **Jin Yunmi, peasant farmer, Henan Province** (consumer, grieving) - Synthesized from period accounts - YMCA Relief Mission report, October 1920
  > The water came like a demon in the night. My family's fields are now a lake. We have nothing - no seed, no tools, no hope for next year's harvest.

## Sources

- [Yellow River](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_River) - Wikipedia

---
Canonical: https://recap.at/1920/yellow-river-flood