Editing Yellow River (section)

===Ancient times===
[[File:Yellow River, Qing Dynasty.jpg|thumb|225px|The Yellow River as depicted in a Qing dynasty illustrated map (sections)]]
[[File:Yellow River watercourse changes en.png|thumb|225px|Historical courses of the Yellow River]]
[[File:Yellow River course changes.gif|thumb|225px|Historical courses of the Yellow River]]
In [[Chinese mythology]], the giant [[Kua Fu]] drained the Yellow River and the [[Wei River]] to quench his burning thirst as he pursued the Sun.<ref>Summary of the story given in the definition of {{lang|zh|夸父追日}}: {{cite book|script-title=zh:现代汉语词典(第七版) |trans-title=[[Xiandai Hanyu Cidian|A Dictionary of Current Chinese]] (Seventh Edition) |date=1 September 2016|publisher=[[The Commercial Press]] |language=zh-hans |isbn=978-7-100-12450-8|location=Beijing|pages=513, 755}}</ref> Historical documents from the [[Spring and Autumn period]]<ref name="Gernet p59?">Gernet, Jacques. ''Le monde chinois'', p. 59. Map "4. Major states of the Chunqiu period (Spring and Autumn)". {{in lang|fr}}<br/> English version: {{citation|last=Gernet|first=Jacques|year=1996|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jqb7L-pKCV8C|title=A History of Chinese Civilization|edition=Second|publisher=Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-49781-7}}</ref> and [[Qin dynasty]]<ref>"[http://homepages.stmartin.edu/fac_staff/rlangill/HIS%20217%20maps/Qin%20dynasty%20map.JPG Qin Dynasty Map] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20150105082440/http://homepages.stmartin.edu/fac_staff/rlangill/HIS%20217%20maps/Qin%20dynasty%20map.JPG |date=5 January 2015 }}".</ref> indicate that the Yellow River at that time flowed considerably north of its present course. These accounts show that after the river passed [[Luoyang]], it flowed along the border between [[Shanxi]] and [[Henan]] Provinces, then continued along the border between [[Hebei]] and Shandong before emptying into [[Bohai Bay]] near present-day [[Tianjin]]. Another outlet followed essentially the present course.<ref name="Treg"/>

The river left these paths in 602 BC and shifted several hundred kilometers to the east.<ref name="Gernet p59?"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Viollet |first1=Pierre-Louis |title=Water Engineering in Ancient Civilizations: 5,000 Years of History |date=2017 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=978-0203375310 |page=230}}</ref> Sabotage of dikes, canals, and reservoirs and deliberate flooding of rival states became a standard military tactic during the [[Warring States period]].<ref name="Floods">Allaby, Michael & Garrat, Richard. ''Facts on File Dangerous Weather Series: [https://books.google.com/books?id=QTKbcWwJ90MC&pg=PA142 Floods]'', p. 142. Infobase Pub., 2003. {{ISBN|0-8160-5282-4}}. Accessed 15 October 2011.</ref> As the Yellow River valley was the major entryway to the [[Guanzhong]] area and the [[state of Qin]] from the [[North China Plain]], Qin heavily fortified the [[Hangu Pass]]; it saw numerous battles and was also an important chokepoint protecting the [[Han dynasty|Han]] capitals of [[Chang'an]] and [[Luoyang]]. Major flooding in AD 11 is credited with the downfall of the short-lived [[Xin dynasty]], and another flood in AD 70 returned the river north of Shandong on essentially its present course.<ref name="Treg"/>