1.
Prefecture-level city
–
Prefectural level cities form the second level of the administrative structure. Administrative chiefs of prefectural level cities generally have the rank as a division chief of a national ministry. Since the 1980s, most former prefectures have been renamed into prefectural level cities, a prefectural level city is a city and prefecture that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. The larger prefectural level cities span over 100 kilometres, prefectural level cities nearly always contain multiple counties, county level cities, and other such sub-divisions. To distinguish a prefectural level city from its urban area. The first prefectural level cities were created on 5 November 1983, over the following two decades, prefectural level cities have come to replace the vast majority of Chinese prefectures, the process is still ongoing. Most provinces are composed entirely or nearly entirely of prefectural level cities, shijiazhuang and Zhengzhou are the largest prefectural level cities with populations approaching or exceeding some sub-provincial cities. A sub-prefecture-level city is a city with powers approaching those of prefectural level cities. There are total of three classification of prefecture-level city, Regular prefectural level city which consist of counties, county level cities, consolidated district-governed prefectural level city which only consist of districts as it subdivisions. Thus, Bloomington, Indiana is indicated on the map by a point, which is distinct from, and enclosed by, in China, however, large cities such as City of Xianning may, in reality, contain both urban and rural elements. Moreover, they may enclose counties or other cities, on a less detailed map, City of Xianning would be indicated by a point, more or less corresponding to the coordinates of its city government. Other populous areas may also be exhibited as points, such as County of Tongshan, with no indication that County of Tongshan is, in fact, enclosed by City of Xianning. On a more detailed map, City of Xianning would be drawn as an area, similar to a county of the United States and this convention may lead to difficulty in the identification of places mentioned in older sources. For example, Guo Moruo writes that he was born in Town of Shawan, within Prefecture of Leshan, and attended primary school in Town of Jiading. A modern map is unlikely to show either town, Shawan, because it is too small, and Jiading, because it is the seat of City of Leshan, and is therefore indicated on the map by a point labelled Leshan. A more detailed map would show Shawan as a district within City of Leshan, statistics of China such as population and industrial activity are generally reported along prefectural city lines. Thus, the relatively unknown City of Huangshi has 2.5 million residents, more than most European capitals, but upon closer inspection, furthermore, Huangshi contains several other cities, such as City of Daye. If a person wished to calculate the population of the area of Huangshi, and had a map of Huangshi, and a table of its population by district
Prefecture-level city
–
A road sign shows distance to the "Huangshi urban area" (黄石市区) rather than simply "
Huangshi " (黄石). This is a useful distinction, because the sign is located already within Huangshi prefectural level city (immediately upon entering its
Yangxin County from the neighboring
Xianning), but still 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the Huangshi main urban area.
Prefecture-level city
–
Prefecture-level city Prefectural-level city
2.
Slender West Lake
–
Slender West Lake is a scenic lake and national park in Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China. Specifically, it is located in Hanjiang District of Yangzhou, just northwest of the historic center. A long bank planted with weeping willows spans the lake, at its midpoint stands a terrace with pavilions at each of the corners. The emperor was so gratified by his luck in fishing at this spot that he ordered additional stipends for the town, as it turns out, his success had been augmented by local swimmers who lurked in the lake busily attaching fish to his hook. The Slender West Lakes southern end is near the corner of Yangzhous historic city center. Another canal, Huchenghe runs east from the Slender West Lakes southern end, at its eastern end, a parallel canal farther to the north, the Caohe, connects the Slender West Lake with the Old Grand Canal as well
Slender West Lake
–
Five Pavilion Bridge and White Pagoda Yangzhou landmark
Slender West Lake
3.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
–
Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
4.
China
–
China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
China
–
Yinxu, ruins of an ancient
palace dating from the
Shang Dynasty (14th century BCE)
China
–
Flag
China
–
Some of the thousands of life-size
Terracotta Warriors of the
Qin Dynasty, c. 210 BCE
China
–
The
Great Wall of China was built by several dynasties over two thousand years to protect the sedentary agricultural regions of the
Chinese interior from incursions by
nomadic pastoralists of the northern
steppes.
5.
Province (China)
–
Provinces, formally provincial-level administrative divisions or first-level administrative divisions, are the highest-level Chinese administrative divisions. There are 34 such divisions, classified as 23 provinces, four municipalities, five autonomous regions, the Peoples Republic of China claims sovereignty over the territory administered by the Republic of China, claiming most of it as its Taiwan Province. The ROC also administers some offshore islands which form Fujian Province and these were part of an originally unified Fujian province, which since the stalemate of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 has been divided between the PRC and ROC. Note that every province has a Communist Party of China provincial committee, the committee secretary is in effective charge of the province, rather than the nominal governor of the provincial government. The government of each province is nominally led by a provincial committee. The committee secretary is first-in-charge of the province, second-in-command is the governor of the provincial government, the Peoples Republic of China claims the island of Taiwan and its surrounding islets, including Penghu, as Taiwan Province. The territory is controlled by the Republic of China, a municipality or direct-controlled municipality is a higher level of city which is directly under the Chinese government, with status equal to that of the provinces. In practice, their status is higher than that of common provinces. The governor of each region is usually appointed from the respective minority ethnic group. A special administrative region is an autonomous and self-governing subnational subject of the Peoples Republic of China that is directly under the Central Peoples Government. Each SAR has an executive as head of the region. The regions government is not fully independent, as policy and military defence are the responsibility of the central government. Notes,1, as of 20102, per km23, km24, Abbreviation in the parentheses is informal 5, Since founding in 1949, however, the PRC has never controlled Taiwan. Taiwan currently administers Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, the subject of whether or not Taiwan is part of China is often debated, with no clear conclusion. The Ming Dynasty kept the system set up by the Yuan Dynasty, however. By the time of the establishment of the Qing Dynasty in 1644 there were 18 provinces, in addition, there was a zongdu, a general military inspector or governor general, for every two to three provinces. Outer regions of China were not divided into provinces, military leaders or generals oversaw Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Mongolia, while vice-dutong and civilian leaders headed the leagues, a subdivision of Mongolia. The ambans supervised the administration of Tibet, in 1884 Xinjiang became a province, in 1907 Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang were made provinces as well
Province (China)
–
Map comparing administrative divisions as drawn by the PRC and ROC.
Province (China)
–
Provincial division 省份 Shěngfèn
6.
Jiangsu
–
Jiangsu, formerly romanized as Kiangsu, is an eastern-central coastal province of the Peoples Republic of China. It is one of the provinces in manufacturing electronics and apparel items. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, Jiangsu has the second-highest GDP of Chinese provinces, after Guangdong. Jiangsu borders Shandong in the north, Anhui to the west, Jiangsu has a coastline of over 1,000 kilometres along the Yellow Sea, and the Yangtze River passes through the southern part of the province. Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, Jiangsu has been an economic and commercial center. Cities such as Yangzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou and Shanghai are all major Chinese economic hubs, since the initiation of economic reforms in 1990, Jiangsu has become a focal point for economic development. It is widely regarded as Chinas most developed province measured by its Human Development Index, Jiangsu is home to many of the worlds leading exporters of electronic equipment, chemicals and textiles. It has also been Chinas largest recipient of foreign investment since 2006. Its 2014 nominal GDP was more than 1 trillion US dollars and its name is a compound of the first elements of the names of the two cities of Jiangning and Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is 苏, the character of its name. The state of Wu was subjugated in 473 BC by the state of Yue, Yue was in turn subjugated by the powerful state of Chu from the west in 333 BC. Eventually the state of Qin swept away all the other states, during the Three Kingdoms period, southern Jiangsu became the base of the Eastern Wu whose capital, Jiankang, is modern Nanjing. When nomadic invasions overran northern China in the 4th century, the court of the Jin Dynasty moved to Jiankang. Cities in southern and central Jiangsu swelled with the influx of migrants from the north, Jiankang remained as the capital for four successive Southern Dynasties and became the largest commercial and cultural center in China. The Tang Dynasty relied on southern Jiangsu for annual deliveries of grain and it was during the Song Dynasty, which saw the development of a wealthy mercantile class and emergent market economy in China, that south Jiangsu emerged as a center of trade. From then onwards, south Jiangsu, especially cities like Suzhou or Yangzhou, would be synonymous with opulence. Today south Jiangsu remains one of the richest parts of China, the Mongols took control of China in the thirteenth century. The Ming Dynasty, which was established in 1368 after driving out the Mongols who had occupied China, following a coup by Zhu Di, however, the capital was moved to Beijing, far to the north
Jiangsu
–
One of the
tortoise stelae of Xiao Dan (478—522), a member of the
Liang royal family. Ganjiaxiang,
Qixia District, near Nanjing
Jiangsu
–
Map showing the location of Jiangsu Province
Jiangsu
–
The
Huqiu Tower of
Tiger Hill, Suzhou, built in 961.
Jiangsu
–
The
Beisi Pagoda of
Suzhou, built between 1131 and 1162 during the
Song Dynasty, 76 m (243 ft) tall.
