How did the water from the source of the Yellow River come from?

Natural rainfall, melting glaciers, nearby lakes.

There are four sources of water at the source of the Yellow River: first, natural rainfall; The second is the melting of snow glaciers on icebergs; The third one comes from a nearby lake; Of course, there are also some underground springs. The Yellow River is located in the north of China, which is one of the longest rivers in the world and the second longest river in China. The total length of the Yellow River is about 5,464 kilometers, and the basin area in People's Daily is about 752,443 square kilometers, while the total basin area recorded on the website of the Ministry of Water Resources is 795,000 square kilometers (including 42,000 square kilometers of internal flow area). The river basin is long in winter and short in summer, with large temperature difference between winter and summer and obvious seasonal temperature change.

The Yellow River originates from the Yogu Zonglie Basin at the northern foot of Bayan Kara on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, flows through nine provinces (autonomous regions) of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong from west to east, and finally flows into the Bohai Sea. There is little precipitation in the basin, mainly dry land agriculture, which is dry in winter and spring, and the precipitation in summer and autumn is concentrated in July and August.

The Yellow River is the most important birthplace of Chinese civilization. People in China call it "Mother River". It carries1600 million tons of sediment every year, of which1200 million tons flows into the sea, and the remaining 400 million tons stay in the lower reaches of the Yellow River for many years, forming an alluvial plain, which is conducive to planting.

The Yellow River Basin is the earliest developed area in China. When most parts of the world were still in ignorance, our hardworking and brave ancestors cut wood and grass on this vast land, working and living, and created splendid ancient culture.

Compared with historical records, Hanshu describes the current Tarim River system more clearly and concretely. The central river is Tarim River, and its two sources are Yerqiang River (Jungle River) and Hetian River (Yutian River). Nanshan is Kunlun Mountain and Puchanghai is Lop Nur. Although the Yarkant River also originated from Kunlun Mountain, it first flowed through the edge of the green ridge in the northwest (now Pamirs Plateau), which led to the misunderstanding that it originated from the green ridge.

In short, by the end of the 1 century, people had a more accurate understanding of the Tarim River system in Xinjiang today and the Yellow River flowing under the Xiaojishi Mountain in Xunhua, Qinghai today, but they insisted on connecting the two completely unrelated rivers by "sneaking underground", forming the viewpoint of "heavy source undercurrent" of the Yellow River.

From the beginning of Zhang Qian's communication with the western regions to the late 1 century, many people from the Central Plains have been to the western regions, and people's understanding of the geography of the western regions may date back to the earlier Western Zhou Dynasty. Why did they make such a big mistake in their understanding of the source of the Yellow River? This has to find the reason from the traffic route at that time.

Due to the high altitude, complex terrain, harsh climate, sparse population and difficult transportation of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the communication between the Central Plains and the Western Regions in ancient times generally took the Hexi Corridor, and then it was divided into various parts of Central Asia after entering Xinjiang today. When Zhang Qian first went to China, he set out from Longxi (now southeast Gansu) and was detained when passing through Xiongnu area. At that time, Hexi Corridor was under the control of Xiongnu. Later, he fled from Xiongnu to Dawan (now Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan). When he returned home, Zhang Qian tried to escape the Huns through the Qiang area south of Nanshan (now Qilian Mountain), but he was caught by the Huns and fled back to the Han Dynasty more than a year later. Obviously, all round-trip routes in Zhang Qian pass through Hexi Corridor. Later, the Hexi Corridor became the site of the Han Dynasty, and people naturally went this way. Therefore, people have a deep understanding of the geographical situation of Xinjiang and Central Asia since the Hexi Corridor.

On the other hand, the Qiang people who lived in Hehuang Valley were once widely distributed in the northwest, and Xiaojishishan was in their settlement. The fact that there is Jishi Mountain in the upper reaches of the Yellow River was circulated by the Qiang people and became the basis for the author of Gong Yu. But people also know that the Yellow River under Jishishan is far from its source, and they lack understanding of the Yellow River on Jishishan, so they can only imagine that it should be in the far west. Some people associate the source of the Yellow River with the legend of the water system of the Queen Mother of the West, Kunlun and the Western Regions, which leads to the hypothesis that the Tarim water system is the upper reaches of the Yellow River today, and the contradiction between them is satisfactorily solved by "diving underground". This became the basis of Shan Hai Jing, which was published later than Yu Gong.

Although Zhang Qian and later Han sent envoys to the Western Regions to directly inspect the Tarim River system, they didn't have a chance to reach the Yellow River in the upper reaches of Jishishan, but they never saw any river connecting the Yellow River and the Tarim River system along the way. Without finding the real source of the river, and lacking sufficient reasons to overturn the theory, Zhang Qian had to combine facts with imagination, personal experience and documentary records, and made a report on the source of the river to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty once judged the location of Heyuan, and named Kunlun Mountain according to ancient books. Those Han envoys whose knowledge was far lower than that of Zhang Qian naturally took this as the standard.

Since the mid-Western Han Dynasty, Qiang people have been driven away. In the sixth year of Emperor Zhaodi (8 1), Jincheng County was established, covering the Yellow River basin in eastern Qinghai and the Guide and Jianzha Yellow Rivers settled by immigrants from the Central Plains. By this time, it is more certain that the Yellow River does not start from Jishishan, but the situation above Jishishan is still unknown. However, Gong Yu's position has been greatly improved due to the respect of Confucianism, and "drawing stones from the river" has become an unshakable conclusion, and the theory of "floating the stream to recover the source" has made up for Gong Yu's loopholes very appropriately.

The reason why the source of the Yellow River is inaccessible.

There are three reasons why the source of the Yellow River cannot be approached: first, to protect the cleanliness of the water source, since it is the source of the mother river, it must be protected; The second is that it is not safe near the source of the Yellow River, and there is a swamp-like place nearby. If there is an undercurrent, it will be life-threatening, and it is best not to run casually; The third is the issue of faith. The source of the Yellow River is the source of agriculture and should not be profaned, so it is the same.