CH'IN RIVER

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Ch'in Ho, or (Pinyin) Qin He, river rising in the T'ai-yeh Shan (mountains) of Shansi sheng (province), China. It flows south through the plateau past Ch'in-yan and near Yang-ch'eng, through the southwest spur of the T'ai-hang Shan, and onto the plain of northern Honan province, where it swings southeastward to join the Huang Ho at Wu-chih. The Ch'in River's lower course has a very low gradient, so that the heavy silt load carried down from the plateau by the current has caused extensive flooding since ancient times. In 609, with the construction of the Yung-chi Canal from the area of Wu-chih northeast across the North China Plain to the area of Peking, the waters of the Ch'in were diverted into the canal. The canal, however, fell into disuse at the end of the 8th century. In 1951-52 the Jen-min Sheng-li ("People's Victory") Canal was constructed, connecting Wu-chih with the Wei Ho, thus reopening the waterway of 609 and providing an outlet for floodwaters at the junction of the Ch'in and the Huang Ho. The total length of the Ch'in River is about 150 miles (240 km).