7.
Communist Party Chief
–
In most cases, it is the de facto highest political office of its area of jurisdiction. The term can also be used for the position of Communist Party organizations in state-owned enterprises, universities, hospitals. In post-Cultural Revolution Chinese political theory, the Communist Party is responsible for the formulation of policies, at every level of jurisdiction, a government leader serves alongside the party secretary. For example, in the case of a province, the provincial Party Secretary is the de facto highest office, the Governor is usually the second-highest-ranking official in the partys Provincial Committee, and holds the concurrent title of Deputy Party Committee Secretary. A similar comparison can be made for municipal Party Secretaries and Mayors, there have been rare instances where both Party Secretary and Governor positions were held by the same person, though this is not the common practice since the end of the Cultural Revolution. The Party Secretary is usually assisted by numerous Deputy Party Secretaries, until the 1980s, the leading position of a local party organization was called the First Secretary, its deputy the Second Secretary. The local party organizations each had its own Secretariat with numerous secretaries, at the provincial level, the party chief is known as CPC Provincial Committee Secretary, while the corresponding government position is known as Governor. At the prefecture or municipal level, the party chief is known as CPC Municipal Committee Secretary, at the county level, the party chief is known as CPC County Committee Secretary, while the corresponding government position is known as the County Governor. At the township level, the party chief is known as CPC Township/town Committee Secretary, at the village level, the local party chief, known as the Village Party Branch Secretary heads a committee of around ten people to make executive decisions related to the village. The process is not entirely formal, and therefore the party chief at this level is not considered part of the Chinese civil service. In writing and the media, the CPC designation before the title is not used often because it is assumed that Provincial Committee Secretary refers to the Communist Party secretary. Generally, a top government official will also hold the first deputy party chief position, a Deputy Party Secretary assists in the work of the Party Secretary. In provincial and most prefecture-level jurisdictions, there are two deputy party chiefs, the higher-ranked deputy party chief is generally also concurrently the head of the government of the party committees area of jurisdiction. The other deputy party chief is known as the zhuanzhi fushuji, literally, generally, the zhuanzhi deputy party chief is also the head of the party school of any given jurisdiction. A Party Branch or Party Group exists in almost all institutions of state which are not formally part of the Communist Party organization and these include government organs, Peoples Congresses, ministries, provincial and municipal departments and so on. These organizations are created by mandate of a Party Committee, serve to ensure that the policy guidelines of the party is followed at each respective institution. The Party Branch Secretary or Party Group Secretary is an office from that of the Party Committee Secretary. They do not have the organization and bureaucracy that is commonplace with a Party Committee
Communist Party Chief
–
China
8.
Metropolitan area
–
As social, economic and political institutions have changed, metropolitan areas have become key economic and political regions. The Greater São Paulo is a term for one of the multiple definitions the large metropolitan area located in the São Paulo state in Brazil. A metropolitan area combines an urban agglomeration with zones not necessarily urban in character and these outlying zones are sometimes known as a commuter belt, and may extend well beyond the urban zone, to other political entities. For example, El Monte, California is considered part of the Los Angeles metro area in the United States, in practice, the parameters of metropolitan areas, in both official and unofficial usage, are not consistent. Population figures given for one area can vary by millions. A polycentric metropolitan area is one not connected by continuous development or conurbation, in defining a metropolitan area, it is sufficient that a city or cities form a nucleus that other areas have a high degree of integration with. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines statistical divisions as areas under the influence of one or more major towns or a major city. However, this definition has become obsolete with the conurbation of several statistical divisions into a larger metropolitan areas. In Brazil, metropolitan areas are called metropolitan regions, each State defines its own legislation for the creation, definition and organization of a metropolitan region. The creation of a region is not intended for any statistical purpose, although the Brazilian Institute of Geography. Their main purpose is to allow for a management of public policies of common interest to all cities involved. They dont have political, electoral or jurisdictional power whatsoever, so living in a metropolitan region do not elect representatives for them. Statistics Canada defines a metropolitan area as an area consisting of one or more adjacent municipalities situated around a major urban core. To form a CMA, the area must have a population of at least 100,000. To be included in the CMA, adjacent municipalities must have a degree of integration with the core. As of the Canada 2011 Census, there were 33 CMAs in Canada, including six with a population over one million—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In Denmark the only area is Greater Copenhagen, consisting of the Capital Region of Denmark along with the neighboring regions Region Zealand. Greater Copenhagen has an population of 1.25 million people
Metropolitan area
–
Greater Buenos Aires,
Argentina
Metropolitan area
–
Paris (
France), one of Europe's major centres
Metropolitan area
–
Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area,
Israel
Metropolitan area
–
Perth, Western Australia, an isolated metropolitan area
9.
Beijing Time
–
The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08,00, despite China spanning five geographical time zones. The official national standard time is called Beijing Time domestically and China Standard Time internationally, daylight saving time has not been observed since 1991. The special administrative regions maintain their own authorities, with standards called Hong Kong Time. These have been equivalent to Beijing time since 1992, in addition, a second time standard is used in Xinjiang, two hours less than the Beijing Time, which is called Ürümqi Time or Xinjiang Time. In 1912, the Republic of China established five standard time zones, namely Kunlun, Sinkiang-Tibet, Kansu-Szechwan, Chungyuan, and Changpai. The unified time zone policy was adopted by the Communist Party of China or the Central People’s Government some time between 27 September 1949 and 6 October 1949, the date is unknown. However, recent research suggests that the policy was most likely adopted on 27 September 1949, daylight saving time was observed from 1986 to 1991. In 1997 and 1999, Hong Kong and Macau were transferred to China from the United Kingdom and Portugal, although the sovereignty of the SARs belongs to China, they retain their own policies regarding time zones for historical reasons. Due to their locations, both are within the UTC+08,00 time zone, which is the same as the national standard — Beijing time. Xinjiang Time, also known as Ürümqi Time, is set due to its location in the westernmost part of the country. The time offset is UTC+06,00, which is two hours behind Beijing, and is shared with neighbouring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Currently, timezone usage within Xinjiang is roughly split along the divide, with most ethnic Han following Beijing time. Some local authorities are now using both time standard side by side, the coexistence of two timezones within the same region causes some confusion among the local population, especially when inter-racial communication occur. Some ethnic Han in Xinjiang might not be aware of the existence of the UTC+6 Xinjiang Time because of language barrier, regardless, Beijing Time users in Xinjiang usually schedule their daily activities two hours later than those who live in eastern China. As such, stores and offices in Xinjiang are commonly opening from 10am to 7pm Beijing Time and this is known as the work/rest time in Xinjiang. Hong Kong maintains its own time authority after transfer of sovereignty in 1997, the Hong Kong Time is UTC+08,00 all year round, and daylight saving time has not been used since 1979. Greenwich Mean Time was adopted as the basis in 1904, before that, local time was determined by astronomical observations at Hong Kong Observatory using a 6-inch Lee Equatorial and a 3-inch Transit Circle. Macau maintains its own time authority after transfer of sovereignty in 1999, the Macau Standard Time is the time in Macau
Beijing Time
–
Obsoleted time zones used from 1918 to 1949
10.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
Simplified Chinese characters
–
Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese characters
–
The slogan 战无不胜的毛泽东思想万岁 (Zhàn wúbù shèng de Máo Zédōng sīxiǎng wànsuì; Long live the invincible
Mao Zedong Thought) on
Xinhua Gate in Beijing.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
The first batch of Simplified Characters introduced in 1935 consisted of 324 characters.
11.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Chinese characters
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Job announcement in a Filipino Chinese daily newspaper written in Traditional Chinese characters.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
A Series of Reading workbook in Traditional Chinese used in some Elementary schools in the Philippines.
12.
