Yangtze

An irregular romanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of Chinese 揚子 /扬子 (Yángzǐ) and 揚子江 /扬子江 (Yángzǐ Jiāng), a former name for the lower stretches of the Yangtze derived from 揚子津 (Yángzǐjīn), a former ferry crossing near Yangzhou, applied by foreign visitors to the entire length of the river. The folk etymology that it means "Son of the Ocean" derives from the homophonic misnomer 洋子江 which was apparently given to Matteo Ricci, whose posthumously published journals popularized the river in Europe as Latin Iansu and Iansuchian.

That Riuer of Nanquin which I called (Yamſu or) Ianſu, the ſonne of the Sea, goeth Northward to Nanquin, and then returning ſomewhat Southward, runneth into the Sea with great force; fortie myles from which it paſſeth by Nanquin. And that from hence to Pequin there might bee paſſage by Riuers, the Kings of China haue deriued a large Channell from this to another Riuer, called the Yellow Riuer, ſuch being the colour of that troubled water. This is the other famous Riuer of that Kingdome, in greatneſſe and note, which ariſesth without the Kingdome to the Weſt, out of the Hill Cunlun, conjectured to bee the ſame whence Ganges ariſeth, or one neere to it.

1625, Samuel Purchas, Pvrchas His Pilgrimes, volume III, London, →OCLC, page 340:

You will perceive that the British and French commissioners ascend the Yangtze at pleasure, and have the steamers of their respective countries at their disposal. I was compelled, for the want of other conveyance, to come hither in a little British steamer which plies between Shanghai and Hong Kong.

1853 December 8, Humphrey Marshall, Documents Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States with Other Countries, number 37, Macao: A.O.P. Nicholson, published 1854, →OCLC, pages 323–324:

The Bishop of Shanghai desires that the bounds of his jurisdiction shall be more clearly expressed, and that therefore his title shall hereafter be, "The Bishop of Shanghai, having jurisdiction in the lower valley of Yangtze." The jurisdiction will be sufficiently large. The Yangtze River is three thousand miles in length, and the population on its borders numbers one hundred millions. As there are already three Bishops of the Church of England, with a large Missionary force of English Clergy, in that empire, Bishop Boone desires that his jurisdiction be limited to the population on the lower Yangtze, a line of eight hundred miles.

1887 [1886 October 19], G. T. Bedell, Thomas H. Vail, B. W. Morris, Geo. F. Seymour, Wm. J. Boone, “Fourteenth Day's Proceedings”, in Journal of the Proceedings of the Bishops, Clergy, and Laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, Chicago, page 99:

It is not till the Yangtze reaches Sha-shih that its character completely changes. The first note of change is a great embankment, thirty feet high, which protects the region from inundation. Below Sha-shih the vast river becomes mixed up with a network of lakes and rivers, connected by canals, the area of the important Tungting Lake being over 2000 square miles.

1900, Isabella L. Bird, The Yangtze Valley and Beyond, volume 1, pages 9-10:

Of the northernmost one of these folds, the writer has some faint recollection of seeing the folded strata. They form the hills to the west of Han-yung and the central ridge across the city of Wu-chang and extends further east; the west-easterly course of the Yang-tze below Yang-lo (lat. 30° 30' N.) is in all probability determined by this E-W fold.

1918, J.S. Lee, The Geology of China, University of Birmingham, →OCLC, page 320:

Aside from the Turfan depression in Hsin-chiang (Sinkiang) province, the hottest part of China lies in the middle and lower Yangtze Valley. Maximum temperatures of 43°-44°C (110°-112°F) have been recorded in Ch'ang-sha and Nan-ching.

1969, Yi-Fu Tuan, China, Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, page 22:

Early in the summer of 1127 the emperor was located near the city of Nan-ching just south of the Yangtze River.

1974, John H. Winkelman, The Imperial Library in Southern Sung China, 1127-1279 : A Study of the Organization and Operation of the Scholarly Agencies of the Central Government, page 12:

The Chinese Communists destroyed natural resources by widening the Yangtze River, and brought natural disasters to the mainland, including the worst floods in Szechwan province and other areas.

1982 January 3, “News Stories of Year on Peiping Selected”, in Free China Weekly, volume XXIII, number 1, Taipei, page 3:

The rains swelled the Yangtze River, raising record water levels on July 19 at the Three Gorges Dam, upriver from the city of Wuhan.

