Archaeological discoveries shed light on the Legend of the Great Flood of China.
Recently, a team of scientists led by Dr. Wu Quinglong of Nanjing Normal University found scientific evidence of a massive flood in China. They dated the flood back to 1920 BC on China’s Yellow River in the Jishi Gorge. The location and enormous scale of this flood lead experts to believe that the ancient legend of the Great Flood of China may have been, in part, a real event in history. Now archaeologists are attempting to retell the legend of one of the biggest floods of all time as it may have really happened.
What is the Ancient Flood Legend of China?
According to one version of the legend, China’s great flood occurred on the upper banks of the Yellow River. The first person to attempt to control the flood was a man named Gun. However, Gun failed and was ultimately killed by the fire god at Yuxiao. From his corpse, a dragon was born three years later. The dragon went up to heaven and was reincarnated into Gun’s son, Yu the Great. Yu tamed the floods with the help of two magical beings. A mighty dragon dredged the soil and made channels to contain the river, while a strong black turtle transported enchanted dirt from heaven that absorbed the water like a thirsty sponge.
You May Like: Where is Noah’s Ark? A Chronology of Searches
The resultant destruction of the flood drove people out of their homes and caused a famine, and the inundation lasted for many years. Yu was so successful, he received a heavenly mandate to become the ruler and founder of the first dynasty of China, the Xia Dynasty.
What the Flood Tells Us About the Xia Dynasty
The Xia dynasty was China’s first dynasty and, like the Great Flood, is also legendary. Although there is debate about the dates and the reality of the Xia rule. This is because the written language did not emerge in China until around the 13th century BC. Different sources place the beginning of the Xia dynasty anywhere from 2205-1989 BC. With the new flood data, archaeologists believe the Xia dynasty began later than once thought.
An Ancient Civilization Destroyed
The flood occurred in the upper valley of the Yellow River, and this is consistent with the legend. The scientists also found the remains of dams of the right age and sedimentation deposits characteristic of those associated with a monstrous flood.
Sarah Kaplan, writer for The Washington Post explains in her article on Aug. 4, 2016:
In 2007, while conducting research on rock around the Yellow River, Wu noticed deposits that looked suspiciously like ‘outburst flood sediments.’ Bits of green schist — a type of rock found in the mountains far upstream — and mudstone were uncovered at sites all along the river. The sediments appeared in layers much thicker than was normal for the Yellow River, indicating that they had been deposited swiftly by a massive flood.
In 2000 archaeologists also discovered an ancient civilization, called Lajia. A landslide had destroyed the village as a result of a powerful earthquake. Carbon dating revealed that the bodies of the people killed in the earthquake bore the same age as artifacts linked to the flood. The earthquake site had sedimentation in it that indicated floodwaters had reached it. In fact, the researchers found that the earthquake and flood happened during the same year.
How the Great Flood May Have Happened
Putting together the pieces of the puzzle, scientists determined that the earthquake caused the megaflood by triggering a landslide that dammed up the river in the Jishi Gorge. The water built up behind the rocky dam for 6 to 9 months until eventually, the dam broke. The subsequent rushing waters flooded the upper valley, destroying everything in its path.
One geologist, Darryl Granger from Perdue University said, “The flood was about 300,000 to 500,000 cubic meters per second [about 10,600,000 to 17,650,000 cubic feet per second]. To put that into perspective, that’s roughly equivalent to the largest flood ever measured on the Amazon River, the world’s largest river.
It’s among the largest known floods to have happened on Earth during the past 10,000 years.
From the Great Flood of China Emerges a New Civilization
The Great Flood of China possibly contributed to the development of Chinese civilization. It appears archaeologists discovered a giant flood that coincided with the transition from a Neolithic (late Stone Age) culture to a Bronze Age culture. Researchers calculated that perhaps Yu the Great became emperor around 1914 BC. If so, grateful survivors probably rallied around Emperor Yu. His dredging operations would have called for both increased interaction between different populations or tribes and technological advances to make the dredges more effective. As it is today, massive disasters can unify entire nations under a strong leader with a great vision.
Related: Is the Black Sea Flood Noah’s Great Flood?
Archaeological advances in technology coupled with scientific investigation give the ancient legend of the Great Flood of China possible credence. Thus, we now can speculate that out of the ruins of the real earthquake and one of the most massive floods of all time, a new greater, more advanced civilization may have been born.
References:
Live Science
US History
Science Magazine
Science Magazine
