<p>Yes, they both mean river. But <code>江</code> only refers to extremely large rivers while <code>河</code> can be any kind.</p>

<p>There are more than 2000 main rivers in China, only a handful of them are called with <code>江</code>.</p>

<p>For example, <code>长江</code>, <code>黑龙江</code>.</p>

<p><code>黄河</code> is the second longest river in China, followed by <code>长江</code>. Note the <code>河</code> here is referring to an extremely large river.</p>

<p>You can also use <code>河</code> in sentence like</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>我家门外有一条小河。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There's a small river outside my house.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-13T23:40:06.020Z
2014-09-13T23:40:06.020Z
Justin XL
<p>Basically they can use as a unit of scale. From biggest to smallest
洋>海>江>河>湖>湾>溪</p>

<pre><code>洋(ocean)：比海大的水域
海(sea)：靠近大陆比洋小的水域
江(Jiang) basically bigger river)：大河的通称
河(River)：水道的通称
湖(Lake)：陆地上聚积的大水
湾(Bay)：水流弯曲的地方
溪(creek)：山里的小河沟
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-17T01:50:14.980Z
2015-09-09T03:56:26.380Z
2015-09-09T03:56:26.380Z
ah_hau
<p>@George Chen's answer is roughly correct, but not completely accurate. </p>

<p>To fully answer this question, it would be interesting to know the etymology of the word '江'(jiāng in Standard Mandarin) and the word '河' (hé in Standard Mandarin) respectively. </p>

<p>In Old Chinese, the character 河 is pronounced as 'gaal', while the word '江' is pronounced as 'kroong'. It is speculated that 'gaal' is a Sino-Tibetan word, while 'kroong' is a loan word from Mon-Khmer languages. In ancient times, southern China was inhabited by Mon-Khmer speaking peoples, while northern China was inhabited mostly by Sinitic language speakers. </p>

<p>So, mostly rivers in the South are called '江', while rivers in the north are called '河'. However, it should be noted that rivers in North East China are mostly called '江'. This is due to the influence of Korean languages. </p>

<p>Most foreign rivers are called 河, with a significant exception: rivers in the Korean Peninsula are called 江：大同江、汉江, etc, as rivers in the North East.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-07T11:22:09.510Z
2017-03-07T11:22:09.510Z
Li Xinghe
<p>In ancient China, “河” only means the Yellow River(黄河) while “江” only means the Yangtze River（长江）, and the other rivers in our modern meanings are called Water (水).</p>

<p>But as time goes, we are used to call any rivers "河" except the rivers which has been named "江" in history, such as"长江"、"黑龙江"、"澜沧江".</p>

<p>Almost all the river in other countries are called “河” just because Chinese didn't know their existence in the past, such as Amazon River（"亚马孙河")、Mississippi River（"密西西比河"）.</p>

<p>Simply, you can just understand it in the following way:
 1. "河" is now a standard expression usage for the river.
 2. "江" is just used for some rivers because of the  historical reason. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-25T15:52:49.313Z
Please don't add personally identifying information or requests for off-site contact into your answers. Perhaps this site has a chatroom where such discussions are appropriate, but unfortunately it's not content that belongs in an answer.
Bart
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-25T15:58:10.953Z
@Bart Thank you for informing me! It seems to be my first answer here and I don't know this rule.
Jie Zhang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-25T15:37:58.740Z
2016-07-25T15:49:27.880Z
2016-07-25T15:49:27.880Z
Jie Zhang
<ol>
<li><p>江 is mostly used in the South; 河 is mostly used in the North. There are exceptions,  such as 黑龙江, 浏阳河.</p></li>
<li><p>Scale. 江 is exclusively for mighty rivers; 河 can be used for both large and small rivers.</p></li>
<li><p>All foreign rivers are named with 河.</p></li>
<li><p>There is no fundamental differences between 河 and 江.</p></li>
<li><p>江 is used for rivers whose banks are steep cliffs; 河 is used for rivers with beaches.</p></li>
<li><p>In some classic text, 江 refers to Yangtze river; 河 refers to Yellow River; the other rivers are named with 水, e.g. 渭水</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Source: <a href="http://baike.baidu.com/subview/20655/8126542.htm#2" rel="noreferrer">http://baike.baidu.com/subview/20655/8126542.htm#2</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-14T15:42:00.210Z
I only wish I was good enough to read that source properly... :)
dr Hannibal Lecter
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-14T16:04:17.613Z
You can ignore the source. I cited the source to borrow some authority, 'cause I ain't nobody. :)
George Chen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-15T11:12:38.027Z
I know, I was just thinking out loud how nice it would be if I could do that... so jealous :)
dr Hannibal Lecter
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-14T03:01:11.300Z
2016-07-21T16:16:05.257Z
2016-07-21T16:16:05.257Z
George Chen
<p>My daily newsletter contained the following sentence:</p>

