A historical overview of experimental hydrology in China

Abstract The history of experimental hydrology in China is important but poorly documented. Here we review 94 papers (86 of these in Chinese) from the CNKI and Web of Science websites to chronicle the history of experimental studies in China before 2000. Professor Wei‐Zu Gu—the focus of this Special Issue—factors heavily into this history. Perhaps more than any country, the experimental hydrology history of China is influenced by socioeconomic development and political change. Our analysis shows 4 main periods of development associated with (1) an early development stage before 1949, the founding year of People's Republic of China (PRC), (2) an initial period of rapid transition in experimental studies in China (1949–1965), (3) a struggling and recovering stage for during and shortly after the Cultural Revolution, from 1965 to 1978, and (4) significant progress associated with new policies for reform and opening up in China from 1978 to 2000, that included contributions of Wei‐Zu Gu and other scientists. In terms of experimental hydrological findings, two notable contributions are a mathematical description of saturation overland flow derived from streamflow and precipitation data and calculated water storage deficit in the unsaturated zone by Zhao and Zhuang (1963), several years before its process‐based ‘discovery’ in the USA (and elsewhere) and the ‘interface runoff generation law’ of Yu (1985) which was ahead of its time in understanding linking the notion of the commonality of all runoff forms. In terms of model development stemming from experimental studies, the development of the Xinanjiang Model of Zhao (1980) was a significant achievement, later partly adopted into the VIC model in the USA and the ARNO model in Europe. Finally, the Hydrohill catchment developed by Wei‐Zu Gu led the way for the rapid rise in process studies and internationalization of experimental hydrology in China. Overall, the experimental hydrological studies from 1949 to 2000 had a strong engineering focus, with many links to water conservation construction and management.