The Yellow River has been recognized by Chinese as "the mother river". But in ancient times, people living by the Yellow River often suffered its floods. Xuzhou was one such city.
Located by the after-bay of the Yellow River, Xuzhou suffered from Yellow River floods since the Han dynasty until the Yellow River changed its course in 1855, the 5th Year of Xianfeng in the Qing dynasty (清代咸丰五年).
During the years that the Yellow River passed Xuzhou, the city was flooded more than 400 times, ten times in the Qin and Han dynasty, 19 times in the Wei and Jin (晋) dynasty, 20 times in the Sui and Tang dynasty, 50 times in the Liao, Song and Yuan dynasty, 120 times, and two hundred and three times in the Qin dynasty.[1]