Dadu River (Taiwan)

24°10′11.5″N 120°31′05.7″E

Dadu River Wu River Black River
Sunset at the lower reaches of Wu River
Dadu River in Taiwan
Native name	大肚溪 (Chinese) 烏溪 (Chinese)
Location
Country	Taiwan
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Central Mountain Range: western foothills of Hehuanshan
Mouth
• location	Taiwan Strait: Taichung City/Changhua County border
Length	124 km (77 mi)
Basin size	2,025.6 km^2 (782.1 sq mi)

Dadu River
Chinese	大肚溪
Literal meaning	Big Belly Creek
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dàdù Xī Wade–Giles Ta-tu Hsi
Black River
Traditional Chinese	烏溪
Simplified Chinese	乌溪
Literal meaning	Black Creek Raven Creek Crow Creek
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Wū Xī Wade–Giles Wu Hsi Southern Min Hokkien POJ O͘ Khe

The Dadu River also called the Wu River, is a major river located in the Northwest of Taiwan. With a total length of 124 km (77 mi) it is sixth-longest river on the island. ^[1]

Names

The Dadu River is named after a former port near its mouth, now the Dadu District of Taichung.

It is also known as the Black River,^[2] a calque of its Hokkien name. The same name appears in English as the Wu River, the pinyin romanization of its Mandarin pronunciation. It received the name from the many black-winged birds that used to live along the river.^[3]

Geography

It flows through Taichung City, Changhua County, and Nantou County for 119 kilometers (74 mi).^[4][5][6] It is the 6th-longest river on Taiwan Island and the 4th-largest in terms of drainage area.^[4]

See also

• List of rivers in Taiwan

References

Citations

1. "GeoNames Search". Geographic Names Database. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, USA. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
2. EB (1879), p. 416.
3. Huang (2016), p. 67.
4. "Geography & demographics". The Republic of China Yearbook 2015. Executive Yuan. 2015. pp. 40–53. ISBN 978-986-04-6013-1. Archived from the original on 2016-05-31. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
5. "Wu River" (in Chinese). Water Resources Agency, Ministry of Economic Affairs. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
6. "Geographic Location". About Changhua. Changhua County Government. 14 March 2012. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2016.

Bibliography

• "Formosa" , Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IX, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1879, pp. 415–17.
• Huang, Peter I-min (2016), "Mean Spirit, Environmental Justice, and Postcolonial Ecocriticism", Linda Hogan and Contemporary Taiwanese Writers: An Ecocritical Study of Indigeneities and Environment, Lanham: Lexington Books.