Yang Province
–
Yangzhou, Yangchow or Yang Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China mentioned in historical texts such as the Tribute of Yu, Erya and Rites of Zhou. There are four different theories regarding the origin of the name Yangzhou, the Chunqiu Yuan Ming Bao recorded, The soil is damp and moist, poplars and willows thrive there, that is how the name originated. Shen Kuo wrote that Yangzhou is suitable for poplars and Jingzhou is suitable for brambles, li Dou wrote that Yangzhou is suitable for poplars and those growing on dykes are even larger. There is one every five steps and two every ten steps, in pairs and threes they stand in gardens, Yangzhou is also sometimes written in Chinese as 楊州 instead of 揚州, 楊 means poplar. The origin of the name Yangzhou has something to do with water, the Chinese dictionary Shiming, which dates back to the Eastern Han dynasty, states, There are waters everywhere on Yangzhous borders, the waters form waves. A commentary to the Classic of Poetry states, Yang, like the Chinese character for it, the name Yangzhou derives from climate and human nature. Sun Yirang wrote, This land was inhabited by the Baiyue, Yang and Yue have the same meaning, so Yangzhou could have gotten its name from Yangyue, just as Jingzhou and Jingchu have the same meaning. Before the Sui dynasty conquered the Chen dynasty in 589, the Chinese terms 揚州, according to legend, when Yu the Great tamed the flood, he divided the land of China into the Nine Provinces, of which Yangzhou was one. Pre-Qin dynasty historical texts such as the Tribute of Yu, Erya, Rites of Zhou, Yangzhou appears in all these texts even though they provide different names for the Nine Provinces. However, there are three different accounts of the location of Yangzhou. The Tribute of Yu records that Yangzhou was located between Huai and the Sea, Kong Anguo explained in Shangshu Zhuan that the text meant that Yangzhou was bordered by the Huai River in the north and the South China Sea in the south. In modern China, the covered by the ancient Yangzhou corresponds to Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi. The modern city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu is within the ancient Yangzhous boundaries, however, in later dynasties, the Shangshu Zhuan was proven to be not written by Kong Anguo, hence the books credibility was largely reduced. The ancient Chinese encyclopaedia Erya states that Jiangnan was Yangzhou, with the jiang referring to the Yangtze River, guo Pu mentioned in his annotations to the Erya that Yangzhou was defined as the region between south of the Yangtze to the Sea. This area in modern China covers roughly parts of Jiangsu and Anhui that are located south of the Yangtze, as well as Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, and parts of Jiangxi and Guangdong. However, the city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu is not within these boundaries. Xing Bing wrote in Erya Shu that Jiangnan was a portion of the ancient Yangzhou. Going by this account, the city of Yangzhou was therefore within the ancient Yangzhou
Yang Province
–
A turtle-shaped gold seal of the
Prince of Guangling in the
Han dynasty. Excavated in Ganquan Town,
Hanjiang District,
Yangzhou in 1980, it is now on display in the Han Guangling Royal Tomb Museum in Yangzhou.
13.
Zhou (country subdivision)
–
Zhou were historical political divisions of China. Formally established during the Han Dynasty, zhou continued to exist until the establishment of the Republic of China—a period of over 2000 years, zhou were also previously used in Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. The Tang Dynasty also established fǔ, zhou of special importance such as capitals, by the Ming and Qing, fǔ became predominant divisions within Chinese provinces. In modern China, zhou today exists only in the autonomous prefecture. However, zhou have left a mark on the place names of China, including the province of Guizhou and the major cities of Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Lanzhou. Zhou were first mentioned in ancient Chinese texts, notably the Yu Gong or Tribute of Yu, all agreed on the division of China into nine zhou, though they differed on their names and position. These zhou were geographical concepts, not administrative entities, the Han Dynasty was the first to formalize the zhou into actual administrative divisions by establishing 13 zhou all across China. Because these zhou were the largest divisions of the China at the time, after the Han Dynasty, however, the number of zhou began to increase. By the time of the Sui Dynasty, there were over a hundred zhou all across China, the Sui and Tang dynasties merged zhou with the next level down, the commanderies or jùn. The Tang also added another level on top, the circuit or dào, henceforth, zhou were lowered to second-level status, and the word becomes translated into English as prefecture. Thereafter, zhou continued to survive as second- or third-level political divisions until the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China abolished zhou altogether, leaving the word only in the names of cities such as Guangzhou and Hangzhou. The Peoples Republic of China recycled the name, using it to refer to the autonomous prefectures granted to various ethnicities, province Administrative divisions of the Peoples Republic of China
Zhou (country subdivision)
–
Han Dynasty zhou in CE 189.
Zhou (country subdivision)
–
A mid-Qing map of
Zhejiang Provinces, with all prefecture capitals indicated (杭州府
Hangzhou -fu, 温州府
Wenzhou -fu, 金华府
Jinhua -fu, etc.). South is on top.
14.
Standard Chinese
–
Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a language with topic-prominent organization. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants, Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. There exist two standardised forms of the language, namely Putonghua in Mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, aside from a number of differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Putonghua is written using simplified Chinese characters, while Guoyu is written using traditional Chinese characters. There are many characters that are identical between the two systems, in English, the governments of China and Hong Kong use Putonghua, Putonghua Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Mandarin, while those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, use Mandarin. The name Putonghua also has a long, albeit unofficial, history and it was used as early as 1906 in writings by Zhu Wenxiong to differentiate a modern, standard Chinese from classical Chinese and other varieties of Chinese. For some linguists of the early 20th century, the Putonghua, or common tongue/speech, was different from the Guoyu. The former was a prestige variety, while the latter was the legal standard. Based on common understandings of the time, the two were, in fact, different, Guoyu was understood as formal vernacular Chinese, which is close to classical Chinese. By contrast, Putonghua was called the speech of the modern man. The use of the term Putonghua by left-leaning intellectuals such as Qu Qiubai, prior to this, the government used both terms interchangeably. In Taiwan, Guoyu continues to be the term for Standard Chinese. The term Putonghua, on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a lingua franca, Huayu, or language of the Chinese nation, originally simply meant Chinese language, and was used in overseas communities to contrast Chinese with foreign languages. Over time, the desire to standardise the variety of Chinese spoken in these communities led to the adoption of the name Huayu to refer to Mandarin and it also incorporates the notion that Mandarin is usually not the national or common language of the areas in which overseas Chinese live. The term Mandarin is a translation of Guānhuà, which referred to the lingua franca of the late Chinese empire, in English, Mandarin may refer to the standard language, the dialect group as a whole, or to historic forms such as the late Imperial lingua franca. The name Modern Standard Mandarin is sometimes used by linguists who wish to distinguish the current state of the language from other northern. Chinese has long had considerable variation, hence prestige dialects have always existed. Confucius, for example, used yǎyán rather than colloquial regional dialects, rime books, which were written since the Northern and Southern dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard pronunciation during those times
Standard Chinese
–
A poster outside of high school in
Yangzhou urges people to speak Putonghua
Standard Chinese
–
Zhongguo Guanhua (中国官话/中國官話), or Medii Regni Communis Loquela ("Middle Kingdom's Common Speech"), used on the frontispiece of an early Chinese grammar published by
Étienne Fourmont (with
Arcadio Huang) in 1742
15.
Hanyu Pinyin
–
Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
Hanyu Pinyin
–
A school slogan asking elementary students to speak
Putonghua is annotated with pinyin, but without tonal marks.
Hanyu Pinyin
–
In
Yiling,
Yichang,
Hubei, text on road signs appears both in Chinese characters and in Hanyu Pinyin
16.
Wu Chinese
–
Wu is a group of linguistically similar and historically related varieties of Chinese primarily spoken in the whole city of Shanghai, Zhejiang province, southern Jiangsu province and bordering areas. Major Wu varieties include those of Shanghai, Suzhou, Ningbo, Wuxi, Wenzhou/Oujiang, Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua, Wu speakers, such as Chiang Kai-shek, Lu Xun and Cai Yuanpei, occupied positions of great importance in modern Chinese culture and politics. Wu can also be found being used in Shaoxing opera, which is only in national popularity to Peking opera, as well as in the performances of the popular entertainer. Wu is also spoken in a number of diaspora communities, with significant centers of immigration originating from Shanghai, Qingtian. Suzhou has traditionally been the center of Wu and was likely the first place the distinct variety of Sinitic known as Wu developed. Suzhou dialect is considered to be the most linguistically representative of the family. Due to the influence of Shanghainese, Wu as a whole is incorrectly labelled in English as simply, Shanghainese, among speakers of other Sinitic languages, Wu is often subjectively judged to be soft, light, and flowing. There is an idiom in Mandarin that specifically describes these qualities of Wu speech, Ngu nung nioe ngiu, Wu varieties have the largest vowel quality inventories in the world. The Jinhui dialect spoken in Shanghais Fengxian District has 20 vowel qualities, Wu Chinese, along with Min, is also of great significance to historical linguists due to their retention of many ancient features. These two languages have proven pivotal in determining the history of the Chinese languages. More pressing concerns of the present are those of language preservation, however, many analysts believe that a stable state of diglossia will endure for at least several generations if not indefinitely. Saying one speaks Wu is akin to saying one speaks a Romance language and it is not a particularly defined entity like Standard Mandarin or Hochdeutsch. They do this by affixing 話 Wo to their locations endonym, for example, 溫州話 Wēnzhōuhuà is used for Wenzhounese. Affixing 閒話 xiánhuà is also common and more typical of the Taihu division, Wu, the formal name and standard reference in dialectology literature. Northern Wu, Wu typically spoken in the north of Zhejiang and it by default includes the Xuanzhou division in Anhui as well, however this division is often neglected in Northern Wu discussions. Southern Wu, Wu spoken in southern Zhejiang and periphery, comprising the Oujiang, Wuzhou, Western Wu, A term gaining in usage as a synonym for the Xuanzhou division and modeled after the previous two terms since the Xuanzhou division is less representative of Northern Wu. Shanghainese, is also a common name, used because Shanghai is the most well-known city in the Wu-speaking region. The term Shanghainese is never used by linguists to refer to anything
Wu Chinese
–
Wu (Wú Yǔ) written in
Chinese characters
17.
