Introduction: What does the old saying "After a great drought, there must be a great disaster"? Does that make sense?
Since ancient times, the mainland has been a predominantly agricultural society, especially in ancient times, where the main source of livelihood and economy depended on farming. However, in ancient times, farming was greatly affected by the weather, and the production was extinct when it was drought, and it was also extinct when it was waterlogged, so it was necessary to rely on God to enjoy food.
Even in modern times, when the level of science and technology and agricultural technology is so developed, there is not much to do in the face of major droughts and floods.
For example, this year's heavy rainfall in Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Heilongjiang, and drought in Henan, Shandong, Shanxi, and northern Anhui have all brought great economic and property losses to the local people.
This year, some areas in the south are like being "locked" by heavy rains, and there are news of heavy rains in the south almost every day, either urban waterlogging or farmland being inundated, which has brought great inconvenience and economic losses to local people. In fact, this year's drought in the north is also very serious, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China's Disaster Relief Department, since June, the mainland's North China, Huanghuai, northwest, northeast, southwest parts of the region have suffered from drought disasters, Hebei, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Ningxia 13 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government) 359 counties (cities, districts, 48,493,000 people were affected by the disaster, 4,999,000 people were in need of livelihood assistance due to drought, of which 3,439,000 people needed to be rescued due to drought drinking water difficulties, 3,548,000 large livestock had difficulty drinking water, 62,286,000 hectares of crops were affected, of which 6,138,000 hectares were lost, and direct economic losses were 21.27 billion yuan.
This year's flooding in the south and drought in the north are actually related to the activity and strength of the monsoon. From the perspective of the climate conditions of the mainland, the monsoon activity trajectory mainly affects the southern part of the mainland in May and June of the Gregorian calendar every year, and begins to affect the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in our mainland in June and July of the Gregorian calendar, and then pushes northward, until late August, the monsoon begins to turn back, and returns to the south again around the beginning of September, when the summer is basically over.
Looking through some data, most of them say that in years with strong summer monsoons, it is usually manifested that the rainy season in the south is shorter and the rainy season in the north is longer, which is prone to drought in the south and flooding in the north; In years when the summer monsoon is weak, the rainy season in the south of the mainland is long, and there will be floods in the south and drought in the north. This year's summer monsoon is relatively weak and cannot be pushed northward. Therefore, there are heavy rains in the south, and many places in the north are relatively dry.
In fact, historically, the general number of major droughts has almost always occurred in the north. For example, in the past 500 years, such as the six-year drought in the Wanli period, the nine-year drought in the Chongzhen period, the five-year drought in the Qianlong period, and the Dingwuqi famine in the Guangxu period, all appeared in the northern part of the mainland.
If you are careful, you will definitely find that in the drought years in the north, there are more droughts in Henan, which brings great losses to the local people. For example, in the past 500 years, Henan has experienced a total of 51 major droughts. Among them, the "Chongzhen drought" lasted for nearly 9 years, and the people were struggling to make a living. There was also the drought in Henan in 1942, which affected 30 million people, and the locusts were rampant, and the grain was almost no harvest. Later, in 1986, 1988 and 1999, the affected area of Henan Province exceeded 80 million mu. Among them, from 1985 to 1988, there was a major drought for four consecutive years, and this year, Henan suffered another drought, fortunately, it rained, alleviating the drought, but it still caused certain losses.
Of course, this year, not only the drought in Henan is serious, but also the drought in Shandong is quite serious, fortunately, it will rain in Shandong around June 28, and the drought will be effectively alleviated at that time.
What does the old saying "after a great drought there will be a great calamity"? Here's a quick look!
These two times have been mentioned above, both occurred in the Qing Dynasty, first of all, let's talk about the great drought in the first year of Guangxu (1875).
Looking at history, we can know that the young Guangxu Emperor ascended the throne in 1875. Since Emperor Guangxu ascended the throne, precipitation throughout the country began to decrease year by year. By 1875, food production was below normal levels, and although there had not yet been a large-scale famine, it was already on the verge of a storm, and the drought was making life more and more difficult.
By 1876, the drought had become even more severe. In some areas, there has been no rain for more than half a year, and the continuous high temperature has scorched the earth, the crops have withered, and the people have no harvest. By the end of the year, the famine had swept like a flood, especially in Shaanxi. Although the imperial court urgently organized disaster relief, the Qing Dynasty's treasury was empty, and relief measures were no longer able to cope with the drought.
The drought in Shaanxi lasted until 1878, when effective rains were brought and the drought was resolved, but what people did not expect was that another disaster followed. After the rains, a plague suddenly broke out, and in the face of this ensuing disaster, people were unprepared and powerless, making people even more helpless. Tens of millions of people are struggling to live and die.
At this time, the imperial court was facing the pacification of the northern and western regions and the great changes of the times. Coupled with the imperfection of the disaster relief system, the disaster is even worse. Historians generally agree that the great drought of 1876 and the plague that followed were both natural and man-made. After a series of disasters from 1875 to 1878, the saying began that after the great drought, there would be a great disaster.
The next major drought occurred in the 33rd year of Guangxu (1907), this year, from the beginning of summer, high temperature and drought continued to spread in various places, the water dried up, the earth dried up, the crops withered rapidly under the high temperature, and the grains were not harvested, resulting in the tragic scene of "starvation and death, white bones and wilderness". The drought mainly affected Shanxi, Henan, Shandong and other places on the mainland.
The saying that "after a great drought, there will be a great disaster" has been said again. In the aftermath of the drought, before people could catch their breath, there was another rare locust infestation. As long as the locusts pass through, there is not a single grass left, and the hungry people cannot find any weeds to satisfy their hunger.
After the locust plague, it finally ushered in the heavy rain that had not been seen for a long time, but what people never expected was that the heavy rain did not intend to stop from the beginning, which caused floods in many places at that time. And that's not all, but in the winter, there was a severe snowstorm, and various natural disasters that were staged in turn lasted for several years, which shows how much suffering the people suffered at that time.
According to historical records, the four years from the drought in 1907 to 1911 brought great suffering to northern China. The situation worsened due to the government's ineffective response and official corruption, resulting in massive deaths and displacements, resulting in the loss of precious lives to more than 10 million people, and the complete demise of the Qing Dynasty a year later.
Of course, these two examples do not necessarily make sense that "after a great drought, there will be a great disaster", but at least it can remind people that bad things often follow one after another, and it is necessary to prepare in advance to avoid greater losses.
However, you don't have to worry, with the development of science and technology, we have the ability to accept the test of major disasters, and they can be alleviated to a certain extent!
What do you think about this? Do you think there is truth to the proverb "After a great drought, there will be great calamity"? Looking forward to your comment, thanks for reading!
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