Yangtze

{{transliteration|zh|Cháng Jiāng}} ({{zh|labels=no|s=长江 |t=長江}}) or "Long River" is the official name for the Yangtze in Mandarin Chinese. However, the Chinese have given different names to the upstream sections of the river up to its confluence with the Min River at Yibin, Sichuan.{{cite EB1911|first=Jamieson |last=George |wstitle=Yangtsze-Kiang |volume=28 |page=903}}Yule, Henry. The River of Golden Sand: The Narrative of a Journey Through China and Eastern Tibet to Burmah, Vol. 1, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Uuk2OQeMwsMC&pg=PA35 p. 35] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160511151300/https://books.google.com/books?id=Uuk2OQeMwsMC&pg=PA35 |date=May 11, 2016 }}. "Introductory Essay." 1880. Reprint: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2013. Jinsha ("Gold Sands") River refers to the {{convert|2,308|km|mi|abbr=on}} of the Yangtze from Yibin upstream to the confluence with the Batang River near Yushu in Qinghai, while the Tongtian ("Leading to Heaven") River describes the {{convert|813|km|mi|abbr=on}} section from Yushu up to the confluence of the Tuotuo River and the Dangqu River.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

In Old Chinese, the Yangtze was simply called Jiang/Kiang {{lang|zh|江}},Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. {{cite web|url=http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |title=Baxter–Sagart Old Chinese Reconstruction |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064509/http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }} {{small|(1.93 MB)}}, p. 56. 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2013. a character of phono-semantic compound origin, combining the water radical {{lang|zh|氵}} with the homophone {{lang|zh|工}} (now pronounced {{transliteration|zh|gōng}}, but *kˤoŋ in Old ChineseBaxter & al. (2011), {{cite web|url=http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |title=p. 69 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064509/http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }} {{small|(1.93 MB)}}.). Kong was probably a word in the Austroasiatic language of local peoples such as the Yue. Similar to *krong in Proto-Vietnamese and krung in Mon, all meaning "river", it is related to modern Vietnamese sông (river) and Khmer krung (city on riverside), whence Thai krung (กรุง capital city), not kôngkea (water) which is from the Sanskrit root gáṅgā.Philipsen, Philip. Sound Business: The Reality of Chinese Characters, [https://books.google.com/books?id=qyPndWdUrdIC&pg=RA1-PT12 p. 12] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427063734/https://books.google.com/books?id=qyPndWdUrdIC&pg=RA1-PT12 |date=April 27, 2016 }}. iUniverse (Lincoln), 2005. Retrieved August 12, 2013.

File:Mouth of the Yangtze 1754.jpg marked as the "Mouth of the Yangtze" ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|揚子|江口}}}}) on the Jiangnan map in the 1754 Provincial Atlas of the Qing Empire]]

By the Han dynasty, {{transliteration|zh|Jiāng}} had come to mean any river in Chinese, and this river was distinguished as the "Great River" {{lang|zh|大江}} ({{transliteration|zh|Dàjiāng}}). The epithet {{lang|zh-hant|長}} (simplified version {{lang|zh-hans|长}}), meaning "long", was first formally applied to the river during the Six Dynasties period.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

Various sections of the Yangtze have local names. From Yibin to Yichang, the river through Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality is also known as the {{transliteration|zh|Chuān Jiāng}} ({{zh|labels=no|c=川江}}) or "Sichuan River". In Hubei, the river is also called the {{transliteration|zh|Jīng Jiāng}} ({{zh|labels=no|t=荊江|s=荆江}}) or the "Jing River" after Jingzhou, one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. In Anhui, the river takes on the local name {{transliteration|zh|Wǎn Jiāng}} after the shorthand name for Anhui, {{transliteration|zh|wǎn}} (皖). {{transliteration|zh|Yángzǐ Jiāng}} ({{zh|labels=no|first=t|t=揚子江 |s=扬子江}}) or the "Yangzi River", from which the English name Yangtze is derived, is the local name for the Lower Yangtze in the region of Yangzhou. The name likely comes from an ancient ferry crossing called {{transliteration|zh|Yángzǐ}} or {{transliteration|zh|Yángzǐjīn}} ({{zh|labels=no|t=揚子 / 揚子津}}).{{cite web |last1=An |first1=Min (安民) |url=http://www.yznews.com.cn/yzwb/html/2010-001/23/content_92703.html |script-title=zh:《夜晤扬子津》 |trans-title=Yangtze Ferry |website=yznews.com.cn |date=January 23, 2010 |language=zh-hans}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Europeans who arrived in the Yangtze River Delta region applied this local name to the whole river. The dividing site between upstream and midstream is considered to be at Yichang and that between midstream and downstream at Hukou (Jiujiang).{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Yongqiang |date=2001 |title=Effects of the Three Gorges Project on Runoff and Related Benefits of the Key Regions along Main Branches of the Yangtze River |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330891909 |journal=Water |volume=11 |issue=2019 |pages=269 |access-date=July 8, 2020}}

{{anchor|English name|English names}}

The river was called Quian ({{lang|zh|江}}) and Quianshui ({{lang|zh|江水}}) by Marco PoloPelliot, Paul. Notes on Marco Polo, Vol. 2, [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/III-2-F-c-104/V-2/page/0222.html.en p. 818] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113202138/http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/III-2-F-c-104/V-2/page/0222.html.en |date=November 13, 2013 }}. L'Académie des Inscriptions e Belles-Lettres e avec le Concours du Centre national de la Recherche scientifique (Paris), 1959–1973. Retrieved August 13, 2013. and appeared on the earliest English maps as Kian or Kiam,E.g., Moll, Herman. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3744~430080:The-Empire-of-China-and-island-of-J The Empire of China and island of Japan, agreeable to modern history.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113202444/http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3744~430080:The-Empire-of-China-and-island-of-J |date=November 13, 2013 }}" Bowles & Bowles (London), 1736. Retrieved August 13, 2013.Encyclopædia Britannica, 3rd ed. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=tIFMAAAAMAAJ&q=kiam Kiam] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508104827/https://books.google.com/books?id=tIFMAAAAMAAJ&q=kiam |date=May 8, 2016 }}." Bell & Macfarquhar (Edinburgh), 1797. Retrieved August 14, 2013. all recording dialects which preserved forms of the Middle Chinese pronunciation of {{lang|zh|江}} as Kæwng. By the mid-19th century, these romanizations had standardized as Kiang; Dajiang, e.g., was rendered as "Ta-Kiang." "Keeang-Koo,"Bell, James. A System of Geography, Popular and Scientific; or a Physical, Political, and Statistical Account of the World and its Various Divisions, Vol. V, Part I, [https://books.google.com/books?id=QVURAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA215 p. 215] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506030311/https://books.google.com/books?id=QVURAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA215 |date=May 6, 2016 }}. "Chinese Tartary." A. Fullarton & Co. (London), 1849. Retrieved August 13, 2013. "Kyang Kew,"Tanner, B. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239031~5512191:China-divided-into-it-s-Great-Provi China divided into its Great Provinces According to the best Authorities] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113202234/http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239031~5512191:China-divided-into-it-s-Great-Provi |date=November 13, 2013 }}." Mathew Carey (Philadelphia), 1795. Retrieved August 13, 2013. "Kian-ku,"Bridgman, Elijah (ed.) The Chinese Repository, Vol. I, [https://books.google.com/books?id=h0YPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA37 pp. 37 ff] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610071909/https://books.google.com/books?id=h0YPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA37 |date=June 10, 2016 }}. "Review. Ta Tsing Wan-neën Yih-tung King-wei Yu-too,–'A General Geographical Map, with Degrees of Latitude and Longitude, of the Empire of the Ta Tsing Dynasty–May It Last Forever', by Le Mingche Tsinglae." Canton Mission Press (Guangdong), 1833. and related names derived from mistaking the Chinese term for the mouth of the Yangtze ({{lang|zh|江口}}, p Jiāngkǒu) as the name of the river itself.

