Taping River
Encyclopedia
Taping River, also known as Ta Hkaw Hka in Kachin and Ta Ying Chiang in Chinese
, is a river in northern Myanmar
, formerly Burma. It is the first tributary of the country's chief river, the Irrawaddy
, and the watersheds between it and the N'mai Hka river to the northwest and the rivers Shweli
and Salween
to the southeast form part of the boundary with China
. Its source lies in Yingjiang County
of Yunnan Province,China, and it enters the Irrawaddy near Bhamo
, Kachin State
.
of Bagan
had an embassy from Kublai Khan
executed and then invaded the state of Kanngai along the Taping river, 70 miles north of Bhamo, for submitting to the Mongols
. The Chinese defeated the Burmese in the Battle of Ngasaunggyan
, a vivid account of which was reported back to Europe
later by Marco Polo
. The Chinese army advanced to Kaungsin but turned back because of excessive heat. They returned however in 1283, destroying Kaungsin and advancing into the Irrawaddy valley culminating in the fall of Bagan.
Trade with China had taken place along the Taping river for centuries through Kaungsin until Bhamo became more important from the 15th Century onwards.
During the Second World War the Allies
built the Ledo Road
from India
to China across northern Burma, and before Christmas
1944, completed 354 miles to reach Myothit
on the Taping river in order to link up with the old Burma Road
at Bhamo.American
GIs in the road gang had pleasant recollections of their time along the river trading with locals for souvenirs and hunting in the jungle. Pontoon bridges were built by engineers across 10 major rivers including the Taping.
Earlier in the war, the Chinese 38th Division
led by General Sun Li-Jen
under the Northern Combat Area Command
(NCAC) had fought the Japanese
56th Division along the Taping in a successful attempt at capturing Myothit in late October and subsequently driving the enemy out of their main defense positions in Bhamo, thus spearheading the drive in the construction of the Ledo Road.
was shot in 1946 after it had crossed the Irrawaddy and then the Taping river.
The Americans hunted sambar (deer), pheasants, and bear
during the war, and a tame pet otter
was traded for 2 boxes of matches.
The Irrawaddy dolphin
has been known to enter the upper tributaries of the Irrawaddy including the Taping especially when the rivers are flooded. They were observed in the 19th Century up to 30 km above Bhamo called "Dolphin Point". More recent surveys in 2002-2004 reported sightings in the deep pool area at the confluence
of the Taping and the Irrawaddy, and up to 36 km upstream to Sinkan at the upstream end of the second defile of the Irrawaddy. Dam building upstream along the Taping is causing concerns as the reduced flow during the dry season could lead to loss of habitat and decline in their numbers.
projects are under way in the region along the Taping, and 3 dams are being built - one on the Chinese side of the border, and 2 in Burma jointly by China Datang Corporation (CDT) and the Burmese military government namely Taping 1, 33 miles from Bhamo (240 MW), and Taping 2, 26 miles from Bhamo (168 MW).
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, is a river in northern Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, formerly Burma. It is the first tributary of the country's chief river, the Irrawaddy
Ayeyarwady River
The Irrawaddy River or Ayeyarwady River is a river that flows from north to south through Burma . It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through...
, and the watersheds between it and the N'mai Hka river to the northwest and the rivers Shweli
Shweli River
Shweli River is a river in Myanmar . Also known as Nam Mao in Shan and Lung Chuan Chiang in Chinese, it forms part of the boundary between Burma and China. It is one of the tributaries of the country's chief river, the Ayeyarwady, and arises in Yunnan Province of China...
and Salween
Salween River
The Salween is a river, about long, that flows from the Tibetan Plateau into the Andaman Sea in Southeast Asia. It drains a narrow and mountainous watershed of that extends into the countries China, Burma and Thailand. Steep canyon walls line the swift, powerful and undammed Salween, one of the...
to the southeast form part of the boundary with China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. Its source lies in Yingjiang County
Yingjiang County
Yingjiang County is a county in Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan Province, southwestern China.- Geography :Yingjiang county has a border of 214.6 km with Kachin State, Myanmar in the west. Danzha River and Binglangjiang River meet each other near Jiucheng and change the name to Dayingjiang...
of Yunnan Province,China, and it enters the Irrawaddy near Bhamo
Bhamo
Bhamo is a city of Kachin State in northernmost part of Myanmar, located 186 km south from the capital city of Myitkyina. It is on the Ayeyarwady River. It lies within 65 km of the border with Yunnan Province, China. The population consists of Chinese and Shan, with Kachin peoples in...
, Kachin State
Kachin State
Kachin State , is the northernmost state of Burma. It is bordered by China to the north and east; Shan State to the south; and Sagaing Division and India to the west. It lies between north latitude 23° 27' and 28° 25' longitude 96° 0' and 98° 44'. The area of Kachin State is . The capital of the...
.