Postal Map Romanization
–
Postal romanization was a system of transliterating Chinese place names developed by the Imperial Post Office in the early 1900s. The system was in use until the 1980s. For major cities and other places that already had widely accepted European names, with regard to other place names, the post office revised policy several times. Spellings given could reflect the pronunciation, Nanjing pronunciation, or Beijing pronunciation. At a conference held in 1906 in Shanghai, the post office selected a system of romanization developed by Herbert Giles called Nanking syllabary, although Beijing dialect had served as a national standard since the mid-19th century, the system adopted was based on Nanjing pronunciation. The system corresponded to traditional romanizations that were adopted in the 18th century when Nanjing dialect was considered standard. French-appointed administrators ran the post office at time, and they sought a less anglicized alternative to Wade-Giles. An imperial edict issued in 1896 renamed the Maritime Customs Post, reorganized this agency as a postal service. In 1899, Robert Hart, as general of posts. Although Hart asked for transliterations according to the pronunciation, most postmasters were reluctant to play lexicographer. The spellings that they submitted generally followed a system created by Thomas Francis Wade, the system had been developed in 1859 and was based on the Beijing pronunciation. It became the method of romanizing Chinese after Herbert Giles published a dictionary, using the system. The post office published a draft romanization map in 1903, disappointed with the Wade-based map, Hart made another attempt to promote localism in 1905. He directed the postmasters to submit romanizations not as directed by Wade, local missionaries could be consulted, Hart suggested. However, Wades system reflected pronunciation in most areas served by the post office, a more serious disadvantage was that the French viewed Wades system as anglophone. The top position in the post office was held by Postal Secretary Théophile Piry, until 1911, the post office remained part of the Maritime Customs Service. As customs inspector general, Hart was Pirys boss, but French backing effectively gave Piry a postal fiefdom, Piry responded to Harts moves by organising an Imperial Postal Joint-Session Conference in Shanghai in the spring of 1906. As it was a joint postal and telegraphic conference, it allowed Piry to go over Harts head, the conference resolved that existing spellings would be retained for all names already transliterated
Postal Map Romanization
–
A map of western Guangdong Province from the China Postal Album (1919).
Postal Map Romanization
–
A map of China with romanizations published in 1947.
18.
Romanization of Chinese
–
The Romanization of Chinese is the use of the Latin alphabet to write Chinese. Chinese uses a script, and its characters do not represent phonemes directly. There have been many systems using Roman characters to represent Chinese throughout history, linguist Daniel Kane recalls, It used to be said that sinologists had to be like musicians, who might compose in one key and readily transcribe into other keys. However, Hanyu Pinyin has become the standard since 1982. Other well-known systems include Wade-Giles and Yale Romanization, there are many uses for Chinese Romanization. Most broadly, it used to provide a way for foreigners who are not skilled at recognizing Chinese script a means to read. Apart from this role, it serves as a useful tool for foreign learners of Chinese by indicating the pronunciation of unfamiliar characters. It can also be helpful for clarifying pronunciation—Chinese pronunciation is an issue for some speakers of mutually unintelligible Chinese varieties who do not speak Mandarin fluently. Standard keyboards such as QWERTY are designed for the Latin alphabet, Chinese dictionaries have complex and competing sorting rules for characters, and romanization systems can simplify the problem by listing the characters by their Latin form alphabetically. Romanization systems for other Chinese varieties are indicated in the box on the right side of this page. This understanding is reflected in the precise Fanqie system, and it is the principle of all modern systems. Aside from syllable structure, it is necessary to indicate tones in Chinese romanization. Tones distinguish the definition of all morphemes in Chinese, and the definition of a word is ambiguous in the absence of tones. Certain systems such as Wade-Giles indicate tone with a following the syllable, ma1, ma2, ma3. Others, like Pinyin, indicate the tone diacritics, mā, má, mǎ. Making the actual pronunciation conventions of spoken Chinese intelligible to non-Chinese-speaking students, making the syntactic structure of Chinese intelligible to those only familiar with Latin grammar. Allowing instant communication in colloquial Chinese between Chinese and non-Chinese speakers via a phrase-book, identifying the specific pronunciation of a character within a specific context. Such a system has to work vertically down the page, right-to-left, reciting a Chinese text in Mandarin for some literate speakers of another mutually unintelligible Chinese varieties, such as Cantonese, who do not speak Mandarin fluently
Romanization of Chinese
–
Posters and slogans in and around Chinese schools often have each character annotated with its
Standard Chinese reading in Pinyin
Romanization of Chinese
–
A 17th-century European map using the then-typical transcription of Chinese place names. Note the systematic use of x where Pinyin has sh, si where Pinyin has xi, and qu (stylized qv) where Pinyin uses gu
19.
Yangtze
–
The Yangtze River, known in China as the Cháng Jiāng or the Yángzǐ Jiāng, is the longest river in Asia and the third-longest in the world. The river is the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country and it drains one-fifth of the land area of the Peoples Republic of China and its river basin is home to one-third of the countrys population. The Yangtze is the sixth-largest river by volume in the world. The Yangtze River plays a role in the history, culture. The prosperous Yangtze River Delta generates as much as 20% of the PRCs GDP, for thousands of years, the river has been used for water, irrigation, sanitation, transportation, industry, boundary-marking and war. The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the largest hydro-electric power station in the world, in recent years, the river has suffered from industrial pollution, agricultural run-off, siltation, and loss of wetland and lakes, which exacerbates seasonal flooding. Some sections of the river are now protected as nature reserves, a stretch of the upstream Yangtze flowing through deep gorges in western Yunnan is part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In mid-2014 the Chinese government announced it was building a transport network, comprising railways, roads and airports. Because the source of the Yangtze was not ascertained until modern times, Yangtze was actually the name of Chang Jiang for the lower part from Nanjing to the river mouth at Shanghai. In modern Chinese, Yangtze is still used to refer to the part of Chang Jiang from Nanjing to the river mouth. Yangtze never stands for the whole Chang Jiang, Chang Jiang is the modern Chinese name for the lower 2,884 km of the Yangtze from its confluence with the Min River at Yibin in Sichuan Province to the river mouth at Shanghai. Chang Jiang literally means the Long River, in Old Chinese, this stretch of the Yangtze was simply called Jiang/Kiang 江, a character of phono-semantic compound origin, combining the water radical 氵 with the homophone 工. Krong was probably a word in the Austroasiatic language of local peoples such as the Yue, similar to *krong in Proto-Vietnamese and krung in Mon, all meaning river, it is related to modern Vietnamese sông and Khmer kôngkea. By the Han Dynasty, Jiang had come to any river in Chinese. The epithet 長, means long, was first formally applied to the river during the Six Dynasties period, various sections of Chang Jiang have local names. From Yibin to Yichang, the river through Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality is also known as the Chuan Jiang or Sichuan River, in the Hubei Province, the river is also called the Jing Jiang or the Jing River after Jingzhou. In Anhui Province, the takes on the local name Wan Jiang after the shorthand name for Anhui. And Yangzi Jiang t 揚子江s 扬子江, p Yángzǐjiāng) or the Yangzi River, the name likely comes from an ancient ferry crossing called Yangzi or Yangzijin
Yangtze
–
Dusk on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (
Three Gorges)
Yangtze
–
A map of China depicting the Yellow River's southerly path following its stabilization by the Grand Eunuch
Li Xing 's public works after the
1494 flood.
Yangtze
–
Cruise on the Yangtze River before sunset
Yangtze
–
The glaciers of the Tanggula Mountains, the source of the Yangtze River
20.
Nanjing
–
Nanjing has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having served as the capitals of various Chinese dynasties, kingdoms and republican governments dating from the 3rd century CE to 1949. When being the capital of a state, for instance, the ROC, Nanjing is particularly known as Jinling or Ginling and the old name has been used since the Warring States period in Zhou Dynasty. Located in Yangtze River Delta area and the center of east China and it has also been awarded the title of 2008 Habitat Scroll of Honour of China, Special UN Habitat Scroll of Honour Award and National Civilized City. Nanjing boasts many high-quality universities and research institutes, with the number of universities listed in 100 National Key Universities ranking third, the ratio of college students to total population ranks No.1 among large cities nationwide. Nanjing is one of the three Chinese top research centers according to Nature Index, Key cultural facilities include Nanjing Library, Nanjing Museum and Art Museum. Archaeological discovery shows that Nanjing Man lived in more than 500 thousand years ago, zun, a kind of wine vessel, was found to exist in Beiyinyangying culture of Nanjing in about 5000 years ago. According to a legend quoted by an artist in Ming dynasty, Chen Yi, Fuchai, King of the State of Wu, later in 473 BCE, the State of Yue conquered Wu and constructed the fort of Yuecheng on the outskirts of the present-day Zhonghua Gate. In 333 BCE, after eliminating the State of Yue, the State of Chu built Jinling Yi in the part of present-day Nanjing. It was renamed Moling during reign of Qin Shi Huang, since then, the city experienced destruction and renewal many times. Nanjing was later the city of Danyang Prefecture, and had been the capital city of Yangzhou for about 400 years from late Han to early Tang. This city would soon play a role in the following centuries. Shortly after the unification of the region, the Western Jin dynasty collapsed, First the rebellions by eight Jin princes for the throne and later rebellions and invasion from Xiongnu and other nomadic peoples that destroyed the rule of the Jin dynasty in the north. Its the first time that the capital of the moved to southern part. During the period of North–South division, Nanjing remained the capital of the Southern dynasties for more than two and a half centuries, during this time, Nanjing was the international hub of East Asia. Based on historical documents, the city had 280,000 registered households, assuming an average Nanjing household had about 5.1 people at that time, the city had more than 1.4 million residents. As the old capital of China, many legendary stories happened here, residents in Nanjing all have the warmest affection for this city. Throughout glory and darkness in past centuries, Nanjing becomes a low-key city, GDP growth rate significantly exceeds the average rate in China for decades, which also maintain a fast developing model. Possibly the best preserved of them is the ensemble of the Tomb of Xiao Xiu, the period of division ended when the Sui Dynasty reunified China and almost destroyed the entire city, turning it into a small town
Nanjing
–
Clockwise from top: 1. the city,
Xuanwu Lake and
Purple Mountain; 2.