2020 August 10, “Worst Rains in Decades Cause China Flooding”, in Time, volume 196, numbers 5-6, page 10:

The building, on the outskirts of Ezhou, a city on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, is hailed as the world’s biggest free-standing pig farm, with a second, identical hog high-rise opening soon.

2023 February 8, Daisuke Wakabayashi, Claire Fu, “China’s Bid to Improve Food Production? Giant Towers of Pigs.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-08:

The chief river of central China and the third longest river in the world, flowing a total of 6300 km.


Wuhan

From Mandarin 武漢／武汉 (Wǔhàn), from 武昌 (Wǔchāng) + 漢口／汉口 (Hànkǒu), two of the three towns that were merged to form Wuhan.

zh-l

武漢／武汉 (Wǔhàn)

漢口／汉口 (Hànkǒu)

The Committee reports that in consequence of the combined effects of the war and famine added to flood an amount of destitution exists among the population in the Wuhan region which is without parallel in the memory of foreign residents. Now that the refugees are returning to Hankow there is a demand for building materials, clothing and food stuffs.

1912 February, “Famine Notes”, in The Chinese Recorder, volume XLIII, number 2, Shanghai: American Presbyterian Mission Press, page 95:

Yet charges that Wuhan was run like an independent kingdom contained an element of truth. Firmly entrenched in Wuhan for more than ten years, the PLA had become accustomed to acting independently.

1971, Deborah S. Davis, “The Cultural Revolution in Wuhan”, in The Cultural Revolution in the Provinces, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 169:

More than 30 persons, most of them farmers on the verge of starving to death, were convicted of "counter-revolutionary" charges at kangaroo court in Wuhan and given sentences ranging from two to 12 years, it was reported from Hongkong February 25.
. . .
Wuhan is the collective name of Wuchang, Hankow and Hanyang at the confluence of the Yangtze and Han rivers in Hupei province, central China.
Some of the farmers were arrested in Wuhan parks where they allegedly spoke against Maoism and the Communist dictatorship, the report said.
Others were charged with breaking into a Communist granary in Wuhan, it said.

1973 March 4, “Starving farmers given jail terms”, in Free China Weekly, volume XIV, number 8, Taipei, page 3:

Chinese health authorities on Tuesday said they are investigating 27 cases of viral pneumonia in central Hubei province, amid online speculation that it could be linked to the SARS flu-like virus that killed hundreds of people a decade ago.
A team of senior health experts were dispatched to the city of Wuhan and were reported by state broadcaster CCTV to be "conducting relevant inspection and verification work."

2019 December 31, “China investigates SARS-like virus as dozens struck by pneumonia”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 2019-12-31, News:

Intelligence agencies do not believe the case of three workers from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, who became ill in 2019 can help shed light on whether the Covid-19 pandemic originated from an accidental lab leak, according to a report made public Friday.

2023 June 23, Julian E. Barnes, “U.S. Intelligence Agencies Remain Divided Over Lab Leak Theory”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-06-24, Politics:

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Wuhan.

A subprovincial city, the provincial capital of Hubei, China.


Hubei

From the Hanyu Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin 湖北 (Húběi), literally "north of the lake", referring to Hubei's position north of Dongting Lake.

The Three Gorges Dam in Hubei province is the largest in the country, but is also one of the most controversial hydroelectric plants in the world. An estimated 1.3 million people were forcibly relocated during its construction. Moreover, the reservoir has been polluted by industrial waste.

2015 November 30, Maximiliane Koschyk, “COP21: China's climate efforts far from sufficient”, in Deutsche Welle, archived from the original on 2015-11-30, Climate:

Cases have been heavily concentrated in Wuhan and surrounding areas of Hubei province, which has been locked down for two weeks in an attempt to contain the virus.

2020 February 9, Gerry Shih, “Coronavirus deaths climb as China corrals sick in quarantine facilities in outbreak epicenter”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2020-02-09, Asia & Pacific:

Chinese authorities said Tuesday they will end a two-month lockdown of most of coronavirus-hit Hubei province at midnight, as domestic cases of what has become a global pandemic subside.

2020 March 24, Ken Moritsugu, “China to lift lockdown in most of virus-hit Hubei province”, in AP News, archived from the original on 2021-12-03:

A province in central China. Capital: Wuhan.

Anhui · Fujian · Guangdong · Gansu · Guizhou · Henan · Hubei · Hebei · Hainan · Heilongjiang · Hunan · Jilin · Jiangsu · Jiangxi · Liaoning · Qinghai · Sichuan · Shandong · Shaanxi · Shanxi · Taiwan · Yunnan · Zhejiang

Guangxi · Inner Mongolia · Ningxia · Tibet Autonomous Region · Xinjiang

Beijing · Tianjin · Shanghai · Chongqing


Wuhanese

(rare) Of, from, or pertaining to Wuhan, China.