The name Blue River began to be applied in the 18th century, apparently owing to a former name of the Dam Chu{{refn|Mongolian: {{lang|mn|Xөх Мөрөн}}, Höh or Kök Mörön.Konstam, Angus. Yangtze River Gunboats 1900–49, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uVZrlJzKPlQC&pg=PT17 p. 17] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512213909/https://books.google.com/books?id=uVZrlJzKPlQC&pg=PT17 |date=May 12, 2016 }}. Osprey Publishing (Oxford), 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2013.}} or Min{{refn|Recorded as bearing the local Chinese name of {{lang|zh|清水}} (Qīngshuǐ), literally meaning "Clear Water[way]."Davenport, Arthur. Report upon the Trading Capabilities of the Country Traversed by the Yunnan Mission, [https://books.google.com/books?id=K-BAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA10 pp. 10 ff] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429200422/https://books.google.com/books?id=K-BAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA10 |date=April 29, 2016 }}. Harrison & Sons (London), 1877.}} and to analogy with the Yellow River,Aloian, Molly. Rivers Around the World: The Yangtze: China's Majestic River, [https://archive.org/details/yangtzechinasmaj0000aloi/page/6 p. 6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504063336/https://books.google.com/books?id=Tmw-00JaCtMC&pg=PA6 |date=May 4, 2016 }}. Crabtree Publishing Co. (New York), 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2013.Room, Adrian. Placenames of the World, [https://books.google.com/books?id=PzIer-wYbnQC&pg=PA395 p. 395] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504132224/https://books.google.com/books?id=PzIer-wYbnQC&pg=PA395 |date=May 4, 2016 }}. 1997. Reprint: McFarland (Jefferson, N.C.), 2003. Retrieved August 13, 2013. but it was frequently explained in early English references as a 'translation' of Jiang,The Modern Part of an Universal History, from the Earliest Accounts to the Present Time, Vol. XXXVII, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MisIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57 p. 57] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617125035/https://books.google.com/books?id=MisIAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA57 |date=June 17, 2016 }}. "Of the Empires of China and Japan." (London), 1783.Wilkes, John. Encyclopaedia Londinensis, or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature, Vol. XI, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mFcMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA851 p. 851] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429075940/https://books.google.com/books?id=mFcMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA851 |date=April 29, 2016 }}. "Koko Nor." J. Adlard (London), 1812. Jiangkou, or Yangzijiang.Liber, Nadine. Life. "A Scary Pageant in Peking", [https://books.google.com/books?id=8kUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60 p. 60]. September 4, 1964. Retrieved August 14, 2013. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428070826/https://books.google.com/books?id=8kUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60 |date=April 28, 2016 }}. Very common in 18th- and 19th-century sources, the name fell out of favor due to growing awareness of its lack of any connection to the river's Chinese namesDavis, John. The Chinese: A General Description of the Empire of China and Its Inhabitants, Vol. 1, [https://books.google.com/books?id=A6RNeE46WtUC&pg=PA132 pp. 132 ff] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623201654/https://books.google.com/books?id=A6RNeE46WtUC&pg=PA132 |date=June 23, 2016 }}. C. Knight, 1836.The St. James's Magazine, Vol. XIV, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sEIxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA230 p. 230] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424074140/https://books.google.com/books?id=sEIxAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA230 |date=April 24, 2016 }}. "A Cruise on the Yangtze Kyang." W. Kent & Co. (London), 1865. and to the irony of its application to such a muddy waterway.Moncrieff, A.R.H. The World of To-day: A Survey of the Lands and Peoples of The Globe as Seen in Travel and Commerce, Vol. I, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BvVaAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Blue+River%22,+%22its+stream+is+as+turbid%22 p. 42] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518181659/https://books.google.com/books?id=BvVaAAAAQAAJ&q=%22Blue+River%22,+%22its+stream+is+as+turbid%22 |date=May 18, 2016 }}. Gresham Publishing Co. (London), 1907.

Matteo Ricci's 1615 Latin account included descriptions of the "Ianſu" and "Ianſuchian."Ricci, Matteo & al. De Christiana Expeditione Apud Sinas Suscepta ab Societate Jesu, Libri V, 1615. New Edition: De Christiana Expeditione apud Sinas suscepta ab Societate Iesu, Libri V, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iLsWAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA365 pp. 365 ff.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505021622/https://books.google.com/books?id=iLsWAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA365 |date=May 5, 2016 }}, Bernardus Gualterus (Cologne), 1617. Retrieved August 14, 2013. {{in lang|la}} The posthumous account's translation of the name as Fils de la Mer ("Son of the Ocean")Ricci, Matteo & al. Samuel Purchas (trans.) in Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas His Pilgrimes, Vol. XII, [https://archive.org/stream/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog_djvu.txt p. 305] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150929222006/http://archive.org/stream/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog/hakluytusposthu14purcgoog_djvu.txt |date=September 29, 2015 }}. "A Generall Collection and Historicall representation of the Jesuites entrance into Japon and China, until their admission in the Royall Citie of Nanquin." 1625. Reprint: MacLehose & Co. (Glasgow), 1906. Retrieved August 14, 2013. shows that Ricci, who by the end of his life was fluent in literary Chinese, was introduced to it as the homophonic {{lang|zh|洋子江}} rather than the usual {{lang|zh|揚子江}}. Further, although railroads and the Shanghai concessions subsequently turned it into a backwater, Yangzhou was the lower river's principal port for much of the Qing dynasty, directing Liangjiang's important salt monopoly and connecting the Yangtze with the Grand Canal to Beijing. (That connection also made it one of the Yellow River's principal ports between the floods of 1344 and the 1850s, during which time the Yellow River ran well south of Shandong and discharged into the ocean a mere few hundred kilometers from the mouth of the Yangtze.)

By 1800, English cartographers such as Aaron Arrowsmith had adopted the French style of the nameE.g., in Didier, Robert & al. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3983~490062:L-Empire-de-la-Chine,-Dresse-d-apre? L'Empire de la Chine] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029185437/http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3983~490062:L-Empire-de-la-Chine,-Dresse-d-apre |date=October 29, 2013 }}." Boudet (Paris), 1751. Retrieved August 14, 2013. as Yang-tse or Yang-tse Kiang.Arrowsmith, Aaron. "[http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~233054~5509637:Asia--To-Major-James-Rennell,-Esq-r Asia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192608/http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~233054~5509637:Asia--To-Major-James-Rennell,-Esq-r |date=October 29, 2013 }}." G. Allen (London), 1801. Retrieved August 14, 2013. The British diplomat Thomas Wade emended this to Yang-tzu Chiang as part of his formerly popular romanization of Chinese, based on the Beijing dialect instead of Nanjing's and first published in 1867. The spellings Yangtze and Yangtze Kiang was a compromise between the two methods adopted at the 1906 Imperial Postal Conference in Shanghai, which established postal romanization. Hanyu Pinyin was adopted by the PRC's First Congress in 1958, but it was not widely employed in English outside mainland China prior to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the United States and the PRC in 1979; since that time, the spelling Yangzi has also been used.

{{anchor|Tibetan name|Tibetan names}}

The source and upper reaches of the Yangtze are located in ethnic Tibetan areas of Qinghai.Yang & al. Tibetan Geography, p. 73. China Intercontinental Press, 2004. {{ISBN|7-5085-0665-0}}. In Tibetan, the Tuotuo headwaters are the Machu ({{Bo|t=རྨ་ཆུ་|w=rma-chu}}, lit. "Red Water"). The Tongtian is the Drichu ({{Bo-textonly|འབྲི་ཆུ་ }}, ‘Bri Chu’), literally "Water of the Female Yak"; transliterated into {{zh|s=直曲|p=Zhíqū}}).

File:Portrait map of China.jpg south of Shandong to the Huai mouth, after its stabilization by the Grand Eunuch Li Xing's public works following the 1494 flood]]{{Additional citations|date=August 2024}}

The river originates from several tributaries in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, two of which are commonly referred to as the "source." Traditionally, the Chinese government has recognized the source as the Tuotuo tributary at the base of a glacier lying on the west of Geladandong Mountain in the Tanggula Mountains. This source is found at {{coord|33|25|44|N|91|10|57|E|display=inline|region:CN-QH}} and while not the furthest source of the Yangtze, it is the highest source at {{cvt|5342|m|ft}} above sea level. The true source of the Yangtze, hydrologically the longest river distance from the sea, is at Jari Hill at the head of the Dam Qu tributary, approximately {{cvt|365|km|mi}} southeast of Geladandong.{{cite book|last1=Winchester|first1=Simon|title=The River at the Center of the World|date=1996|publisher=Henry Holt|isbn=978-0-8050-3888-0|title-link=The River at the Center of the World}} This source was only discovered in the late 20th century and lies in wetlands at {{coord|32|36|14|N|94|30|44|E|display=inline|region:CN-QH}} and {{cvt|5170|m|ft}} above sea level just southeast of Chadan Township in Zadoi County, Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai.Wong How Man (2005) [http://www.cers.org.hk/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=27&layout=blog&Itemid=61 New and longer Yangtze source discovered.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028215804/http://www.cers.org.hk/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=27&Itemid=61 |date=October 28, 2010 }} As the historical spiritual source of the Yangtze, the Geladandong source is still commonly referred to as the source of the Yangtze since the discovery of the Jari Hill source.

These tributaries join and the river then runs eastward through Qinghai (Tsinghai), turning southward down a deep valley at the border of Sichuan (Szechwan) and Tibet to reach Yunnan. In the course of this valley, the river's elevation drops from above {{convert|5000|m|abbr=on|sp=us}} to less than {{convert|1000|m|abbr=on|sp=us}}. Thus, over the first {{convert|2,600|km|mi|abbr=on}} of its length, the river has fallen more than {{convert|5,200|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web |title=Yangtze River – The lower course {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Yangtze-River/The-lower-course |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}

It enters the basin of Sichuan at Yibin. While in the Sichuan basin, it receives several large tributaries, increasing its water volume significantly. It then cuts through Mount Wushan bordering Chongqing and Hubei to create the famous Three Gorges. Eastward of the Three Gorges, Yichang is the first city on the Yangtze Plain.

After entering Hubei province, the Yangtze receives water from a number of lakes. The largest of these lakes is Dongting Lake, which is located on the border of Hunan and Hubei provinces, and is the outlet for most of the rivers in Hunan. At Wuhan, it receives its biggest tributary, the Han River, bringing water from its northern basin as far as Shaanxi.

At the northern tip of Jiangxi province, Lake Poyang, the biggest freshwater lake in China, merges into the river. The river then runs through Anhui and Jiangsu, receiving more water from innumerable smaller lakes and rivers, and finally reaches the East China Sea at Shanghai.

Four of China's five main freshwater lakes contribute their waters to the Yangtze River. Traditionally, the upstream part of the Yangtze River refers to the section from Yibin to Yichang; the middle part refers to the section from Yichang to Hukou County, where Lake Poyang meets the river; the downstream part is from Hukou to Shanghai.

