The Min River () is a in central

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

province, China. It is a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the upper

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

, which flows through

Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

and joins at Yibin. Within China, it was traditionally taken as the main course of the upper Yangtze before extensive exploration of its sources.

Geography

The Min River flows in the general southern direction. It starts in north-central Sichuan, where its basin is limited by the Qionglai Mountains in the west and the Min Mountains in the east. The river passes through the Longmen Mountains and enters the plains of the

Sichuan Basin The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributar ...

near Dujiangyan. In that area, the ancient Irrigation System and the modern Zipingpu dam are located. The Giant Buddha of

Leshan Leshan, formerly known as Jiading and Jiazhou, is a prefecture-level city located at the confluence of the Dadu River, Dadu and Min River (Sichuan), Min rivers, on the southwestern fringe of the Sichuan Basin in southern Sichuan, about from the ...

is built into the stone banks of the Min River.

Names

Some 19th-century Western authors used the name Blue River as the "colloquial name" for the Minjiang, after the former local Chinese name ''Qingshui'' (, lit. "Clear water"), and the belief that the Min constituted the main course of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

, which was itself known to Europeans as the "Blue River".E.g., Moll, Herman.
The Empire of China and island of Japan, agreeable to modern history.
Bowles & Bowles (London), 1736. Accessed 13 August 2013.

Wildlife

A survey by biologist Deng Qixiang found that only 16 of the 40

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

species recorded in the 1950s can be found today. The Sichuan Taimen, a protected species, has not been seen in one stretch of river, the Wenchuan, for an entire decade.

History

Located along the Min River is the oldest surviving water management scheme built by hydraulic engineer Li Bing, helping to significantly expand the power of the Qin state and triggering a population boom in the Chengdu plain. It was built about 2,300 years ago. The first Western academic to research its history was Joseph Needham. The scheme became known as the Dujiangyan Irrigation System.

Dams

The Min is being heavily developed, primarily for

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power. Twenty-seven dams have been completed, are under construction, or are planned for the river as of March 2014. Those dams are listed below from downstream to upstream. * Pianchuangzi Dam – Planned, 740 MW * Longxikou Dam – Planned, 360 MW * Jianwei Dam – Planned, 360 MW * Shazui Dam – Planned, 250 MW * Banqiaoxi Dam – Planned, 30 MW * Yangliuhu Dam – Planned, 76.5 MW * Zipingpu Dam – Completed, 760 MW * Yingxiuwan Dam – Completed, 135 MW * Taipingyi Dam – Completed, 260 MW * Futangba Dam – Completed, 360 MW * Shaba Dam – Under construction, 720 MW * Jiangsheba Dam – Completed, 96 MW * Yangmaoping Dam – Planned, 3.4 MW * Tongzhong Dam – Completed, 49.5 MW * Nanxin Dam – Completed, 9.6 MW * Shigu Dam – Completed, 2.7 MW * Zongqu Dam – Planned, 2 MW * Yaneryan Dam – Planned, 66 MW * Feihongqiao Dam – Planned, 120 MW * Jinlongtan Dam – Completed, 180 MW * Tianlonghu Dam – Completed, 180 MW * Xiaohaizi Dam – Completed, 48 MW * Lianhuayan Dam – Planned, 111 MW * Wulibao Dam – Planned, 157 MW * Longpan Dam – Planned, 72.6 MW * Xiningguan Dam – Planned, 37.2 MW * Hongqiaoguan Dam – Planned, 68.5 MW

References