1642 Kaifeng Flood
Encyclopedia
The 1642 Yellow River flood or Kaifeng flood was a man-made disaster principally located in Kaifeng
, now a prefecture-level city in the People's Republic of China
's Henan
province and a former capital of China. The city is located on the south bank of the Yellow River
, which has been prone to violent flooding throughout its history. The 1642 flood, however, was not natural but directed by the Ming
governor of the city in the hopes of using the flood waters to break the six-month siege the city had endured from the peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng.
The dikes were burst, but the water destroyed Kaifeng. Over 300,000 of the 378,000 residents were killed by the flood and ensuing peripheral disasters such as famine and plague. When counted as a "natural disaster", the flood is currently considered the 7th deadliest in history.
After this disaster the city was abandoned until 1662 when it was rebuilt under the rule of the celebrated Qing emperor Kangxi. It remained a rural backwater city of diminished importance thereafter and experienced several other less devastating floods.
The flood also brought an end to the "golden age" of the Jewish settlement of China, said to span from about 1300 to 1642. China's small Jewish population (estimated at around 5,000 people) was centered at Kaifeng and the flood reduced the number of families from around 12 to 7. Further, the flood destroyed the synagogue and most of the community's irreplaceable Torah
.
Kaifeng
Kaifeng , known previously by several names , is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, Central China. Nearly 5 million people live in the metropolitan area...
, now a prefecture-level city in the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
's Henan
Henan
Henan , is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the central part of the country. Its one-character abbreviation is "豫" , named after Yuzhou , a Han Dynasty state that included parts of Henan...
province and a former capital of China. The city is located on the south bank of the Yellow River
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
, which has been prone to violent flooding throughout its history. The 1642 flood, however, was not natural but directed by the Ming
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
governor of the city in the hopes of using the flood waters to break the six-month siege the city had endured from the peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng.
The dikes were burst, but the water destroyed Kaifeng. Over 300,000 of the 378,000 residents were killed by the flood and ensuing peripheral disasters such as famine and plague. When counted as a "natural disaster", the flood is currently considered the 7th deadliest in history.
After this disaster the city was abandoned until 1662 when it was rebuilt under the rule of the celebrated Qing emperor Kangxi. It remained a rural backwater city of diminished importance thereafter and experienced several other less devastating floods.
The flood also brought an end to the "golden age" of the Jewish settlement of China, said to span from about 1300 to 1642. China's small Jewish population (estimated at around 5,000 people) was centered at Kaifeng and the flood reduced the number of families from around 12 to 7. Further, the flood destroyed the synagogue and most of the community's irreplaceable Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
.