The origin of the Yangtze River has been dated by some geologists to about 45 million years ago in the Eocene,{{cite journal | last1 = Richardson | first1 = N.J. | last2 = Densmore | first2 = A.L. | last3 = Seward | first3 = D. Wipf M. Yong L. | year = 2010 | title = Did incision of the Three Gorges begin in the Eocene? | url = http://dro.dur.ac.uk/7236/1/7236.pdf | journal = Geology | volume = 38 | issue = 6 | pages = 551–554 | doi = 10.1130/G30527.1 | bibcode = 2010Geo....38..551R | s2cid = 129790601 | access-date = July 11, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180723074400/http://dro.dur.ac.uk/7236/1/7236.pdf | archive-date = July 23, 2018 | url-status = live }} but this dating has been disputed.{{cite journal | last1 = Wang | first1 = JT | last2 = Li | first2 = CA | last3 = Yong | first3 = Y | last4 = Lei | first4 = S | year = 2010 | title = Detrital Zircon Geochronology and Provenance of Core Sediments in Zhoulao Town, Jianghan Plain, China | journal = Journal of Earth Science | volume = 21 | issue = 3| pages = 257–271 | doi=10.1007/s12583-010-0090-4| bibcode = 2010JEaSc..21..257W | s2cid = 129316271 }}{{Cite journal|last=Jietao|first=Wang|title=Geomorphological Evolution of the Hengshixi Anticline of The Three Gorges Area Through Isobases: A Model of Yangtze River Capture|url=http://ijssst.info/Vol-17/No-43/paper17.pdf|journal=International Journal of Simulation: Systems, Science and Technology|volume=17|issue=4|pages=17.1–7|access-date=June 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190130102446/http://ijssst.info/Vol-17/No-43/paper17.pdf|archive-date=January 30, 2019|url-status=live}}

Although the mouth of the Yellow River has fluctuated widely north and south of the Shandong peninsula within the historical record, the Yangtze has remained largely static. Based on studies of sedimentation rates, however, it is unlikely that the present discharge site predates the late Miocene ({{c.|lk=no|11}} Ma).Métivier, F. & al. "[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1999GeoJI.137..280M Mass Accumulation Rates in Asia During the Cenozoic] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327165948/http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1999GeoJI.137..280M |date=March 27, 2019 }}." Geophysical Journal International, Vol. 137, No. 2, p. 314. 1999. Retrieved December 5, 2013. Prior to this, its headwaters drained south into the Gulf of Tonkin along or near the course of the present Red River.Clift, Peter. "[http://www.whoi.edu/pclift/asia_erosion.html The Marine Geological Record of Neogene Erosional in Asia: Interpreting the Sedimentary Record to Understand Tectonic and Climatic Evolution in the Wake of India-Asia Collision] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418035126/http://www.whoi.edu/pclift/asia_erosion.html |date=April 18, 2012 }}." Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2006. Retrieved December 5, 2013.

File:Yangzi River gorge.jpg

{{Further|Baiyue|state of Wu|state of Yue|state of Chu|Yangtze civilization|Southward expansion of the Han Dynasty}}

The Yangtze River is important to the cultural origins of southern China and Japan.{{Cite web|url=http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news111.htm|title=Yayoi linked to Yangtze area|website=trussel.com|access-date=March 26, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222044801/http://www.trussel.com/prehist/news111.htm|archive-date=February 22, 2017|url-status=live}} Human activity has been verified in the Three Gorges area as far back as 27,000 years ago,{{cite journal | last1=Wanpo | first1=Huang | last2=Ciochon | first2=Russell | last3=Yumin | first3=Gu | last4=Larick | first4=Roy | last5=Qiren | first5=Fang | last6=Schwarcz | first6=Henry | last7=Yonge | first7=Charles | last8=de Vos | first8=John | last9=Rink | first9=William | title=Early Homo and associated artefacts from Asia | journal=Nature | publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC | volume=378 | issue=6554 | year=1995 | issn=0028-0836 | doi=10.1038/378275a0 | pages=275–278| pmid=7477345 | bibcode=1995Natur.378..275W }} and by the 5th millennium BC, the lower Yangtze was a major population center occupied by the Hemudu and Majiabang cultures, both among the earliest cultivators of rice. By the 3rd millennium BC, the successor Liangzhu culture showed evidence of influence from the Longshan peoples of the North China Plain.{{cite book

| title = Prehistoric settlement of the Pacific | editor-first = Ward H. | editor-last = Goodenough | publisher = American Philosophical Society | year = 1996 | isbn = 978-0-87169-865-0 | chapter = Archaeology of southeastern coastal China and its bearing on the Austronesian homeland | first1 = Kwang-chih | last1 = Chang | first2 = Ward H. | last2 = Goodenough | pages = 36–54 }} What is now thought of as Chinese culture developed along the more fertile Yellow River basin; the "Yue" people of the lower Yangtze possessed very different traditions {{ndash}} blackening their teeth, cutting their hair short, tattooing their bodies, and living in small settlements among bamboo grovesHutcheon, Robin. China-Yellow, p. 4. Chinese University Press, 1996. {{ISBN|978-962-201-725-2}}. {{ndash}} and were considered barbarous by the northerners.

The Central Yangtze valley was home to sophisticated Neolithic cultures.Zhang Chi ({{lang|zh-hant|張弛}}), "The Qujialing-Shijiahe Culture in the Middle Yangzi River Valley," in A Companion to Chinese Archaeology, ed. Anne P. Underhill (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2013), 510–534; Rowan K. Flad and Pochan Chen, Ancient Central China: Centers and Peripheries along the Yangzi River (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 116–25. Later it became the earliest part of the Yangtze valley to be integrated into the North Chinese cultural sphere. (Northern Chinese were active there since the Bronze Age).Li Liu and Xingcan Chen, State Formation in Early China (London: Duckworth, 2003), 75–79, 116–26; Li Feng, Landscape and Power in Early China: The Crisis and Fall of the Western Zhou, 1045–771 BC (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 322–32.

File:Streitende-Reiche2.jpg around 350 BC, showing the former coastline of the Yangtze delta]]

In the lower Yangtze, two Yue tribes, the Gouwu in southern Jiangsu and the Yuyue in northern Zhejiang, display increasing Zhou (i.e., North Chinese) influence starting in the 9th century BC. Traditional accountsFor example, in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. credit these changes to northern refugees (Taibo and Zhongyong in Wu and Wuyi in Yue) who assumed power over the local tribes, though these are generally assumed to be myths invented to legitimate them to other Zhou rulers. As the kingdoms of Wu and Yue, they were famed as fishers, shipwrights, and sword-smiths. Adopting Chinese characters, political institutions, and military technology, they were among the most powerful states during the later Zhou. In the middle Yangtze, the state of Jing seems to have begun in the upper Han River valley a minor Zhou polity, but it adapted to native culture as it expanded south and east into the Yangtze valley. In the process, it changed its name to Chu.Lothar von Falkenhausen, Chinese Society in the Age of Confucius (1000–250 BC): The Archaeological Evidence (Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, 2006), 262–88; Constance A. Cook and John S. Major, eds. Defining Chu: Image and Reality in Ancient China (Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 1999).

Whether native or nativizing, the Yangtze states held their own against the northern Chinese homeland: some lists credit them with three of the Spring and Autumn period's Five Hegemons and one of the Warring States' Four Lords. They fell in against themselves, however. Chu's growing power led its rival Jin to support Wu as a counter. Wu successfully sacked Chu's capital Ying in 506 BC, but Chu subsequently supported Yue in its attacks against Wu's southern flank. In 473 BC, King Goujian of Yue fully annexed Wu and moved his court to its eponymous capital at modern Suzhou. In 333 BC, Chu finally united the lower Yangtze by annexing Yue, whose royal family was said to have fled south and established the Minyue kingdom in Fujian. Qin was able to unite China by first subduing Ba and Shu on the upper Yangtze in modern Sichuan, giving them a strong base to attack Chu's settlements along the river.

The state of Qin conquered the central Yangtze region, the previous heartland of Chu, in 278 BC, and incorporated the region into its expanding empire. Qin then used its connections along the Xiang River to expand into Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong, setting up military commanderies along the main lines of communication. At the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, these southern commanderies became the independent Nanyue Empire under Zhao Tuo while Chu and Han vied with each other for control of the north.

Since the Han dynasty, the region of the Yangtze River grew ever more important to China's economy. The establishment of irrigation systems (the most famous one is Dujiangyan, northwest of Chengdu, built during the Warring States period) made agriculture very stable and productive, eventually exceeding even the Yellow River region. The Qin and Han empires were actively engaged in the agricultural colonization of the Yangtze lowlands, maintaining a system of dikes to protect farmland from seasonal floods.Brian Lander, "State Management of River Dikes in Early China: New Sources on the Environmental History of the Central Yangzi Region." T'oung Pao 100.4–5 (2014): 325–362. By the Song dynasty, the area along the Yangtze had become among the wealthiest and most developed parts of the country, especially in the lower reaches of the river. Early in the Qing dynasty, the region called Jiangnan (that includes the southern part of Jiangsu, the northern part of Zhejiang and Jiangxi, and the southeastern part of Anhui) provided {{frac|1|3}}–{{frac|1|2}} of the nation's revenues.

The Yangtze has long been the backbone of China's inland water transportation system, which remained particularly important for almost two thousand years, until the construction of the national railway network during the 20th century. The Grand Canal connects the lower Yangtze with the major cities of the Jiangnan region south of the river (Wuxi, Suzhou, Hangzhou) and with northern China (all the way from Yangzhou to Beijing). The less well known ancient Lingqu Canal, connecting the upper Xiang River with the headwaters of the Guijiang, allowed a direct water connection from the Yangtze Basin to the Pearl River Delta.[https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5339/ Lingqu Canal (Xiang'an County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Qin Dynasty)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228071501/http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5339/ |date=February 28, 2019 }} (Nomination for the UNESCO Heritage List)

Historically, the Yangtze was the political boundary between north China and south China several times (see History of China) because crossing the river was difficult. This occurred notably during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Southern Song. Many battles took place along the river, the most famous being the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 AD during the Three Kingdoms period.

