Evidence of 4000-year-old mythical flood comes to surface

The Yellow River Breaches its Course By: Ma Yuan of the Song Dynasty. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Daksha Rangan 

Wednesday, August 10, 2016, 10:36 AM - For the first time in history, researchers have found scientific evidence confirming China's mythical "Great Flood" -- one that is believed to have laid the foundation for China's first dynasty, the Xia.

The legend of a deluge that caused the swelling of China's Yellow River dates back 4,000 years. It talks of water levels rising so high that they washed over hills, settlements, and mountain tops, stretching up to the heavens.

"Around four millennia ago, Emperor Yu the Great succeeded in controlling a huge flood in the Yellow River basin," the study's abstract, published in Science Magazine, reads.

"This is considered to have led to the establishment of the Xia dynasty and the start of Chinese civilization. However, the dates of the events and the links between them have remained uncertain and controversial.

The Yellow River (Huáng Hé), pictured above, is Asia's third-longest river. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Scientists examined bones and soil samples along the Yellow River, using stratigraphic data (a geological evaluation of rock layers) and radiocarbon dating (a means to conclude the age of a relic by using radiocarbon, an isotope of carbon) to determine their findings.

They determined a date from the skeletons of children among a group of 14 victims that reportedly perished when their home collapsed in an earthquake -- the quake is believed to have triggered the massive landslide that dammed the waterway, prompting the devastating flood.

The study's corresponding author, Qinglong Wu, and his team verify that the flood did take place at the start of the Xia dynasty, at roughly 1900 BC, confirming existing historical and archaeological discourse on China's Great Flood.

"Its importance is just like the story of Noah’s flood in the Western world,” study leader Qinglong Wu of China’s Peking University tells the publication.

It could be considered among the world's worst floods in the past 10,000 years.