Study On The Qinglonggang Burst Of The Yellow River In The Forty-sixth Year Of Qianlong Period

In July of the forty-sixth year of Qianlong’s reign,the Yellow River broke in Qinglonggang,Yifeng County,Henan Province.After the burst,the yellow water overflowed and diverted,causing severe damage in Henan,Shandong and Jiangsu provinces.In addition,canal traffic was badly affected.After the burst occurred,the Qing court initiated relief procedures in accordance with the usual practice to relieve the victims,from disaster survey and household examination to the implementation of relief measures,which showed the effectiveness of the state’s response to the famine in the late Qianlong period.At the same time,the Qing court carried out the project of robbing and blocking the Qinglonggang burst.During this period,the Yellow River management mechanism was still in normal operation and the Qing court could adjust it appropriately according to the current situation of the burst.For example,recruiting men from neighboring provinces,purchasing materials from appropriations commissioners,and exempting river miners from using silver.However,it can not be ignored that the problems appeared in the process of its control,such as slack river protection project,negligence of river personnel,corruption of river fees and so on,which indicated that the trend of slack river protection and the malady of river service field was inevitable in the late Qianlong period.Faced with the failure of the burst,Ji Huang,co-organizer and minister of Civil Affairs,proposed that the Yellow River should return to its former path,which caused a discussion in the Qing court.After weighing the advantages and disadvantages,the Qing court finally rejected the proposal of returning the Yellow River to its former path,and still tried its best to block the Qinglonggang burst.In order to block Qinglonggang burst,Emperor Qianlong and river officials proposed to open a new diversion river in the south bank to reduce the drainage potential and assist the plugging project.They finally decided to build a south embankment from Lanyang Sanbao to Shangqiu Shibao and open a new diversion river of about one hundred and seventy miles in length,so that the yellow water could be poured into the mainstream of the Yellow river from Shangqiu Qibao.In March of the forty-eighth year of Qianlong’s reign,the new diversion river opened successfully,and Qinglonggang burst successfully blocked.The impact of Qinglonggang burst is manifold.First,the Qing court learned from the experience and lessons of managing Qinglonggang burst to adjust and improve the Management system of the Yellow River.Secondly,after the yellow water receded,the allocation of the new silt in the embankment became an urgent problem to be solved by the Qing government.At the same time,the relocation of the county is also the serious impact of Qinglonggang burst.Including kaocheng county relocation——in order to block the breach,the Qing court built dikes and opened a new diversion river on the southern bank of the Yellow River,which led to the relocation of Kaocheng to Guyang along the way;and relocation of Hepei County——due to frequent flooding,the whole city had to be relocated to Qishan.Third,Qinglonggang burst has caused serious harm,and the plugging project has been repeatedly stung and collapsed,so that the plugging is delayed.The Qing court relied on the gods to manage the river and send Amida et al to the Source of the Yellow River to offer sacrifices to the river god for the peace of the Yellow River.Needless to say,the development and completion of Qinglonggang plugging project based on the national organization and fund-raising of personnel and materials needed in the plugging of the burst by the state and the control and coordination of the major issues involved in the river engineering.Throughout the whole process of Qinglonggang burst governance,it is not difficult to see that the Yellow River governance system in the late Qianlong period could still operate normally,the Qing court could also take effective measures to cope with it,and the national governance efficiency remained.