The Yangtze was the site of naval battles between the Song dynasty and Jurchen Jin during the Jin–Song wars. In the Battle of Caishi of 1161, the ships of the Jin emperor Wanyan Liang clashed with the Song fleet on the Yangtze. Song soldiers fired bombs of lime and sulfur using trebuchets at the Jurchen warships. The battle was a Song victory that halted the invasion by the Jin.{{cite book|first=Jing-shen|last=Tao|chapter=A Tyrant on the Yangtze: The Battle of T'sai-shih in 1161|title=Excursions in Chinese Culture|year=2002|publisher=Chinese University Press|isbn=978-962-201-915-7|pages=149–155}}{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Needham|title=Science and Civilisation in China: Military technology: The Gunpowder Epic, Volume 5, Part 7|year=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-30358-3|page=166}} The Battle of Tangdao was another Yangtze naval battle in the same year.

Politically, Nanjing was the capital of China several times, although most of the time its territory only covered the southeastern part of China, such as the Wu kingdom in the Three Kingdoms period, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and during the Southern and Northern Dynasties and Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms periods. Only the Ming occupied most parts of China from their capital at Nanjing, though it later moved the capital to Beijing. The ROC capital was located in Nanjing in the periods 1911–12, 1927–37, and 1945–49.

{{wide image|Anonymous-Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River.jpg|5000px|Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River, a Ming dynasty landscape painting}}

{{Main|China Station}}

The Jardine, the first steamship to sail the river, was built for the British firm Jardine, Matheson & Co. in 1835. This small vessel was to carry passengers and mail between Lintin Island, Macao, and Huangpu. However, the Chinese, draconian in their application of the rules relating to foreign vessels, were unhappy about a "fire-ship" steaming up the Canton River. The acting Viceroy of Liangguang issued an edict warning that she would be fired on if she attempted the trip.{{cite journal |last1=Headrick |first1=Daniel R. |year=1979 |title=The Tools of Imperialism: Technology and the Expansion of European Colonial Empires in the Nineteenth Century |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=231–263 |url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/articles/headrick.pdf |access-date=June 19, 2011 |doi=10.1086/241899 |s2cid=144141748 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109162541/http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/articles/headrick.pdf |archive-date=January 9, 2009 }} On the Jardine's first trial run from Lintin Island the forts on both sides of the Bogue opened fire and she was forced to turn back. The Chinese authorities issued a further warning insisting that the ship leave Chinese waters. The Jardine in any case needed repairs and was sent to Singapore.{{cite journal |last1= Blue|first1=A.D. |year=1973 |title=Early Steamships in China |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch |volume=13 |issn=1991-7295 |pages=45–57 |url=http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/44/4401253.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930190431/http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/44/4401253.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-30 |url-status=live |access-date=June 19, 2011}}
Subsequently, Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary decided mainly on the "suggestions" of William Jardine to declare war on China. In mid-1840, a large fleet of warships appeared on the China coast, and with the first cannonball fired at a British ship, the Royal Saxon, the British started the first of the Opium Wars. Royal Navy warships destroyed numerous shore batteries and Chinese warships, laying waste to several coastal forts along the way. Eventually, they pushed their way up north close enough to threaten the Imperial Palace in Beijing itself.

The China Navigation Company was an early shipping company founded in 1876 in London, initially to trade up the Yangtze River from their Shanghai base with passengers and cargo. Chinese coastal trade started shortly after, and in 1883 a regular service to Australia was initiated.

File:1937 Yangtze Gorges VP8.webm

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Steamers came late to the upper river, the section stretching from Yichang to Chongqing. Freshets from Himalayan snowmelt created treacherous seasonal currents. But summer was better navigationally and the three gorges, described as a "150-mile passage which is like the narrow throat of an hourglass," posed hazardous threats of crosscurrents, whirlpools and eddies, creating significant challenges to steamship efforts. Furthermore, Chongqing is 700 – 800 feet above sea level, requiring powerful engines to make the upriver climb. Junk travel accomplished the upriver feat by employing 70–80 trackers, men hitched to hawsers who physically pulled ships upriver through some of the most risky and deadly sections of the three gorges.Lyman P. Van Slyke, Yangtze, Nature, History and the River, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., Massachusetts, 1988, p.18-19 and 121–123.

Archibald John Little took an interest in Upper Yangtze navigation when in 1876, the Chefoo Convention opened Chongqing to consular residence but stipulated that foreign trade might only commence once steamships had succeeded in ascending the river to that point. Little formed the Upper Yangtze Steam Navigation Co., Ltd. and built Kuling but his attempts to take the vessel further upriver than Yichang were thwarted by the Chinese authorities who were concerned about the potential loss of transit duties, competition to their native junk trade and physical damage to their craft caused by steamship wakes. Kuling was sold to China Merchants Steam Navigation Company for lower river service. In 1890, the Chinese government agreed to open Chongqing to foreign trade as long as it was restricted to native craft.

In 1895, the Treaty of Shimonoseki provided a provision which opened Chongqing fully to foreign trade. Little took up residence in Chongqing and built Leechuan, to tackle the gorges in 1898. In March Leechuan completed the upriver journey to Chongqing but not without the assistance of trackers. Leechuan was not designed for cargo or passengers and if Little wanted to take his vision one step further, he required an expert pilot.Ibid., p. 170-172.

In 1898, Little persuaded Captain Samuel Cornell Plant to come out to China to lend his expertise. Captain Plant had just completed navigation of Persia's Upper Karun River and took up Little's offer to assess the Upper Yangtze on Leechuan at the end of 1898. With Plant's design input, Little had SS Pioneer built with Plant in command. In June 1900, Plant was the first to successfully pilot a merchant steamer on the Upper Yangtze from Yichang to Chongqing. Pioneer was sold to Royal Navy after its first run due to threat from the Boxer Rebellion and renamed HMS Kinsha. Germany's steamship effort that same year on SS Suixing ended in catastrophe. On Suixing's maiden voyage, the vessel hit a rock and sunk, killing its captain and ending realistic hopes of regular commercial steam service on the Upper Yangtze.

In 1908, local Sichuan merchants and their government partnered with Captain Plant to form Sichuan Steam Navigation Company becoming the first successful service between Yichang and Chongqing. Captain Plant designed and commanded its two ships, SS Shutung and SS Shuhun. Other Chinese vessels came onto the run and by 1915, foreign ships expressed their interest too. Plant was appointed by Chinese Maritime Customs Service as First Senior River Inspector in 1915. In this role, Plant installed navigational marks and established signaling systems.

He also wrote Handbook for the Guidance of Shipmasters on the Ichang-Chungking Section of the Yangtze River, a detailed and illustrated account of the Upper Yangtze's currents, rocks, and other hazards with navigational instruction. Plant trained hundreds of Chinese and foreign pilots and issued licenses and worked with the Chinese government to make the river safer in 1917 by removing some of the most difficult obstacles and threats with explosives. In August 1917, British Asiatic Petroleum became the first foreign merchant steamship on the Upper Yangtze. Commercial firms, Robert Dollar Company, Jardine Matheson, Butterfield and Swire and Standard Oil added their own steamers on the river between 1917 and 1919. Between 1918 and 1919, Sichuan warlord violence and escalating civil war put Sichuan Steam Navigational Company out of business.{{cite journal | last1 = Shih Brandmeyer | first1 = Polly | year = 2014 | title = Cornell Plant, Lost Girls and Recovered Lives – Sino-British Relations at the Human Level in Late Qing and Early Republican China | url = http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=875703566361829;res=IELHSS | journal = Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch | volume = 54 | pages = 106–110 | access-date = April 13, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180811112513/https://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=875703566361829;res=IELHSS | archive-date = August 11, 2018 | url-status = live }} Shutung was commandeered by warlords and Shuhun was brought down river to Shanghai for safekeeping."Returns of Trade and Trade Reports 1918," China – The Maritime Customs, published by Order of the Inspector General of Customs.

In 1921, when Captain Plant died at sea while returning home to England, a Plant Memorial Fund was established to perpetuate Plant's name and contributions to Upper Yangtze navigation. The largest shipping companies in service, Butterfield & Swire, Jardine Matheson, Standard Oil, Mackenzie & Co., Asiatic Petroleum, Robert Dollar, China Merchants S.N. Co. and British-American Tobacco Co., contributed alongside international friends and Chinese pilots. In 1924, a 50-foot granite pyramidal obelisk was erected in Xintan, on the site of Captain Plant's home, in a Chinese community of pilots and junk owners. One face of the monument is inscribed in Chinese and another in English. Though recently relocated to higher ground ahead of the Three Gorges Dam, the monument still stands overlooking the Upper Yangtze River near Yichang, a rare collective tribute to a westerner in China.Peter Simpson, "Hell and High Water," South China Morning Post Magazine, October 2, 2011, p.24-30.Plant Memorial Brochure, March 20, 1923, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, Archive Collection, "Papers of Capt. Samuel Cornell Plant," MS/69/123.

Standard Oil ran the tankers Mei Ping, Mei An and Mei Hsia, which were collectively destroyed on December 12, 1937, when Japanese warplanes bombed and sank the U.S.S. Panay. One of the Standard Oil captains who survived this attack had served on the Upper River for 14 years.Mender, P., Thirty Years A Mariner in the Far East 1907–1937, The Memoirs of Peter Mender, A Standard Oil Ship Captain on China's Yangtze River, p.53, {{ISBN|978-1-60910-498-6}}

File:Japanese cruiser Izumo in Shanghai.jpg armored cruiser Izumo in Shanghai in 1937. She sank riverboats on the Yangtze in 1941.]]

