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China’s mythical ‘Great Flood’ possibly rooted in real disaster

Chinese civilization may have gotten a watery start thanks to a nearly 4,000-year-old deluge

Yellow River

FLOOD SITE  China’s Yellow River cuts through a gorge not far from where researchers say a landslide-created dam burst nearly 4,000 years ago and flooded the region. This finding may support folktales of a Great Flood that led to the founding of Chinese civilization.

 Q. Wu

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Ancient Chinese tales and writings about a massive flood of the Yellow River that led to civilization’s rise in East Asia appear to hold water, researchers say.