<pre><code>长江是中国最长的河。
</code></pre>

<p>According to the dictionary, 江 and 河 both mean "river", but they seem to be used differently.</p>

<p>Am I right in assuming that <code>长河是中国最长的江</code> is wrong (even if we assume that there is a river called <code>长河</code>)? Is there a semantic difference?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-13T23:19:19.260Z
In Northern China, rivers are usually called 河 while in Southern China 江, owing to etymological reason. Besides, in northern China, 江 usually refers to wider rivers while 河 narrower rivers.
user58955
<word-choice><characters>
What's the difference between 江 and 河?
# What's the difference between 江 and 河?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-13)

My daily newsletter contained the following sentence:

```
长江是中国最长的河。

```

According to the dictionary, 江 and 河 both mean "river", but they seem to be used differently.

Am I right in assuming that `长河是中国最长的江` is wrong (even if we assume that there is a river called `长河`)? Is there a semantic difference?

**Tags:** word-choice, characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: In Northern China, rivers are usually called 河 while in Southern China 江, owing to etymological reason. Besides, in northern China, 江 usually refers to wider rivers while 河 narrower rivers.  

---

## 5 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2014-09-14. Score: 22 | Accepted answer

1. 江 is mostly used in the South; 河 is mostly used in the North. There are exceptions, such as 黑龙江, 浏阳河.
2. Scale. 江 is exclusively for mighty rivers; 河 can be used for both large and small rivers.
3. All foreign rivers are named with 河.
4. There is no fundamental differences between 河 and 江.
5. 江 is used for rivers whose banks are steep cliffs; 河 is used for rivers with beaches.
6. In some classic text, 江 refers to Yangtze river; 河 refers to Yellow River; the other rivers are named with 水, e.g. 渭水

Source: <http://baike.baidu.com/subview/20655/8126542.htm#2>

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I only wish I was good enough to read that source properly... :)  
> **username_7**: You can ignore the source. I cited the source to borrow some authority, 'cause I ain't nobody. :)  
> **username_0**: I know, I was just thinking out loud how nice it would be if I could do that... so jealous :)  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-09-13. Score: 7

Yes, they both mean river. But `江` only refers to extremely large rivers while `河` can be any kind.

There are more than 2000 main rivers in China, only a handful of them are called with `江`.

For example, `长江`, `黑龙江`.

`黄河` is the second longest river in China, followed by `长江`. Note the `河` here is referring to an extremely large river.

You can also use `河` in sentence like

> 我家门外有一条小河。

There's a small river outside my house.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-09-17. Score: 5

Basically they can use as a unit of scale. From biggest to smallest
洋>海>江>河>湖>湾>溪

```
洋(ocean)：比海大的水域
海(sea)：靠近大陆比洋小的水域
江(Jiang) basically bigger river)：大河的通称
河(River)：水道的通称
湖(Lake)：陆地上聚积的大水
湾(Bay)：水流弯曲的地方
溪(creek)：山里的小河沟

```


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-03-07. Score: 4

@username_7's answer is roughly correct, but not completely accurate.

To fully answer this question, it would be interesting to know the etymology of the word '江'(jiāng in Standard Mandarin) and the word '河' (hé in Standard Mandarin) respectively.

In Old Chinese, the character 河 is pronounced as 'gaal', while the word '江' is pronounced as 'kroong'. It is speculated that 'gaal' is a Sino-Tibetan word, while 'kroong' is a loan word from Mon-Khmer languages. In ancient times, southern China was inhabited by Mon-Khmer speaking peoples, while northern China was inhabited mostly by Sinitic language speakers.

So, mostly rivers in the South are called '江', while rivers in the north are called '河'. However, it should be noted that rivers in North East China are mostly called '江'. This is due to the influence of Korean languages.

Most foreign rivers are called 河, with a significant exception: rivers in the Korean Peninsula are called 江：大同江、汉江, etc, as rivers in the North East.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2016-07-25. Score: 3

In ancient China, “河” only means the Yellow River(黄河) while “江” only means the Yangtze River（长江）, and the other rivers in our modern meanings are called Water (水).

But as time goes, we are used to call any rivers "河" except the rivers which has been named "江" in history, such as"长江"、"黑龙江"、"澜沧江".

Almost all the river in other countries are called “河” just because Chinese didn't know their existence in the past, such as Amazon River（"亚马孙河")、Mississippi River（"密西西比河"）.

Simply, you can just understand it in the following way:
1. "河" is now a standard expression usage for the river.
2. "江" is just used for some rivers because of the historical reason.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: Please don't add personally identifying information or requests for off-site contact into your answers. Perhaps this site has a chatroom where such discussions are appropriate, but unfortunately it's not content that belongs in an answer.  
> **username_5**: @username_6 Thank you for informing me! It seems to be my first answer here and I don't know this rule.  

---

