Controlling the Dragon

4. The Xiangfu Flood and the Siege of Kaifeng, 1841–1842

69 4 The Xiangfu Flood and the Siege of Kaifeng, 1841–1842 The fall of 1841 marked a calamitous turn in Daoguang’s reign. Both the emperor and the British home government rejected the treaty agreement reached in January to end what turned out to be only the first phase of the Opium War (1839–1842). In August Sir Henry Pottinger arrived in China to prosecute the second phase of Britain’s campaign. While the British were preparing attacks on targets around the Yangzi River delta, the Henan provincial capital, Kaifeng, was subjected to a siege of a different sort. During the night of August 2, 1841, the Yellow River broke through its southern dike, trapping tens of thousands of refugees in Kaifeng and inundating vast areas of the densely populated Huaibei region. Just as the Opium War marked a turning point in China’s diplomatic fortunes, the flood of 1841 was the first act in a drama that would culminate in a fundamental shift in Qing hydraulic policy. The break occurred at the Xiangfu lower commandery, one of the sites Li Yumei had warned about. On the evening of August 2 Li’s replacement as head of the Henan conservancy, Wenchong, began receiving reports that the Yellow River was threatening to overflow the main dike along its south bank, due north of Kaifeng.1 The summer flood stage had been unusually high, and incessant rains in the tributary valleys of the loess plateau and in Henan continued to swell the river. On the second, the water level reached the top of the dike near the thirty-first watcher station (bao) and began to pour over. From Zhangjiawan—as the area near the thirty-first station was known locally—the waters flowed directly south, covering the 7.5 kilometers (15 li) to Kaifeng during the night. Morning found alarmed residents trying to keep out the rising waters by hastily barring the gates of the city.2 70 The Xiangfu Flood and the Seige of Kaifeng Quick action to repair the break might have averted disaster. Seventy meters of dike had collapsed, but the main current remained several thousand meters away from the site of the break. Unfortunately, the most experienced river official in the area, Kai-Gui-Chen-Xu circuit intendant Bu Jitong, was downstream trying to deal with other weak spots on the dikes. The officials on the scene at the thirty-first station were the subprefect Gao Buyue and a sublieutenant in command of river troops. Neither man was experienced in such extensive emergency repairs. Officers and river troops had also been dispatched to help with problems in two downstream subprefectures, reducing the workforce available in the Kaifeng area. If Gao and his subordinates expected Governor-General Wenchong, directing efforts from his headquarters on the southern dike at Heigang, to take charge of emergency repairs, they were disappointed. Wenchong had been chosen for the post because of his reputation for moral rectitude, not his knowledge of river engineering. A year on the job had given him some familiarity with the basics of river conservancy Map 3 Defensive works on the south bank of the Yellow River near Kaifeng, ca. 1840: 1, thirty-first watcher station; 2, earth dike surrounding Kaifeng; 3, “moon dike” (yueti); 4, “Great King” (dawang) temple; 5, deflection dikes: solid areas are rock or brick; striped areas are stalk revetments; 6, “fish scale” (yulin) revetment ; 7, stalk revetments on earth dikes; 8, earth levee (tuge); 9, marker dividing subprefectures; 10, temple; 11, erosion gullies caused by high water. The dotted lines show the site of the 1841 breach. but had done little to prepare him to respond to an emergency of that magnitude.3 Even an experienced official would have found the situation difficult. Repairs were hindered by a shortage of matériel and by transport problems . The thirty-first station was not part of a major defensive site, so limited supplies of construction materials were on hand.4 Stores of stalks, rock, and brick had already been depleted by emergency repairs at defensive works up and down the river. Even if supplies had been available, the materials could not have been moved quickly because the incessant rains had turned the roads into mud. As the countryside flooded, transport became almost impossible. The poor condition of the dikes also made repairs difficult. In the months...