<Article> The Compulsory Immigration of Seven Hundred Thousand Flood Victims and the Loess Plateau

This study attempts to reexamine the landscape of the Loess Plateau in Former Han by analyzing the compulsory immigration of the flood victims to the Plateau in 119 B． C． The big flood of the Yellow River in 120B． C． created over seven hundred thousand victims in the plains in the lower regions of the river． The following year， Wu－di commanded alarge－scale immigration of the victims to the Loess Plateau， where they were expected to cultivate the land． Rapid cultivation of thick forests would have been difficult for the destitute immigrants． This suggests that the Plateau was probably covered mainly with grass or soil． It can be assumed that the cultivation failed eventually， for Wu－di subsequently encouraged pasturage and commerce in parts of the plateau， and no large－scale immigratioll was conducted thereafter． Further evidence suggests that the Loess Plateau did not suit cultivation at that time， for after the repair of the Yellow River’s washout（The He－jue in He－zi）in 109 B． C．， irrigation had become popular throughout China， but difficulty of irrigation in dry climates owing to damage from salt suggests that the success of irrigation in the Loess Plateau was unlikely． Furthermore， in the latter half of Former Han， a new dry farming named“Dai－Tian Fa”was introduced in the North－West area， but the method was not applied in the Loess Plateau