officials engaged in famine relief, 19th-century engraving In China, famines have been an ongoing problem for thousands of years. From the
Shang dynasty (16th–11th century BC) until the founding of modern China, chroniclers have regularly described recurring disasters. There have always been times and places where rains have failed, especially in the northwest of China, and this has led to famine. It was the task of the
Emperor of China to provide, as necessary, to famine areas and transport foods from other areas and to distribute them. The reputation of an emperor depended on how he succeeded. National famines occurred even when the drought areas were too large, especially when simultaneously larger areas of flooded rivers were over their banks and thus additionally
crop failures occurred, or when the central government did not have sufficient reserves. If an emperor could not prevent a famine, he lost prestige and legitimacy. It was said that he had lost the
Mandate of Heaven. Qing China built an elaborate system designed to minimize famine deaths. The system was destroyed in the
Taiping Rebellion of the 1850s. == See also ==