Abstract: In the process of sustained canonization, Li Zhun’s novel The Yellow River Flows East still retains high value for interpretation and academic research. In the text of the novel, the novelist captures the historical event of the Yellow River levee breach at Huayuankou, Henan Province in 1938, anchoring his creation from the standpoint and perspective of the refugee group in western Henan, and mapping the identity crisis of the peasant group under the background of the aftermath of the disaster in the 1940s. In his attention to identity politics represented by the refugee group images, the emotional political space and emotional geographical discourse centering around Henan emerge, revealing the inner emotional structure of Henan farmers in their fight against disasters. Then, through the resolution of the confrontation between the discourse of local refugees and that of mainstream power represented by the official government, the revolutionary metaphor is transformed into the writing of the structure of reform experience, and the emotional factors and emotional political metaphors in The Yellow River Flows East are driven deeper to the level of cultural and literary thought.

Key words: literary politics, emotional politics, emotional geography, The Yellow River Flows East