How Geography "Mapped" East AsiaPart One: China

TOP: The Stalagmite Gang peaks at the East Sea area of Huangshan mountain in China. Photo by: Education Images/

UIG via Getty Images MIDDLE: Crescent Moon Lake and oasis in the middle of the desert. Photo by: Tom Thai, Flickr.

BOTTOM: Hukou Waterfall in the Yellow River. Photo by: Wikimedia

The first in a two-part series

How did geography determine where cities would form? What role did climate play in the

appearance of powerful states in certain areas? Let’s begin to answer these questions with

a story about floods in China.

China’s two greatest rivers are the Yangtze and the Yellow. For as long as we can measure

the historical and geological record, they have flooded regularly.

Still, nothing can compare to the devastating floods of August 19, 1931. The Yangtze River

rose an amazing 53 feet in just one day. The resulting flood was one of the most

destructive ever seen. The floods were caused by monsoon rains, heavy snowmelt, and

unexpected rains. They pounded huge areas of southern China.

By Craig Benjamin, Big History Project, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.25.17

Word Count 1,225

This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com. 1

All this water poured into the Yangtze. The river rose and burst its banks for hundreds ofmiles. It was devastating. Twenty-four million people fled their homes. More than 140,000people drowned. An area the size of Oklahoma was underwater, and the southern capitalcity of Nanjing was flooded for six weeks.

The power of nature

This is the power of nature. People have understood it throughout history. In China, there isa popular saying that expresses this idea: “Heaven nourishes and Heaven destroys.”

Emperors have tried to control the ups and downs of the environment. But natural cycleshave strongly influenced the foundations of Chinese and East Asian culture. The behaviorof rivers has become a symbol for the constant change of natural forces. Nature is bothcreator and destroyer.

Historians believe that understanding geography and climate is necessary to study anycivilization. In this essay, we look at the physical geography of China. The land itself hasinfluenced the country's cultural and political history.

China and the United States share some similar geography. They are about the same size.Both reside in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Both have long coastlinesand diverse topographies.

China is located in eastern Asia, alongside the Pacific Ocean. This region is also home tothe Korean Peninsula and the island nation of Japan. China is the third-largest country inthe world. Only Russia and Canada are bigger. China's total land area is more than 3million square miles. China also has extensive seas and many islands. Its coastlinestretches for 11,000 miles.

In a country the size of China, it is not surprising to find a great variety of topography,climate, and vegetation. In the east are fertile plains that have been built up by China’sgreat rivers. This region has been settled and farmed for thousands of years. It is where allthe great dynasties and their capitals were located.

In the north are huge grasslands. They were the home of the cattle-raising nomadicpeoples who interacted and clashed with China’s settled populations. The vast “grassoceans” hosted militarized archer warriors such as the Mongols. Parts of the Great Wallwere built to keep them out.

The southern regions of China consist of hill country and low mountain ranges. The southreceives extensive rainfall. It's the perfect place for growing rice. The success of ricefarmers for the last 10,000 years explains why China can support a very large population.

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Mountains act as barriers

China is also a mountainous country. The highest of these mountain ranges, including theHimalaya, the Karakoram, and the Tien Shan, are all located in the west. They have longacted as a barrier to communication between people. But the mountains aren't the onlybarrier. Between the mountain ranges are harsh deserts like the Taklimakan and Gobi.

There is little land for agriculture in the west. The populations there have lived in oasissettlements or as nomads on the grasslands. Chinese civilization emerged in the morefertile east, north, and south.

China was isolated by its own “wild west.” It was cut off from the rest of Eurasia. Eventoday, these geographic barriers and the vastness of western China affect China’s relationswith its western neighbors. There, barriers have advantages, too, though. Chinesegovernments since the beginning have been forced to focus internally. Instead of lookingto expand their land, they've focused on improving within.

The mountains and deserts of the west limited contact between early Chinese dynastiesand other civilizations. For thousands of years, there was virtually no contact. Eventually,traders moving along the Silk Roads broke through the barriers. These were the firstconnections between China and the rest of the world. The Silk Roads allowed many ideasand inventions from East Asia to reach the West. Paper, printing, and gunpowder wereinvented in China. The Silk Roads brought them to Europe. The impact there was profound.

