The Huan River (), or Anyang River (), is a river in

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and part of the Hai River basin. The river rises north of Linzhou in northwestern Henan, and joins the Wei River near Neihuang in the northeast of the province. The site of

Yinxu Yinxu (modern ; ) is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the identification of the earliest known Chine ...

, in the village of Xiaotun within present-day

Anyang Anyang (; ) is a prefecture-level city in Henan province, China. The northernmost city in Henan, Anyang borders Puyang to the east, Hebi and Xinxiang to the south, and the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei to its west and north respectively. It had a ...

on the south bank of the river, has been identified as the last capital of the

Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...

, occupied between the 13th and 11th centuries BCE. A walled city and palace complex at

Huanbei Huanbei () is the site of a Bronze Age city on the northern outskirts of the modern city of Anyang in Henan province, China, discovered in 1999. The name refers to its position to the north (''běi'') of the Huan River. The city seems to have been ...

on the north bank, occupied in the second half of the 14th century BCE, was destroyed at the time Yinxu was built. The river's name, Huan 洹, has been in use for more than 3,000 years. The character was recorded on both Shang-era oracle bones and bronze vessels.

Notes

Bibliography

* * Rivers of Henan Anyang {{China-river-stub