stone sculpture "
bixie "; 3.
Jiming Temple; 4. Yijiang Gate with the
City Wall of Nanjing; 5.
Qinhuai River and
Fuzi Miao; 6.
Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre; 7. the
spirit way of
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum; 8.
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
Nanjing
–
Location of Nanjing City jurisdiction in Jiangsu
Nanjing
–
Historic names of Nanjing.
Nanjing
–
A
bixie sculpture at
Xiao Xiu 's tomb (AD 518).
Stone sculpture of the southern dynasties is widely considered as the city's icon
21.
Yancheng
–
Yancheng is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, Peoples Republic of China. Yancheng, literally Salt City, is named after the salt harvest fields surrounding the city, according to the 2010 Census, Yancheng has a registered population of 8,203,728 — with 7,260,240 permanent residents. Its built up area of Tinghu and Yandu Districts, was home to 1,615,717 inhabitants in 2010, the prefecture-level city of Yancheng administers 9 county-level divisions, including 3 districts,1 county-level city and 5 counties. The population information here presented uses 2010 census data of permanent residents, Yancheng has a history of 2,100 years since the first canton was founded here in Han Dynasty at year 119 BC. It was named for the reserves in rivers around the area. In later years, the city was the home of Fan Zhongyan, the 12th century statesman and Shi Naian, Yancheng was in the limelight during the Chinese Civil War from the 1930s to 1940s. The New Fourth Army led by the Communist Party of China was reestablished in Yancheng after being ambushed and battered by the enemy, after the revival, the Army played a very important role in the war and finally the foundation of the Peoples Republic of China. Many monuments in honor of these heroes can still be found around Yancheng, Yancheng occupies the flat coastal plains of Eastern Jiangsu. Those areas not cultivated are mainly marshlands, which are home to endangered species, including the red-crowned crane. Yancheng has a climate with fairly mild winters and distinctly tropical late summers. Recent development of infrastructure in Northern Jiangsu has directly impacted Yancheng. The Yancheng train station opened in 2006, and Yancheng now offers overnight train service to Beijing, Yancheng is also the endpoint of the Ningjingyan Expressway as well as a major stop on the Coastal Expressway, connecting it with Shanghai. Transportation by bus is available on a basis to Lianyungang as well as neighbouring counties Funing, Sheyang, Binhai. Yanchengs BRT system uses a bus lane and allows daily unlimited ridership for 1 RMB per day. Yancheng Nanyang International Airport now flies directly to Shanghai and Beijing, as well as flying directly to Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Yanchengs financial income used to rely heavily on agricultural industry. In 2002, Yanchengs economy has been boosted by a joint venture between Kia Motors and Dongfeng Automotive Group, with the creation of the Yancheng Plant. The plant was expanded in 2007, Yancheng Radio and Television University is a branch of this national educational giant in the city. Jiangsu Yancheng Middle School, founded in 1927, is recognized as one of the top schools in Jiangsu province
Yancheng
–
Yancheng is highlighted on this map
22.
Taizhou, Jiangsu
–
Taizhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province in eastern China. Situated on the bank of the Yangtze River, it borders Nantong to the east, Yancheng to the north. The 2010 census counted its population at 4,618,937 of whom 1,607,108 live in the area made of three urban districts. Hu Jintao, former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China considered Taizhou his home town as did Mei Lanfang, the prefecture-level city of Taizhou administers six county-level divisions, including two districts and four county-level cities. These are further divided into 105 township-level divisions, including 91 towns, eight townships and its latitude ranges from about 32° 02′ — 33°11′ N and longitude 119° 38′ — 120° 32′ E, with a total area of 5,793 square kilometres. Neighbouring Areas, Yangzhou to the west, Nantong to the east, Taizhou City has a long history and was first known as Hǎiyáng in the Spring and Autumn period, it was later called Hǎilíng during the Western Han Dynasty. It became Hailing County in 117 B. C. and was famous during the Eastern Jin Dynasty on a par with Jinling and Guangling, Lanling. During the Southern Tang Dynasty it was named Taizhou Prefecture, which means Peaceful country, Taizhou became independent of its larger neighbour Yangzhou in the 10th century AD. Under the Ming dynasty, the trade was centered here. In 1952, the construction of a new canal and ship locks linked Taizhou with the Yangzi River. With a history of over 2100 years, Taizhou has enjoyed the reputation of being the Ancient County of the Han and Tang Dynasties, through the ages, it has seen gatherings of many talented people and famous merchants. Taizhou has always been a political, economic, cultural and transportation center in Central Jiangsu Province, the hometown of great artistic Masters like Shi Naian, Zheng Banqiao, and Mei Lanfang, etc. Taizhou is also the birthplace of the Navy of Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, Taizhou is now one of the famous historical and cultural cities of Jiangsu Province. Taizhou is a center for flour mills, textile works, fishing net manufacturing, having a favorable geographical location, rich resources and solid economic foundation, Taizhou was approved by the States Council to be one of the open coastal cities. In the past 20 years, the growth has remained stable with an average annual growth rate exceeding 10%. It is one of the cities inside the Yangtse River Delta with its developed industry, convenient transportation. In 2009, the GDP reached RMB165.1 billion yuan, the GDP per capita RMB35,498 yuan, the fiscal revenue RMB34.4 billion yuan, five county-level cities or districts are ranked among the Chinas Top 100 Counties with Greatest Comprehensive Power. It boasts numbers of large-sized enterprises or groups, such as Chunlan Group Corp, Taizhou was among the first few cities in Jiangsu to be recognized as having a famous cultural history
Taizhou, Jiangsu
–
Taizhou
Taizhou, Jiangsu
–
Memorial to the victims of the Zhong'anlun Yangtze ferry disaster (October 15, 1945) in
Taixing
23.
Zhenjiang
–
Zhenjiang, formerly romanized as Chenkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou and between Nanjing and Changzhou, Zhenjiang was formerly the provincial capital of Jiangsu and remains as an important transportation hub. The town is best known in China and abroad for its fragrant black vinegar, zhènjiāng is the pinyin romanization of the Chinese name 鎮江 or 镇江, based on the names pronunciation in the Mandarin dialect. The name means Suppressing or Guarding the River and refers to the army garrisons placed in the city to protect Nanjing. The Postal Map used Chenkiang and it was known as Chen-chiang in the Wade-Giles system, other romanizations include Chin-keang-foo, Chen-kiang-fu, and Chinkiang. Former names include Jingjiang and Jingkou, Zhenjiang was the seat of feudal domains from the 8th century BC onwards, under the names Yi, Zhufang, and Guyang. After it was captured by the First Emperor of the Qin in 221 BC, a Chinese legend holds that the sites fengshui was so advantageous that the First Emperor ordered 3000 prisoners to dig a tunnel through one of Zhenjiangs hills to dissipate its qi. It became a seat during the middle of the 3rd century BC. The Sui took the city in AD581 and made it an important garrison on the lower Yangtze, in 595, it was made a commandery seat. Its importance grew with the construction of the Grand Canal, after which it served as the chief collection, the city flourished from the 10th to 13th centuries, when it produced fine silks, satins, and silverware for the Song emperors. The 11th-century scientist and statesman Shen Kuo composed his 1088 Dream Pool Essays during his retirement in an estate on the outskirts of the city. It was taken by the Mongolians during their 1275 campaign against the Song capital at Hangzhou, under the Yuan, some Nestorian Christians were reported living in the city. The city fell to Xu Da on 17 March 1356, under the Qing, Zhenjiang was a city of half a million surrounded by a circuit of brick city walls up to 35 feet high. It was captured by the British on 21 July 1842 during the First Opium War and after a fierce resistance, a decade later, massive floods of the Yellow River altered its course north of Shandong and closed the northern path of the Grand Canal. Soon after, the town was sacked by the Taiping rebels in 1853 and it was recaptured by the Qing in 1858 and opened as a treaty port in 1861. The population was estimated at 168,000 in 1904, the southern part of the Grand Canal was obstructed in the early 20th century, although by that point the city was connected by rail to Shanghai and Nanjing. From 1928 to 1949, while Nanjing served as the capital of the Republic of China, when the Communists won the Chinese Civil War and relocated the capital to Beijing, Nanjing resumed its role as Jiangsus capital
Zhenjiang
–
Jinshan
Zhenjiang
–
The Jinshan Temple
Zhenjiang
–
The roof othe Longchang Temple
Zhenjiang
–
Coolie labourer in Zhenjiang, circa 1900
24.
