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The Si River (Chinese: 泗河, pinyin: Sì Hé; formerly 泗水, pinyin: Sì Shuǐ) is a
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
in Shandong Province, eastern China. It also ran through the area of modern
Jiangsu Province Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...
until floods changed its course in 1194.


Course

The Si rises in the southern foothills of the Mengshan Mountains (蒙山), then flows through
Sishui County Sishui County () is a county of southwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is the easternmost county-level division of Jining Jining () is a former capital of Shandong. Is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong ...
and the cities of
Qufu Qufu ( ; zh, c=曲阜) is a county-level city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, ...
and Yanzhou before emptying into Lake Nanyang (南阳湖).


History

In antiquity, the river was a major tributary of the
Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...
in central China. Tributaries such as the Fan (反), Sui (睢), Tong (潼) and Yi (沂) swelled its banks as it passed through present-day Yutai, Pei,
Xuzhou Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in ...
, Suqian, and Siyang counties in Shandong and Jiangsu. Its confluence with the Huai occurred at Sikou (泗口) or Qingkou (清口) at present-day
Huai'an ) , leader_title1 = , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = , leader_title3 = , leader_name3 = , leader_title4 = , leader_name4 = , established_title = ...
in Jiangsu. From a very early date, the Huai was connected with the
Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
through the Honggou Canal ( t s ''Hónggōu'', "Canal of the Wild Geese").. In 486BC, King Fuchai of Wu built the Hangou Canal ( t s ''Hángōu''), connecting the Huai and Honggou to the
Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...
to their south.. Amid his ongoing wars against Qi and Jin, in 483 and 482BC, he further expanded this network with the Heshui Canal ( t s ''Héshuǐ Yùnhé''), connecting the Si with the Ji River, which ran parallel to the Yellow River through densely peopled districts in what is now western Shandong. In 1194, at the time of the Song and Jin Dynasties, the
Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...
altered its course southwards,René Grousset ''The rise and splendor of the Chinese Empire'', University of California Press, 1959, 3rd printing, page 303 (map) engulfing the lower reaches of the Si River below Xuzhou City and those of the Huai River below Huai'an. As a result, the Si River no longer exists in Jiangsu Province. During the
1851–1855 Yellow River floods The 18511855 Yellow River floods were a series of natural disasters along the Yellow River in China, culminating in the 1855 channel change event. Some data is missing from this period, especially 1854. but it seems that water levels were high for ...
, the Yellow River once more altered its course northwards, assuming the course of the former Ji River and again passing north of the Shandong Peninsula in 1852. However, due to the large amount of
silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...
carried by the river, it left behind a high layer of mud in the lower reaches of the Si River’s former course.


Legacy

The philosopher
Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...
is buried on the north bank of the Si River where it passes through
Qufu Qufu ( ; zh, c=曲阜) is a county-level city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, ...
. The river was also traditionally regarded as a place where the Nine Cauldrons were lost. Its name was preserved in the imperial Si Prefecture and Subprefecture and the present-day Si County in
Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
.


See also

* List of rivers in China


References


Citations


Bibliography

* . * . Rivers of Shandong {{China Rivers