YANGTZE KIANG (Yahng-ts-Ke-ahng), the principal commercial river of the country. This river, the length of which is estimated at some 3,00o miles, is known as the Yangtze by Europeans throughout its course, but among the Chinese this term indicates only the last three or four hundred miles where it flows through a region known in ancient times as "Yang." The ordinary official name for the whole river is Ch'ang Kiang or Ta Chiang, meaning the "long river" or the "great river." Popularly in the upper reaches every section has its local name. As it enters China it is known as the Kinsha Kiang (river of Golden Sand) and farther down as the Pai-shui Kiang; in Szechwan after its junction with the Min it is for some distance called the Min-kiang.
The beginnings of the river are somewhat indefinite but may be located in the high and difficult country between Tibet, Sin kiang and Kuku-nor. The river flows in a south-easterly direc tion not far removed from some of the headwaters of the Hwang ho. Proceeding south-eastward the Yangtze follows one of those narrow longitudinal valleys separated from one another by lofty ridges that mark the bending southward of the eastern extensions of the Himalayan folds against the older core of south-east China. At Batang in this section of the course the river is 8,540 ft. above sea-level. Its entrance into China proper is marked by bends in its course as it bursts through lines of weakness in the sides of the corridor valleys. The river then begins a long south-west to north-east course through the Red Basin of Szechwan. As the Yangtze cuts across the longitudinal valleys it receives many tributaries (flowing in parallel valleys) all naturally on the left hand bank. At Wa-Wu in Szechwan the height of the river is 1,900 ft. above sea-level, a fall of about 8 ft. per mile from Batang. Through the Red Basin of Szechwan the Yangtze flows at first with fairly low banks but towards the east it becomes deeply encased and the rapids are many and dangerous. This is due to the fact that Szechwan is tilted down against the up-thrust of the fault-line of the west and thus the river cuts with ease through its western half but gets through on the east by means of deep gorges. (See SZECHUAN.) At Chung-king, where the Kialing
enters on the left, the river is only 63o ft. above sea-level. After receiving the Wu-kiang on the right the river enters deep gorges and emerges at I'chang (13o ft. above sea-level.) In its subsequent course the •river skirts the north side of the old land-block of south-east China. Here the physical features are mostly set north-north-east to south-south-west or west-north-west to east south-east. The Yangtze follows these directions alternately in successive sections. Below I'chang it is in the Hupeh basin, the Han flows in from the north-west and the basin focuses on Hankow (q.v.).
From I'chang to the sea, a distance of i,000 miles, the fall of the river is exceedingly small, being as far as Hankow at the rate of 21 inches and from Hankow to the mouth at the rate of little more than r inch per mile. The last 200 miles of the Yangtze course are practically a dead level.
The drainage area in Szechwan and below is about 650,000 sq.m., of which more than four-fifths lie above Hankow. The period of low water is from December to March. Melting snows in Tibet together with the summer monsoon cause an annual rise in the river of from 7o to 90 ft. at Chungking and from 4o to 5o ft. at Hankow. The mean volume of water discharged into the sea is estimated at 770,000 cu.ft. per second and the quantity of sedi ment at the mouth at 6,428 million cu.ft. per annum.
The Yangtze forms a commercial highway of first class im portance. Except in winter-low-water, vessels of between 5,00o- 6,000 tons can reach Hankow. Sandbanks between Hankow and I'chang make navigation more difficult and above I'chang the gorges add to the dangers. But on the whole the Yangtze as a highway is the collecting and distributing centre of half the com merce of all China. Various "agreements" between China, Britain and other powers from 1898 have given Britain political influence over most of the Yangtze basin.
The great towns and centres of trade on the banks of the river are Chin-kiang at the junction with the Grand Canal; Nanking; An-king ; Hankow and Wu Chang, I'chang, King-chow ; Kwei chow ; Chung-king, and Sui fu.