HUANG HO

The Huang Ho basin and the Yangtze River basin and their drainage networks. also spelled Hwang Ho, Pinyin Huang He, English Yellow River, river of China, often called the cradle of Chinese civilization. It is the second longest river of China (3,395 miles [5,464 kilometres]) and drains the country's third largest basin, an area of some 290,000 square miles (750,000 square kilometres). The river rises in Tsinghai province on the Plateau of Tibet and crosses six other provinces and two autonomous regions in its course to the Po Hai (Gulf of Chili), an embayment of the Yellow Sea. In its lower reaches it is a shifting, turbulent, silt-laden stream that often overflows its banks and sends floodwaters across the North China Plain. For this reason, it has been given such names as China's Sorrow and The Ungovernable. The word huang (yellow) is a reference to the fine loess sediments that the river carries to the sea. The Huang Ho basin has an enormous populationexceeded by only a small number of countriesand the river and its tributaries flow past some of China's oldest cities, including Lan-chou, Pao-t'ou, Sian (Hsi-an), T'ai-yan, Lo-yang, Cheng-chou, K'ai-feng, and Chi-nan (Tsinan). Junks on the silt-laden Huang Ho near Cheng-chou, Honan province, China. also spelled Hwang Ho, Pinyin Huang He, English Yellow River the second longest river of China, flowing 3,395 miles (5,464 km) from the Plateau of Tibet eastward in a winding course to the Po Hai (Gulf of Chihli) in the Yellow Sea. The Huang Ho passes through six provinces and two autonomous regions. In its lower reaches it is a shifting, turbulent, silt-laden stream that often overflows its banks and sends floodwaters across the North China Plain. The chief cities of the region are Lan-chou, Pao-t'ou, Sian (Hsi-an), T'ai-yan, Lo-yang, Cheng-chou, K'ai-feng, and Chi-nan (Tsinan). The Huang Ho drains an area of 288,000 square miles (745,000 square km). The river system is divided into three distinct parts: the mountainous upper basin, the plateau of the middle basin, and the plain of the lower basin. In the upper basin the Huang Ho flows generally eastward, cutting deep valleys into the highlands. The middle section flows mainly through the Loess Plateau, making a northern loop through the Ordos Desert. The river cuts deeply into the sand and loess deposits, carrying away great quantities of material. The two longest tributariesthe Wei River of Shensi province and the Fen River of Shansi provincejoin the Huang Ho in the middle basin. Downstream the lower basin becomes fan-shaped as it broadens out across the North China Plain, China's rice granary. In the past 4,000 years several radical changes have occurred in the lower Huang Ho's course; at different times the river has entered the Yellow Sea at points as far apart as 500 miles (800 km). The mean annual discharge of the Huang Ho is about 54,000 cubic feet (1,530 cubic m) per second, but large yearly and seasonal variations in discharge occur. The water supply of the system is dependent on rains brought by the monsoon winds from July to October, as well as on the flow from melting mountain snow. The Huang Ho is the world's muddiest river, carrying more than 2 pounds of silt per cubic foot of water (78 grams per litre). Irrigation and flood-control works have been maintained on the river for centuries. Modern development has included dams near Lan-chou and Cheng-chou that exploit the river's hydroelectric potential. Additional reading Important sources on the Huang Ho include Su Xiaokang (Hsiao-k'ang Su) and Wang Luxiang (Lu-hsiang Wang), Deathsong of the River, trans. and ed. by Richard W. Bodman and Pin P. Wan (1991), which presents commentary, interpretation, and English-language transcription of the precedent-setting documentary on the river's role in Chinese civilization as well as in modern development. Lynn Pan, Into China's Heart: An Emigr's Journey Along the Yellow River (1985), is a valuable look at life in the basin. Pictographic appreciations are given in Along the Yellow River (1975); and Kevin Sinclair, The Yellow River: A 5000 Year Journey Through China (1987). K.J. Gregory, The Yellow River (1980), presents a brief descriptive survey. Charles Greer, Water Management in the Yellow River Basin of China (1979), combines treatment of general hydrology, historical management, and the inception of the modern basinwide, multiple-purpose project. Lucien M. Brush, M. Gordon Wolman, and Huang Bing-wei (Bing-wei Huang) (eds.), Taming the Yellow River: Silt and Floods (1989), provides more focused analyses by technical specialists. Charles E. Greer