It rained heavily at night, the Yellow River burst, all the villages were submerged in the mud waves, and the cries were loud. Wei Yuan had seen such a tragic scene with his own eyes, and his heart was deeply hurt. "Preparing the River" is a book on river management written by him out of concern for the country and the people.
In the book, he is like a calm counselor and a sad and angry elder. First, we trace the successful and unsuccessful experiences of river control since the Han and Tang dynasties, and then analyze the shortcomings of river control in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. We bluntly say that "the more embankments are built, the higher they get, and the water becomes more urgent and dangerous." Not content with the simple fix of leaks, he proposed a grand plan: reopening the old course of the Yellow River and allowing the water flow to flow smoothly to reduce the impact on the downstream; at the same time, dredging tributaries to disperse flood pressure. His pen is sharp, which is not only an analysis of the water conservancy plan, but also a heavy criticism of the imperial court's conservative approach.
In "Preparing the River", the Yellow River is not only a geographical river, it is also a river of destiny that affects the safety of living beings and tests the wisdom of the political power. Wei Yuan connected river management with country governance, and closely linked the people's living and working in peace and contentment with the long-term peace and stability of the court. This work reads like a heated debate, with the tears of disaster victims, the wisdom of scholars, and the cry of a patriotic intellectual who couldn't bear to watch between the lines.
