The Xiuyan River starts from Zichang County, Yan'an City, Shaanxi Province, flows through Yanchuan County, Yan'an City, then flows through Qingjian County, Yulin City, and finally merges into the Yellow River.
The Xiuyan River is an ancient river on the northern Shaanxi Plateau. Like the Yanhe River and the Wuding River, it is a first-class tributary of the Yellow River. It is also known as Xiuyan River, Tuyan River and Qingjian River. , also known as Tuyanchuan, Gejichuan and Qingjian
river. It has eight or nine correct names, aliases and common names from ancient times to the present. Zuhe River is its most original name, which originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty about 2,700 years ago. It originates from the junction of Ansai County and Zichang County, at the foothills of the ancient name
Niaoshan (now in Zhoujiajian Village, Lijiacha Township, Zichang County), with a total length of 169.9 kilometers, flowing through Zichang , Qingjian and Yanchuan counties, merge into the Yellow River in Leijiacha Village, Tugang Township, Yanchuan County. For thousands of years, ancient literati and scholars have written about crossing this river. In ancient Chinese, the words "water" and "chuan" also express the meaning of river, referring to first- and second-level tributaries other than the Yangtze River and Yellow River and other small rivers. Therefore, Xiuyan River has been described in ancient books as Tuyanchuan, Xiuyanshui, etc. Northern Wei Dynasty
Li Daoyuan's "Shui Jing Zhu" has a description of "the custom of purging water is called Xiu Yanshui". Before 1430, it had been renamed Tuyanchuan and written as Tuyanshui. The place name Yanchuan is closely related to this river, and it is derived from the name of the river Tuyanchuan
.