The Cao'e River () is one of the largest rivers in

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

Province of

East China East China () is a geographical and a loosely defined cultural region that covers the eastern coastal area of China. A concept abolished in 1978, for economical purposes the region was defined from 1949 to 1961 by the Chinese Central Governme ...

, named after Cao E, a

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

girl venerated for her filial piety. Its main source is in Pan'an County in the Dapan Mountains, and the river empties into the Hangzhou Bay near the

Qiantang River The Qiantang River, formerly known as the Hangchow River and alternatively romanised as the Tsientang River, is a river in East China. An important commercial artery, it runs for through Zhejiang, passing through the provincial capital Hangz ...

estuary. It has a total length of , and a basin area of .

Names

The Cao'e River is named after Cao E (130–143 AD), a

girl who drowned herself in the river after her father had drowned and his body was lost. She came to be venerated as an exemplar of filial piety. In ancient times, the river was called the Shun River (舜江), after the legendary

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition a ...

, and its estuary was called Dong Xiao Jiang (东小江, East Small River). Its upper stretch is called the Chengtan River (澄潭江), and the river is also called Shanxi or Shan Creek (剡溪) near Shengzhou, and Shangyu River in Shangyu District.

Course

The Cao'e River begins from the Jiangongling Mountain (尖公岭, elevation 870 meters) of the Dapan Mountains (大盘山脉). Its source, Tengxi or Teng Creek (藤溪), is located in Wangcun Village, Shanghu Town, Pan'an County. The upper stretch is called the Chengtan River, which flows northeast through Jingling Town, Chengtan Town, and southern Shengzhou, for 91 kilometres. The Chengtan River is joined by the Xinchang River in Shengzhou. After the confluence the river is called Cao'e, and is then joined by the

Changle River The Chengle River (), in Zhejiang Province of East China, is one of the main tributaries of Cao'e River. It was formerly called Xijiang or West River (西江). The river is long and has a basin area of . It originates from Daoshangling Mountain (� ...

on the left, and the Huangze River on the right. After it enters Shangyu District, the Cao'e River is joined by the Xiaguan Creek (下管溪) in Zhangzhen, and then the Xiaoshun River in Shangpu (上浦). It is then crossed by several canals including the Zhedong (East Zhejiang) Canal, before emptying into the Hangzhou Bay. It has a total length of , and a basin area of .

Main tributaries

The Chengtan River, the main source of Cao'e, is often considered a tributary. It is long and has a basin area of . The Xinchang River is long and has a basin area of . It originates in Tiantai County. The

is long and has a basin area of . It originates in

Dongyang () is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Jinhua in Central Zhejiang Province, China. It covers an area of and administers eleven towns, one township, and six subdistricts. It is part of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Region. As ...

and joins the Cao'e River in downtown Shengzhou. The Huangze River is long and has a basin area of . It originates from the Xiabo Peak on the border of

Ninghai Ninghai County () is a county under the administration of Ningbo, in the east of Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It covers a land area of and a sea area of and has a coastline. It has four sub-districts, 11 towns, three townsh ...

and

Xinchang Xinchang County () is a county in the east-central part of Zhejiang province, administratively under the municipal government of Shaoxing. 430,000 people live in Xinchang. Administrative divisions Subdistricts: * Yulin Subdistrict (羽林街道) ...

counties. The Xiaoshun River is long and has a basin area of . Its two main sources, South Creek and North Creek, are in Shengzhou and

Shaoxing County Keqiao District (), formerly Shaoxing County, is a district of the city of Shaoxing in Zhejiang province, China. The Keqiao section of the Eastern Zhejiang Canal is one of the best preserved, having historic bridges of the ancient towpath. Geogr ...

, respectively.

Tourism

A area of the Cao'e River basin in Shangyu is a provincial scenic area of Zhejiang. It was a popular destination for travelling poets during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

. A major attraction is the

Cao'e Temple The Cao'e Temple (Chinese language, Chinese:曹娥庙) was built to honor Cao E, a young girl who was drowned when she tried to save her father in an act of filial piety. The temple was built for the first time in the year 151, and has been rel ...

, built in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

(960–1279) to commemorate the filial daughter. It has many historical carvings and boards inscribed with

calligraphy Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

from famous people. It has been called the "No. 1 temple of

Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...

". Other sights include the hometown of

Zhu Yingtai The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend of a tragic love story of a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo () and Zhu Yingtai (), whose names form the title of the story. The title is often abbreviated to Liang Zhu (). The story was selected as one o ...

and the hermitage of the renowned Eastern Jin Prime Minister Xie An.

References

External links

Cao'e River
on Baidu Baike {{Authority control Rivers of Zhejiang Shaoxing Jinhua Shangyu