The Yellow River; Survival Tool or Foe

The Yellow River; Survival Tool or Foe

"Whoever controls the river, controls China", or so said Hu the great.   Hu was referring to the Huang He (Yellow River) located in central China, which was the start and support of Chinese civilization eight hundred and fifty thousand years ago, and still maintains that standard of support for many Chinese people today.   The Huang He has made contributions primarily to the areas of democratization, industrialization, geography, imperialism, and traditionalism, thereby making the Chinese people the longest living culture.
Like Hu the great, Mao Tse-tung had very strong views regarding the control and influence of the river.   Mao felt that conquest of the Huang He was vital to political control of China, probably stemming from ancient beliefs of the river being controlled by a superior force, and if a prospective ruler can be that superior force, then the ruler will have absolute power.   On October 1, 1949, Mao successfully "controlled" the river and formed a republic until his death at age eighty four in 1976.   Unfortunately (or fortunately, however one chooses to look at it), Mao found that he enjoyed power, and chose to bring communism into the country, communism being an authoritarian government.   Mao Tse-tung was not the only ruler preoccupied with control of the river, ancient rulers based their power on astrological indications, and the power associated with the river.   These ancient rulers (kings and empires) lived in cities located in the river valley, this was the source of dynastic rule (which controlled China from it’s founding to 1911).   It was also said that the ruler in the valley was the ruler under heaven, and the tombs of ancient kingdoms show China as being an endless cycle of ruin and decline, brought on by astrological indications.   The lack of government being emphasized on reason, rather on the heavens gives way to China’s lack of democratization.   A result of this is isolation from outside culture, and since China wouldn’t allow foreign...