How Geography "Mapped" East Asia, Part One:

China
By Craig Benjamin, Big History Project, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.26.17
Word Count 1,268
Level 760L

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.

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

All this water poured into the Yangtze. The river rose
and burst its banks for hundreds of miles. It was
devastating. Twenty-four million people fled their
homes. More than 140,000 people drowned. An area
the size of Oklahoma was underwater, and the
southern capital city 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 is a
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 cycles have
strongly influenced the foundations of Chinese and East Asian culture. The behavior of rivers has
become a symbol for the constant change of natural forces. Nature is both creator and destroyer.

Historians believe that understanding geography and climate is necessary to study any civilization.
In this essay, we look at the physical geography of China. The land itself has influenced 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 coastlines and diverse
topographies.

China is located in eastern Asia, alongside the Pacific

Ocean. This region is also home to the Korean
Peninsula and the island nation of Japan. China is the
third-largest country in the world. Only Russia and
Canada are bigger. China's total land area is more
than 3 million square miles. China also has extensive
seas and many islands. Its coastline stretches 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's great rivers. This region
has been settled and farmed for thousands of years. It is where all the great dynasties and their
capitals were located.

In the north are huge grasslands. They were the home of the cattle-raising nomadic peoples who
interacted and clashed with China's settled populations. The vast "grass oceans" hosted militarized
archer warriors such as the Mongols. Parts of the Great Wall were built to keep them out.

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

Mountains act as barriers

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China is also a mountainous country. The highest of these mountain ranges, including the
Himalaya, the Karakoram, and the Tien Shan, are all located in the west. They have long acted as a
barrier to communication between people. But the mountains aren't the only barrier. 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 oasis settlements
or as nomads on the grasslands. Chinese civilization emerged in the more fertile east, north, and
south.

China was isolated by its own "wild west." It was cut off from the rest of Eurasia. Even today, these
geographic barriers and the vastness of western China affect China's relations with its western
neighbors. There, barriers have advantages, too, though. Chinese governments since the beginning
have been forced to focus internally. Instead of looking to expand their land, they've focused on
improving within.

The mountains and deserts of the west limited contact between early Chinese dynasties and 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 first connections between China
and the rest of the world. The Silk Roads allowed many ideas and inventions from East Asia to
reach the West. Paper, printing, and gunpowder were invented 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 Huang He in the
north is also known as the Yellow River. It gets its nickname because it carries huge amounts of
yellow soil, called silt, from the plains into the ocean. The Yellow River rises in the mountains of
Tibet. It flows 2,920 miles to the Yellow Sea. During its journey, it crosses the high western
plateau and flows through northern deserts. Finally, it spills out onto the broad alluvial plain.

About midway along its course, the river takes a series

of sharp turns before resuming its path. This is called
the "great bend." The bend was long thought of as a
frontier. To early people, it was the very edge of the
civilized world. Beyond it lay barbarians on the
grasslands. Militarized nomads like the Xiongnu and
the Mongols, China's strongest enemies, lived there.

"China's Sorrow"

The Yellow River is also known as "China's Sorrow."

Its devastating floods have caused great misery. The earliest cities, states, and civilizations of East
Asia all appeared along its banks. For thousands of years, some of the largest populations in the
world lived within the Yellow River system. They risked devastation from flooding. Emperors tried
many plans to control the floods. They met with little success.

The other major river of China is the Yangtze. The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world.
Only the Nile and Amazon are longer. The Yangtze flows from the Tibetan Plateau nearly 4,000
miles through southern China. Finally, it empties into the sea beside Shanghai. The river's basin
area is about one-fifth the size of China. It is home to almost 500 million people. If the Yangtze
valley were a country, it would be the third most populous in the world.

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

The Yangtze also has a great bend to the north. The Yangtze's bend has perhaps been more
important to Chinese civilization than the Yellow River's. In southwestern China, the great rivers
all flow through Himalayan valleys from north to south. They all head south to the 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 massive wall of
limestone blocks the onrushing Yangtze. The river is forced to suddenly interrupt its journey south
and turn sharply back to the north.

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

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

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 variety of 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 geographic barriers and the vastness of
western China affect China’s relations with its 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.

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 and misery.

(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 journey east.

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