Global Times: China's longest river system reveals depth, richness of its non-stop civilization
Yangtze River shaped Chinese civilization, fostering culture, unity, ecology, and global exchanges through history.
Beijing, China, Sept. 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rivers are the cradle of human civilization.
From the cuneiform writing of Euphrates and Tigris to the pyramids along the Nile, from the urban grids of the Indus to the rice cultivation remains of the Yangtze River, every leap forward in human civilization has been deeply intertwined with the evolution of river ecosystems.
The Yangtze River, coursing across China, has shaped millennia of cultural traditions stretching from Bashu to the water towns of Jiangnan. It bears witness to eons of ecological change and inscribes a complete trajectory of Chinese civilization. Among the world's great river civilizations, the Yangtze's continuity stands out.
As its waters surge eastward and its cultural genes are passed down through generations, the Chinese nation will continue to grow through its symbiosis with the river and contribute more Chinese strength to the preservation and inheritance of global river civilizations.
The first installment in the Yangtze River series captures the river's timeless roar as it spans past and present, east and west, and connects China with the world.
Aboat sets out from Chaotianmen and sails into Qutang Gorge in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, where the river mirrors the green mountains. This is the Yangtze River, steeped in history.
Originating from the Mount Geladandong in Northwest China's Qinghai Province, the river flows eastward into the sea, linking the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the Bashu region, and the water towns of Jiangnan. For generations, the people along this great river have drawn vitality from the waters, fostering a sense of unity across the nation and harmony beyond.
At the Yangtze River Civilization Forum held in Chongqing in September, international scholars gathered to exchange views on topics such as the preservation and inheritance of the Yangtze River civilization, the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and exchanges and mutual learning among global river civilizations.
David Gosset, a French sinologist and founder of the Europe-China Forum, traced and explored the Yangtze River as a central motif of Chinese civilization. The depth and richness of Chinese culture left him deeply moved.
"Standing by the Yangtze River, I naturally thought of Su Shi. For every Chinese person, the line 'The great river flows eastward, sweeping away heroes through the ages' is instantly familiar. In writing these verses, Su Shi captured the grandeur of the Yangtze while profoundly expressed the continuity and inheritance of Chinese civilization throughout history," said Gosset.
Su Shi, also known as Su Dongpo, is one of the most important cultural figures in Chinese history. He was an esteemed scholar, poet, prose-writer, painter, calligrapher, and statesman of the Song Dynasty (960-1279). In 2000, the French newspaper Le Monde named him one of the world's 12 heroes who lived around the year 1000, and he was the only Chinese person among them.
Like Su Shi, poets through the millennia - Qu Yuan, Tao Yuanming, Li Bai, Du Fu, and more - have walked along the Yangtze and written tens of thousands of lines about it. With their brush and ink, they carried out a civilizational relay that has spanned thousands of years.
Chinese civilization is the only ancient civilization in the world to has endured without interruption, marked by continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness, and the spirit of peace. These defining features form the historical foundation for understanding contemporary China, its path of modernization, and its course of development, said Xu Songyan, a professor at the Southwest University based in Chongqing.
The relationship between humanity and the Yangtze has never been one of "conquest and submission," but of "adaptation and symbiosis."
A scrolled landscape
The water-people interaction central to the Yangtze River civilization traces was originated in ancient times and finds expression in ancient art. Countless painters, from Fan Kuan of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) to modern masters like Zhang Daqian and Wu Guanzhong, have taken the river as their subject, sketching its spatial imagery.
In reality, the Yangtze River flows like a civilizational thread, linking the diverse cultures of ancient regions such as the "Bashu" in today's Sichuan Province and Chongqing, and "Jingchu" in today's Hubei and Hunan provinces. In the upper reaches, the towering mountains nurtured the bold spirit of its people; in the middle reaches, epitomized by Qu Yuan's legacy, the Chu culture revealed a resilient patriotism; and in the lower reaches, the gentle waterways fostered an elegant and refined culture. Ultimately, as all tributaries converge, the Yangtze stands as a living microcosm of the grand landscape of Chinese civilization.
The diversity and unity of the Yangtze River culture are vividly reflected in its rich intangible cultural heritage (ICH). Noting the brush tip as "a tiny stream at the source of the Yangtze River," Xia Wujiao, a national-level inheritor of the ICH Regong arts carefully applies his strokes on thangka paintings. Meanwhile, in Guizhou Province, the waters of the Yangtze River have nurtured Wu Shuigen , an inheritor of the ICH Miao silver-smithing craft, revealing the ethnic group's artistry.
Noting the Yangtze River basin has historically been home to multiple ethnic groups, Liu Hanjun, a scholar at Wuhan University, said that together with the peoples of the Yellow River basin, the two water systems contributed to an "ancient pattern of integration, exchange, political unification, and cultural cohesion" that forms the foundational legacy of Chinese civilization."
The Qinghai Longbaotan Nature Reserve in Yushu, Northwest China's Qinghai Province boasts a vast expanse of flat marsh meadows, surrounded by rolling mushroom-shaped mountains Photos: Courtesy of Chen Xiaoyang
Everlasting quest
To the Chinese civilization, its major rivers such as the Yangtze, the Yellow, and the Pearl River do not exist in isolation; through their natural basins and the grand canals, they form an interconnected water network. This network not only shapes China's geographical pattern, but also integrates diverse civilizations, serving as a "transparent bond" for national unity and cultural continuity.
The country's river system, characterized by ecological complementarity, cultural integration, and coordinated governance, provides strategic depth for the survival and development of Chinese civilization.
China's South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which channels water from the Yangtze to the Yellow River basin to alleviate northern water shortages, interprets the ecological logic of how rivers interconnected together. The governance of these great rivers has shaped collective forms of social organization and inspired ecological wisdom for harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
Not long ago, the Kuimen Bridge in Fengjie County, Chongqing, underwent maintenance and reinforcement. Completed in 2006, this bridge transformed the local's once-impassable narrow waterways and steep terrain into a thoroughfare.
Today, including the Kuimen Bridge and the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, multiple bridges stretch across the river like flying rainbows, establishing interconnected networks. A green, smart, and modern Yangtze River now brings irrigation, convenient navigation, and abundant agricultural harvests to its upstream and downstream regions as well as its main and tributary streams.
"The Yangtze River links the Yangtze River Economic Belt, covering roughly 20 percent of China's land area, around 40 percent of the total population, and contributing about 45 percent of the GDP, making it a crucial region for China's economic development," said David Gosset.
The symbiotic history of the Yangtze and Chinese civilization reveals a fundamental truth: The stability of river ecosystems is a prerequisite for the survival of civilization, and the progress of civilization must be based on greatly improved river ecology.
Source: Global Times:
Company: Global Times
Contact Person: Anna Li
Email: editor@globaltimes.com.cn
Website: https://globaltimes.cn
City: Beijing
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