Editing Yangtze (section)

==Etymology==
===Chinese{{anchor|Chinese name|Chinese names}}===
{{transliteration|zh|Cháng Jiāng}} ({{zh|labels=no|s=长江 |t=長江}}) or "'''Long River'''" is the official name for the Yangtze in [[Mandarin Chinese]]. However, the Chinese have given different names to the upstream sections of the river up to its confluence with the [[Min River (Sichuan)|Min River]] at [[Yibin]], Sichuan.<ref name="Jamieson 1911, p. 903">{{cite EB1911|first=Jamieson |last=George |wstitle=Yangtsze-Kiang |volume=28 |page=903}}</ref><ref name="Yule 1880, p. 35">[[Henry Yule|Yule, Henry]]. ''The River of Golden Sand: The Narrative of a Journey Through China and Eastern Tibet to Burmah'', Vol. 1, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Uuk2OQeMwsMC&pg=PA35 p. 35] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511151300/https://books.google.com/books?id=Uuk2OQeMwsMC&pg=PA35 |date=May 11, 2016 }}. "Introductory Essay." 1880. Reprint: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2013.</ref> [[Jinsha River|Jinsha]] ("Gold Sands") River refers to the {{convert|2,308|km|mi|abbr=on}} of the Yangtze from Yibin upstream to the confluence with the [[Batang River]] near [[Yushu City, Qinghai|Yushu]] in Qinghai, while the [[Tongtian River|Tongtian]] ("Leading to Heaven") River describes the {{convert|813|km|mi|abbr=on}} section from Yushu up to the confluence of the [[Tuotuo River]] and the [[Dangqu River]].{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In [[Old Chinese]], the Yangtze was simply called ''Jiang/Kiang'' {{lang|zh|江}},<ref name=baxjiang>Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. ''{{cite web|url=http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |title=Baxter–Sagart Old Chinese Reconstruction |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064509/http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.93&nbsp;MB)}}'', p. 56. 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2013.</ref> a [[Chinese character|character]] of [[phono-semantic compound]] origin, combining the water [[Radical (Chinese characters)|radical]] {{lang|zh|氵}} with the homophone {{lang|zh|工}} (now pronounced {{transliteration|zh|gōng}}, but ''*kˤoŋ'' in Old Chinese<ref>Baxter & al. (2011), {{cite web|url=http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |title=p. 69 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064509/http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.93&nbsp;MB)}}.</ref>). ''Kong'' was probably a word in the [[Austroasiatic]] language of local peoples such as the [[Baiyue|Yue]]. Similar to ''*krong'' in [[Proto-Vietnamese]] and ''krung'' in [[Mon language|Mon]], all meaning "river", it is related to [[Vietnamese language|modern Vietnamese]] ''sông'' (river) and [[Khmer language|Khmer]] ''krung'' (city on riverside), whence [[Thai language|Thai]] ''krung'' (กรุง capital city), not ''kôngkea'' (water) which is from the [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] root ''gáṅgā''.<ref>Philipsen, Philip. ''Sound Business: The Reality of Chinese Characters'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=qyPndWdUrdIC&pg=RA1-PT12 p. 12] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427063734/https://books.google.com/books?id=qyPndWdUrdIC&pg=RA1-PT12 |date=April 27, 2016 }}. iUniverse (Lincoln), 2005. Retrieved August 12, 2013.</ref>

[[File:Mouth of the Yangtze 1754.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The "Great River" ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|大江}}}}) with its entrance to the [[East China Sea]] marked as the "Mouth of the Yangtze" ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|揚子|江口}}}}) on the [[Jiangnan Province|Jiangnan]] map in the 1754 ''Provincial Atlas of the [[Qing Empire]]'']]
By the [[Han dynasty]], {{transliteration|zh|Jiāng}} had come to mean ''any'' river in Chinese, and this river was distinguished as the "Great River" {{lang|zh|大江}} ({{transliteration|zh|Dàjiāng}}). The epithet {{lang|zh-hant|長}} ([[Simplified Chinese characters|simplified version]] {{lang|zh-hans|长}}), meaning "long", was first formally applied to the river during the [[Six Dynasties]] period.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