Yangzhou (ancient China)
–
Yangzhou, Yangchow or Yang Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China mentioned in historical texts such as the Tribute of Yu, Erya and Rites of Zhou. There are four different theories regarding the origin of the name Yangzhou, the Chunqiu Yuan Ming Bao recorded, The soil is damp and moist, poplars and willows thrive there, that is how the name originated. Shen Kuo wrote that Yangzhou is suitable for poplars and Jingzhou is suitable for brambles, li Dou wrote that Yangzhou is suitable for poplars and those growing on dykes are even larger. There is one every five steps and two every ten steps, in pairs and threes they stand in gardens, Yangzhou is also sometimes written in Chinese as 楊州 instead of 揚州, 楊 means poplar. The origin of the name Yangzhou has something to do with water, the Chinese dictionary Shiming, which dates back to the Eastern Han dynasty, states, There are waters everywhere on Yangzhous borders, the waters form waves. A commentary to the Classic of Poetry states, Yang, like the Chinese character for it, the name Yangzhou derives from climate and human nature. Sun Yirang wrote, This land was inhabited by the Baiyue, Yang and Yue have the same meaning, so Yangzhou could have gotten its name from Yangyue, just as Jingzhou and Jingchu have the same meaning. Before the Sui dynasty conquered the Chen dynasty in 589, the Chinese terms 揚州, according to legend, when Yu the Great tamed the flood, he divided the land of China into the Nine Provinces, of which Yangzhou was one. Pre-Qin dynasty historical texts such as the Tribute of Yu, Erya, Rites of Zhou, Yangzhou appears in all these texts even though they provide different names for the Nine Provinces. However, there are three different accounts of the location of Yangzhou. The Tribute of Yu records that Yangzhou was located between Huai and the Sea, Kong Anguo explained in Shangshu Zhuan that the text meant that Yangzhou was bordered by the Huai River in the north and the South China Sea in the south. In modern China, the covered by the ancient Yangzhou corresponds to Jiangsu, Anhui, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi. The modern city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu is within the ancient Yangzhous boundaries, however, in later dynasties, the Shangshu Zhuan was proven to be not written by Kong Anguo, hence the books credibility was largely reduced. The ancient Chinese encyclopaedia Erya states that Jiangnan was Yangzhou, with the jiang referring to the Yangtze River, guo Pu mentioned in his annotations to the Erya that Yangzhou was defined as the region between south of the Yangtze to the Sea. This area in modern China covers roughly parts of Jiangsu and Anhui that are located south of the Yangtze, as well as Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, and parts of Jiangxi and Guangdong. However, the city of Yangzhou in Jiangsu is not within these boundaries. Xing Bing wrote in Erya Shu that Jiangnan was a portion of the ancient Yangzhou. Going by this account, the city of Yangzhou was therefore within the ancient Yangzhou
Yangzhou (ancient China)
–
A turtle-shaped gold seal of the
Prince of Guangling in the
Han dynasty. Excavated in Ganquan Town,
Hanjiang District,
Yangzhou in 1980, it is now on display in the Han Guangling Royal Tomb Museum in Yangzhou.
25.
District (PRC)
–
The term district, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China. In the modern context, district or sub-city, formally city-governed district, city-controlled district, the rank of a district derives from the rank of its city. Districts of a municipality are prefecture-level, districts of a city are sub-prefecture-level. It was also used to refer the obsolete County-controlled districts. However, if the district is encountered in the context of ancient Chinese history, then it is a translation for xian. As a result, districts were also mostly urban or suburban in nature, after the 1980s, prefectures began to be replaced with prefecture-level cities. From then on, cities in mainland China became just like any other division, containing urban areas, towns, villages. These cities are subdivided into districts, counties, autonomous counties, at the same time, counties and county-level cities began to be replaced with districts, especially after 1990. From then onwards, districts were no longer strictly an urban entities — some districts today are just like counties, with a large towns, a regular district under a municipality or prefecture-level city. A type of city districts that are created for ethnic minorities. Currently there are 4 such ethnic districts, three in Henan and one in Heilongjiang, chanhe Hui District Guancheng Hui District Shunhe Hui District Meilisi Daur District Huimin District A special county-level division located in Guizhou. Liuzhi Special District, Liupanshui A special Sub-prefectural-level forestry district located in Hubei, shennongjia A county-controlled district sometimes translated as county-governed district, county district or sub-county, is a sub-county in the Peoples Republic of China. A branch of a county government, a public office is the administrative office in a district. A county-controlled district was once an important subdivision of a county all over China from 1950s to 1990s and it was common for there to be about 5 to 10 districts in a county, then about 3 to 5 towns and townships in a district. After the 1990s, county-controlled districts began to be phased out, if the word district is encountered in the context of ancient Chinese history, then the word is a translation for xian, another type of administrative division in China. Xian has been translated using several English terms, in the context of ancient history, district and prefecture are commonly used, while county is used for more contemporary contexts. See Counties of the Peoples Republic of China for more information on the xian of China, list of districts in China District
District (PRC)
–
District Sub-city
26.
County-level cities
–
A county-level municipality, county-level city, or county city is a county-level administrative division of mainland China. County-level cities are governed by prefecture-level divisions, but a few are governed directly by province-level divisions. Most county-level cities were created in the 1980s and 1990s by replacing counties, a county-level city is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is an entity. County-level cities are not cities in the strictest sense of the word, since they usually contain rural areas many times the size of their urban and this is because the counties that county-level cities have replaced are themselves large administrative units containing towns, villages, and farmland. To distinguish a city from its actual urban area, the term 市区 shìqū. In France, an equivalent of a city is an agglomeration community. For example, in New South Wales such a unit may often be called a city, city of Blue Mountains is made of a number of towns. Another example would be municipal government in the Canadian province of Ontario and this agglomeration includes all of the townships in the county of Kent, with cities and towns like Wallaceberg, Thamesville, Dresden, Wheatley. This amalgamation as it is referred to, was controversial when it was forced upon the constituents through provincial legislation. Today, instead of each city having its own mayor and city councillors, as of January 2017, there are 360 County-level city in total, A sub-prefecture-level city is a county-level city with powers approaching those of prefecture-level cities. Examples include, Xiantao, Qianjiang, Tianmen and Jiyuan, administrative divisions of China Counties of the Peoples Republic of China Prefecture-level city List of cities in China
County-level cities
–
In the main urban area of
Daye, a county-level city within the prefecture-level city of
Huangshi,
Hubei. Daye also includes some separate
towns, such as Dajipu (大箕铺)
County-level cities
–
County-level city
County-level cities
–
Old City Chinese quarter
27.
Town of China
–
When referring to political divisions of China, town is the standard English translation of the Chinese 镇. It is an administrative unit, i. e. one of the units into which counties. Another common fourth-level unit is the township, a township is typically smaller in population, similarly to a higher-level administrative units, the borders of a town would typically include an urban core, as well as rural area with some villages. For example, the county government of Tongshan County, Hubei is located in Tongyang Town, road signs would also normally show distance to Tongshan rather than Tongyang
Town of China
–
In the central urban area of Longgang Town (龙港镇, Longgang Zhen), a typical town of
Yangxin County,
Hubei
Town of China
–
Maoping Town, the county seat of
Zigui County, is often labeled "Zigui" on less-detailed maps
28.
Baoying County
–
Baoying County is under the administration of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China. It has a population of 919,900 and a area of 1,483 square kilometres. The northernmost county-level division of Yangzhou City, it borders the cities of Yancheng to the east and Huaian to the north. Baoying administers a total of fourteen towns, in the Southern Dynasties period, Baoying was Anyi County of Yangping Commandery. In Tang, it was renamed Baoying to reflect 13 jade treasures acquired there by a nun named Zhenru and its first local gazetteer was compiled in 1530, an outline in four chapters, followed by a 10-chapter gazetteer of 1567-70. The county suffered from flooding and from piracy in Ming times, illustrated Album of Yangzhou Prefecture, from 1573–1620, has illustrations of Baoying
Baoying County
–
Baoying
29.
