The You River (Chinese: 酉水; pinyin: yǒu shuǐ) is the largest tributary of the Yuan River, one of main rivers in the Wuling Mountains in Southwest China. Its other name is Gengshi River (Chinese: 更始水); it was called Youxi River (Chinese: 酉溪) in ancient times.[1] Its trunk stream flows through Hubei, Chongqing and Hunan, and its drainage basin reaches into Guizhou. Its watershed covers an area of 19,254.3 square kilometres (7,434.1 sq mi), including 2,680.7 square kilometres (1,035.0 sq mi) of Hubei, 10,485.7 square kilometres (4,048.6 sq mi) of Hunan, 4,658.4 square kilometres (1,798.6 sq mi) of Chongqing and 1,519.5 square kilometres (586.7 sq mi) of Guizhou; it has a length of 484 kilometres (301 mi).[2]
The valley of the You River was home of the ancient Ba people, the ancestors of the Tujia people.[citation needed] The You River basin is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization: the Qin Dynasty Bamboo Slips of Liye and the Tusi Sites of Laosicheng and Tangya were discovered in the region.
You River was invoked but never defined (see the help page).