The Yangtze River, also called the Yangzi River or Chang Jiang, is the longest river in China and the third-longest river in the world. It begins at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows for 6,236 kilometers (about 3,875 miles), including the Dam Qu River, which is its longest source. The river flows mostly eastward to the East China Sea. It is the fifth-largest river in the world by how much water it carries. Its drainage basin covers one-fifth of China’s land area and is home to nearly one-third of the country’s population.

The Yangtze River has been important to China’s history, culture, and economy for thousands of years. People have used it for water, farming, sanitation, transportation, industry, marking boundaries, and warfare. The Yangtze Delta produces up to 20% of China’s total economic output. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze is the largest hydroelectric power station in the world. In mid-2014, the Chinese government announced plans to build a network of railways, roads, and airports along the river to create a new economic region.

The Yangtze River flows through many different ecosystems and is home to several species found only in that area, including the Chinese alligator and the narrow-ridged finless porpoise. It was once home to the now-extinct Yangtze river dolphin (or baiji) and Chinese paddlefish. The Yangtze sturgeon is also extinct in the wild. In recent years, the river has faced problems like industrial pollution, plastic waste, agricultural runoff, soil build-up, and the loss of wetlands and lakes, which worsen seasonal flooding. Some parts of the river are now protected as nature reserves. A section of the upper Yangtze in western Yunnan, flowing through deep gorges, is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Etymology

The river known as the Yangtze River in English is called Cháng Jiāng (长江) in Chinese, which means "Long River." However, different parts of the river have different names in Chinese. The modern English name "Yangtze" comes from a local name used in the Yangzhou region, which was applied to the entire river by Europeans who visited the Yangtze River Delta area.

In Old Chinese, the river was called Jiang/Kiang (江), a word made from parts that represent sounds and meanings. The character "Jiang" combines the water radical (氵) with the homophone "gong" (工), which was likely borrowed from an ancient language spoken by local groups, such as the Yue people. This word is similar to *krong in Proto-Vietnamese and krung in Mon, both meaning "river." These words are related to modern Vietnamese "sông" (river) and Khmer "krung" (city on a riverside), which also influenced the Thai word "krung" (กรุง), meaning "capital city."

By the Han dynasty, the word "Jiang" came to mean any river in Chinese. This particular river was then called "Dàjiāng" (大江), or "Great River." Later, during the Six Dynasties period, the word "Cháng" (长), meaning "long," was officially added to the river's name, creating "Cháng Jiāng."

Different parts of the Yangtze River have local names. For example, the section from Yibin to Yichang, which flows through Sichuan and Chongqing, is also called "Chuān Jiāng" (川江) or "Sichuan River." In Hubei, the river is called "Jīng Jiāng" (荆江) or "Jing River," named after the ancient region of Jingzhou. In Anhui, the river is called "Wǎn Jiāng" (皖江), using the shorthand name for Anhui, "Wǎn."

The "Jinsha River" refers to the 2,308 km (1,434 mi) stretch of the Yangtze from Yibin upstream to its meeting with the Batang River near Yushu in Qinghai. The "Tongtian River" describes the 813 km (505 mi) section from Yushu to where the Tuotuo River and Dangqu River join.

The name "Yangzijiang" (扬子江) or "Yangzi River" is the local name for the Lower Yangtze in the Yangzhou region. Europeans who visited the Yangtze River Delta used this name for the entire river.

In the West, the river was called "Quian" and "Quianshui" by Marco Polo and appeared on early English maps as "Kian" or "Kiam." By the mid-1800s, these names were standardized as "Kiang."

Another English name, "Kian-ku," came from a misunderstanding of the Chinese term for the river's mouth, "Jiāngkǒu" (江口). The name "Blue River" was used in the 18th century but was later abandoned because it had no connection to the river's Chinese names and because the river's water is often muddy.

In 1615, Matteo Ricci wrote about the river in Latin as "Iansu" and "Iansuchian." A later translation of his work called it "Fils de la Mer" ("Son of the Ocean"), which was based on a different Chinese term, "Yángzǐ Jiāng" (洋子江), rather than the usual "Yángzǐ Jiāng."