Gaoyou
–
Gaoyou, also known as Qinyou, is a county-level city under the administration of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China, located in the Yangtze River Delta on the north side of the Yangtze River. In 2000, it had a total topulation of 830,000 residing in 1,963 km2, Gaoyou is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou prefecture-level city, and administers 19 towns and one township. Lingtang Hui Ethnic Township Gaoyou was founded in 223 BC, but recent archaeological finds at the Longqiuzhuang site in Gaoyou has found evidence of rice growing dating back 5, 500-7,000 years. In 1375, early in the Ming Dynasty by the Hongwu Emperor, at that time, it was one of the 46 important mail posts along the Grand Canal between Beijing and Nanjing. It was in use until the 1911 Revolution, the Beijing-Shanghai expressway and the Grand Canal of China run though the city center from the north to the south. Gaoyou is relatively flat with an elevation of 2 to 3 meters, the ground is mostly made up of clay. There is, however, a basaltic volcano, named Shenju Hill. The Yucheng Post and Museum A postal stop in Qing dynasty and it was built as a post station in AD1375. Largest and oldest historic post-office in the world. picture, the Wenyou Platform Built in AD976 to memorize Qin Shaoyou, a well-known poet of the Song Dynasty. 3. Longqiu Village 7000-year history, area of 43,000 square meters,4. Peoples Plaza, Kuixing Pavilion and City Wall, Jingtusi Pagoda and Zhenguosi Pagoda. An odd number of stories is considered yang based on the philosophy of Yin,5. Wangs museum Wang Nianshun and Wang Yinzhi, Masters in Confucian Philosophy and Classic literatures. Gaoyou has a very fast growing economy and it is home to approximately 3,000 industrial enterprises, most of which belong to the following sectors, machinery, light industry, textile, mechanical industry, building materials, and electronics. Agriculture plays a part in the overall economy of the region. The well-known feature product is double yolk duck egg, list of administrative divisions of Jiangsu Gaoyou Information Website Gaoyou City English guide Illustrated Album of Yangzhou Prefecture, from 1573-1620, has illustrations of Gaoyou
Gaoyou
–
Gaoyou
30.
Yizheng
–
Yizheng is a county-level city under the administration of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China, with a population of about 600,000. It borders the prefecture-level divisions of Chuzhou to the north and Nanjing to the west, Yizheng is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture City. On the northern bank of Yangzhou, Yizheng is situated in the north of Jiangsu, the city borders Luhe District of Nanjing on west, Yangzhou Metropolis on east and Tianchang of Anhui Province on north. The city owns a riverbank of 27 km, facing Zhenjiang in opposite of the river. Two major bodies of water, the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, run through Yizheng from west to east and from north to south, respectively, nature resources mainly include underground water, basalt, fruit, sand and medical herbs. Aquatic products are abundant as well, Yizheng has a subtropical monsoon climate with humid and changeable wind. The city’s average temperature is 15 °C annually but there is no further information addressing the range of temperatures, according to records, the hottest temperature for Yizheng’ immediately neighbor, Yangzhou metropolis, is 39 °C in July and the coldest temperature recorded is -17° in January. The raining season is from the middle of June to July and its municipal government is stationed in the Town of Zhenzhou. Yizheng has a land of 900 km2 and its population is around 600,000. The city was a traditional land in the past and this farm sector has been now in shrinking since 1982 after a major chemical corporation was settle down on its territory. Now the agriculture income occupies less than 5% of the citys revenue, the principal agriculture products include rice, wheat, oil seed, vegetable, etc. As its abundant water resource, Yizheng produces diverse aquatic products including crab, shrimp, fish, important industrial sectors include auto parts manufacture, chemical fiber, textile, shipbuilding and repair, etc. Yizheng is also an industrial hub associated with storing and transporting crude oil for Nanjing and Shandong Province. Yizheng environment is still in a fine shape although there have been complains from residents for air pollutions, the municipal government has spent significant funds to protect its environment and reduce the air pollution caused by greenhouse gas emission. Many polluters have been ordered to be shut down or be under a strict inspection, principal roads include Ningtong Expressway and Ningqi Railway, running through the city from west to east. The opening of Runyang Yangtze River Bridge offers the city an alternative to communicate with the South of Jiangsu, tourist attractions include Tiannin Pagoda, Drum Tower, Dengyu Lake. Yangzhou The Western Suburb Forest Park is located in the Town of Liuji of Yizheng, the park has a forest coverage rate of 85% and has established its entertainment facilities for tourist purpose. Yizheng has well instituted compulsory primary education system, the secondary schools including high schools achieves significant graduate rate
Yizheng
–
Yizheng
31.
County-level city
–
A county-level municipality, county-level city, or county city is a county-level administrative division of mainland China. County-level cities are governed by prefecture-level divisions, but a few are governed directly by province-level divisions. Most county-level cities were created in the 1980s and 1990s by replacing counties, a county-level city is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is an entity. County-level cities are not cities in the strictest sense of the word, since they usually contain rural areas many times the size of their urban and this is because the counties that county-level cities have replaced are themselves large administrative units containing towns, villages, and farmland. To distinguish a city from its actual urban area, the term 市区 shìqū. In France, an equivalent of a city is an agglomeration community. For example, in New South Wales such a unit may often be called a city, city of Blue Mountains is made of a number of towns. Another example would be municipal government in the Canadian province of Ontario and this agglomeration includes all of the townships in the county of Kent, with cities and towns like Wallaceberg, Thamesville, Dresden, Wheatley. This amalgamation as it is referred to, was controversial when it was forced upon the constituents through provincial legislation. Today, instead of each city having its own mayor and city councillors, as of January 2017, there are 360 County-level city in total, A sub-prefecture-level city is a county-level city with powers approaching those of prefecture-level cities. Examples include, Xiantao, Qianjiang, Tianmen and Jiyuan, administrative divisions of China Counties of the Peoples Republic of China Prefecture-level city List of cities in China
County-level city
–
In the main urban area of
Daye, a county-level city within the prefecture-level city of
Huangshi,
Hubei. Daye also includes some separate
towns, such as Dajipu (大箕铺)
County-level city
–
County-level city
County-level city
–
Old City Chinese quarter
32.
Spring and Autumn period
–
The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 771 to 476 BC which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty. The periods name derives from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 and 479 BC, which associates with Confucius. The gradual Partition of Jin, one of the most powerful states, marked the end of the Spring and Autumn period, in 771 BC, the Quanrong invasion destroyed the Western Zhou and its capital Haojing, forcing the Zhou king to flee to the eastern capital Luoyi. The event ushered in the Eastern Zhou dynasty, which is divided into the Spring and Autumn, during the Spring and Autumn period, Chinas feudal system of fengjian became largely irrelevant. The Zhou court, having lost its homeland in the Guanzhong region, held nominal power, during the early part of the Zhou dynasty period, royal relatives and generals had been given control over fiefdoms in an effort to maintain Zhou authority over vast territory. As the power of the Zhou kings waned, these became increasingly independent states. The most important states came together in regular conferences where they decided important matters, during these conferences one vassal ruler was sometimes declared hegemon. As the era continued, larger and more powerful states annexed or claimed suzerainty over smaller ones, by the 6th century BC most small states had disappeared and just a few large and powerful principalities dominated China. Some southern states, such as Chu and Wu, claimed independence from the Zhou, in Chengzhou, Prince Yijiu was crowned by his supporters as King Ping. The Zhou court would never regain its authority, instead. Though the king de jure retained the Mandate of Heaven, the title held little actual power, a total of 148 states are mentioned in the chronicles for this period,128 of which were absorbed by the four largest states by the end of the period. The kings prestige legitimized the military leaders of the states, over the next two centuries, the four most powerful states—Qin, Jin, Qi and Chu—struggled for power. These multi-city states often used the pretext of aid and protection to intervene, during this rapid expansion, interstate relations alternated between low-level warfare and complex diplomacy. Duke Yin of Lu ascended the throne in 722 BC, from this year on the state of Lu kept an official chronicle, the Spring and Autumn Annals, which along with its commentaries is the standard source for the Spring and Autumn period. Corresponding chronicles are known to have existed in states as well. In 717 BC, Duke Zhuang of Zheng went to the capital for an audience with King Huan, during the encounter the duke felt he was not treated with the respect and etiquette which would have been appropriate, given that Zheng was now the chief protector of the capital. In 715 BC Zheng also became involved in a dispute with Lu regarding the Fields of Xu. The fields had been put in the care of Lu by the king for the purpose of producing royal sacrifices for the sacred Mount Tai
Spring and Autumn period
–
History of China
Spring and Autumn period
–
Urbanization during the Spring and Autumn period.
Spring and Autumn period
–
Chinese pu vessel with interlaced
dragon design, Spring and Autumn period.
Spring and Autumn period
–
A large
bronze tripod vessel from the Spring and Autumn period, now located at the
Henan Museum
33.