{{see also|USS Asheville (PG-21)|Yangtze Patrol|Yangtze Incident}}

Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong took staged swims in the river in 1956 and 1966 at Wuhan in publicity stunts to demonstrate his health, also starting a swimming craze through party propaganda.{{Cite journal |last=Poon |first=Shuk-Wah |date=2019-05-14 |title=Embodying Maoism: The swimming craze, the Mao cult, and body politics in Communist China, 1950s–1970s |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-asian-studies/article/abs/embodying-maoism-the-swimming-craze-the-mao-cult-and-body-politics-in-communist-china-1950s1970s/955A833A02B8053585F2B1D8631698B0 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |language=en |volume=53 |issue=5 |pages=1450–1485 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X17000804 |s2cid=182934017 |issn=0026-749X|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite book |last=Ball |first=Philip |title=The Water Kingdom: A Secret History of China |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780226369204 |location=Chicago |pages=40–43 |language=en}}

In 2002, Danish adventurer and sailor Troels Kløvedal sailed up the Yangtze, from Shanghai to past the Three Gorges Dam, in the collectively owned "Nordkaperen" sailing ship. Kløvedal had spent 12 years preparing and gathering the required permissions, and with a crew of Danes, his family members, a Chinese interpreter and several local maritime pilots, he became the first foreigner since 1949 to navigate the Yangtze.{{Cite web | title=Kurs mod Kina | publisher=Jyllands-Posten | year=2002 | url=https://jyllands-posten.dk/rejser/ECE3653636/Kurs-mod-Kina/}} His months-long journey was documented both in his 2004 book "Kineserne syr med lang tråd" and the TV show "Kløvedal i Kina" by DR.{{Cite web | title=Kløvedal i Kina | publisher=DR | year=2004 | url=https://www.dr.dk/presse/kloevedal-i-kina-17/}}

{{See also|List of deadliest floods}}

Tens of millions of people live in the floodplain of the Yangtze valley, an area that naturally floods every summer and is habitable only because it is protected by river dikes. The floods large enough to overflow the dikes have caused great distress to those who live and farm there. Floods of note include those of 1931, 1954, and 1998.

The 1931 Central China floods or the Central China floods of 1931 were a series of floods that are generally considered among the deadliest natural disasters ever recorded, and almost certainly the deadliest of the 20th century (when pandemics and famines are discounted). Estimates of the total death toll range from 145,000 to between 3.7 million and 4 million.[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/flood/deluge.html "Dealing with the Deluge"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100318015234/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/flood/deluge.html |date=March 18, 2010 }}. PBS NOVA Online. March 26, 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2013.Glantz, Mickey. Glantz, Michael H (2003). Climate Affairs: A Primer. Island Press. {{ISBN|1-55963-919-9}}. p. 252. The Yangtze flooded again in 1935, causing great loss of life.

From June to September 1954, the Yangtze River Floods were a series of catastrophic floodings that occurred mostly in Hubei Province. Due to unusually high volume of precipitation as well as an extraordinarily long rainy season in the middle stretch of the Yangtze River late in the spring of 1954, the river started to rise above its usual level in around late June. Despite efforts to open three important flood gates to alleviate the rising water by diverting it, the flood level continued to rise until it hit the historic high of 44.67 m in Jingzhou, Hubei and 29.73 m in Wuhan. The number of dead from this flood was estimated at 33,000, including those who died of plague in the aftermath of the disaster.

The 1998 Yangtze River floods were a series of major floods that lasted from middle of June to the beginning of September 1998 along the Yangtze.{{cite web |website=Chinanews.com.cn |url=http://big5.chinanews.com.cn:89/special/guoqing/60/2009/06-25/127.shtml |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101151742/http://big5.chinanews.com.cn:89/special/guoqing/60/2009/06-25/127.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 1, 2013 |script-title=zh:98年特大洪水 |access-date=August 1, 2009 }}

In the summer of 1998, China experienced massive flooding of parts of the Yangtze River, resulting in 3,704 dead, 15 million homeless and $26 billion in economic loss.{{cite web |website=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/itvs/greatwall/dam1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502200427/http://www.pbs.org/itvs/greatwall/dam1.html |archive-date=May 2, 2015 |access-date= August 1, 2009 |title=Great Wall Across the Yangtze, Three Gorges Dam – Facts and Figures }} Other sources report a total loss of 4150 people, and 180 million people were affected. A staggering {{convert|25|e6acre|km2}} were evacuated, 13.3 million houses were damaged or destroyed. The floods caused $26 billion in damages.Spignesi, Stephen J. [2004] (2004). Catastrophe!: the 100 greatest disasters of all time. Citadel Press. {{ISBN|0-8065-2558-4}}. p 37.

The 2016 China floods caused US$22 billion in damages.

In 2020, the Yangtze river saw the heaviest rainfall since 1961, with a 79% increase in June and July compared to the average for the period over the previous 41 years. A new theory suggested that abrupt reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols, caused by shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, was a key cause of the intense downpours. Over the past decades rainfall had decreased due to increase of aerosols in the atmosphere, and lower greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 caused the opposite effect – a major increase in rain. Such a dramatic reduction of aerosols caused a dramatic change in the various components of the climate system, but such sudden change of the climate system would be very different from changes in response to continuous but gradual policy-driven emissions reductions.{{Cite news|date=2022-02-18|title=Climate change: Covid shutdown linked to record rainfall in China|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60423329|access-date=2022-02-22}}

{{See also|Water resources in China#Water quality}}

File:Yangtze-Ships.JPG

Beginning in the 1950s, dams and dikes were built for flood control, land reclamation, irrigation, and control of diseases vectors such as blood flukes that caused Schistosomiasis. More than a hundred lakes were thusly cut off from the main river. There were gates between the lakes that could be opened during floods. However, farmers and settlements encroached on the land next to the lakes although it was forbidden to settle there. When floods came, it proved impossible to open the gates since it would have caused substantial destruction.{{cite book|last=Ma|first=Jun|title=China's Water Crisis|publisher=International Rivers Network|pages=55–56|year=2004|isbn=978-1891936272}} Thus the lakes partially or completely dried up. For example, Baidang Lake shrunk from {{convert|100|km2|sp=us}} in the 1950s to {{convert|40|km2|sp=us}} in 2005. Zhangdu Lake dwindled to one quarter of its original size. Natural fisheries output in the two lakes declined sharply. Only a few large lakes, such as Poyang Lake and Dongting Lake, remained connected to the Yangtze. Cutting off the other lakes that had served as natural buffers for floods increased the damage done by floods further downstream. Furthermore, the natural flow of migratory fish was obstructed and biodiversity across the whole basin decreased dramatically. Intensive farming of fish in ponds spread using one type of carp who thrived in eutrophic water conditions and who feeds on algae, causing widespread pollution. The pollution was exacerbated by the discharge of waste from pig farms as well as of untreated industrial and municipal sewage.{{cite web |last = China Daily |title = Isolated Yangtze lakes reunited with mother river |url = http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200507/12/eng20050712_195638.html |access-date = October 25, 2011 |date = July 12, 2005 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140830212154/http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200507/12/eng20050712_195638.html |archive-date = August 30, 2014 |url-status = live }} In September 2012, the Yangtze river near Chongqing turned red from pollution.{{cite web |last = ABC News |title = Yangtze River Turns Red and Turns Up a Mystery |website = ABC News |url = https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/09/yangtze-river-turns-red-and-turns-up-a-mystery/ |access-date = October 28, 2012 |date = September 7, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121112170920/https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/09/yangtze-river-turns-red-and-turns-up-a-mystery/ |archive-date = November 12, 2012 |url-status = live }} The erection of the Three Gorges Dam has created an impassable "iron barrier" that has led to a great reduction in the biodiversity of the river. Yangtze sturgeon use seasonal changes in the flow of the river to signal when is it time to migrate. However, these seasonal changes will be greatly reduced by dams and diversions. Other animals facing immediate threat of extinction are the baiji dolphin, narrow-ridged finless porpoise and the Yangtze alligator. These animals numbers went into freefall from the combined effects of accidental catches during fishing, river traffic, habitat loss and pollution. In 2006 the baiji dolphin became extinct; the world lost an entire genus.Ellen Wohl. A World of Rivers, pg 287.

In 2020, a sweeping law was passed by the Chinese government to protect the ecology of the river. The new laws include strengthening ecological protection rules for hydropower projects along the river, banning chemical plants within 1 kilometer of the river, relocating polluting industries, severely restricting sand mining as well as a complete fishing ban on all the natural waterways of the river, including all its major tributaries and lakes.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-environment-yangtze-idUSKBN29407F|title = China seeks better protection of Yangtze river with landmark law|newspaper = Reuters|date = December 30, 2020}}

The Yangtze River produces more ocean plastic pollution than any other, according to The Ocean Cleanup, a Dutch environmental research foundation that focuses on ocean pollution. Ten rivers transport 90% of all the plastic that reaches the oceans, with the Yangtze River being the biggest polluter.{{cite web | title=Almost all plastic in the ocean comes from just 10 rivers – 30.11.2017 | website=Deutsche Welle | url=https://www.dw.com/en/almost-all-plastic-in-the-ocean-comes-from-just-10-rivers/a-41581484 | ref={{sfnref | DW.COM}} | access-date=August 22, 2018 | quote=about 90 percent of all the plastic that reaches the world's oceans gets flushed through just 10 rivers: The Yangtze, the Indus, Yellow River, Hai River, the Nile, the Ganges, Pearl River, Amur River, the Niger, and the Mekong (in that order). | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822181401/https://www.dw.com/en/almost-all-plastic-in-the-ocean-comes-from-just-10-rivers/a-41581484 | archive-date=August 22, 2018 | url-status=live }}{{cite journal | last1=Schmidt | first1=Christian | last2=Krauth | first2=Tobias | last3=Wagner | first3=Stephan | title=Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea | journal=Environmental Science & Technology | volume=51 | issue=21 | date=October 11, 2017 | issn=0013-936X | doi=10.1021/acs.est.7b02368 | pmid=29019247 | pages=12246–12253 | bibcode=2017EnST...5112246S | url=http://oceanrep.geomar.de/43169/4/es7b02368_si_001.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914225406/http://oceanrep.geomar.de/43169/4/es7b02368_si_001.pdf |archive-date=2020-09-14 |url-status=live }}

In 2002 a pilot program was initiated to reconnect lakes to the Yangtze with the objective to increase biodiversity and to alleviate flooding. The first lakes to be reconnected in 2004 were Zhangdu Lake, Honghu Lake, and Tian'e-Zhou in Hubei on the middle Yangtze. In 2005, Baidang Lake in Anhui was also reconnected.