Yangzhou was an important port during much of the Qing dynasty, connecting the Yangtze River to the Grand Canal and Beijing. It also served as a major port for the Yellow River between the 1344 floods and the 1850s, when the Yellow River flowed near Shandong and emptied into the ocean near the Yangtze's mouth.

By 1800, English maps used the French-style name "Yang-tse" or "Yang-tse Kiang." The British diplomat Thomas Wade later changed this to "Yang-tzu Chiang" based on the Beijing dialect. A compromise between these styles, "Yangtze" and "Yangtze Kiang," was adopted in 1906 at the Imperial Postal Conference. The system of Hanyu Pinyin, used in China since 1958, became widely used in English after diplomatic relations between the United States and China improved in 1979. The name "Yangzi" has also been used since then.

The source and upper parts of the Yangtze River are in Tibetan areas of Qinghai. In Tibetan, the Tuotuo River is called "Machu" (རྨ་ཆུ་), meaning "Red Water." The Tongtian River is called "Drichu" (འབྲི་ཆུ་), meaning "Water of the Female Yak," which is written as "Zhíqū" in Chinese.

Geography

The Yangtze River begins at several smaller rivers in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau. Two of these smaller rivers are often called the "source" of the Yangtze. Traditionally, the Chinese government has identified the Tuotuo River as the main source. This river starts at the base of a glacier near Geladandong Mountain in the Tanggula Mountains. Its location is at 33°25′44″N 91°10′57″E and is the highest starting point of the Yangtze at 5,342 meters (17,526 feet) above sea level. However, the true source, which is the farthest from the ocean, is at Jari Hill near the head of the Dam Qu River. This location is about 365 kilometers (227 miles) southeast of Geladandong and is at 32°36′14″N 94°30′44″E, 5,170 meters (16,960 feet) above sea level. This source was discovered in the late 20th century and is in wetlands near Chadan Township in Qinghai Province. Despite this discovery, the Geladandong source is still widely recognized as the main starting point of the Yangtze River due to its historical and spiritual significance.

The smaller rivers join together, and the Yangtze flows eastward through Qinghai Province. It then turns southward through a deep valley at the border of Sichuan and Tibet, eventually reaching Yunnan Province. As it travels through this valley, the river’s elevation drops from over 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) to less than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet). Over the first 2,600 kilometers (1,600 miles) of its journey, the river descends more than 5,200 meters (17,100 feet).

The Yangtze enters the Sichuan Basin at Yibin. In this region, it receives water from several large rivers, increasing its flow. It then flows through Mount Wushan, which borders Chongqing and Hubei provinces, forming the famous Three Gorges. East of the Three Gorges, the city of Yichang is the first major city on the Yangtze Plain.

After entering Hubei Province, the Yangtze receives water from many lakes. The largest of these is Dongting Lake, located on the border of Hunan and Hubei provinces. This lake is the main outlet for rivers in Hunan. At Wuhan, the Yangtze receives its largest tributary, the Han River, which brings water from northern regions as far as Shaanxi Province.

Near the northern tip of Jiangxi Province, Lake Poyang, the largest freshwater lake in China, flows into the Yangtze River. The river continues through Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, collecting water from many smaller lakes and rivers. Finally, it reaches the East China Sea near Shanghai.

Four of China’s five main freshwater lakes contribute water to the Yangtze River. Traditionally, the upstream section of the Yangtze is from Yibin to Yichang. The middle section runs from Yichang to Hukou County, where Lake Poyang joins the river. The downstream section extends from Hukou to Shanghai.

Some geologists estimate that the Yangtze River began forming about 45 million years ago during the Eocene period. However, this estimate is debated by other scientists.

