Abstract: After the floods in the lower reaches of the Yellow River inundated the Huai River basin, the Xiahe area suffered from frequent flooding. Based on an analysis of historical documents, including official books, archives of Qing dynasty, and local gazetteers, this paper discusses two debates about flooding in the Xiahe area in the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns. The article finds that during the earlier debate government’ s decisions were influenced by such factors as the idea of employing persons, local interests, and infighting among political cliques. Only during the later debate were technological factors paramount.