Study On Flood And Drought Disaster In Kaifeng Prefecture In Ming Dynasty

Henan is located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the south of the North China Plain.The terrain is high in the west and low in the east.The terrain is flat.There are many rivers in Henan,and the Yellow River runs through it.Affected by its geographical location,it has always been a natural disaster prone place.In the Ming Dynasty,natural disasters ran through the whole dynasty,especially floods and droughts.Kaifeng Prefecture was the headquarters of the Chengxuan Administrative Envoy in Henan Province at that time.It was an administrative region with the largest area,the largest population and the most developed economy among the various prefectures in Henan Province,and it suffered the most typical flood and drought disasters.This paper takes the flood and drought disasters in Kaifeng Prefecture of Ming Dynasty as the research object,studies the geographical environment,the general situation,causes and effects of flood and drought disasters in Kaifeng Prefecture of that period,and on this basis conducts systematic research on the relief measures of the government and folk,in order to intuitively understand the general situation of flood and drought disasters in Kaifeng Prefecture of Ming Dynasty,and provides reference for modern disaster relief and mitigation.From the perspective of spatial and temporal distribution,the flood season in Kaifeng Prefecture was mainly concentrated in summer and autumn,and the spatial distribution characteristics were less in the west,east and north,and more in the south.Drought mainly occurs in spring and summer,and its spatial distribution characteristics show that the south is the most drought,followed by the east and west,and the north is the least drought.By analyzing the causes,it can be concluded that the change of precipitation and the low flat terrain are the natural causes of flood and drought disasters in Kaifeng Prefecture,and the change of population base,the destruction of ecological environment and the disorder of social order together constitute the social factors of flood and drought disasters.The destruction of agricultural production,serious loss of population,frequent secondary disasters and prominent social problems are the main impacts of flood and drought disasters.In terms of social response,the government has adopted relief measures such as eliminating tax on grain,regulating the Yellow River,relieving victims,setting up reserve warehouse and disaster.The people have taken such measures as transporting millet,donating grain and giving porridge.Due to the disconnection of government relief and rampant corruption in the process of disaster relief,the disaster relief effect is not good,which has a profound impact on people’s production and life and even social development.