Various sections of the Yangtze have local names. From Yibin to [[Yichang]], the river through [[Sichuan]] and [[Chongqing Municipality]] is also known as the {{transliteration|zh|Chuān Jiāng}} ({{zh|labels=no|c=川江}}) or "[[Sichuan River]]". In [[Hubei]], the river is also called the {{transliteration|zh|Jīng Jiāng}} ({{zh|labels=no|t=荊江|s=荆江}}) or the "Jing River" after [[Jingzhou (ancient China)|Jingzhou]], one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. In [[Anhui]], the river takes on the local name {{transliteration|zh|Wǎn Jiāng}} after the shorthand name for Anhui, {{transliteration|zh|wǎn}} (皖). {{transliteration|zh|Yángzǐ Jiāng}} ({{zh|labels=no|first=t|t=揚子江 |s=扬子江}}) or the "Yangzi River", from which the English name Yangtze is derived, is the local name for the Lower Yangtze in the region of [[Yangzhou (ancient China)|Yangzhou]]. The name likely comes from an ancient ferry crossing called {{transliteration|zh|Yángzǐ}} or {{transliteration|zh|Yángzǐjīn}} ({{zh|labels=no|t=揚子 / 揚子津}}).<ref>{{cite web |last1=An |first1=Min (安民) |url=http://www.yznews.com.cn/yzwb/html/2010-001/23/content_92703.html |script-title=zh:《夜晤扬子津》 |trans-title=Yangtze Ferry |website=yznews.com.cn |date=January 23, 2010 |language=zh-hans}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Europeans who arrived in the [[Yangtze River Delta]] region applied this [[endonym|local name]] to the whole river.<ref name="Jamieson 1911, p. 903"/> The dividing site between upstream and [[midstream]] is considered to be at Yichang and that between midstream and downstream at [[Hukou County|Hukou]] ([[Jiujiang]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Yongqiang |date=2001 |title=Effects of the Three Gorges Project on Runoff and Related Benefits of the Key Regions along Main Branches of the Yangtze River |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330891909 |journal=Water |volume=11 |issue=2019 |pages=269 |access-date=July 8, 2020}}</ref>

===English===
{{anchor|English name|English names}}
The river was called '''Quian''' ({{lang|zh|江}}) and '''Quianshui''' ({{lang|zh|江水}}) by [[Marco Polo]]<ref>Pelliot, Paul. ''Notes on Marco Polo'', Vol. 2, [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/III-2-F-c-104/V-2/page/0222.html.en p. 818] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113202138/http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/III-2-F-c-104/V-2/page/0222.html.en |date=November 13, 2013 }}. L'Académie des Inscriptions e Belles-Lettres e avec le Concours du Centre national de la Recherche scientifique (Paris), 1959–1973. Retrieved August 13, 2013.</ref> and appeared on the earliest English maps as '''Kian''' or '''Kiam''',<ref name=moll>E.g., Moll, Herman. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3744~430080:The-Empire-of-China-and-island-of-J The Empire of China and island of Japan, agreeable to modern history.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113202444/http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3744~430080:The-Empire-of-China-and-island-of-J |date=November 13, 2013 }}" Bowles & Bowles (London), 1736. Retrieved August 13, 2013.</ref><ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 3rd ed. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=tIFMAAAAMAAJ&q=kiam Kiam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508104827/https://books.google.com/books?id=tIFMAAAAMAAJ&q=kiam |date=May 8, 2016 }}." Bell & Macfarquhar (Edinburgh), 1797. Retrieved August 14, 2013.</ref> all recording [[Chinese dialects|dialects]] which preserved forms of the [[Middle Chinese]] pronunciation of {{lang|zh|江}} as ''Kæwng''.<ref name=baxjiang/> By the mid-19th century, these romanizations had standardized as '''Kiang'''; ''Dajiang'', e.g., was rendered as "Ta-Kiang." "Keeang-Koo,"<ref name=bell>Bell, James. ''A System of Geography, Popular and Scientific; or a Physical, Political, and Statistical Account of the World and its Various Divisions'', Vol. V, Part I, [https://books.google.com/books?id=QVURAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA215 p. 215] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506030311/https://books.google.com/books?id=QVURAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA215 |date=May 6, 2016 }}. "Chinese Tartary." A. Fullarton & Co. (London), 1849. Retrieved August 13, 2013.</ref> "Kyang Kew,"<ref name=tan>Tanner, B. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239031~5512191:China-divided-into-it-s-Great-Provi China divided into its Great Provinces According to the best Authorities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113202234/http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239031~5512191:China-divided-into-it-s-Great-Provi |date=November 13, 2013 }}." Mathew Carey (Philadelphia), 1795. Retrieved August 13, 2013.</ref> "Kian-ku,"<ref name=repo>Bridgman, Elijah (ed.) ''[[The Chinese Repository]]'', Vol. I, [https://books.google.com/books?id=h0YPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA37 pp. 37 ff] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610071909/https://books.google.com/books?id=h0YPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA37 |date=June 10, 2016 }}. "Review. ''Ta Tsing Wan-neën Yih-tung King-wei Yu-too'',–'A General Geographical Map, with Degrees of Latitude and Longitude, of the Empire of the Ta Tsing Dynasty–May It Last Forever', by Le Mingche Tsinglae." Canton Mission Press (Guangdong), 1833.</ref> and related names derived from mistaking the Chinese term for the mouth of the Yangtze ({{lang|zh|江口}}, <small>[[pinyin|p]]</small>&nbsp;''Jiāngkǒu'') as the name of the river itself.

