PureInsight | November 25, 2002
A rare and exceptionally serious drought has appeared in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River this year. The entire river valley is drying up. The last time this happened was a hundred years ago. Compared to the flood reason river water levels over the past 50 years, the river water level at this year's flood season is by far the lowest. Such a severe drying up throughout the reaches of the river has rarely been seen in history.
This year was the third year in a row that the valley of the Yellow River has lost water, with the river's water flow now at historically low levels. At many hydro stations along the river, the historically lowest monthly discharge have appeared and the actual amount of water is less than half of last year's volume. Experts predict that if water is not sent to the lower reaches from the dams of the upper and middle as soon as possible, the flow of the river would be interrupted by the end of November. If this occurs, the supply of drinking water for the cities and towns in the lower reaches and surrounding regions will be seriously affected. This is yet another rare historical event that has occurred after the China's severe drought China began in 1999.
From June to September 1999, a drought occurred in more than 20 provinces in China. It is estimated that 452 million mus (1 mu =0.166 acre) were afflicted, among which 249 million mus were in a state of disaster. In 2000, the whole country experienced a level of drought unknot seen for a hundred years. Stretching to almost all of the northern areas of the Chang Jiang River and part of the south, it affected 600 million mus of crops, with 400 million mus experiencing a state of disaster.
The next year, 2001, continued in the same manner with another year of sustained drought. The northern areas experienced the gravest impact of the drought. The worst-hit region includes the provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, Henan and Liaoning. Then, in the spring of 2002, the drought began at an even earlier time and affected an even wider range. In some areas the lack of rain began last winter, lasting into the spring until the middle of May. In some areas it has been over 200 days without rainfall. Thus, a winter-to-spring drought, rarely seen in the recent decades, has occurred. In Guangdong Province alone, 1,300 reservoirs have dried up, with similar situations in Shandong, Hebei, Sichuan, Guangdong and Subei Provinces. Such a nationwide drought, which has now lasted for four years, has not happened since 1949.
The four-year nationwide drought began in 1999 when Jiang Zemin initiated the persecution of Falun Gong, and has continued uninterruptedly with the escalation of the persecution. In Shandong Province, where the numbers of Falun Gong practitioners who have been tortured to death is the highest, the damage of the drought has been the most serious, becoming more severe and lasting longer each year. This year in Jinan City, the famous "City of Springs," in three short months, of the 27 visible spring holes, only the famous Wulongtan Spring did not completely dry up. The spring used to be so deep that it sprung many legends, but now people can almost see its bottom.
The present unceasing drought reminds people of the one that occurred during the reign of Empeior Chongzheng of the Ming Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Chongzheng, from 1628 to 1641, as the taxes and tariffs imposed became heavier and heavier, less and less rain fell. Lasting for years, this increasingly severe drought affected a wide range of the country, 16 provinces. As a result, thousands of acres became barren, wells and springs dried up, the flow of rivers was interrupted, and crops withered and failed. As a result, a dou (1 dou = 4.7 standard gallon) of corn cost a thousand coins and all the grass roots and tree skins were eaten up. With such a severe famine, people became destitute and homeless. The bodies of those who died of starvation could be found everywhere, and families even exchanged their kids and ate them. Moreover, plagues of locusts and pestilence came up one after another in many areas. The Qing Dynasty began soon thereafter in 1644. Gradually, the weather and conditions in northern China became good enough to raise crops. It is thus said the end of the Ming dynasty was in accorded with the will of Heaven.
These two droughts have many similarities such as an extended duration, the affliction over a wide area, wells and springs drying up, the interruption of water flow in rivers and the arrival of a plague of locusts and pestilence. This rare and severe drought can also be considered the will of Heaven, being yet another warning about the persecution Falun Dafa. It serves to encourage people to once again return to goodness, and a sign that all things will be renewed soon after the evil persecution ends.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/10/16/18907.html
