The problem of transboundary river water distribution is related to river health, human - water relationship, regional coordinated development, and security and stability of societies. Water distribution of the Yellow River is one of the major difficulties faced in the implementation of the Yellow River national strategy, which is related to the national economy and people’s livelihood. At present, there are many studies on transboundary river water distribution in China and internationally, but accurate and reasonable conclusions have yet to be reached. The 1987 water distribution scheme for the Yellow River has been implemented for more than 30 years and changes are urgently needed. In this study, through data collection and analysis of a large amount of literature, the thoughts, principles, and rules of water distribution in transboundary rivers were summarized, and a set of systematic calculation methods of water distribution in transboundary rivers was put forward. This new approach is characterized by multi-method synthesis-dynamic analysis-harmonious water distribution based on the thoughts, principles, and rules of water distribution (SDH method for short). On this basis, the theoretical method was applied and the actual situation of the Yellow River Basin and the results of existing scientific research were fully considered. The results are as follows: (1) Water distribution in transboundary rivers is a difficult problem, which involves the complicated relationships between human and nature and between people; (2) The proposed water distribution method takes into account factors such as current water distribution scheme, current water use, future water demand, population, GDP, river basin area, and the overall optimal distribution, changes year on year with the change of the quantity of distributable water, and meets the minimum water demand and water use efficiency constraints; (3) The 1987 water distribution scheme for the Yellow River needs to be adjusted. Considering the change of the total distributable water amount, a new scheme for the Yellow River water distribution under the two scenarios of 37 billion and 30 billion m ³of assumed distributable water is determined respectively (the “19ZQT” water distribution scheme), and the suitability of the scheme was analyzed and demonstrated.