τέσσερα στοιχεία: νερό

νερό: mainland china-
the year is 1930 and the
people of china have
been suffering for 2
years now because of
widespread drought which
caused famine in three
northern provinces, that of
gansu, henan & shaanxi---
said to have killed nearly
3 million people, the famine’s
strength had much to do with
the weak relief efforts of then
republic of china.

the winter of 1930 brought
with it snowstorms bearing oddly
heavy amounts which then
melted away quickly in the spring
bringing with it the heightening of
the yellow river, huai river & the
yangtze.

heavy rain pelted down upon the
already overflowing rivers & through
the summer months of 1931 this area
which normally receives 2 cyclones a
year, underwent the chaotic pummeling
of no less than 7 in july alone.

while estimates of those that died
from the destruction caused by these
floods range from 3.7 million to
4 with an overall 28.5 million “having
been affected by them,” it is
extremely difficult for a person
living in the comfortable convenience
of western civilization to fathom
the mass drowning & the expansive
coverage of land by water in this
natural disaster, which to this day is
considered to be the worst in recorded
human history.

on top of the deaths from the floods
themselves & the diseases like
cholera & typhus which proliferated
under such circumstances, the unique
chaos that came with the complete
breakdown of societal norms in hubei,
hunan, jiangxi, wuhan, chongqing,
hanyang & hankou brought with it
infanticide & cannibalism, as well as
the sale of daughters & wives.