The name '''Blue River''' began to be applied in the 18th century,<ref name=moll/> apparently owing to a former name of the Dam Chu{{refn|[[Mongolian language|Mongolian]]:&nbsp;{{lang|mn|Xөх Мөрөн}}, ''Höh'' or ''Kök Mörön''.<ref>Konstam, Angus. ''Yangtze River Gunboats 1900–49'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=uVZrlJzKPlQC&pg=PT17 p. 17] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512213909/https://books.google.com/books?id=uVZrlJzKPlQC&pg=PT17 |date=May 12, 2016 }}. Osprey Publishing (Oxford), 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2013.</ref>}} or Min{{refn|Recorded as bearing the local Chinese name of {{lang|zh|清水}} (''Qīngshuǐ''), literally meaning "Clear Water[way]."<ref>Davenport, Arthur. ''Report upon the Trading Capabilities of the Country Traversed by the Yunnan Mission'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=K-BAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA10 pp. 10 ff] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429200422/https://books.google.com/books?id=K-BAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA10 |date=April 29, 2016 }}. Harrison & Sons (London), 1877.</ref>}} and to analogy with the [[Yellow River]],<ref>Aloian, Molly. ''Rivers Around the World: The Yangtze: China's Majestic River'', [https://archive.org/details/yangtzechinasmaj0000aloi/page/6 p. 6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504063336/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tmw-00JaCtMC&pg=PA6 |date=May 4, 2016 }}. Crabtree Publishing Co. (New York), 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2013.</ref><ref>Room, Adrian. ''Placenames of the World'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=PzIer-wYbnQC&pg=PA395 p. 395] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504132224/https://books.google.com/books?id=PzIer-wYbnQC&pg=PA395 |date=May 4, 2016 }}. 1997. Reprint: McFarland (Jefferson, N.C.), 2003. Retrieved August 13, 2013.<!--NB: his direct translation of Yangzi's characters is spurious.--></ref> but it was frequently explained in early English references as a 'translation' of ''Jiang'',<ref>''The Modern Part of an<!--sic--> Universal History, from the Earliest Accounts to the Present Time'', Vol. XXXVII, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MisIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57 p. 57] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617125035/https://books.google.com/books?id=MisIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57 |date=June 17, 2016 }}. "Of the Empires of China and Japan." (London), 1783.</ref><ref>Wilkes, John. ''Encyclopaedia Londinensis, or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'', Vol. XI, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mFcMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA851 p. 851] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429075940/https://books.google.com/books?id=mFcMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA851 |date=April 29, 2016 }}. "Koko Nor." J. Adlard (London), 1812.</ref> ''Jiangkou'',<ref name=bell/> or ''Yangzijiang''.<ref>Liber, Nadine. ''Life''. "A Scary Pageant in Peking", [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60 p. 60]. September 4, 1964. Retrieved August 14, 2013. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428070826/https://books.google.com/books?id=8kUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60 |date=April 28, 2016 }}.</ref> Very common in 18th- and 19th-century sources, the name fell out of favor due to growing awareness of its lack of any connection to the river's Chinese names<ref name=jon>Davis, John. ''The Chinese: A General Description of the Empire of China and Its Inhabitants'', Vol. 1, [https://books.google.com/books?id=A6RNeE46WtUC&pg=PA132 pp. 132 ff] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623201654/https://books.google.com/books?id=A6RNeE46WtUC&pg=PA132 |date=June 23, 2016 }}. C. Knight, 1836.</ref><ref name=StJ>''The St. James's Magazine'', Vol. XIV, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sEIxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA230 p. 230] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424074140/https://books.google.com/books?id=sEIxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA230 |date=April 24, 2016 }}. "A Cruise on the Yangtze Kyang." W. Kent & Co. (London), 1865.</ref> and to the irony of its application to such a muddy waterway.<ref name=StJ/><ref>Moncrieff, A.R.H. ''The World of To-day: A Survey of the Lands and Peoples of The Globe as Seen in Travel and Commerce'', Vol. I, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BvVaAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Blue+River%22,+%22its+stream+is+as+turbid%22 p. 42] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518181659/https://books.google.com/books?id=BvVaAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Blue+River%22,+%22its+stream+is+as+turbid%22 |date=May 18, 2016 }}. Gresham Publishing Co. (London), 1907.</ref>

