'Yangzhou' (; former spellings: Yang-chou, Yangchow; literally "Rising Prefecture") is a
prefecture-level city in central
Jiangsu province,
People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the
Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of
Nanjing to the southwest,
Huai'an to the north,
Yancheng to the northeast,
Taizhou to the east, and
Zhenjiang across the river to the south.
Administration
The
prefecture-level city of Yangzhou administers 7
county-level divisions. There are 3
districts, 3
county-level cities and 1
county:
Guangling District ()
Weiyang District ()
Hanjiang District ()
Jiangdu City ()
Gaoyou City ()
Yizheng City ()
Baoying County ()
These are further divided into 98
township-level divisions, including 87
towns and
townships, and 11
subdistricts.
History
Yangzhou has a history of almost 2,500 years, being founded in the
Spring and Autumn Period when it was called Guangling (, Kuang-Ling). In 590 AD, Guangling began to be called ''Yangzhou'', which was the traditional name of what was then the entire southeastern part of China.
Located by the Yangtze river and
Jinghang (Grand) Canal, it has been a leading economic and cultural center and major port of foreign trade and external exchange since the
Tang Dynasty (618-907).
The city, still known as Guangling, was briefly made the capital of the
Wu Kingdom during the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.
In 1280 AD, Yangzhou was the site of a massive
gunpowder explosion when the bomb store of the
Weiyang arsenal had caught fire accidentally. This blast killed over a hundred guards, launched
debris of the buildings into the air that landed 10
li away from the site of the explosion, and could be felt 100
li away as tiles on roofs shook (refer to
gunpowder article).
Marco Polo served there under the
Mongol emperor
Kubilai Khan in the period around 1282-1287. Although some versions of Polo's memoirs imply that he was the governor of Yangzhou, it is more likely that he was an official in the salt industry. The discovery of the
1342 tomb of
Katarina Vilioni, member of an Italian trading family in Yangzhou, suggests the existence of a thriving Italian community in the city in the 14th century.
Yangzhou was the scene of a ten-day massacre in 1645 by the Qing army. An account of the massacre can be found in the
Yangzhou shiri ji, recounted by
Wang Xiuchu
Until the 19th century Yangzhou acted as a major trade exchange center for salt, (a government regulated commodity), rice and silk. The
Mings (1368-1644) are largely responsible for building the city as it now stands and surrounding it with 9 km of walls.
The
Yangzhou riot in
1868 was a pivotal moment of
Anglo-Chinese relations during the late
Qing Dynasty that almost led to war.
[1] The crisis was fomented by the
gentry of the city who opposed the presence of foreign
Christian missionaries there. The riot that resulted was an angry crowd estimated at eight to ten thousand who assaulted the premises of the
British China Inland Mission in Yangzhou by looting, burning and attacking the missionaries led by
Hudson Taylor. No one was killed, however several of the missionaries were injured as they were forced to flee for their lives. As a result of the report of the riot, the British consul in
Shanghai,
Sir Walter Henry Medhurst took seventy
Royal marines in a
Man of war and steamed up the Yangtze to
Nanjing in a controversial show of force that eventually resulted in an official apology from
Viceroy Zeng Guofan and financial restitution made to the injured missionaries.
From the time of the
Taiping Rebellion (1853) to the end of the Communist revolution (1949) Yangzhou was in decline, due to war damage and neglect of the Jinghang Canal as railways replaced it in importance. With the canal now partially restored, Yangzhou is once again an important transportation and market center. It also has some industrial output, chiefly in cotton and textiles. In
2004, a railway linked Yangzhou for the first time with
Nanjing.
Geography and climate
Yangzhou
Rivers: the Yangtze River, Jinghang Canal,
Baoshe River,
Datong River,
Beichengzi River,
Tongyang Canal,
Xintongyang Canal,
Baima Lake,
Baoying Lake,
Gaoyou Lake,
Shaobo Lake.
Local landscape: Slender west lake, Ge garden, He garden, Da ming temple, Phoenix island, etc.
Subtropical monsoon climate with humid changeable wind; longer winters for about 4 months, summers 3 months and shorter springs and autumns, 2 months respectively; frost-free period of 222 days and annual average sunshine of 2177 hours.
Average temperature: 15 °C annually; the hottest in July of 27.6 °C and the coldest in January of 1.7 °C; maximum temperature of 39.8 °C and minimum −19 °C
Rainfall: annual average of 1030 mm; rainy season from the middle of June to July
Culture
Yangzhou dialect is classified as Lower Yangtze
Mandarin.
During a period of prosperity and Imperial favour, the arts of storytelling and painting flourished in Yangzhou. The innovative painter-calligrapher
Shitao lived in Yangzhou during the 1680s and again from 1697 until his death in 1707. A later group of painters from that time called the
Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou are famous throughout China.
Former President of China
Jiang Zemin was born and raised in Yangzhou. His middle school is located right across from the public notary's office in Yangzhou.
Yangzhou is famous for its carved
lacquerware and
jade carvings.
Poet
Li Bai (c.700-762) wrote in ''Seeing Meng Haoran off to Yangzhou from Yellow Crane Pavilion'':
At Yellow Crane Pavilion in the west
My old friend says farewell;
In the mist and flowers of spring
He goes down to Yangzhou;
Lonely sail, distant shadow,
Vanish in blue emptiness;
All I see is the great river
Flowing into the far horizon.
Local highlights
Yangzhou pickles, Ｂaozi,Gansi(sliced Tofu),sticky candy,
ginkgo, Qionghuayu liquor, Nanshan
green tea, Baoying
lotus root starch, Jiangdu short pastry,
lacquerware, jadeware, embroidery, paper-cut, art & crafts velvet flavers.
The city is famous for its
public bath houses.
"
Yangzhou fried rice" () is a dish popular all over China, originating from Yangzhou.
The city was awarded
Habitat Scroll of Honour in 2006.
Tourism
Tourist sights include Slender Western Lake () and old residences in the moated town, such as the Wang Residence.
Sister cities
Yangzhou is
twinned with:
★
Jeju, Jeju,
South Korea
★
Kent, Washington,
USA
★
Vaughan, Ontario,
Canada
★
Rimini,
Italy
★
Razgrad,
Bulgaria
★
Bree, Belgium
★
Karatsu, Saga,
Japan
References
★
China’s Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society, , Alvyn, Austin, Eerdmans, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8028-2975-7
Notes
1. Austin (2007), p. 129
External links
★
Government website of Yangzhou (available in Chinese and English)
★
Yangzhou city guide with open directory (Jiangsu.NET)
★
An introduction to a cultural history of Yangzhou
★
A trip to Yangzhou
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