Reconnecting the lakes improved water quality and fish were able to migrate from the river into the lake, replenishing their numbers and genetic stock. The trial also showed that reconnecting the lake reduced flooding. The new approach also benefitted the farmers economically. Pond farmers switched to natural fish feed, which helped them breed better-quality fish that can be sold for more, increasing their income by 30%. Based on the successful pilot project, other provincial governments emulated the experience and also reestablished connections to lakes that had previously been cut off from the river. In 2005 a Yangtze Forum has been established bringing together 13 riparian provincial governments to manage the river from source to sea.{{cite web |last=WWF China |title=The Yangtze Forum |url=http://www.wwfchina.org/english/downloads/Yangtze%20Forum.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425091933/http://www.wwfchina.org/english/downloads/Yangtze%20Forum.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 25, 2012 |access-date=October 25, 2011 }} In 2006 China's Ministry of Agriculture made it a national policy to reconnect the Yangtze River with its lakes. As of 2010, provincial governments in five provinces and Shanghai set up a network of 40 effective protected areas, covering {{convert|16500|km2|abbr=on|sp=us}}. As a result, populations of 47 threatened species increased, including the critically endangered Yangtze alligator. In the Shanghai area, reestablished wetlands now protect drinking water sources for the city. It is envisaged to extend the network throughout the entire Yangtze to eventually cover 102 areas and {{convert|185000|km2|abbr=on|sp=us}}. The mayor of Wuhan announced that six huge, stagnating urban lakes including the East Lake (Wuhan) would be reconnected at the cost of US$2.3 billion creating China's largest urban wetland landscape.WWF UK Case Study 2011 / HSBC:Safeguarding the Yangtze. Celebrating 10 years of conservation success.{{cite web|last=WWF UK|title=Where we work:China – the Yangtze|url=http://wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/safeguarding_the_natural_world/rivers_and_lakes/where_we_work/yangtze_china.cfm|access-date=October 25, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112151935/http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/safeguarding_the_natural_world/rivers_and_lakes/where_we_work/yangtze_china.cfm|archive-date=January 12, 2012}}

{{Main|Discharge of the Yangtze River}}

{{See also|Category:Populated places on the Yangtze River}}

File:Yangzi River with major settlements.png

{{col div}}

• Qinghai
• Yushu
• Sichuan
• Panzhihua
• Yibin
• Luzhou
• Hejiang
• Chongqing
• Fuling
• Fengdu
• Wanzhou
• Hubei
• Yichang
• Yidu
• Jingzhou
• Shashi
• Shishou
• Hunan
• Yueyang
• Hubei
• Xianning
• Wuhan
• Ezhou
• Huangshi
• Huanggang
• Anhui
• Chizhou
• Jiangxi
• Jiujiang
• Anhui
• Anqing
• Tongling
• Wuhu
• Ma'anshan
• Jiangsu
• Nanjing
• Yangzhou
• Zhenjiang
• Taizhou
• Changzhou
• Nantong
• Shanghai
• Enters East China Sea

{{col div end}}

{{Main|Bridges and tunnels across the Yangtze River|Yangtze River power line crossings}}

{{GeoGroup|article=Yangtze River bridges and tunnels|articlee=Yangtze River bridges and tunnels}}

Until 1957, there were no bridges across the Yangtze River from Yibin to Shanghai. For millennia, travelers crossed the river by ferry. On occasions, the crossing may have been dangerous, as evidenced by the Zhong'anlun disaster (October 15, 1945).

The river stood as a major geographic barrier dividing northern and southern China. In the first half of the 20th century, rail passengers from Beijing to Guangzhou and Shanghai had to disembark, respectively, at Hanyang and Pukou, and cross the river by steam ferry before resuming journeys by train from Wuchang or Nanjing West.

After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, Soviet engineers assisted in the design and construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, a dual-use road-rail bridge, built from 1955 to 1957. It was the first bridge across the Yangtze River. The second bridge across the river that was built 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 reaches of the Yangtze, in Nanjing. It was built after the Sino-Soviet Split and did not receive foreign assistance. Road-rail bridges were then built in Zhicheng (1971) and Chongqing (1980).

Bridge-building slowed in the 1980s before resuming in the 1990s and accelerating in the first decade of the 21st century. 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 a total of 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 m, opened in 1999), Runyang Bridge (1,490 m, opened 2005), Sutong Bridge (1,088 m, opened 2008). The rapid pace of bridge construction has continued. The city of Wuhan now has six bridges and one tunnel across the Yangtze.

A number of power line crossings have also been built across the river.

File:Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge-1.jpg|Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, the first bridge crossing Yangtze, was completed in 1957.

File:First Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.JPG|The Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, a beam bridge, was completed in 1968.

File:Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge.jpg|The Jiujiang Yangtze River Bridge, an arch bridge, was completed in 1992.

File:Yichang Yangtze Highway Bridge.JPG|The Yichang Yangtze Highway Bridge, a suspension bridge near the Gezhouba Dam lock, was completed in 1996.

File:Sutong Yangtze River Bridge.JPG|The Sutong Yangtze River Bridge, between Nantong and Suzhou, was one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world when it was completed in 2008.

File:Caiyuanba bridge.jpg|The Caiyuanba Bridge, an arch bridge in Chongqing, was completed in 2007.

File:Bridge on the Yangtze River in Anqing Anhui China-2.jpg|The cable-stayed Anqing Yangtze River Bridge at Anqing, was completed in 2005.

File:Route Map of Wuhan Metro Line 2.svg|Wuhan Metro Line 2 is the first underground rail line crossing the Yangtze River.

File:Three Gorges dam.jpg

File:Yangtze longitudinal profile upstream.JPG

As of 2007, there are two dams built on the Yangtze river: Three Gorges Dam and Gezhouba Dam. The Three Gorges Dam is the largest power station in the world by installed capacity, at 22.5 GW. Several dams are operating or are being constructed on the upper portion of the river, the Jinsha River. Among them, the Baihetan Dam is the second largest after the Three Gorges Dam, and the Xiluodu Dam is the 4th largest power station in the world.

{{Main|List of tributaries of the Yangtze}}

File:Yangzi river ship yard on river bank.jpg

The Yangtze River has over 700 tributaries. The major tributaries (listed from upstream to downstream) with the locations of where they join the Yangtze 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 flowed into the Yellow Sea until the 20th century, but now primarily discharges into the Yangtze.

File:Ganrivermap.png|Gan River in Jiangxi

File:Hanshuirivermap.png|Han River in Hubei

File:Dongtingriversmap.png|Lake Dongting and the Yuan, Zi, Li, and Xiang Rivers in Hunan

File:Wujiangrivermap.png|Wu River in Guizhou

File:Jialingrivermap.png|Jialing River in eastern Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality

File:Min sichuan rivermap.png|Min River in central Sichuan

File:Yalongrivermap.png|Yalong River in western Sichuan

• Sanjiangyuan ("Three Rivers' Sources") National Nature Reserve in Qinghai
• Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan

The Yangtze River has a high species richness, including many endemics. A high percentage of these are seriously threatened by human activities.Ye, S.; Li, Z.; Liu, J;, Zhang, T.; and Xie, S. (2011). Distribution, Endemism and Conservation Status of Fishes in the Yangtze River Basin, China. pp. 41–66 in: Ecosystems Biodiversity, InTech. {{ISBN|978-953-307-417-7}}.

File:Acipenser sinensis.JPG species in the Yangtze (here Chinese sturgeon) are both seriously threatened.]]

{{As of|2011}}, 416 fish species are known from the Yangtze basin, including 362 that strictly are freshwater species. The remaining are also known from salt or brackish waters, such as the river's estuary or the East China Sea. This makes it one of the most species-rich rivers in Asia and by far the most species-rich in China (in comparison, the Pearl River has almost 300 fish species and the Yellow River 160). 178 fish species are endemic to the Yangtze River Basin. Many are only found in some section of the river basin and especially the upper reach (above Yichang, but below the headwaters in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau) is rich with 279 species, including 147 Yangtze endemics and 97 strict endemics (found only in this part of the basin). In contrast, the headwaters, where the average altitude is above {{convert|4500|m|ft|abbr=on}}, are only home to 14 highly specialized species, but 8 of these are endemic to the river. The largest orders in the Yangtze are Cypriniformes (280 species, including 150 endemics), Siluriformes (40 species, including 20 endemics), Perciformes (50 species, including 4 endemics), Tetraodontiformes (12 species, including 1 endemic) and Osmeriformes (8 species, including 1 endemic). No other order has more than four species in the river and one endemic.