[[Matteo Ricci]]'s 1615 [[De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas|Latin account]] included descriptions of the "Ianſu" and "Ianſuchian."<ref name=chrex>[[Ricci, Matteo]] & al. ''De Christiana Expeditione Apud Sinas Suscepta ab Societate Jesu'', Libri V, 1615. New Edition: ''De Christiana Expeditione apud Sinas suscepta ab Societate Iesu'', Libri V, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iLsWAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA365 pp. 365 ff.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505021622/https://books.google.com/books?id=iLsWAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA365 |date=May 5, 2016 }}, Bernardus Gualterus (Cologne), 1617. Retrieved August 14, 2013. {{in lang|la}}</ref> The posthumous account's translation of the name as '''Fils de la Mer''' ("Son of the Ocean")<ref name=chrex/><ref>Ricci, Matteo & al. Samuel Purchas (trans.) in ''Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas His Pilgrimes'', Vol. XII, [https://archive.org/stream/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog_djvu.txt p. 305] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929222006/http://archive.org/stream/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog_djvu.txt |date=September 29, 2015 }}. "A Generall Collection and Historicall representation of the Jesuites entrance into Japon and China, until their admission in the Royall Citie of Nanquin." 1625. Reprint: MacLehose & Co. (Glasgow), 1906. Retrieved August 14, 2013.</ref> shows that Ricci, who by the end of his life was fluent in literary Chinese, was introduced to it as the homophonic {{lang|zh|洋子江}} rather than the usual {{lang|zh|揚子江}}. Further, although [[History of rail transport in China|railroads]] and the [[Shanghai concessions]] subsequently turned it into a backwater, [[Yangzhou]] was the lower river's principal port for much of the [[Qing dynasty]], directing [[viceroy of Liangjiang|Liangjiang]]'s important [[Economic history of China before 1912|salt monopoly]] and connecting the Yangtze with the [[Grand Canal of China|Grand Canal]] to Beijing. (That connection also made it one of the [[Yellow River]]'s principal ports between the floods of [[1344 Yellow River flood|1344]] and the 1850s, during which time the Yellow River ran well south of [[Shandong peninsula|Shandong]] and discharged into the ocean a mere few hundred kilometers from the mouth of the Yangtze.<ref name=jon/><ref name=repo/>)

By 1800, English cartographers such as [[Aaron Arrowsmith]] had adopted the French style of the name<ref>E.g., in Didier, Robert & al. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3983~490062:L-Empire-de-la-Chine,-Dresse-d-apre? L'Empire de la Chine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185437/http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3983~490062:L-Empire-de-la-Chine,-Dresse-d-apre |date=October 29, 2013 }}." Boudet (Paris), 1751. Retrieved August 14, 2013.</ref> as '''Yang-tse''' or '''Yang-tse&nbsp;Kiang'''.<ref>[[Arrowsmith, Aaron]]. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~233054~5509637:Asia--To-Major-James-Rennell,-Esq-r Asia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192608/http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~233054~5509637:Asia--To-Major-James-Rennell,-Esq-r |date=October 29, 2013 }}." G. Allen (London), 1801. Retrieved August 14, 2013.</ref> The British diplomat [[Thomas Francis Wade|Thomas Wade]] emended this to '''Yang-tzu Chiang''' as part of his formerly popular [[Wade–Giles|romanization of Chinese]], based on the [[Beijing dialect]] instead of Nanjing's and first published in 1867. The spellings '''Yangtze''' and '''Yangtze&nbsp;Kiang''' was a compromise between the two methods adopted at the 1906 Imperial Postal Conference in Shanghai, which established [[postal romanization]]. [[Hanyu Pinyin]] was adopted by the PRC's [[1st National People's Congress|First Congress]] in 1958, but it was not widely employed in English outside mainland China prior to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and the PRC in 1979; since that time, the spelling '''Yangzi''' has also been used.

===Tibetan===
{{anchor|Tibetan name|Tibetan names}}
The source and upper reaches of the Yangtze are located in [[Tibetan people|ethnic Tibetan]] areas of [[Qinghai]].<ref>Yang & al. ''Tibetan Geography'', p. 73. China Intercontinental Press, 2004. {{ISBN|7-5085-0665-0}}.</ref> In Tibetan, the Tuotuo headwaters are the ''Machu'' ({{Bo|t=རྨ་ཆུ་|w=rma-chu}}, lit. "Red Water"). The Tongtian is the ''Drichu'' ({{Bo-textonly|འབྲི་ཆུ་ }}, ‘Bri Chu’), literally "Water of the Female [[Yak]]"; [[transliteration into Chinese|transliterated]] into {{zh|s=直曲|p=Zhíqū}}).