Wuhanese

Within China, Wuhanese have become feared and discriminated against because of the epidemic. Yet the vast majority of people in Wuhan as well as the rest of China stick to meals of grains, tofu, pork and veg.

2020 May 15, Yuan Yang, “Letter from China: Sichuan goes with the flow”, in Financial Times:


Wuhanese

(rare) The dialect of Mandarin Chinese spoken in Wuhan, Tianmen and surrounding areas in Hubei.

(rare) The people of Wuhan, Hubei, China


WIV

“This action aims to ensure that WIV does not receive another dollar of federal funding,” an HHS spokesperson said in a statement. “The move was undertaken due to WIV’s failure to provide documentation on WIV’s research requested by NIH related to concerns that WIV violated NIH’s biosafety protocols.”

2023 July 19, Jeremy Diamond and Simone McCarthy, “Biden administration suspends funding for Wuhan lab”, in CNN:

Wuhan Institute of Virology
w:Wuhan Institute of Virology

Initialism of Wuhan Institute of Virology: a research institute on virology in Wuhan administered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, founded in 1956.


Wuhanite

On Chinese social media, holed-up Wuhanites showed how they were coping in videos that quickly went viral. Neighbors exchanged meat for vegetables out of their high-rise windows. Aunties sat around a mah-jongg table placing bets with their prized protective face masks instead of cash.

2020 January 28, “Concern — and boredom — mount for those trapped at the center of the coronavirus outbreak”, in The Washington Post:


Wuhanian

en-adj

Wuhanian (comparative more Wuhanian, superlative most Wuhanian)

more Wuhanian (comparative)
most Wuhanian (superlative)


Wuhanic

Wuhanic (comparative more Wuhanic, superlative most Wuhanic)

more Wuhanic (comparative)
most Wuhanic (superlative)


Kiang

A romanization of various Mandarin words rendered jiāng, jiáng, jiǎng, or jiàng in pinyin and particularly used for Chinese 江 (Jiāng, “The River”), frequently used in Chinese in specific reference to the Yangtze.

All China was formerly divided by the Chineſe Emperour Xunus into 12 Provinces; afterwards the Emperour Yua, who took upon him the Government after the death of Xunus, about 260 years before the Incarnation of our Saviour, reduced all China into Nine Provinces, which only at that time comprehended the Northern Parts of China, and had for their Confines the River Kiang. But after that they had Conquered the Southern parts by degrees, and had ſomewhat civilized the Inhabitants, the whole Kingdom of China was divided into 15 Provinces : Amongſt theſe alſo they reckon the Province of Leaotung, which is ſituated on the Weſt of Peking, where the great Wall begins, and the Hanging Iſland of Corea; both which pay Tribute to the Emperour.

1669 [1665], John Nievhoff, translated by John Ogilby, An Embassy from the Eaſt-India Company of the United Provinces, to the Grand Tartar Cham Emperour of China, London: John Macock, translation of original in Dutch, →OCLC, page 6:

The series of these great events began in the year 1333, fifteen years before the plague broke out in Europe: they first appeared in China. Here a parching drought, accompanied by famine, commenced in the tract of country watered by the rivers Kiang and Hoai.

1888, J. F. C. Hecker, “Causes.-Spread.”, in B. G. Babington, transl., The Black Death and the Dancing Mania, →OCLC, page 24:

The cult center of this vast playground for water spirits and connoisseurs of water was on the mainland in a region on the east shore of the lake that came to be known as Pa-ling. Its official name in T’ang times was sometimes Yüeh-yang and sometimes Yüeh-chou. This is where the waters of the lake merged with those of the Hsiang and the Kiang—but then their shores were certainly contoured differently than now. This worshipful place was at the northern limit of the goddess's domain; still it remained the most ancient and venerable heart of that domain. It had been a sacred center in the distant past, belonging to the marshes of Yün-meng "Cloud Dream," extending north and south on both sides of the Kiang,⁴¹ in the kingdom of Ch’u:

1973, Edward H. Schafer, “The Medieval Cult of the Great Water Goddesses”, in The Divine Woman: Dragon Ladies and Rain Maidens in T’ang Literature, University of California Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 58:

(obsolete) Synonym of Yangtze, the chief river of central China.