川 chuān river
Similar looking characters : 州 zhōu (prefecture)
Made with 3 strokes.
Represents the fast smooth flow of water in a river
Ancient small seal form 
Different tone
船 chuán (boat)Radical
Index 47 used in: 顺 shùn (to obey) ; 州 zhōu (prefecture)
Stroke order for character 川, kindly provided under Wikimedia creative commons license ➚