Sungari

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Manchu ᠰᡠᠩᡤᠠᡵᡳ (sunggari) in ᠰᡠᠩᡤᠠᡵᡳ
ᡠᠯᠠ (sunggari ula), probably through Russian Сунгари (Sungari).

Pronunciation

• enPR: so͝ongʹgə-rēʹ, so͝onʹgäʹrēʹ

Proper noun

Sungari

1. (dated) Synonym of Songhua
   • 1900, Consular Reports: Commerce, Manufactures, Etc.‎^[1], volume 62, Government Printing Office, page 410:

     The eastern section from Vladivostock—which crosses the Manchurian frontier at San-Ch'a-kou and will pass a few miles to the north of Ninguta, go westward to Yi-mien-p'o, and northwest to A-shih-ho, leaving that town on its left—will join the southern section on the south bank of the Sungari. The junction is really effected at a place called Ha-êrh-pin (Harbin), some 6 miles to the south of the river.

   • 1900 March [1899 May 8], Alex Hosie, “Consul Hosie to Mr. Bax-Ironside”, in Further Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of China‎^[2], number 195, London: Harrison and Sons, →OCLC, page 154:

     From Ha-êrh-pin north-east to Hulan, Tsitsihar, and Stretensk two serious difficulties have to be overcome. The first is the bridging of the Sungari, which, owing to its extended breadth in summer, will require a bridge some 2,800 feet in length. The second is the passage of the Hsing-an range, which will necessitate in many places cuttings 80 feet deep and of considerable length, but no tunnelling.

   • 1912, Northern China, The Valley of the Blue River, Korea‎^[3], Hachette & Company, →OCLC, page 259‎^[4]:

     At the height of the power of the Ch’i-tan Liao, the latter, having taken prisoners people of various countries, deported them and distributed them about this region between the Sungari and the K’ai-yüan Hsien country.

   • 1933, H. Foster Bain, Ores and Industry in the Far East: The Influence of Key Mineral Resources on the Development of Oriental Civilization‎^[5], revised and enlarged edition, New York: Council on Foreign Relations, Inc., page 130:

     The great Manchurian Central Plain, comprising about 120,000 square miles, is the most densely populated portion. It is drained by the Liao and Sungari rivers. The South Manchurian Railway follows its eastern margin from the Gulf of Liaotung to Changchun. East of the plain to the boundary of Chosen lie the East Manchurian mountains (Changpaishan), a region of moderate relief, including about 120,000 square miles. Northeast of the plain and between the Sungari, Nonni and Amur rivers is another mountainous area, the little Khingan region, covering nearly 60,000 square miles.

   • 1989 December 24, Moana Tregaskis, “Crystalline Ice Fantasies In Frozen Manchuria”, in The New York Times‎^[6], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 May 2015, page 2‎^[7]:

     Beyond a tall gateway of horseshoe-shaped ice blocks on the high road, the Sungari River turns into a huge playground. At an ice-walled slide that shoots down the steep bank, revelers sit on woven mats or stand in street shoes for careening descents to the frozen water.

   • 1990, Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China‎^[8], W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 26:

     In the distant past, between A.D. 1122 and 1234, the Jürchen had conquered northern China and combined it with their own territory under the name of Jin—or "golden"—dynasty. After their defeat in 1234, they had retreated northward to the Sungari River region, but by the late Ming they were once more pressing on the borders of China and Korea.

   • 2020 April 7, Paul Goble, “Possible Toxic Crisis Looms in Russian Far East Because of Industrial Disaster Inside China”, in Jamestown Foundation‎^[9], archived from the original on 10 April 2020:

     The current COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is not the only example of how a problem originating deep inside the borders of one country can quickly spread to others. Namely, an industrial accident in Northeastern China has just released 2.53 million cubic meters of highly poisonous industrial waste into a tributary of the Sungari River. The Sungari flows into the Amur, which forms the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China. Many Russians as well as Chinese rely on these waters for personal consumption, food and business. The accident, which took place on March 28, has already forced some cities on the tributary of the Sungari to stop using water from this source.

Further reading

• “Sungari”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “Sungari”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “Sungari”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “Sungari” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.

Anagrams

• Guarins, Ugrians, air guns, air-guns, airguns