History

The mouth of the Yellow River has changed its position many times over history, moving north and south of the Shandong peninsula. In contrast, the Yangtze River has not changed much in its course. Studies of how fast sediment builds up in riverbeds suggest that the current place where the Yangtze flows into the sea is probably not older than about 11 million years. Before this time, the river’s source flowed south into the Gulf of Tonkin, following a path close to the modern Red River.

The Yangtze River has played an important role in the cultural history of southern China and Japan. Evidence shows that people lived near the Three Gorges area as far back as 27,000 years ago. By the 5th millennium BC, the lower Yangtze region was a major center of population, home to the Hemudu and Majiabang cultures, among the first groups to grow rice. By the 3rd millennium BC, the Liangzhu culture, which followed the Hemudu and Majiabang, showed influences from the Longshan people of the North China Plain. Chinese culture was mainly developed along the Yellow River, where the land was more fertile. The "Yue" people of the lower Yangtze had different traditions, such as blackening their teeth, cutting their hair short, tattooing their bodies, and living in small villages among bamboo groves. They were seen as less civilized by people from the north.

The Central Yangtze valley was home to advanced Neolithic cultures. Later, it became the first part of the Yangtze valley to be connected to the cultural traditions of northern China. Northern Chinese people were active in the area as early as the Bronze Age.

In the lower Yangtze region, two Yue tribes—the Gouwu in southern Jiangsu and the Yuyue in northern Zhejiang—showed increasing influence from northern Chinese people starting around the 9th century BC. Some historical stories say that northern refugees, like Taibo and Zhongyong in Wu and Wuyi in Yue, took control of local tribes. These stories are likely myths created to justify their rule to other northern rulers. The kingdoms of Wu and Yue became known for fishing, boat-making, and sword-smithing. They adopted Chinese writing, political systems, and military technology, becoming powerful states during the later Zhou dynasty. In the middle Yangtze, the state of Jing began as a small Zhou kingdom in the upper Han River valley. As it expanded south and east into the Yangtze valley, it adapted to local culture and changed its name to Chu.

Whether they were independent or influenced by northern traditions, the Yangtze states resisted northern Chinese control. Some records credit them with three of the Spring and Autumn period’s Five Hegemons and one of the Warring States’ Four Lords. However, they also fought among themselves. Chu’s growing power led its rival Jin to support Wu as a counter. Wu successfully attacked Chu’s capital, Ying, in 506 BC. Later, Chu helped Yue attack Wu’s southern borders. In 473 BC, King Goujian of Yue conquered Wu and moved his court to Suzhou. In 333 BC, Chu annexed Yue, and Yue’s royal family is said to have fled south to Fujian, where they founded the Minyue kingdom. The Qin dynasty first conquered the upper Yangtze region in modern Sichuan, including the states of Ba and Shu, giving them a strong base to attack Chu’s settlements along the river.

The Qin dynasty conquered the central Yangtze region, the former heartland of Chu, in 278 BC, adding it to its growing empire. From there, Qin expanded into Hunan, Jiangxi, and Guangdong, setting up military commanderies along key communication routes. When the Qin Dynasty collapsed, these southern commanderies became the independent Nanyue Empire under Zhao Tuo, while Chu and Han fought for control of the north.

Since the Han dynasty, the Yangtze River region has become increasingly important to China’s economy. The construction of irrigation systems, such as the famous Dujiangyan near Chengdu, built during the Warring States period, made farming stable and productive, eventually surpassing the Yellow River region in output. The Qin and Han empires promoted agricultural development in the Yangtze lowlands, building dikes to protect farmland from floods. By the Song dynasty, the area along the Yangtze had become one of the wealthiest and most developed parts of China, especially in the lower river region. During the early Qing dynasty, the Jiangnan region—which includes parts of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Anhui—provided one-third to one-half of the nation’s tax revenue.

The Yangtze River has long been central to China’s inland water transportation system, which was especially important for nearly two thousand years until the 20th century, when railways were built. The Grand Canal connected the lower Yangtze to major cities in the Jiangnan region, such as Wuxi, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, and to northern China, reaching as far as Beijing. The ancient Lingqu Canal, linking the upper Xiang River to the headwaters of the Guijiang, provided a direct water route from the Yangtze Basin to the Pearl River Delta.

