Research On The Renewal Of River Engineering Materials In The Donghe Area During The Daoguang Period

After leaving the Loess Plateau,the Yellow River flows eastward into the North China Plain,where the sediment transported by the Yellow River is deposited.Under the influence of regional continuous rainstorm,the Yellow River is easy to deposit and change its course.In order to reduce the negative effects of the Yellow River on the people and water transport in the North China Plain,the government had built river courses to prevent floods.In 1762,Yong Zheng,the emperor of Qing Dynasty divided the Yellow River maintenance administration into two parts.One part of the Yellow River project in Henan and Shandong was called Donghe area,and the other part of the Yellow River project in Jiangsu was called Nanhe area.Daoguang period was very important in the development of Qing Dynasty.During this period,natural disasters often occurred under the action of Little Ice Age.At the same time,the Opium War and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom war caused huge financial expenditure.The situation of the Yellow River is getting worse,but there is not enough funds for its control.In the Qing Dynasty,the river materials in Donghe area experienced the changes of"willow-sorghum straw-rubble-brick".Among them,the change of "sorghum-rubblebrick" occurred in Daoguang period.It had the characteristics of adjusting measures to local conditions and time.Moreover,the change of river materials also meant the renewal of river control technology.This paper focuses on the river materials in Donghe area during Daoguang period,traces the change process of river materials,and analyzes the reasons for the change of materials.In the early Qing Dynasty,the project of the Yellow River was made of willow.In Yongzheng period,sorghum straws were used to make Sao in Donghe area instead of willows.At that time,the technology of making Sao was also improved.In the Daoguang period,Donghe area began to use rubbles,which was the material of Nanhe area earlier.Soon,bricks were also used in the Yellow River project.Through this research,I found that there were four main reasons for the change process.Firstly,under the influence of Little Ice Age,the continuous low temperature and the increase of summer precipitation in North China led to the shortage of plant materials.Secondly,corruption in the Yellow River administration has affected the procurement of materials,and the adoption of new materials can curb corruption.Thirdly,in Daoguang period,the national financial expenditure was larger than the revenue,which led to the limited management funds of the Yellow River.Finally,and most importantly,the river bed of Yellow River is constantly raised due to sediment deposition,and the river embankment needs to be built with more solid materials.