Cháng Jiāng (Yangtze River) is the longest river in China and the third-longest in the world. The character 长 (Cháng) means 'long' — here pronounced with first tone to denote length, not 'zhǎng' (to grow). The character 江 (Jiāng) means 'river', especially a large, flowing one; it’s commonly used in names of major rivers like the Pearl River (Zhū Jiāng) and Songhua River (Sōng Huā Jiāng). Together, 长江 literally means 'Long River', reflecting its immense scale and historical significance as a vital waterway for transport, agriculture, and culture.

The Yangtze flows from the Tibetan Plateau eastward across China to the East China Sea near Shanghai. It’s central to Chinese geography, economy, and literature — appearing in poetry, idioms (e.g., 一衣带水, 'a narrow strip of water'), and modern infrastructure like the Three Gorges Dam. Unlike generic terms like 河 (hé, 'river'), 江 carries connotations of grandeur and permanence, and 长江 is always treated as a proper noun, never pluralized or modified with measure words like 条.