Many Yangtze fish species have declined drastically and 65 were recognized as threatened in the 2009 Chinese red list.Wang, S.; and Xie, Y. (2009). China species red list. Vol. II Vertebrates – Part 1. High Education Press, Beijing, China. Among these are three that are considered entirely extinct (Chinese paddlefish, Anabarilius liui liui and Atrilinea macrolepis), two that are extinct in the wild (Anabarilius polylepis, Schizothorax parvus), four that are critically endangered Euchiloglanis kishinouyei, Megalobrama elongata, Schizothorax longibarbus and Leiocassis longibarbus).{{cite web |date=January 8, 2020 |title=Chinese paddlefish, one of world's largest fish, declared extinct |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/01/chinese-paddlefish-one-of-largest-fish-extinct/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108130420/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/01/chinese-paddlefish-one-of-largest-fish-extinct/ |archive-date=January 8, 2020 |access-date=January 8, 2020 |website=Animals}} Additionally, both the Yangtze sturgeon and Chinese sturgeon are considered critically endangered by the IUCN. The survival of these two sturgeon may rely on the continued release of captive bred specimens.{{cite iucn |author=Qiwei, W. |date=2010 |title=Acipenser dabryanus |volume=2010 |page=e.T231A174775412 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-1.RLTS.T231A174775412.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}{{cite iucn |author=Qiwei, W. |date=2010 |title=Acipenser sinensis |volume=2010 |page=e.T236A13044272 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-1.RLTS.T236A13044272.en |access-date=12 November 2021}} Although still listed as critically endangered rather than extinct by both the Chinese red list and IUCN, recent reviews have found that the Chinese paddlefish is extinct.{{cite web | last=Yirka | first=Bob | title=Chinese paddlefish declared extinct | website=Phys.org | date=January 8, 2020 | url=https://phys.org/news/2020-01-chinese-paddlefish-declared-extinct.html | access-date=January 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108181752/https://phys.org/news/2020-01-chinese-paddlefish-declared-extinct.html | archive-date=January 8, 2020 | url-status=live }}{{cite web | last=Cheung | first=Eric | title=Up to 23 feet long, the Chinese paddlefish was the giant of the Yangtze. And we killed it | work=CNN | date=January 7, 2020 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/07/asia/chinese-paddlefish-extinct-study-intl-hnk-scli/index.html | access-date=January 9, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109010819/https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/07/asia/chinese-paddlefish-extinct-study-intl-hnk-scli/index.html | archive-date=January 9, 2020 | url-status=live }} Surveys conducted between 2006 and 2008 by ichthyologists failed to catch any, but two probable specimens were recorded with hydroacoustic signals.{{cite journal | year = 2009 | title = Is there evidence that the Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) still survives in the upper Yangtze River? Concerns inferred from hydroacoustic and capture surveys, 2006–2008. | journal = Journal of Applied Ichthyology | volume = 25 | pages = 95–99 | doi = 10.1111/j.1439-0426.2009.01268.x | last1 = Zhang | first1 = H. | last2 = Wei | first2 = Q. W. | last3 = Du | first3 = H. | last4 = Shen | first4 = L. | last5 = Li | first5 = Y. H. | last6 = Zhao | first6 = Y.| doi-access = free | bibcode = 2009JApIc..25...95Z }} The last definite record was an individual that was accidentally captured near Yibin in 2003 and released after having been radio tagged. The Chinese sturgeon is the largest fish in the river and among the largest freshwater fish in the world, reaching a length of {{convert|5|m|ft|abbr=on}}; the extinct Chinese paddlefish reputedly reached as much as {{convert|7|m|ft|abbr=on}}, but its maximum size is labeled with considerable uncertainty.Meadows, D.; and Coll, H. (2013). [http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/statusreviews/sturgeon_5foreign.pdf Status Review Report of Five Foreign Sturgeon.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219084715/http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/statusreviews/sturgeon_5foreign.pdf |date=December 19, 2014 }} National Marine Fisheries Service, Report to Office of Protected Resources.{{cite iucn |author=Qiwei, W. |date=2010 |title=Psephurus gladius |volume=2010 |page=e.T18428A8264989 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-1.RLTS.T18428A8264989.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}{{FishBase |genus=Psephurus|species=gladius|month=January|year=2020}}

File:Hypophthalmichthys molitrix Hungary.jpg is native to the river, but has (like other Asian carp) been spread through large parts of the world with aquaculture.]]

The largest threats to the Yangtze native fish are overfishing and habitat loss (such as building of dams and land reclamation), but pollution, destructive fishing practices (such as fishing with dynamite or poison) and introduced species also cause problems. About {{frac|2|3}} of the total freshwater fisheries in China are in the Yangtze Basin,Liu, J.; and Cao, W. (1992). Fish resources in the Yangtze basin and the strategy for their conservation. Resources and environment in the Yangtze Valley, 1: 17–23. but a drastic decline in size of several important species has been recorded, as highlighted by data from lakes in the river basin. In 2015, some experts recommend a 10-year fishing moratorium to allow the remaining populations to recover,Yiman, L.; and Zhouyang, D. (January 4, 2013). [https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/5572-Expert-calls-for-1-year-fishing-moratorium-on-Yangtze-River Expert calls for 10-year fishing moratorium on Yangtze River.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100207/https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/5572-Expert-calls-for-1-year-fishing-moratorium-on-Yangtze-River |date=March 4, 2016 }} ChinaDialogue. Retrieved November 12, 2015. and in January 2020 China imposed a 10-year fishing moratorium on 332 sites along the Yangtze.{{cite news |title=China imposes a 10-year fishing ban for Yangtze River to protect marine biodiversity |work=South China Morning Post |date=January 7, 2020 |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/video/china-imposes-10-fishing-ban-050107819.html |access-date=January 7, 2020 }} Dams present another serious problem, as several species in the river perform breeding migrations and most of these are non-jumpers, meaning that normal fish ladders designed for salmon are ineffective. For example, the Gezhouba Dam blocked the migration of the paddlerfish and two sturgeon, while also effectively splitting the Chinese high fin banded shark population into twoZhang, C.-G.; and Zhao, Y.-H. (2001). Migration of the Chinese sucker (Myxocyprinus asiaticus) in the Yangtze River Basin with discussion on the potential effect of dams on fish. Current Zoology, 47(5): 518–521. and causing the extirpation of the Yangtze population of the Japanese eel.Xie, P.; and Chen, Y. (1999). Threats to biodiversity in Chinese inland waters. Ambio, 28: 674–681. In an attempt of minimizing the effect of the dams, the Three Gorges Dam has released water to mimic the (pre-dam) natural flooding and trigger the breeding of carp species downstream.{{cite web | title=Protecting the Yangtze River in China | website=nature.org | date=2015-09-10 | url=http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/asiaandthepacific/china/placesweprotect/china-yangtze-river.xml | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151114185049/http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/asiaandthepacific/china/placesweprotect/china-yangtze-river.xml | archive-date=2015-11-14 | url-status=unfit }} In addition to dams already built in the Yangtze basin, several large dams are planned and these may present further problems for the native fauna.

While many fish species native to the Yangtze are seriously threatened, others have become important in fish farming and introduced widely outside their native range. A total of 26 native fish species of the Yangtze basin are farmed. Among the most important are four Asian carp: grass carp, black carp, silver carp and bighead carp. Other species that support important fisheries include northern snakehead, Chinese perch, Takifugu pufferfish (mainly in the lowermost sections) and predatory carp.

File:ChineseAlligator15.JPG is one of the smallest crocodilians, reaching a maximum length of about {{convert|2|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.Xing, J.H. (2010). [http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/02_A-aae9ca58.pdf "Chinese Alligator Alligator sinensis".] Pp. 5–9 in: Manolis, S.C., and Stevenson, C., eds. (2010). Crocodiles. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Third Edition. IUCN/SSC Crocodile Specialist Group: Darwin. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073748/http://www.iucncsg.org/365_docs/attachments/protarea/02_A-aae9ca58.pdf |date=March 4, 2016 }}.]]

Due to commercial use of the river, tourism, and pollution, the Yangtze is home to several seriously threatened species of large animals (in addition to fish): the narrow-ridged finless porpoise, baiji (Yangtze river dolphin), Chinese alligator, Yangtze giant softshell turtle and Chinese giant salamander. This is the only other place besides the United States that is native to an alligator and paddlefish species. In 2010, the Yangtze population of finless porpoise was 1000 individuals. In December 2006, the Yangtze river dolphin was declared functionally extinct after an extensive search of the river revealed no signs of the dolphin's inhabitance.{{cite news |title=The Chinese river dolphin was functionally extinct |url=http://www.baiji.org/expeditions/1.html |publisher=baiji.org |date=December 13, 2006 |access-date=December 13, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070104192730/http://www.baiji.org/expeditions/1.html |archive-date=January 4, 2007}} In 2007, a large, white animal was sighted and photographed in the lower Yangtze and was tentatively presumed to be a baiji.{{cite web|url=http://sciencemode.com/2007/09/02/river-dolphin-thought-to-be-extinct-spotted-again-in-china/ |title=Sciencemode.com – Home page|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221054321/http://sciencemode.com/2007/09/02/river-dolphin-thought-to-be-extinct-spotted-again-in-china/|archive-date=December 21, 2007}} However, as there have been no confirmed sightings since 2004, the baiji is presumed to be functionally extinct at this time.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6935343.stm Rare river dolphin 'now extinct'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828210609/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6935343.stm |date=August 28, 2012 }}. BBC News. "Baijis were the last surviving species of a large lineage dating back seventy million years and one of only six species of freshwater dolphins." It has been argued that the extinction of the Yangtze river dolphin was a result of the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, a project that has affected many species of animals and plant life found only in the gorges area.Ellen Wohl, [A World of Rivers: Environmental Changes on Ten of the World's Great Rivers], p.287.

Numerous species of land mammals are found in the Yangtze valley, but most of these are not directly associated with the river. Three exceptions are the semi-aquatic Eurasian otter, water deer and Père David's deer.Smith, A.T.; and Xie, Y. (2008). A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, New Jersey. {{ISBN|978-0-691-09984-2}}

File:2009 Andrias davidianus.JPG is the world's largest amphibian, reaching up to {{convert|1.8|m|ft|abbr=on}} in length.]]

In addition to the very large and exceptionally rare Yangtze giant softshell turtle, several smaller turtle species are found in the Yangtze basin, its delta and valleys. These include the Chinese box turtle, yellow-headed box turtle, Pan's box turtle, Yunnan box turtle, yellow pond turtle, Chinese pond turtle, Chinese stripe-necked turtle and Chinese softshell turtle, which all are considered threatened.van Dijk, P.P.; Iverson, J.B.; Rhodin, A.G.J.; Shaffer, H.B.; and Bour, R. (2014). [http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_000_checklist_v7_2014.pdf Turtles of the World, 7th Edition: Annotated Checklist of Taxonomy, Synonymy, Distribution with Maps, and Conservation Status.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715003512/http://www.iucn-tftsg.org/wp-content/uploads/file/Accounts/crm_5_000_checklist_v7_2014.pdf |date=July 15, 2014}} IUCN/SSC Turtle Taxonomy Working Group.

