Xiang River
Encyclopedia
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
in southern China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The river gave Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
its Chinese abbreviation, the same as Xiang (湘).
Geography
Originating from Haiyang Mountain (海陽山) in LinguiLingui County
Lingui County is a county administered by Guilin, Guangxi, China, and located midway between Guilin and Yangshuo. The county is mostly rural and hilly, marked by the same dramatic karst topography for which Guilin is famous.-History:...
of Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
, the Xiang is the largest river in Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
and one of the largest tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
. It is 856-km long and 670-km of it is in Hunan.
People say the Xiang and the Lijiang River
Lijiang River
The Li River or Lijiang River is a river in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.-Background:The Li River originates in the Mao'er Mountains in Xing'an County and flows in the general southern direction through Guilin, Yangshuo and Pingle....
share the same origin because of the two rivers being connected by the ancient Lingqu Canal
Lingqu Canal
The Lingqu Canal is located in Xing'an County, near Guilin, in the northeastern corner of Guangxi Province, China. It connects the Xiang River with the Lijiang , which in its turn continues toward the Xijiang), and thus is part of a historical waterway between the Yangtze and the Pearl River...
that is located in Xing'an County
Xing'an County
Xing'an County is a county in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, under the administration of Guilin City. Its area is , with a population of 370000. The postal code is 541300.-External links:* at Xinhuanet...
, Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
. According to a traditional saying, 70 per cent of the water in Lingqu flows into the Xiang and 30 percent flows into the Lijiang. In the past, the canal, along with the Xiang River and the Guijiang provided an important waterway connecting the Yangtze River with the Pearl River Delta
Pearl River Delta
The Pearl River Delta , Zhujiang Delta or Zhusanjiao in Guangdong province, People's Republic of China is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea...
.
The river passes places such as Xing'an
Xing'an County
Xing'an County is a county in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, under the administration of Guilin City. Its area is , with a population of 370000. The postal code is 541300.-External links:* at Xinhuanet...
, Quanzhou, and Dongan, Yongzhou
Yongzhou
Yongzhou is a prefecture-level city in the Hunan province of China.YongZhou is located in the central and south of China, on the southern side of Xiang River, which is formed by the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang rivers. Yongzhou is one of the four ancient counties in Hunan; it is 2000 years old...
, Qiyang
Qiyang County
Qiyang County is a county of Hunan, China. It is under the administration of Yongzhou city.-References:Missing...
, Hengyang
Hengyang
Hengyang is the second largest city of China's Hunan Province. It straddles the Xiang River about 160 km south of Changsha.-History:Its former name was Hengzhou . This was the capital of a prefecture in the Tang Dynasty's Jiangnan and West Jiangnan circuits...
, Zhuzhou
Zhuzhou
Zhuzhou , formerly Jianning, is a city in Hunan Province, China, southeast of Changsha beside the Xiangjiang River. It is part of the "ChangZhuTan Golden Triangle"...
, Xiangtan
Xiangtan
Xiangtan is a city in China's Hunan Province that is located on the lower reaches of Xiang river. The hometowns of several founding leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, including Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, and Peng Dehuai are in the Xiangtan Municipal District, as well as the hometowns of Qing...
, Changsha, Wangcheng
Wangcheng County
Wangcheng District is a district of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province in China. Wangcheng has a population of 706500 .-History:...
, Xiangyin
Xiangyin County
Xiangyin County is a county of Hunan, China. It is under the administration of Yueyang city.-References:*...
, and empties into Lake Dongting, where it connects to the Yangtze.
Tributaries:
- The Xiao RiverXiao RiverXiao River is a river of China, and tributary to the Xiang River. It is part of the East China Sea basin....
(瀟水) flows into the Xiang near Changsha - The Zheng River (蒸水) converges with the Xiang in Chengbei District (城北區), Hengyang
Deities
The river is said to be protected by two goddessGoddess
A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....
es, the Xiang Consorts
Xiang River goddesses
The Xiang River goddesses were daughters of the Emperor Yao who were said to have been married by him to his chosen successor, and eventually emperor, Shun, as a sort of test of his administrative abilities: later they became goddesses....
