History
During the Han Dynasty, Yunmeng Marsh (Chinese: 雲夢大澤; pinyin: Yúnmèng dàzé), which lies to the north of Dongting Lake in Hubei Province, served as the main flood-basin of the Yangtze. The rich sediment of the marsh attracted farmers. Embankments were built, keeping the river out, and the Dongting Lake area south of the Yangtze gradually became the river's main flood-basin.
At that time, Dongting Lake was China's largest lake. Because of its size, it gained the name Eight-hundred-li-Dongting (八百里洞庭). Nowadays, it is the second-largest, after Poyang Lake (鄱陽湖), as much of the lake has been turned into farmland.
Read more about this topic: Dongting Lake
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—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)