Yellow River

Calque of Chinese 黃河 / 黄河 (Huáng Hé), chiefly from the river's golden appearance as far west as Lanzhou caused by the enormous levels of silt it acquires from the Loess Plateau but also influenced by the color schema in wuxing ("Five Element") theory, which associates earth with the color 黃 / 黄 (huáng), usually translated as "yellow" but also inclusive of shades modern English would consider golden, orange, brown, tan, etc. The earliest Chinese sources simply describe it as 河 (hé, “The River”) but it was later distinguished as the Yellow River after 河 (hé) began to replace 水 (shuǐ) as a generic term for creeks and smaller rivers.