China’s two river systems have also greatly influenced its history and culture. The HuangHe in the north is also known as the Yellow River. It gets its nickname because it carrieshuge amounts of yellow soil, called silt, from the plains into the ocean. The Yellow Riverrises in the mountains of Tibet. It flows 2,920 miles to the Yellow Sea. During its journey, itcrosses the high western plateau and flows through northern deserts. Finally, it spills outonto the broad alluvial plain.

About midway along its course, the river takes a series of sharp turns before resuming itspath. This is called the “great bend.” The bend was long thought of as a frontier. To earlypeople, it was the very edge of the civilized world. Beyond it lay barbarians on thegrasslands. Militarized nomads like the Xiongnu and the Mongols, China’s strongestenemies, lived there.

"China's Sorrow"

The Yellow River is also known as “China’s Sorrow.” Its devastating floods have causedgreat misery. The earliest cities, states, and civilizations of East Asia all appeared along itsbanks. For thousands of years, some of the largest populations in the world lived within theYellow River system. They risked devastation from flooding. Emperors tried many plans tocontrol the floods. They met with little success.

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The other major river of China is the Yangtze. The Yangtze is the third longest river in theworld. Only the Nile and Amazon are longer. The Yangtze flows from the Tibetan Plateaunearly 4,000 miles through southern China. Finally, it empties into the sea besideShanghai. The river’s basin area is about one-fifth the size of China. It is home to almost500 million people. If the Yangtze valley were a country, it would be the third mostpopulous in the world.

The Yangtze also has a great bend to the north. The Yangtze’s bend has perhaps beenmore important to Chinese civilization than the Yellow River’s. In southwestern China, thegreat rivers all flow through Himalayan valleys from north to south. They all head south tothe seas of Southeast Asia.

The Yangtze could have gone the same way. Millions of Chinese wouldn’t have had its life-giving water. Yet, sitting right in the middle of the Yangtze is Cloud Mountain. This massivewall of limestone blocks the onrushing Yangtze. The river is forced to suddenly interrupt itsjourney south and turn sharply back to the north.

The Chinese give credit for the placement of Cloud Mountain to legendary emperor Yu theGreat. He worked mightily to keep the river in China. Geologists attribute it to platetectonics. Either way, without Cloud Mountain, Chinese history would have been verydifferent.

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Quiz

1 Based on the section "The power of nature," why is rainfall in the south important to all of

China?

(A) It allows farmers to grow rice for the country's large population.

(B) It causes floods that spill over riverbanks into many regions.

(C) It attracted many people who built dynasties and capitals there.

(D) It created a clash over land between nomadic and settled populations.

2 Read the sentence from the section "The power of nature."

In a country the size of China, it is not surprising to find a great varietyof topography, climate, and vegetation.

Based on the final three paragraphs of this section, what is "topography"?

(A) well-trained military groups who wanted land

(B) large structures like the Great Wall built for defense

(C) natural physical features such as plains and hills

(D) people who fought with China's settled populations

3 Read these sentences from the section "Mountains act as barriers."

It was cut off from the rest of Eurasia. Even today, these geographicbarriers and the vastness of western China affect China’s relations withits western neighbors.

Which other sentence from the article helps you understand what the author means by

"geographic barriers"?

(A) Chinese governments since the beginning have been forced to focus

internally.

(B) The mountains and deserts of the west limited contact between early

Chinese dynasties and other civilizations.

(C) The Silk Roads allowed many ideas and inventions from East Asia to reach

the West.

(D) About midway along its course, the river takes a series of sharp turns before

resuming its path.

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4 What effect did Cloud Mountain have on the Chinese civilization?

(A) It caused a change in the path of the Yangtze River that created floods andmisery.

(B) It forced the Yangtze River to bend and carry water to people in the north.

(C) It created a natural barrier that kept out hostile groups from the west.

(D) It focused the attention of a great emperor on helping his people journeyeast.

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