View source for Yangtze

===Chinese{{anchor|Chinese name|Chinese names}}===
{{transliteration|zh|Cháng Jiāng}} ({{lang-zh|labels=no|s=长江 |t=長江}}), meaning "'''Long River'''", is the name for the river in [[Mandarin Chinese|Chinese]]. However, the Chinese have given different names to sections of the river (it is from an ancient name to only a part of the river that the modern English name derives – see below).<ref name="Jamieson 1911, p. 903">{{cite EB1911|first=Jamieson |last=George |wstitle=Yangtsze-Kiang |volume=28 |page=903}}</ref><ref name="Yule 1880, p. 35">[[Henry Yule|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.</ref>

In [[Old Chinese]], the Yangtze was simply called ''Jiang/Kiang'' {{lang|zh|江}},<ref name=baxjiang>Baxter, Wm. H. & Sagart, Laurent. ''{{cite web|url=http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |title=Baxter–Sagart Old Chinese Reconstruction |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064509/http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.93&nbsp;MB)}}'', p. 56. 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2013.</ref> a [[Chinese character|character]] of [[phono-semantic compound]] origin, combining the water [[Radical (Chinese characters)|radical]] {{lang|zh|氵}} with the homophone {{lang|zh|工}} (now pronounced {{transliteration|zh|gōng}}, but ''*kˤoŋ'' in Old Chinese<ref>Baxter & al. (2011), {{cite web|url=http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |title=p. 69 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064509/http://crlao.ehess.fr/docannexe.php?id=1207 |archive-date=April 25, 2012 }}&nbsp;{{small|(1.93&nbsp;MB)}}.</ref>). ''Kong'' was probably a word in the [[Austroasiatic]] language of local peoples such as the [[Baiyue|Yue]]. Similar to ''*krong'' in [[Proto-Vietnamese]] and ''krung'' in [[Mon language|Mon]], all meaning "river", it is related to [[Vietnamese language|modern Vietnamese]] ''sông'' (river) and [[Khmer language|Khmer]] ''krung'' (city on riverside), whence [[Thai language|Thai]] ''krung'' (กรุง capital city), not ''kôngkea'' (water) which is from the [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]] root ''gáṅgā''.<ref>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.</ref>

[[File:Mouth of the Yangtze 1754.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The "Great River" ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|大江}}}}) with its entrance to the [[East China Sea]] marked as the "Mouth of the Yangtze" ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|揚子|江口}}}}) on the [[Jiangnan Province|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 Chinese characters|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}} ({{lang-zh|labels=no|c=川江}}) or "[[Sichuan River]]". In [[Hubei]], the river is also called the {{transliteration|zh|Jīng Jiāng}} ({{lang-zh|labels=no|t=荊江|s=荆江}}) or the "Jing River" after [[Jingzhou (ancient China)|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). [[Jinsha River|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 City, Qinghai|Yushu]] in Qinghai, while the [[Tongtian River|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}}

{{transliteration|zh|Yángzǐ Jiāng}} ({{lang-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 (ancient China)|Yangzhou]]. The name likely comes from an ancient ferry crossing called {{transliteration|zh|Yángzǐ}} or {{transliteration|zh|Yángzǐjīn}} ({{lang-zh|labels=no|t=揚子 / 揚子津}}).<ref>{{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 }}</ref> Europeans who arrived in the [[Yangtze River Delta]] region applied this [[endonym|local name]] to the whole river.<ref name="Jamieson 1911, p. 903" />