Early Chinese literature including the Yu Gong or Tribute of Yu dating to the Warring States period (475221 BC) refers to the Yellow River as simply (Old Chinese: *C.gˤaj,[REF] modern Chinese (Pinyin) Hé), a character that has come to mean "river" in modern usage.
One of its older Mongolian names was the "Black River",[REF] because the river runs clear before it enters the Loess Plateau, but the current name of the river among Inner Mongolians is Ȟatan Gol (, "Queen River") [REF].