YANG-TSB-KIANG. Yantetsd-lai-ang thename generally given to one of the greatest riv ers of China throughout its entire coarse. al though this name is only applied in China to the lower course of the river, the entire river being called simply Kiang, or Ta Kiang (nye or great river), while in the various provinces it traverses it is generally known by special names. It rises in the Tangla Mountains is mid-Tibet, about lat. 35* N. and long. 89' E.. at an altitude of from 16,000 to 19.0110 feet, and is first known by the name of Muru-Ussu_ ln its upper course it is sometimes called the Kin cha-kiang. Its upper course through the moun tainous region of Tibet extends to about 1.100 miles, dunng which its windings and falls pre sent numerous striking scenes of natural beauty It crosses the Chinese frontier in the province of Sze-chuan, then flows southward and eastward through Yunnan and northeast back through Sze-chuan Yunnan. Between the town of Li lciang in this province and Hui-li in Sze-choen, for a course of about 250 miles, it flows in an easterly direction through a winding etiannd or mountain gorge of imposing grandeur. Tras ersing the whole province of Sze-chuen in northeasterly direction and passing in sow& easterly direction into the province of Hu4 it readies at King-chau the great Chinese . and traversing the provinces of Ngan-ben and Kiang-su, and passing the cities of Han-Yang Han-kau, and Wu-chang, a great seat of the tea exporting trade Ngan-king, Nanking, Chin-loang, it enters the Tunghai, or F stern Sea, above Shanghai. Its direct coarse from its source to its mouth is estimated at 1.833 miles; its course with windings is about oe considerably over 3,000. It receives numerous
affluents. and is crossed by the Grand Canal. which forms a junction between it and the Hoang-ho. The summer rains combined with the melting snows . of the mountains in Tibet cause the river to rise at times as moth as 40 or 50 feet at Hankow and Chin-kiang, re sulting in great loss of fife and serious dater age to crops and other _property. The drain age area is about square miles. and it is estimated that the river annually carries away 6428000000 cubic feet of sediment. the volume of water is 770.000 cubic feet a second. Steamers of 5,000 to 6.000 tons bur then easily reach Hankow, 680 miles from the sea, except at low water in winter. The river and the ports of Chin-kiang and Han-has opened to foreign navigation in 1860 1-clease (1.000 miles up), and others since. A British squadron sailed up the river in 1861 for more than 800 miles. The last 200 miles of in course is through practically level land, and in the first 1.000 miles the rise of the river is only 130 feet. It constitutes a most ini portant waterway, carrying about one-half of the sea-borne traffic of China; and sit ss equally valuable commercially as a means o: inierrommunication throughout the comma, The navigation above the confluence of the Tun..-ting is interrupted by rapids. The tidal influence reaches in February to Lake Po sang, 436 miles from the sea. Consult Gill, W. J., 'The River of Golden Sands' (1&S3); Little, 'Through the Yang-tse Gorges' (1898).