Tumen

See also: tumen and Ťumeň

English

Alternative forms

• T'u-men (Wade–Giles)

Etymology

From Mandarin 圖們／图们 (Túmén).

Pronunciation

• enPR: to͞oʹmǔnʹ

Proper noun

Tumen

1. A river forming part of the border between Jilin, China and North Korea, and the border between Rasŏn, North Korea and Khasansky district, Primorsky Krai, Russia.
   • 1861, E. G. Ravenstein, The Russians on the Amur‎^[2], London: Trubner and Co., page 340:

     Another tribe, the Kwiara, live on the frontiers of Korea, on the north bank of the Tumen river, and these are probably also Orochi.

   • 1895, Trumbull White, The War in the East Japan, China, and Corea‎^[3], Philadelphia: P.W. Ziegler & Co., →OCLC, →OL, page 374:

     The Tumen river separates Corea from Manchooria, except in the last few miles of its course, when it flows by Russian territory, the south-eastern corner of Siberia.

   • 1910, The Provinces of China, Together with a History of the First Year of H.I.M. Hsuan Tung, and an Account of the Government of China‎^[4], Shanghai: The National Review Office, →OCLC, →OL, page 155:

     The Tumen is not yet so important as the Yalu, but with the development of a rival to Vladivostock, now a closed port, in Hunchun, it is acquiring greater importance.

   • 1950 July 24, “Background for War”, in Time‎^[5], volume LVI, number 4, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 30:

     Springing northeast from Paektu, the cold Tumen River separates Korea from eastern Manchuria and Siberia. On the Yalu and along the swift-flowing tributaries of the Tumen stand the Japanese-built hydroelectric plants which, until the power lines were cut by the Communists at the 38th parallel, provided 90% of the electricity used in all Korea.

   • 1997 [1996], Willem van Kemenade, translated by Diane Webb, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Inc.‎^[6], New York: Vintage Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 318:

     A ride along the Chinese shore of the Tumen River illustrated its potential for development.

   • 2010 June 9, Sharon LaFraniere, “Views Show How North Korea Policy Spread Misery”, in The New York Times‎^[7], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2010-06-11, Asia Pacific‎^[8]:

     The Tumen River serves as part of the border between China and North Korea, with the Chinese city of Tumen on the left and the North Korean town of Namyang on the right.

2. A county-level city in Yanbian, Jilin, China
   • 2010 June 9, Sharon LaFraniere, “Views Show How North Korea Policy Spread Misery”, in The New York Times‎^[9], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2010-06-11, Asia Pacific‎^[10]:

     The Tumen River serves as part of the border between China and North Korea, with the Chinese city of Tumen on the left and the North Korean town of Namyang on the right.

   • 2015, Yeonmi Park, Maryanne Vollers, “Swallows and Magpies”, in In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom‎^[11] (Non-fiction), Penguin Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 31:

     When she was ten years old, he was arrested and never heard from again. After that, Grandmother Hwang was abandoned by her family, and ended up working as a farm laborer in Tumen, China—which was then part of the Japanese empire.

   • 2018 April 12, Sue-Lin Wong, “PART 1 A POROUS BORDER The Cold Frontier”, in Reuters‎^[12], archived from the original on 12 April 2018‎^[13]:

     Trade between China and North Korea has fallen dramatically because of sanctions, but the U.N. has not sanctioned essentials like food.
     Towards the end of the day in Tumen, we watched these women cross into China from North Korea.
     Tumen is in Yanbian, an official Korean autonomous region which people call “the third Korea” because around half the two million Chinese of Korean descent are registered there. There is a small missionary community in Yanbian - mainly South Koreans, Americans and Europeans. Some of them help North Korean defectors.

Synonyms

• (from Korean) Tuman

Translations

river

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 圖們／图们 (Túmén)

• Japanese: 豆満江 (Toman-kō)
• Korean: 두만강 (ko) (duman'gang), 되강 (doegang) (archaic)
• Russian: Туманная (ru) f (Tumannaja)

See also

• Antu

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• muten, unmet