Fen River

proper noun

A river in central Shanxi, China.

Meanings

proper noun
  1. A river in central Shanxi, China.

    A prehistoric site of late Pleistocene age, which was especially prepared for our visit, was seen at Ting-ts'un, above the Fen River (Shansi).

    1977, F. Clark Howell, “Introduction”, in Paleoanthropology in the People's Republic of China, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 3
    5 more examples

    The cities west of the Fen River, where Taning is situated, were visited by him in 1869, but it is hardly possible that the copy of the Gospel which ultimately fell into the hands of Chang the Buddhist priest was one of those sold on that occasion, for the stamp upon the cover with the address at Taiyuanfu points to a later date when a station had been opened.

    1921, Marshall Broomhall, In Quest of God: the Life Story of Pastors Chang & Ch'ü, Buddhist Priest & Chinese Scholar, Religious Tract Society, →OCLC, →OL, page 23

    This painting, which is the large central one in the Chinese Fresco Gallery on the ground floor of the Museum, is 38 feet, 2 inches long, and 18 feet, 11 inches high. It is known to have come from the Hsing Hua Ssŭ, "Monastery of Joyful Conversion", which is about ten miles south east of Chi-shan in South Shansi (Lat. 35°35ʹ, Long. 111°01ʹ). The monastery is located in the Chi Mountains, a range which forms part of the southern watershed of the Fen River, on which the town of Chi-shan is situated. In the Chi-shan Hsien Chih the official gazetteer of Chi-shan county, the location of Hsing Hua Monastery is recorded and the date of its founding is given as A.D. 592, in the Sui Dynasty.

    1950 August [1937 July], W. C. White, H. E. Fernald, “Chinese Frescoes from the Royal Ontario Museum Toronto”, in Bulletin of the Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, Revised edition, number 12, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 6

    Taiyuan, the capital of the province, lies on the upper reaches of the Fen surrounded by irrigated ricelands, orchards and vineyards on the mountain slopes, with enormous seams of coal underground. In Shansi all roads lead to Taiyuan, but the roads that radiate out of Taiyuan in every direction lead nowhere.

    [1983, William Hinton, “Introduction: Shansi, Land of the Oxhide Lanterns”, in Shenfan, New York: Vintage Books, published 1984, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page xxxiv

    About three hours in, the land leveled off and the horizon gave way to a jumbled skyline, broken by the Fen River. This was not how I had pictured Taiyuan: expecting history and poignancy, I would instead find Prada and Paul Smith.

    2008 August 10, Aric Chen, “Bridging Generations on China’s High Plateau”, in The New York Times (Travel section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2018

    According to state media, 59 national meteorological stations reported the highest ever recorded daily rainfall, and 63 their highest accumulative total over the period. The Fen River reached its highest level in four years, they said. Torrential rains fell for several days last week across the province. In 12 hours overnight to Thursday morning, Shanxi, which ordinarily has an average of 31.3mm for the month, had an average 119.5mm across the province.

    2021 October 11, “China floods: bus falls into river as heavy rains destroy homes”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 12 Oct 2021

Origin

Partial calque of Mandarin 汾河 (Fén Hé).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 汾河
  • 汾河 (fan⁴ ho⁴)river in the centre of Shanxi province
Chinese Mandarin 汾河
  • 汾河 (Fén Hé)river in the centre of Shanxi province
Finnish Fen-joki
  • Fen-jokiriver in the centre of Shanxi province
Russian Фыньхэ́, Фыньшу́й
  • Фыньхэ́ (Fynʹxɛ́)river in the centre of Shanxi province
  • Фыньшу́й (Fynʹšúj)river in the centre of Shanxi province
Cite this entry
APA

Fen River. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Fen%20River

MLA

“Fen River.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Fen%20River. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Fen River,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Fen%20River.

Source: Fen River on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.