YANGTZE RIVER

The Huang Ho basin and the Yangtze River basin and their drainage networks. Chinese (Wade-Giles) Ch'ang Chiang, or (Pinyin) Chang Jiang, longest river in both China and Asia and the third longest river in the world, with a length of 3,915 miles (6,300 kilometres). Its basin, extending for some 2,000 miles from west to east and for more than 600 miles from north to south, drains an area of 698,265 square miles (1,808,500 square kilometres). From its source on the Plateau of Tibet to its mouth on the East China Sea, the river traverses or serves as the border between 10 provinces or regions. More than three-fourths of the river's course runs through mountains. The Yangtze has eight principal tributaries. On its left bank, from source to mouth, these are the Ya-lung, Min, Chia-ling, and Han rivers, while on the right bank are the Wu, Yan, Hsiang, and Kan rivers. The name Yangtzederived from the name of the ancient fiefdom of Yanghas been applied to the river mainly by Europeans. Ch'ang Chiang (Long River) is the name used in China, although it also is called Ta Chiang (Great River) or, simply, Chiang (The River). The Yangtze is the most important river of China. It is the country's principal waterway, and its basin is China's great granary and contains nearly one-third of the national population. Chinese (Wade-Giles) Ch'ang Chiang, or (Pinyin) Chang Jiang, longest river of Asia and the third longest river in the world, having a length of 3,915 miles (6,300 km). The Yangtze rises on the Plateau of Tibet in western China and flows in a generally northeasterly direction across 12 Chinese provinces and regions to its delta on the East China Sea. More than three-quarters of the river's course runs through mountains; the lower course, however, is situated at the southern edge of the extensive North China Plain in the lowlands of eastern China. The drainage basin of the Yangtze covers an area of 698,265 square miles (1,808,500 square km), encompassing eight principal tributaries: the Ya-lung, Min, Chia-ling, and Han rivers join the Yangtze on its left (north) bank, and the Wu, Yan, Hsiang, and Kan rivers on its right bank. The Yangtze carries a tremendous volume of water and is ranked fourth in volume among the rivers of the world. During the period of monsoon rains in the summer months, the Yangtze and its tributaries spill over, creating extensive floods. If the floods in the main channel coincide with flooding in one or more of the major tributaries, powerful, destructive flood waves can resultan occurrence that has struck repeatedly in the history of China. Population distribution in the Yangtze River basin is uneven; it is greatest in the plains that adjoin the banks of the river and its tributaries in central and eastern China and is most sparse in the highlands to the west. Such large cities as Shanghai, Nanking, Wu-han, Chungking, and Ch'eng-tu, all of which have urban area populations of more than 2,000,000, are located in the Yangtze River basin. The basin is considered the granary of China and contributes nearly half of the country's agricultural output, including nearly three-fourths of its total volume of rice. Other chief crops include wheat, barley, corn (maize), beans, and hemp. The rivers and large lakes of the basinmost notably Lakes Tung-t'ing, P'o-yang, and T'aiabound with fish of commercial value. The fishing trade is widely developed and is a major livelihood for much of the population of the region. The Yangtze River is China's principal inland waterway and binds the country's inland and sea ports together with other major cities into a transportation network in which Nanking, Wu-han, and Chungking play leading roles. Intensive cargo and passenger traffic travels along 1,700 miles (2,700 km) of the river's course, with large ships reaching as far as Wu-han, 700 miles (1,100 km) upriver from the coast. Additional reading For the Yangtze River, useful 19th-century accounts by westerners of land and life in the basin include Isabella Bird, The Yangtze Valley and Beyond (1899, reissued with a new introduction, 1987); and Archibald John Little, Through the Yang-tse Gorges: or, Trade and Travel in Western China, 3rd and rev. ed. (1898, reprinted 1972). Recent descriptions in English include Jiang Liu, China's Largest River (1980); the pictographic account of How Man Wong, Exploring the Yangtze: China's Longest River (1989); and the valuable guidebook by Judy Bonavia, A Guide to the Yangzi River (1985). Physiography, culture, and history are imaginatively linked in Lyman P. Van Slyke, Yangtze: Nature, History, and the River (1988). The issues surrounding the massive Three Gorges dam and reservoir project are presented from different points of view in Shiu-hung Luk and Joseph Whitney (eds.), Megaproject: A Case Study of China's Three Gorges Project (1993); and Margaret Barber and Grinne Ryder (eds.), Damming the Three Gorges, 2nd ed. (1993). Charles E. Greer