History
In 1277 King NarathihapateNarathihapate
Narathihapate was the last king of Pagan dynasty of Burma from 1254 to 1287. The king is unkindly remembered for two things: his gluttonous appetite which supposedly required all his dinners to have 300 varieties of dishes; and his panic flight from Mongol invasions. He is forever remembered as ...
of Bagan
Pagan Kingdom
The Pagan Kingdom or Pagan Dynasty was the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute the modern-day Burma...
had an embassy from Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...
executed and then invaded the state of Kanngai along the Taping river, 70 miles north of Bhamo, for submitting to the Mongols
Mongols
Mongols ) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia...
. The Chinese defeated the Burmese in the Battle of Ngasaunggyan
Battle of Ngasaunggyan
The Battle of Ngasaunggyan was fought in 1277 between Kublai Khan's Yuan Dynasty of Mongol Empire, and their neighbors to the south, the Pagan Empire led by Narathihapate. The battle was initiated by Narathihapate, who invaded the Yunnan, a province of Yuan Dynasty of Mongol Empire...
, a vivid account of which was reported back to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
later by Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
. The Chinese army advanced to Kaungsin but turned back because of excessive heat. They returned however in 1283, destroying Kaungsin and advancing into the Irrawaddy valley culminating in the fall of Bagan.
Trade with China had taken place along the Taping river for centuries through Kaungsin until Bhamo became more important from the 15th Century onwards.
During the Second World War the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
built the Ledo Road
Ledo Road
The Ledo Road was built during World War II so that the Western Allies could supply the Chinese as an alternative to the Burma Road which had been cut by the Japanese in 1942. It was renamed the Stilwell Road in early 1945 at the suggestion of Chiang Kai-shek...
from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
to China across northern Burma, and before Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
1944, completed 354 miles to reach Myothit
Myothit
Myothit is a town of Myothit Township in Magway District in the Magway Division in Myanmar....
on the Taping river in order to link up with the old Burma Road
Burma Road
The Burma Road is a road linking Burma with the southwest of China. Its terminals are Kunming, Yunnan, and Lashio, Burma. When it was built, Burma was a British colony.The road is long and runs through rough mountain country...
at Bhamo.American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
GIs in the road gang had pleasant recollections of their time along the river trading with locals for souvenirs and hunting in the jungle. Pontoon bridges were built by engineers across 10 major rivers including the Taping.
Earlier in the war, the Chinese 38th Division
X Force
X Force was the name given to the portion of the National Revolutionary Army Chinese Expeditionary Force that retreated from Burma into India in 1942. Chiang Kai-shek sent troops into Burma from Yunnan in 1942 to assist the British in holding back the Japanese. These Chinese forces became broken...
led by General Sun Li-Jen
Sun Li-jen
Sun Li-jen was a Kuomintang General, best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. His achievements earned him the laudatory nickname "Rommel of the East". His New 1st Army was reputed as the "1st [Best] Army under heaven" and credited with defeating...
under the Northern Combat Area Command
Northern Combat Area Command
The Northern Combat Area Command or NCAC was a mainly Sino-American formation that held the northern end of the Allied front in Burma during World War II. For much of its existence it was commanded by the acerbic General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, and controlled by his staff...
(NCAC) had fought the Japanese
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
56th Division along the Taping in a successful attempt at capturing Myothit in late October and subsequently driving the enemy out of their main defense positions in Bhamo, thus spearheading the drive in the construction of the Ledo Road.
Flora and fauna
A rhinocerosRhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
was shot in 1946 after it had crossed the Irrawaddy and then the Taping river.
The Americans hunted sambar (deer), pheasants, and bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
during the war, and a tame pet otter
Otter
The Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....
was traded for 2 boxes of matches.
The Irrawaddy dolphin
Irrawaddy dolphin
The Irrawaddy dolphin is a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin found in discontinuous subpopulations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia.-Etymology and taxonomic history:...
has been known to enter the upper tributaries of the Irrawaddy including the Taping especially when the rivers are flooded. They were observed in the 19th Century up to 30 km above Bhamo called "Dolphin Point". More recent surveys in 2002-2004 reported sightings in the deep pool area at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
of the Taping and the Irrawaddy, and up to 36 km upstream to Sinkan at the upstream end of the second defile of the Irrawaddy. Dam building upstream along the Taping is causing concerns as the reduced flow during the dry season could lead to loss of habitat and decline in their numbers.
Development
HydropowerHydropower
Hydropower, hydraulic power, hydrokinetic power or water power is power that is derived from the force or energy of falling water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times, hydropower has been used for irrigation and the operation of various mechanical devices, such as...
projects are under way in the region along the Taping, and 3 dams are being built - one on the Chinese side of the border, and 2 in Burma jointly by China Datang Corporation (CDT) and the Burmese military government namely Taping 1, 33 miles from Bhamo (240 MW), and Taping 2, 26 miles from Bhamo (168 MW).
External links
- Satellite map GeoNames
- The Ledo Road: Myitkyina to Mong-Yu
- Photos of dams under construction text in Chinese