CHIN-SHA RIVER

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Chin-sha Chiang, or (Pinyin) Jinsha Jiang, conventional Kinsha Kiang westernmost of the major headwater streams of the Yangtze River, China. Its headwaters rise in the Wu-lan Shan (mountains) and K'u-k'u-shih-li Shan in western Tsinghai province, to the south of the Kunlun Mountains, and on the northern slope of the T'ang-ku-la Shan on the border of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The three principal headwaters, the Ch'u-ma-erh River, Mu-lu-wu-su River, and A-k'o-ta-mu River, join to form the T'ung-t'ien River, which flows southeast to Chih-men-ta near the frontier between Tibet and Szechwan province. As the Chin-sha River it then flows south in a deep gorge parallel to the similar gorges of the Upper Mekong and Upper Salween rivers, from which it is separated by the Ning-ching Shan. It forms the western border of Szechwan for some 250 miles (400 km) and then flows into Yunnan province. After a large, 200-mile- (320-kilometre-) long loop to the north of Ta-li-pai-tsu Autonomous Prefecture, the Chin-sha River swings northeast, forming the Szechwan-Yunnan provincial boundary until it joins the Min Chiang at I-pin (Szechwan) to form the Yangtze. The upper course of the river falls about 14 feet (4 m) per mile. Below Pa-t'ang (Szechwan) the gradient gradually decreases to about 8 feet (2.5 m) a mile, but the Chin-sha is quite unnavigable and in its upper course through the gorges is more of an obstacle than an aid to communication.