In Qinghai , the river 's Tibetan name is " River of the Peacock " ( ; ) The Yellow River is one of several rivers that are essential for China 's existence . At the same time , however , it has been responsible for several deadly floods , including the only natural disasters in recorded history to have killed more than a million people . Among the deadliest were the 1332 – 33 flood during the Yuan dynasty , the 1887 flood during the Qing dynasty which killed anywhere from 900,000 to 2 million people , and a Republic of China era 1931 flood ( part of a massive number of floods that year ) that killed 1 – 4 million people
a massive number of floods that year
1931 China floods
Yellow River