Min

Min . 1 Chief river of Fujian prov., SE China, c.350 mi (560 km) long, rising in Wuyi shan and flowing SE to the South China Sea near Fuzhou; it receives several tributaries near Nanping. Fuzhou, a transshipment point, has a deepwater anchorage for oceangoing vessels. 2 River, W Sichuan prov., central China, c.500 mi (800 km) long, rising in the Min shan and flowing S through the Chengdu Plain to the Chang River at Yibin. The Dadu River, c.400 mi (640 km) long, is its chief tributary. In the 2d cent. BC, the Min's water was diverted by Li Ping, governor of Chengdu, into numerous channels that reunite downstream near Pengshan. The irrigation system is still used today to water the fertile Chengdu Plain.

Min / min/ • n. a dialect of Chinese spoken by more than 50 million people, mainly in Fujian province, Hainan, and Taiwan.

Min (Heb., ‘heretic’). Hebrew term for heretic or sectarian. A min can be a Jewish heretic or a gentile. It was Samuel ha-Katan in the late 1st cent. CE who composed the ‘benediction’ (i.e. imprecation) against the minim found in the ʿAmidah, and this seems originally to have been directed against the Judaeo-Christians: see BIRKAT HA-MINIM.