Kewkiang, Or Kiukiang, a town of China, in the province of Kiangsi, on the Yangtse, near the N. end of Lake Poyang, 227 m. S. W. of Nanking. It takes its name from the nine rivers which flow from the adjacent mountains. This situation, commanding the trade of Lake Poyang, induced Lord Elgin in 1860 to propose the place as an open port, it being the nearest outlet of the green tea district, of which the export rose in 1868 to 9,000,000 lbs., and of black tea to nearly twice as much. The shipments subsequently declined considerably, and the total exports in 1871 did not exceed the value of $4,000,000, the imports, however, reaching $12,000,000. The town suffered greatly from the Taeping rebellion, and was almost entirely destroyed when it was recaptured by the imperial troops; but it soon recovered. The overflow of the Yangtse in several consecutive seasons had filled the place in 1870 with fugitives from inundated districts, and with vagabonds and Mohammedan fanatics, who destroyed missionary chapels, but were put down with the aid of war vessels. The British settlement fronts the river, and the remains of the Chinese town are back of it, with a new temple built by the emperor, containing a memorial of a general who fell in the siege.

The American house of Russell and co. maintains here a fine fleet of river steamers, and controls the carrying trade on the Yangtse and on Lake Poyang. The shipping in 1871 comprised 320 American and 92 English steamers, and 23 American and 65 English sailing vessels. Kewkiang is only a subsidiary port of Shanghai, and the navigation is liable to be impeded by low water and sand bars, requiring the transshipment of cargoes at Hukow, 16 m. below Kewkiang, at the mouth of Lake Poyang.