Historically, the Yangtze River often marked the political boundary between northern and southern China, as crossing the river was difficult. This was especially true during the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Southern Song period. Many battles took place along the river, including the famous Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD during the Three Kingdoms period.

The Yangtze was also the site of naval battles during the Jin–Song wars. In the Battle of Caishi in 1161, Jin emperor Wanyan Liang’s warships clashed with the Song fleet on the Yangtze. Song soldiers used trebuchets to fire bombs made of lime and sulfur at the Jin ships. The Song victory stopped the Jin invasion. Another battle, the Battle of Tangdao, also took place on the Yangtze that same year.

Nanjing was the capital of China several times, though it usually covered only the southeastern part of the country, such as during the Wu kingdom of the Three Kingdoms period, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The Ming dynasty ruled most of China from Nanjing before moving the capital to Beijing. The Nationalist government also used Nanjing as its capital from 1927–1937 and 1945–1949.

The Jardine, the first steamship to sail the Yangtze River, was built in 1835 for the British firm Jardine, Matheson & Co

Hydrology

The Yangtze River floodplain is home to many millions of people. This area naturally floods every summer, but people can live there only because of river dikes that protect the land. Floods large enough to overflow the dikes have caused serious problems for those who live and farm there. Notable floods occurred in 1931, 1954, and 1998.

The 1931 Central China floods were among the deadliest natural disasters in history. They likely caused the most deaths of any event in the 20th century, excluding pandemics and famines. Estimates of the death toll range from 145,000 to 4 million people. The Yangtze River flooded again in 1935, causing many deaths.

From June to September 1954, the Yangtze River experienced severe flooding, mainly in Hubei Province. Unusually heavy rain and a long rainy season in the spring of 1954 caused the river to rise above normal levels by late June. Efforts to open floodgates to reduce water levels failed, and the river reached record-high levels in Jingzhou and Wuhan. About 33,000 people died in this flood, including those who later died from disease.

The 1998 Yangtze River floods lasted from mid-June to early September. In the summer of 1998, heavy flooding in parts of the Yangtze River caused 3,704 deaths, left 15 million people homeless, and resulted in $26 billion in economic losses. Other reports say 4,150 people died and 180 million people were affected. About 25 million acres of land were evacuated, and 13.3 million homes were damaged or destroyed.

The 2016 China floods caused $22 billion in damage.

In 2020, the Yangtze River had the heaviest rainfall since 1961, with 79% more rain in June and July than the average for the same period over the past 41 years. Some scientists think that reduced pollution levels during the pandemic caused the heavy rain. Over decades, pollution had decreased rainfall, but lower pollution in 2020 led to more rain. This sudden change in pollution levels greatly affected the climate system.

Starting in the 1950s, dams and dikes were built to control floods, reclaim land, and manage diseases. Over 100 lakes were separated from the river. Gates between the lakes could be opened during floods, but farmers and homes were built near the lakes, even though it was not allowed. When floods came, the gates could not be opened without causing damage, so the lakes dried up. For example, Baidang Lake shrank from 100 square kilometers in the 1950s to 40 square kilometers by 2005. Zhangdu Lake became one-quarter its original size. Natural fish populations in these lakes dropped sharply. Only a few large lakes, like Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake, remained connected to the Yangtze. Cutting off other lakes made floods worse downstream. The natural movement of fish was blocked, and biodiversity in the river basin decreased. Intensive fish farming using a type of carp that thrives in polluted water worsened pollution. Pollution was also caused by waste from pig farms and untreated sewage. In 2012, the Yangtze River near Chongqing turned red from pollution. The Three Gorges Dam created a barrier that reduced river biodiversity. Dams and diversions disrupted the natural flow of the river, affecting fish migration. Species like the baiji dolphin, narrow-ridged finless porpoise, and Yangtze alligator faced extinction due to fishing, river traffic, habitat loss, and pollution. The baiji dolphin became extinct in 2006.