(湘妃 Xiangfei): Ehuang (娥皇) and Nüying (女英).
They were the wives of the mystical ruler, Shun, and daughters of the former ruler Emperor Yao. Unable to bear the pain of their husband's death, they committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in this river. The spots on the dotted Xiang River bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
s (湘江竹 or 湘竹), also known as Xiang Consorts Bamboo (湘妃竹), are said to be the tear
Tears
Tears are secretions that clean and lubricate the eyes. Lacrimation or lachrymation is the production or shedding of tears....
drops of the consorts. These bamboos are also known as Marked Bamboos (斑竹) or Tear Bamboos (淚竹)
Spotted bamboo
Spotted bamboo refers to several species of bamboo, apparently within the genus Phyllostachys, also known as "teardrop" bamboo and as mottled bamboo, which are types of bamboo with stems that are mottled by dark spots...
.
The Chu
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...
people of the Warring States Period
Warring States Period
The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...
worshipped these Xiang Water Goddesses (湘水神). The poet Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan was a Chinese poet who lived during the Warring States Period in ancient China. He is famous for his contributions to the poetry collection known as the Chu-ci...
wrote a poem called Ladies Xiang (湘夫人) documented the songs of the ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
s.
Other information
On June 14, 1919, young Mao ZedongMao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
founded The Shian Kian Weekly Review
The Shian Kian Weekly Review
The Shian Kian Weekly Review as known as Xiangjiang Review, was a weekly review founded by the young Mao Zedong in Changsha, Hunan, On June 14th, 1919. Changsha is the capital city of Hunan. Shian Kian was written in the Changsha dialect.Most articles in The Shian Kian Weekly Review was written by...
(湘江评论) to publicize Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
in Changsha.
The character Shi Xiangyun
Shi Xiangyun
Shi Xiangyun is a major fictional character in Dream of the Red Chamber. She is Baoyu's younger second cousin by the Dowager, Grandmother Jia. Xiangyun is the favorite grandniece of the Dowager, Baoyu's grandmother....
from the Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber
Dream of the Red Chamber
Dream of the Red Chamber , composed by Cao Xueqin, is one of China's Four Great Classical Novels. It was composed in the middle of the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. It is considered to be a masterpiece of Chinese vernacular literature and is generally acknowledged to be a pinnacle of...
takes the first character of her given name from this river.
See also
- Geography of ChinaGeography of ChinaChina stretches some across the East Asian landmass bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam in a changing configuration of broad plains, expansive deserts, and lofty mountain ranges, including vast areas of inhospitable terrain...
- Dongting LakeDongting LakeDongting Lake, or Lake Dongting is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River . Hence the lake's size depends on the season...
- XiaoxiangXiaoxiangXiaoxiang , also transliterated XiaoXiang. Hsiao Hsiang, and Chiu Chiang, in some older sources, refers to the "lakes and rivers" region in south central China, more-or-less corresponding with Hunan, China, south of the middle-reaches of the Yangzi River. Xiaoxiang is less a precise geographic...
- List of rivers of Asia
- Yangtze RiverYangtze RiverThe Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
- Lishui RiverLishui RiverLishui River is a river in Hunan province of China, one of the Yangtze River's four largest tributaries in the province....
- Yuan RiverYuan RiverThe Yuan River is one of the four largest rivers in Hunan province in southeast-central China, and is a tributary of Yangtze River.It is long and rises in Guizhou province in the Miao Mountains near Tu-yün and is navigable. The upper stream is called the Lung-t'ou River, and downstream it is...
- Zi River
- Xiao RiverXiao RiverXiao River is a river of China, and tributary to the Xiang River. It is part of the East China Sea basin....
- Lishui River
- Yangtze River