Yuan River

proper noun

A river in Hunan, China.

Similar
Yuan JiangYuanjiang

Meanings

Yuan River1

proper noun
  1. A river in Hunan, China.

    It is said at Hankau that boats can travel up stream 4000 li by three different routes—the Yangtse Chiang, the Yuan river in Hu Nan, and the Han river.

    1898 September, W. R. Carles, “THE YANGTSE CHIANG”, in The Geographical Journal, volume XII, number 3, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 236
    2 more examples

    Now that the Japanese menace has been removed, at least temporarily, refugee farmers and artisans are drifting back to their homes in Hunan, south of the Yuan River. On the long hard trek from Taoyuan our party of military attaches and correspondents met them on hard lumpy paths, crossing winter paddy fields.

    1944 January 3 [1943 December 29], Brooks Atkinson, “MANY ATROCITIES LISTED BY CHINESE; Barbarity of Japanese Held to Be Psychopathic Compensation for Lack of Charm”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Dec 2023, page 3

    General Fu Yu-te commanded an army of 100,000 which assembled in Hu-kuang Province (Hu-pei and Hu-nan area). Aside from a part of his army which he dispatched post-haste to Wu-san (present-day Wei-ning in western Kuei-chou)(See Photos 7 and 8), he personally led the main body. He entered Kuei-chou from Hu-nan along the Yuan River route.

    1954, Herold J. Wiens, “The history of South Chinese tribal movements and migrations”, in Han Chinese Expansion in South China, Shoe String Press, published 1967, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 88

    Synonyms: Yuan Jiang, Yuanjiang

Yuan River2

proper noun
  1. The Chinese stretch of the Red River, prior to its crossing the Vietnamese border

    Wildlife protection officials told a press briefing the elephants safely crossed a bridge over the Yuan River, returning south towards a nature reserve administered by the city of Puer.

    2021 August 9, David Stanway, “China's wild elephants head to safety after long trek”, in Reuters, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2021

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounA river in Hunan, China.

Similar
Yuan JiangYuanjiang

Origin

Yuan River · proper noun

Partial calque of Mandarin 沅江.

Full word history & related roots →

Yuan River · proper noun

Partial calque of Mandarin 元江 (Yuán Jiāng).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Cantonese 沅江
  • 沅江 (jyun⁴ gong¹)river
Chinese Mandarin 沅江
  • 沅江river
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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