History of the Yellow River (Huang He) (6) The Ming Dynasty, by China Report

THE YELLOW RIVER DURING THE MING DYNASTY ERA:

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty in 1368 A.D., Kaifeng the ancient Capital on the Yellow River was made the capital of Henan Province.

In the year 1391 A.D. during the early years of the Ming Dynasty (1368 A.D. - 1644 A.D.) a notebale flood occured along the yellow river. In the year 1546 A.D. another large scale flooding of the yellow river banks occured.

The year 1531 A.D. saw the completion of construction of two important sections of the Great Wall of

China, closing two vital strategic gaps in the already extensive defenses in the North. These were the Sanguankou Pass Great Wall south-west of Yinchuan inside a Pass of the Helan Mountains, and secondly; the Shuidonggou Great Wall of China, closing the gap between the Ordos Desert and the East Bank of the Yellow River. Notably, these were the locations of the Mongolian Invasions of the Tangut Empire (which was almost expunched from history until archeological finds in the late 19Th and 20th century) , before their assault on Song Dynasty China in the 13th Century.

In the year 1556 AD the deadliest earthquake in Chinese History struck right in the middle of the Yellow River Basin. The 1556 Shaanxi earthquake (Chinese: 华县大地震; pinyin: Huàxiàn Dàdìzhèn) also known as the Jiajing earthquake (Chinese: 嘉靖大地震; pinyin: Jiājìng Dàdìzhèn) killed approximately 830,000 people. It occurred on the morning of 23 January 1556 in Shaanxi. As

historical records reveal more than 97 counties in the provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Gansu, Hebei, Shandong, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui were affected. An 840-kilometre (520 mi)-wide area was destroyed, and in some counties 60% of the population was killed. Most of the population in the area at the time lived in yaodongs, artificial caves in loess cliffs, many of which collapsed with catastrophic loss of life.

In the year 1580 A.D., Hohhot was founded along the great northern bend of the Yellow River in what currently is Inner-Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Hohhot was founded by Altan Khan around 1580 after the construction of a Castle at the same location. Altan Khan and his successors constructed temples and fortress in 1602 A.D. and 1727 A.D.

In the early 1640's AD, during the final episode of the Ming Dynasty (1368 AD - 1644 AD) Ming Dynasty Armies broke the levies on the Yellow River near Kaifeng in Henan leading to the flooding and destruction of the Old City, its Temple of the Chief Minister (Da Xiangguo Si) and other city monuments. The rebel armies of Li Zicheng, the one-day-fly Emperor who would take the Dragon

Throne only to be deposed by the Manchu's, advanced on the city of Beijing regardless. Only two years later the Ming Dynasty came to an end with the sacking of the Capital and suicide of the last Ming Emperor, Chongzhen at Jingshan Park.

In 1693 A.D. the Hui merchants who had established their own community north of the gate of the city's fortress established the first Mosque of Hohhot, under the auspices of the Tumed Mongols who held sway over the regions at the time.

Between 1735 A.D. and 1739 A.D. the Qing Dynasty (1644 A.D. - 1911 A.D.) built a strong garrison town near Hohhot with the goal of extending Qing Civil and Military control over the caravan routes that criss-crossed the southwestern Inner Mongolia Regions along the Yellow River.

A Satellite image Based Map of China and East-Asia, with a super-imposed schematic Map of the Location and Path of the Great Wall as constructed during the Reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Included for reference are Locations and Names of Passes on the Great Wall of China and their significance. Further Reports link to More Photos and History & Backgrounds of each Great Wall of China Site. Further depicted are City names, geographical features of landscape, rivers and more.