Abstract: The?section?of?the?Yellow?River?from?Longmen?to?Tongguan?has?a?typical?wandering?course.?The?changes?of?the?river’s?course?often?led?to?disputes?over?the?alluvial?deposits?on?both?sides?of?the?border.?The?archives?of?the?Qing?Court?reveal?the?central?government’s?role?in?the?mediation?of?disputes?between?Shanxi?and Shaanxi?provinces?when?changes?in?course?of?the?river?affected?the?boundary?between?the?two?provinces.?For?reasons?such?as?river?protection,?the?central?government?clearly?defined?the?ownership?of?alluvium?and?designated?it?as?official?land.?The?government?allocated?the?land?to?related?villages?and?imposed?rent?and?tax?obligations.?This?was?not?the?so-called?Guanzhong?Mode?of?confused?rent?and?tax?collection?or?the?fuzzy?concept?of?property?rights.?The?Guanzhong?Mode emphasized extra-economic coercion and force. Archives of the Qing Court clearly reveal that state?power?was?different?from?coercion,?and?environmental?dependence?was?different?from personal?attachment.