Yellow River

The second largest river in China. It has a total length of 5,460 km and a drainage area of ​​752,400 square km. It originates in the Yogilan Lebu Basin at an altitude of about 4,500 meters on the eastern foot of Mount Yalladatze (5,442 meters) in the central Bayinhar Mountains in Qinghai Province, and its source is called Machu (meaning Peacock River in Tibetan). The Machu leaves the basin, passes through the Manka Gorge, passes through a swamp called the Xingxuhai, then passes through the Gyallin Nuur and Olin Nuur, flows along the southern foot of the Amnematin Mountains (also known as the Stone Pile Mountains), reaches the west of Zuoge in Sichuan Province, then suddenly changes course to the northwest, passes through the southwestern tip of Gansu Province north of the Amnematin Mountains, enters Qinghai Province again, flows north through eastern Qinghai Province, then changes course to the east, flows east south of Xining and reaches Lanzhou in Gansu Province. It then flows northeast through the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, enters the Ordos region of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, flows east near Baotou, turns south at Togut, flows south at the border between Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, turns almost at a right angle at Tongguan and flows east again, enters Henan Province, flows north of Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Kaifeng, turns northeast near Lankao County, passes north of Jinan in Shandong Province, and flows into the Bohai Sea at Kenli County.

Thus, the Yellow River, with its frequent and sudden changes of course, flows through seven provinces and two autonomous regions: Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, and Shandong, and its basin was an important cradle of Chinese civilization. As the fossils of the Lamtian Man found in Shaanxi Province indicate, ancient humans lived in the Yellow River basin, and after the Paleolithic period, the Neolithic period saw the blossoming of painted pottery culture, as seen in the ruins of Banpo in Xi'an and Yangshao in Henan Province, and about 3,500 years ago, the bronze culture of the Yin Dynasty flourished. Since then, it has been the political, economic, and cultural center of China throughout the successive dynasties of the Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, and Northern Song dynasties.

The vast North China Plain was formed mainly by the accumulation of sediment carried by the Yellow River, but on the other hand, no other river in the world has brought such severe disasters to the people along its basin as the Yellow River. The large amount of mud carried by the Yellow River raised the riverbed above the plains on both sides, turning the river channel in the lower reaches into an overflowing river, and often causing major floods. The Yellow River itself frequently underwent major changes in its channel between Tianjin in the north and the Huai River in the south. The source of this large amount of mud was the Loess Plateau, which lies in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. Before liberation, it was thought that preventing the outflow of this mud was unthinkable, and Yellow River flood control measures were mainly aimed at how to quickly drain the mud into the sea or how to weaken the force of the muddy Yellow River. However, although there was temporary success in controlling the muddy Yellow River, which was described as "one tou water and six sho mud," it was not a long-lasting success, and it was lamented that "it will take a hundred years for the river to clear." Some foreigners even considered the Yellow River to be the source of "China's sorrow."

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese people took on this difficult task, working to prevent mud runoff from the Loess Plateau in parallel with preventing flooding downstream. This is a project known as soil and water conservation. Of course, it is not easy to succeed in forestry control projects in the loess belt, which has been turning into badlands for thousands of years, and the Yellow River still has a large amount of mud even today. However, the results of soil and water conservation have not been completely ineffective, and since liberation the Yellow River has never burst its banks. In the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, large dams such as Longyangxia, Liujiaxia, Shiopanxia, ​​Badanxia, ​​Qingtongxia, and Sanmenxia have been completed, and as of 1997, Lijiaxia Dam is under construction. The Liujiaxia Dam's power station has an output of 1.16 million kilowatts, Longyangxia 1.28 million kilowatts, and Lijiaxia 1.5 million kilowatts. Sanmenxia Dam has a storage capacity of 30 billion cubic meters, but because it is not usually filled to capacity to drain silt, and instead focuses on flushing silt downstream, its output is low at 250,000 kilowatts. The Xiaolangdi Dam is currently under construction near Luoyang for flood control. Irrigation using water from the Yellow River is also popular in the lower reaches, with rice paddy fields being developed near Zhengzhou, and the People's Victory Canal supplies water to the Wei River. Several irrigation canals have been opened in the Ningxia Plain in the middle reaches, near Wuyuan in Inner Mongolia, and around Xi'an on the tributary Wei River. The Dongping Lake flood control basin has also been built near the border between Shandong and Henan provinces to regulate floods. As for underground resources, there is the Shengli oil field near the river mouth, and the Zhongyuan oil field is also being developed near Puyang in Henan province. The coasts of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the middle reaches have large coal deposits, along with those of Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces. The agricultural products in the middle and lower reaches are wheat, millet, and cotton, and groundnuts are cultivated in the old riverbed until the mid-19th century, and sesame and tobacco are also produced. However, although it is a large river, water transportation is not convenient, and boats can only pass through in limited areas. In recent years, in years with little rainfall, there has been a lack of running water in the lower reaches, and there have been times when the riverbed has dried up, making securing water an important issue.

