Names
The name "Yangtze", which is also spelled "Yangtse" or "Yangzi", is derived from the local name for a stretch of the lower Yangtze near Yangzhou.
"Yangzi" (Chinese: 扬子; pinyin: Yángzǐ) was the name of a village and site of an ancient ferry crossing, and "Jiang" (Chinese: 江; pinyin: Jiāng) is one of the Chinese words for river. In the 13th century, the famous Song Dynasty official, Wen Tianxiang penned a poem entitled Yangzi Jiang. Later, Western missionaries heard the name and applied it to the entire river.
Read more about this topic: Yangtze River
Famous quotes containing the word names:
“At present our only true names are nicknames.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Nor youth, nor strength, nor wisdom spring again,
Nor habitations long their names retain,
But in oblivion to the final day remain.”
—Anne Bradstreet (c. 1612–1672)
“Almanacked, their names live; they
Have slipped their names, and stand at ease,
Or gallop for what must be joy,”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1985)