More than 160 amphibian species are known from the Yangtze basin, including the world's largest, the critically endangered Chinese giant salamander.WWF Global: [http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_freshwater/freshwater_problems/river_decline/10_rivers_risk/yangtze/ Yangtze River.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210091429/http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/about_freshwater/freshwater_problems/river_decline/10_rivers_risk/yangtze/ |date=December 10, 2017 }} Retrieved November 12, 2015. It has declined drastically due to hunting (it is considered a delicacy), habitat loss and pollution.AmphibiaWeb (2013). [http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi-bin/amphib_query?table=amphib&special=one_record&where-genus=Andrias&where-species=davidianus Andrias davidianus.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927113136/http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi-bin/amphib_query?table=amphib&special=one_record&where-genus=Andrias&where-species=davidianus |date=September 27, 2011 }} Retrieved November 13, 2015. The polluted Dian Lake, which is part of the upper Yangtze watershed (via Pudu River), is home to several highly threatened fish, but was also home to the Yunnan lake newt. This newt has not been seen since 1979 and is considered extinct.{{cite iucn |author=IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group |date=2020 |title=Cynops wolterstorffi |volume=2020 |page=e.T59445A63869216 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T59445A63869216.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}Stuart, S.; Hoffman, M.; Chanson, J.; Cox, N.; Berridge, R.; Ramani, P., and Young, B. (2008). Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{ISBN|978-84-96553-41-5}} In contrast, the Chinese fire belly newt from the lower Yangtze basin is one of the few Chinese salamander species to remain common and it is considered least concern by the IUCN.{{cite iucn |author=IUCN SSC Amphibian Specialist Group |date=2020 |title=Cynops orientalis |volume=2020 |page=e.T59442A63868627 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-1.RLTS.T59442A63868627.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}AmphibiaWeb (2008). [http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Cynops&where-species=orientalis Cynops orientalis .] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101025114028/http://amphibiaweb.org/cgi/amphib_query?where-genus=Cynops&where-species=orientalis |date=October 25, 2010 }} Retrieved November 12, 2015.

File:EriocheirSinensis1.jpg is a commercially important species in the Yangtze, but invasive in other parts of the world.]]

The Yangtze basin contains a large number of freshwater crab species, including several endemics.{{cite journal | last1 = Neil Cumberlidge | first1 = N. | last2 = Ng | first2 = P.K.L. | last3 = Yeo | first3 = D.C.J. | last4 = Naruse | first4 = T. | last5 = Meyer | first5 = K.S. | last6 = Esser | first6 = L.J. | year = 2011 | title = Diversity, endemism and conservation of the freshwater crabs of China (Brachyura: Potamidae and Gecarcinucidae) | journal = Integrative Zoology | volume = 6 | issue = 1| pages = 45–55 | doi = 10.1111/j.1749-4877.2010.00228.x | pmid = 21392361 }} A particularly rich genus in the river basin is the potamid Sinopotamon.{{cite journal | last1 = Fang | first1 = F. | last2 = Sun | first2 = H. | last3 = Zhao | first3 = Q. | last4 = Lin | first4 = C. | last5 = Sun | first5 = Y. | last6 = Gao | first6 = W. | last7 = Xu | first7 = J. | last8 = Zhou | first8 = J. | last9 = Ge | first9 = F. | last10 = Liu | first10 = N. | year = 2013 | title = Patterns of diversity, areas of endemism, and multiple glacial refuges for freshwater crabs of the genus Sinopotamon in China (Decapoda: Brachyura: Potamidae) | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 8| issue = 1| page = e53143| doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0053143 | pmid = 23308152 | pmc = 3537761 | bibcode = 2013PLoSO...853143F | doi-access = free }} The Chinese mitten crab is catadromous (migrates between fresh and saltwater) and it has been recorded up to {{convert|1400|km|mi|abbr=on}} up the Yangtze, which is the largest river in its native range.Veilleux, É; and de Lafontaine, Y. (2007). Biological Synopsis of the Chinese Mitten Crab (Eriocheir sinensis). Canadian Manuscript Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2812. It is a commercially important species in its native range where it is farmed,{{cite journal | last1 = Wang | first1 = H.-Z. | last2 = Wang | first2 = H.-J. | last3 = Liang | first3 = X.-M. | last4 = Cui | first4 = Y.-D. | year = 2003 | title = Stocking models of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir japonica sinensis) in Yangtze lakes. | url = http://ir.ihb.ac.cn/handle/152342/8948 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200318110423/http://ir.ihb.ac.cn/handle/152342/8948 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2020-03-18 | journal = Aquaculture | volume = 255 | issue = 1 | pages = 456–465 | doi = 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2006.01.005 }} but the Chinese mitten crab has also been spread to Europe and North America where considered invasive.

The freshwater jellyfish Craspedacusta sowerbii, now an invasive species in large parts of the world, originates from the Yangtze.{{cite web|url=http://www.nobanis.org/files/factsheets/Craspedacusta_sowerbyi.pdf |title=NOBANIS – Invasive Alien Species Fact Sheet – Craspedacusta sowerbyi |last=Didžiulis |first=Viktoras |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517210230/http://www.nobanis.org/files/factsheets/Craspedacusta_sowerbyi.pdf |archive-date=May 17, 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=September 28, 2016 }}

The Yangtze River cruise, also called the "Three Gorges cruise", is a popular tourist attraction.{{Cite web |title=Three Gorges Cruise: Sailing China Yangtze River Three Gorges |url=https://www.yangtze-river-cruises.com/yangtze-river-guide/three-gorges-cruise.html |access-date=2024-05-19 |website=www.yangtze-river-cruises.com |language=en}}

File:长江源头.jpg|The glaciers of the Tanggula Mountains, the traditional source of the Yangtze River

File:Yangtze at First Bridge.jpg|The Tuotuo River, a headwater stream of the Yangtze River, known in Tibetan as Maqu, or the "Red River"

File:1 changjiang yangtze aerial pano first turn shigu 2018.jpg|The first turn of the Yangtze at Shigu (石鼓) in Yunnan, where the river turns 180 degrees from southbound to northbound

File:Tiger Leaping Gorge.jpg|Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan

File:Hutiaoxia.jpg|Narrowest point of the Tiger Leaping Gorge near Lijiang, downstream from Shigu

File:Jinshajiang River Ravine - 32229429768.jpg|The Jinsha, "Golden Sands River", in Yunnan

File:Qutang Gorge on Changjiang.jpg|Qutang Gorge, one of the Three Gorges

File:Wu Gorge on Yangtze.jpg|Wu Gorge, one of the Three Gorges

File:Xiling Gorge along Yangtze.jpg|Xiling Gorge, one of the Three Gorges

File:ThreeGorgesDam-China2009.jpg|Three Gorges Dam in Hubei, the world's largest hydroelectric project

File:Golden Island, on The Yang-Tse River, China (LMS, 1869, p.64).jpg|Golden Island on the Yangtze near Zhenjiang in Jiangsu, as it was in the mid-19th century{{cite book |author=London Missionary Society |url=https://archive.org/details/fruitsoftoilinth17115gut |title=Fruits of Toil in the London Missionary Society |date=1869 |publisher=John Snow & Co. |location=London |page=64 |access-date=September 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331144822/https://archive.org/details/fruitsoftoilinth17115gut |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |url-status=live}}

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• Category: Tributaries of the Yangtze River
• List of direct tributaries of the Yangtze by size
• List of rivers in China
• List of most-polluted rivers
• Northern and Southern China, traditionally divided by the Huai River but sometimes considered to separate at the Yangtze
• Rediscovering the Yangtze River
• Ship lifts in China
• South-North Water Transfer Project
• Yangtze River Crossing
• Yangtze Service Medal

{{col div end}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• Carles, William Richard, [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1774310 "The Yangtse Chiang"], The Geographical Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3 (Sep. 1898), pp. 225–240; Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
• Danielson, Eric N. 2004. Nanjing and the Lower Yangzi, From Past to Present, The New Yangzi River Trilogy, Vol. II. Singapore: Times Editions/Marshall Cavendish. {{ISBN|981-232-598-0}}.
• Danielson, Eric N. 2005. The Three Gorges and The Upper Yangzi, From Past to Present, The New Yangzi River Trilogy, Vol. III. Singapore: Times Editions/Marshall Cavendish. {{ISBN|981-232-599-9}}.
• Grover, David H. 1992 American Merchant Ships on the Yangtze, 1920–1941. Wesport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers.
• Van Slyke, Lyman P. 1988. Yangtze: nature, history, and the river. A Portable Stanford Book. {{ISBN|0-201-08894-0}}
• Winchester, Simon. 1996. The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze and Back in Chinese Time, Holt, Henry & Company, 1996, hardcover, {{ISBN|0-8050-3888-4}}; trade paperback, Owl Publishing, 1997, {{ISBN|0-8050-5508-8}}; trade paperback, St. Martins, 2004, 432 pages, {{ISBN|0-312-42337-3}}
• Plant, Cornell. Glimpses of the Yangze Gorges; illustrations by Ivon A. Donnelly. Kelly & Walsh, Limited, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, 1926.

{{Commons category|Yangtze River}}

{{Wiktionary|Yangtze}}

{{Wikivoyage|Along the Yangtze River}}

• {{osmrelation-inline|215336|bullet=no}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRl7vr5jzwc Video of walking along the Yangtze River in Yichang City, Hubei Province]

{{China Rivers}}

{{Major cities along the Yangtze River}}

{{Yangtze dams}}

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