Taxonomy of meanings for 川:　　

  • 川 chuān (OC: khjon MC: tɕʰʷiɛn) 昌緣切 平 廣韻：【山川也蔡邕月令章句曰衆流注海曰川釋名曰川者穿也穿地而流也 】
    • RIVER
      • n(major) river
      • npluralrivers; streams
      • nadVacross the river, over the river 巖居川觀 "live up among the rocks and look over the rivers, i.e. live in hiding"
    • late colloquial>BOIL
      • vtoNboil very brieftly (about 10 seconds) innards, fish, or tender meat, in water or in clear soup in order to remove an undesirable taste. The operation may be repeated several times.

    Additional information about 川

    說文解字:

      Criteria
    • RIVER

      1. The general word for a river is shuǐ 水.

      2. Jiāng 江 can refer not only to the Yangtse River, but also to its system of tributaries, similarly for hé 河.

      3. Chuān 川 is a general term for rivers, streams and streamlets which normally has a generic reference.

      4. Dú 瀆 is a special term for the Four Great Rivers, the sì dú 四瀆 : 江，淮，河，濟

      NB: Hé 河 is normally a proper name of Yellow River and its tributaries. [The term Huánghé 黃河 was in use since Han times. The river flows through the following provinces Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong. In the northeastern part of the Shandong province, it flows into the Bohai gulf.]

      Jiāng 江 is a proper name for the Yangtse River and its tributaries. [The greatest river of China. It flows through the following provinces and areas Xizang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu. Overall length 6300 km.]

      Word relations
    • Contrast: (RIVER)瀆/RIVER Dú 瀆 is a special term for the Four Great Rivers, the sì dú 四瀆: 江，淮，河，濟
    • Assoc: (RIVER)山/MOUNTAIN The general term for a mountain of any kind, large or small, is shān 山.
    • Assoc: (RIVER)澤/MARSH The general term for marshland is zé 澤 refers specifically to large marhes and bogs, often including lakes.
    • Assoc: (RIVER)谷/VALLEY The standard word for a valley is gǔ 谷 (ant. shān 山 "mountain"), and the word presupposes a certain size without emphasising large size.