[Kono Michihiro]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国第二の大河。全長5460キロメートル、流域面積75万2400平方キロメートル。青海(せいかい／チンハイ)省バインハル山脈中部のヤッラダッズェ山（5442メートル）東麓(とうろく)の標高4500メートル前後のヨギランレブ盆地に源を発し、源流はマチュ（チベット語で孔雀(くじゃく)河の意）とよばれる。マチュは盆地を出てマンカ峡谷を抜け、星宿海(せいしゅくかい)とよぶ沼沢地を経由、さらにギャリンノール、オリンノールを抜けて、アムネマチン山脈（積石(せきせき)山脈ともいう）の南麓を流れて、四川(しせん／スーチョワン)省ズオゲ西方に達したのち、急に流路を北西に変え、アムネマチン山脈の北側の甘粛(かんしゅく／カンスー)省南西端を通ってふたたび青海省に入り、青海省東部を北流して、さらに流路を東に変え、西寧(せいねい／シーニン)南方を東流して甘粛省蘭州(らんしゅう／ランチョウ)に至る。それより北東流して寧夏(ねいか／ニンシヤ)回族自治区を貫流、内モンゴル自治区のオルドス地方に入り、パオトウ付近を東流、トグトに至って南下し、山西(さんせい／シャンシー)、陝西(せんせい／シャンシー)両省境を南流、潼関(とうかん／トンコワン)でほぼ直角に流れを変えて東流する。河南(かなん／ホーナン)省に入り洛陽(らくよう／ルオヤン)、鄭州(ていしゅう／チョンチョウ)、開封(かいほう／カイフォン)の北方を流れ、蘭考(らんこう／ランカオ)県付近より北東に方向を転じ、山東(さんとう／シャントン)省の済南(さいなん／チーナン)北方を経て墾利(こんり)県で渤海(ぼっかい／ポーハイ)に流入する。

　このように黄河は、たびたび大きく、急激に流向を転じながら、青海、四川、甘粛、寧夏回族、内モンゴル、山西、陝西、河南、山東の7省・2自治区を貫流しているが、その流域は中国文明の重要な揺籃(ようらん)の地であった。陝西省で発見された藍田(らんでん)原人の化石が示すように黄河流域には古人類が生活していたし、旧石器時代を経て新石器時代には西安(せいあん／シーアン)半坡(はんぱ)、河南省仰韶(ぎょうしょう)の遺跡にみられるように彩陶文化が花開き、約3500年前には殷(いん)朝の青銅器文化が栄えた。それ以後、周、秦(しん)、漢、隋(ずい)、唐、北宋(ほくそう)の歴代にわたり中国の政治、経済、文化の中心であった。

　主として黄河の運ぶ土砂の堆積(たいせき)によって広大な華北平原が形成されたが、その反面、黄河ほど流域の人民に過酷な災害をもたらした河川もまた世界でその比をみない。黄河の運ぶ大量の泥土は河床を両側の平地より上昇させて、下流部の河道を天井川化し、しばしば大水害を引き起こし、黄河自体も北は天津(てんしん／ティエンチン)付近から南は淮河(わいが／ホワイホー)までの間でたびたび大幅な河道の変化を生じた。このような大量の泥土の供給源となったのが、黄河中流部に横たわる黄土(こうど／ホワントゥー)高原であった。解放前にはこの泥土の流出を防止することは思いもよらぬことと考えられ、黄河治水対策はもっぱら、いかにして早く泥土を海に流し出すか、または黄河の濁流の勢いを弱めるかに求められた。しかし「水一斗泥六升」と称せられた黄河の濁流を治めることは、一時的成功は得られたにしても長続きさせることはできず、「百年河清を待つ」と嘆かれることにもなった。外国人のなかには黄河を「中国の悲しみ」の源泉とする者さえあったのである。

　新中国成立後、中国人民はこの難事業に挑戦し、下流部の氾濫(はんらん)防止と並行して、黄土高原からの泥土の流出の防止に取り組んでいる。水土保持とよばれる事業がそれである。もちろん、数千年にわたって悪地（バッドランド）化が進行してきた黄土地帯の治山事業は、簡単に成功しうるものではなく、いまもなお黄河の含泥量は大きい。しかし、水土保持の成果もまったく無ではないし、解放後黄河は一度も決壊には至っていない。また黄河上・中流の峡谷部には竜羊峡(りゅうようきょう／ロンヤンシヤ)、劉家峡(りゅうかきょう／リウチヤシヤ)、塩鍋峡(えんかきょう／イエンクオシア)、八盤峡(はちばんきょう／パーパンシヤ)、青銅峡(せいどうきょう／チントンシヤ)、三門峡(さんもんきょう／サンメンシヤ)などの大型ダムが完成し、1997年現在李家峡(りかきょう／リーチヤシヤ)ダムが建設中。劉家峡ダムの発電所は出力116万キロワット、竜羊峡は128万キロワット、李家峡は150万キロワットの大型発電所である。三門峡ダムは貯水能力は300億立方メートルに達するが、排泥のため通常は満水にせず、泥を下流に流すことに重点を置いているため、出力は25万キロワットと低い。現在洪水調節のために洛陽近郊に小浪底ダムを建設中である。下流部では黄河の水による灌漑(かんがい)も盛んで、鄭州付近では水田化が進み、人民勝利渠(きょ)により衛河(えいが／ウェイホー)に水を補給している。中流部の寧夏平原、内モンゴルの五原(ごげん／ウーユワン)付近、支流渭河(いが／ウェイホー)の西安周辺では灌漑水路が何本も開かれている。山東・河南省境付近には東平湖遊水地もつくられ、洪水を調節している。地下資源としては河口付近に勝利油田があり、また中原(ちゅうげん)油田も河南省濮陽(ぼくよう／プーヤン)付近に開発されている。中流部の内モンゴル自治区、寧夏回族自治区内の沿岸には陜西、山西両省とともに石炭の埋蔵が多い。中・下流域の農産物は小麦、雑穀のほかワタ作が盛んで、19世紀なかばまでの旧河道ではラッカセイが栽培され、ゴマ、タバコも産する。ただ大河であるのに水運の便はよくなく、局部的に船が通じるにすぎない。また最近では降雨の少ない年には下流部で流水が欠乏し、河床が干上がってしまう時期がみられ、水の確保が重要課題となっている。

［河野通博］

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