In 2020, China passed new laws to protect the river. These laws include stricter rules for hydropower projects, banning chemical plants near the river, relocating polluting industries, limiting sand mining, and banning fishing in natural waterways.

The Yangtze River produces more ocean plastic pollution than any other river, according to The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch environmental group. Ten rivers carry 90% of ocean plastic, with the Yangtze being the largest contributor.

In 2002, a program began to reconnect lakes to the Yangtze to improve biodiversity and reduce flooding. Lakes like Zhangdu, Honghu, and Tian'e-Zhou in Hubei were reconnected in 2004, and Baidang Lake in Anhui in 2005. Reconnecting lakes improved water quality and allowed fish to move between the river and lakes, increasing fish numbers. It also reduced flooding and helped farmers earn more money by switching to natural fish feed. Other provinces followed this approach. In 2006, China made reconnecting lakes a national policy. By 2010, protected areas covering 16,500 square kilometers were established. Populations of 47 threatened species, including the critically endangered Yangtze alligator, increased. In Shanghai, wetlands now protect drinking water. Plans are to expand protected areas along the entire Yangtze. Wuhan’s mayor announced plans to reconnect six large urban lakes, costing $2.3 billion, to create China’s largest urban wetland.

The Yangtze River is the longest and most economically important river in Asia and the fifth largest in the world by water flow. It is also the largest river entirely within one country. Its estuary had an estimated…

Crossings

Until 1957, there were no bridges across the Yangtze River between Yibin and Shanghai. For many years, people traveled across the river by ferry. Sometimes, crossing the river was dangerous, as shown by the Zhong'anlun disaster on October 15, 1945.

The Yangtze River was a major geographic barrier that separated northern and southern China. In the first half of the 20th century, train passengers traveling from Beijing to Guangzhou or Shanghai had to get off at Hanyang or Pukou, cross the river by steam ferry, and then continue their journey by train from Wuchang or Nanjing West.

After the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, Soviet engineers helped design and build the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge. This bridge could be used by both cars and trains. It was built from 1955 to 1957 and was the first bridge across the Yangtze River. The second bridge was a single-track railway bridge built upstream in Chongqing in 1959. The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, also a road-rail bridge, was the first bridge to cross the lower part of the Yangtze River in Nanjing. It was built after the Sino-Soviet Split and did not receive help from foreign countries. Later, road-rail bridges were built in Zhicheng (1971) and Chongqing (1980).

Bridge-building slowed in the 1980s but began again in the 1990s and increased quickly in the early 2000s. The Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge was built in 1992 as part of the Beijing-Jiujiang Railway. A second bridge in Wuhan was completed in 1995. By 2005, there were 56 bridges and one tunnel across the Yangtze River between Yibin and Shanghai. These include some of the longest suspension and cable-stayed bridges in the world on the Yangtze Delta: Jiangyin Suspension Bridge (1,385 meters, opened in 1999), Runyang Bridge (1,490 meters, opened in 2005), Sutong Bridge (1,088 meters, opened in 2008). The fast pace of building bridges has continued. Wuhan now has six bridges and one tunnel across the Yangtze.

Many power line crossings have also been built across the river.

• Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, the first bridge across the Yangtze, was completed in 1957.
• Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, a beam bridge, was completed in 1968.
• Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge, an arch bridge, was completed in 1992.
• Yichang Yangtze Highway Bridge, a suspension bridge near the Gezhouba Dam lock, was completed in 1996.
• Sutong Yangtze River Bridge, between Nantong and Suzhou, was one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world when it opened in 2008.
• Chaotianmen Bridge, an arch bridge in Chongqing, was completed in 2009.
• Yangsigang Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan was completed in 2019.
• Wuhan Metro Line 2 is the first underground train line that crosses the Yangtze River.

