The question of how aggressively flooding should be controlled, and whether it should be steered back to its original channels when it migrated, was a topic of controversy in the imperial court. Rival cliques made arguments based on budgetary, technical and strategic criteria. Geographer Charles Greer identifies two competing schools of thought on how to control the Yellow River. One, which he identifies as Confucian, advocated containing the river between higher levees, thus maximizing the amount of river basin land that could be cultivated. The other, which he associates with Taoism, favored lower levees separated by as much as 5–10 kilometers. In one particular long-running debate during the 11th century reigns of the Renzong and Shenzong emperors, when the river repeatedly broke its levees and migrated north and west, officials battled over whether expensive measures should be taken to return the river to its former channels. The Shenzong emperor ultimately decreed that the river be allowed to remain in its new course.
The question of how aggressively flooding should be controlled and whether it should be steered back to its original channels when it migrated was a topic of controversy in the imperial court Rival cliques made arguments based on budgetary technical and strategic criteria Geographer Charles Greer identifies two competing schools of thought on how to control the Yellow River One which he identifies as Confucian advocated containing the river between higher levees thus maximizing the amount of river basin land that could be cultivated The other which he associates with Taoism favored lower levees separated by as much as 5–10 kilometers In one particular long-running debate during the 11th century reigns of the Renzong and Shenzong emperors when the river repeatedly broke its levees and migrated north and west officials battled over whether expensive measures should be taken to return the river to its former channels The Shenzong emperor ultimately decreed that the river be allowed to remain in its new course