Dams

As of 2007, two dams have been built on the Yangtze River: the Three Gorges Dam and the Gezhouba Dam. The Three Gorges Dam is the largest power station in the world, with a power generation capacity of 22.5 gigawatts. Several other dams are already working or are being built on the upper part of the river, called the Jinsha River. Among these, the Baihetan Dam is the second largest after the Three Gorges Dam, and the Xiluodu Dam is the fourth largest power station in the world.

Tributaries

The Yangtze River has more than 700 tributaries. The major tributaries (listed from upstream to downstream) and the places where they join the Yangtze River are:

• Yalong River (Panzhihua, Sichuan)
• Min River (Yibin, Sichuan)
• Tuo River (Luzhou, Sichuan)
• Chishui River (Hejiang, Sichuan)
• Jialing River (Chongqing)
• Wu River (Fuling, Chongqing)
• Qing River (Yidu, Hubei)
• Yuan River (via Dongting Lake)
• Lishui River (via Dongting Lake)
• Zi River (via Dongting Lake)
• Xiang River (Yueyang, Hunan)
• Han River (Wuhan, Hubei)
• Gan River (near Jiujiang, Jiangxi)
• Shuiyang River (Dangtu, Anhui)
• Qingyi River (Wuhu, Anhui)
• Chao Lake water system (Chaohu, Anhui)
• Lake Tai water system (Shanghai)

The Huai River used to flow into the Yellow Sea until the 20th century, but now mainly discharges into the Yangtze River.

• Gan River in Jiangxi
• Han River in Hubei
• Lake Dongting and the Yuan, Zi, Li, and Xiang Rivers in Hunan
• Wu River in Guizhou
• Jialing River in eastern Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality
• Min River in central Sichuan
• Yalong River in western Sichuan

Protected areas

• Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve in Qinghai, which is the source of three major rivers
• Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan, a region where three rivers flow side by side

Wildlife

The Yangtze River has many different types of fish, including some that are found only there. Many of these are in danger because of human activities.

As of 2011, 416 fish species are known from the Yangtze basin, including 362 that are freshwater species. The rest are found in saltwater or brackish water areas, such as the river’s estuary or the East China Sea. This makes it one of the most species-rich rivers in Asia and the most in China. For example, the Pearl River has almost 300 fish species, and the Yellow River has 160. Seventeen species are found only in the Yangtze River Basin. Many live in parts of the river, especially the upper section (above Yichang but below the headwaters in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau), which has 279 species, including 147 that are unique to the Yangtze and 97 that are only found there. The headwaters, where the average altitude is above 4,500 m (14,800 ft), are home to 14 highly specialized species, 8 of which are found only there.

The largest groups in the Yangtze are Cypriniformes (280 species, 150 of which are unique to the river), Siluriformes (40 species, 20 unique), Perciformes (50 species, 4 unique), Tetraodontiformes (12 species, 1 unique), and Osmeriformes (8 species, 1 unique). Other groups have fewer than four species in the river.

Many Yangtze fish species have declined a lot. In 2009, 65 were listed as threatened. Three are extinct, two are extinct in the wild, and four are critically endangered. Both the Yangtze sturgeon and Chinese sturgeon are critically endangered by the IUCN. Their survival might depend on releasing fish bred in captivity. Recent reviews say the Chinese paddlefish is extinct. Surveys from 2006–2008 didn’t find any, but two might have been seen. The last confirmed

Gallery

• The glaciers in the Tanggula Mountains are the traditional starting point of the Yangtze River.
• The Tuotuo River, a beginning part of the Yangtze River, is called Maqu, or the "Red River," in Tibetan.
• The first turn of the Yangtze River occurs at Shigu in Yunnan, where the river changes direction by 180 degrees, turning from southbound to northbound.
• Tiger Leaping Gorge is located in Yunnan.
• The narrowest section of Tiger Leaping Gorge is near Lijiang, which is downstream from Shigu.
• The Jinsha, also known as the "Golden Sands River," flows through Yunnan.
• Qutang Gorge is one of the Three Gorges.
• The Three Gorges Dam in Hubei is the world's largest hydroelectric power plant.
• The Yangtze River flows through Wuchang.