Yue (state)
–
Its original capital was a site near Mount Kuaiji, after its conquest of Wu, the Kings of Yue moved their court north to the city of Wu. According to Sima Qian, Yues rulers claimed to be descended from the Xia emperor Yu, the name Yue was applied indiscriminately to many southern Chinese peoples throughout classical Chinese texts. A specific kingdom under their name in modern Zhejiang is not mentioned until it began a series of wars against its northern neighbor Wu in the late 6th century BC, with help from Wus enemy Chu, Yue was able to be victorious after several decades of conflict. King Goujian destroyed and annexed Wu in 473 BC, competing against the fewer, more powerful Warring States, Yue did not fare as well. During the reign of Wujiang, six generations after Goujian, Yue was destroyed and annexed by Chu in 334 BC, during its existence, Yue was famous for the quality of its metalworking, particularly its swords. Examples include the extremely well-preserved Swords of Goujian and Zhougou, the Yue state appears to have been a largely indigenous political development in the lower Yangtze. Austronesian speakers also still lived in the region down to its conquest and their ancestral name is rendered variously as either Si or Yu. After the fall of Yue, the family moved south to what is now northern Fujian. This successor state lasted until around 150 BC, when it miscalculated an alliance with the Han dynasty, mingdi, Wujiangs second son, was appointed minister of Wucheng by the king of Chu. He was titled Marquis of Ouyang Ting, from a pavilion on the side of Ouyu Mountain. Yuenü, swordswoman & author of the exposition on swordplay Xi Shi. Some Kam-Tai Words in Place Names of the Ancient Wu and Yue States, eric Henry, The Submerged History of Yuè
Yue (state)
–
A statue of a man, dating from the State of Yue era
Yue (state)
–
A model of a warship used by the state of Yue during the Warring States period. From the
Zhejiang Provincial Museum in
Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China.
34.
King Fuchai of Wu
–
King Fuchai of Wu was the last king of Wu, a state in ancient China, he reigned towards the end of the Spring and Autumn period. Fuchai of Wu, was the son of King Helü of Wu and he became king in 495 BC following the death of his father. In 494 BC, he defeated the armies of Yue in Fujiao, instead of annexing Yue, as suggested by his advisor Bo Pi, he made peace with the king of Yue, Goujian. After this battle, he built the Han Canal and pushed his army northward, in Ailing, his army defeated the state of Qi. In 482 BC Fuchai successfully challenged the state of Jin for the status of hegemon in the regional meeting in Huangchi. However, during the part of his reign, his extravagance and obsession with a Yue beauty, Xi Shi. King Goujian of Yue took advantage of this situation to invade Wu and was able to defeat the Wu armies, following his victory, Wu was destroyed in 473 BC and King Fuchai was forced to commit suicide. Fuchai had at least four sons, three of whom were You, Hong and Hui and you was his heir but was killed in the battles leading to the defeat of Wu. So Hong became the new heir, after the abolition of the state, the other three sons of Fuchai were exiled. They and their descendants took Wu as their clan name, Wu Rui, Prince of Changsha created by Emperor Gaozu of Han, was a descendant of the House of Wu. He was also said to be descended from Fuchai, in 494 BC, King Goujian of Yue heard that Fuchai was planning to attack Yue to avenge the death of his father. Fan Li, a minister of Yue, advised Goujian to await developments. Fuchai received information about Goujians plans and sent his armies to attack Goujians forces, the battle occurred in Fujiao and Yue’s army suffered a major defeat with only five thousand surviving. Yue’s army fell back to Guiji mountain, Fuchai occupied Guiji town and surrounded the mountain. Goujian had to adopt Fan Li’s suggestion and sent Wen Zhong to bribe the Wu’s Prime Minister Bo Pi to make peace, Bo Pi accepted the gifts and promised to help Goujian. As Fuchai was anxious to send his armies north to challenge the state of Qi, with Bo Pis encouragement Fuchai made peace with Goujian, the Chinese idiom, wòxīn-chángdǎn is a famous idiom which can be interpreted to mean enduring hardship and plotting revenge. The idiom came from the story of King Goujian of Yue after he was defeated by Fuchai in 494 BC, after Fuchai withdrew his forces troops from Yue, Goujian took his wife and Fan Li to Wu to serve Fuchai. Goujian did his utmost to serve Fuchai and was able to gain Fuchai’s favour, after three years, Goujian was permitted to return to Yue
King Fuchai of Wu
–
Spear of Fuchai at the
Hubei Provincial Museum
35.
Li (unit)
–
The li, also known as the Chinese mile, is a traditional Chinese unit of distance. The li has varied considerably over time but was usually about a third as long as the English mile and this is then divided into 1,500 chi or Chinese feet. The character 里 combines the characters for field and earth, since it was considered to be about the length of a single village. As late as the 1940s, a li did not represent a fixed measure, there is also another li that indicates a unit of length 1/1000 of a chi, but it is used much less commonly. This li is used in the Peoples Republic of China as the equivalent of the prefix in metric units. This traditional unit, in terms of usage and distance proportion. The basic Chinese traditional unit of distance was the chi, as its value changed over time, so did the lis. In addition, the number of chi per li was sometimes altered, to add further complexity, under the Qin Dynasty, the li was set at 360 paces but the number of chi per bu was subsequently changed from 6 to 5, shortening the li by 1⁄6. Thus, the Qin li of about 576 meters became the Han li, the basic units of measurement fortunately remained stable over the Qin and Han periods. A bronze imperial standard measure, dated AD9, had been preserved at the Imperial Palace in Beijing and this has allowed very accurate conversions to modern measurements, which has provided a new and extremely useful additional tool in the identification of place names and routes. These measurements have confirmed in many ways including the discovery of a number of rulers found at archaeological sites. The Han li was calculated by Dubs to be 415.8 metres and all indications are that this is a precise, under the Tang Dynasty, the li was approximately 323 meters. In the late Manchu or Qing Dynasty, the number of chi was increased from 1,500 per li to 1,800 and this had a value of 2115 feet or 644.6 meters. In addition, the Qing added a longer unit called the tu and these changes were undone by the Republic of China of Chiang Kai-shek, who adopted the metric system in 1928. The Republic of China continues not to use the li at all, under Mao Zedong, the Peoples Republic of China reinstituted the traditional units as a measure of anti-imperialism and cultural pride before officially adopting the metric system in 1984. A place was made within this for the units, which were restandardized to metric values. A modern li is thus set at half a kilometer. However, unlike the jin which is frequently preferred in daily use over the kilogram
Li (unit)
–
A section of the
Song -era
Anping Bridge in
Fujian. The bridge is commonly known as the "Five-Li Bridge" due to its length.
36.
Suzhou
–
Suzhou, formerly romanized as Soochow, is a major city located in southeastern Jiangsu Province of East China, about 100 km northwest of Shanghai. It is an economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. The city is situated on the reaches of the Yangtze River. Administratively, Suzhou is a city with a population of 4.33 million in its city proper. Its urban population grew at a rate of 6. 5% between 2000 and 2014, which is the highest among cities with more than 5 million people. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou has over 2,500 years of history, with an abundant display of relics, around AD100, during the Eastern Han Dynasty, it became one of the ten largest cities in the world mostly due to emigration from Northern China. Since the 10th-century Song Dynasty, it has been an important commercial center of China, during the Ming and Qing Dynasty, Suzhou was a national economic, cultural, and commercial center, as well as the largest non-capital city in the world, until the 1860 Taiping Rebellion. When Li Hongzhang and Charles George Gordon recaptured the city three years later, Shanghai had already taken its predominant place in the nation. Since major economic reforms began in 1978, Suzhou has become one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The citys canals, stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens have contributed to its status as one of the top tourist attractions in China, the Classical Gardens of Suzhou were added to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997 and 2000. Suzhou is often dubbed the Venice of the East or Venice of China, during the Zhou, a settlement known as Gusu after nearby Mount Gusu became the capital of the state of Wu. From this role, it came to be called Wu as well. In 514 BC, King Helü of Wu established a new capital nearby at Helü City, during the Warring States period, Helü City continued to serve as the local seat of government. From the areas it administered, it known as Wuxian. Under the Qin, it was known as Kuaiji after its greatly enlarged commandery, the name Suzhou was first officially used for the city in AD589 during the Sui dynasty. The character 蘇 or 苏 is a contraction of the mountain, the sū in its name refers to the mint perilla. The character 州 originally meant something like a province or county, Suzhou is the Hanyu Pinyin spelling of the Mandarin pronunciation of the name. Prior to the adoption of pinyin, it was romanized as Soo-chow, Suchow, Su-chow
Suzhou
–
Landmarks of Suzhou — top left:
Humble Administrator's Garden; top right:
Yunyan Pagoda in Tiger Hill; middle: Skyline of
Jinji Lake; bottom left: Changmen Gate in night; bottom right:
Shantang Canal
Suzhou
–
Prosperous Suzhou by
Xu Yang
Suzhou
–
An old area on Pingjiang Road.
Suzhou
–
Changmen at night.
37.
Qi (state)
–
Qi was a state of the Zhou Kingdom in ancient China, variously reckoned as a march, duchy, and independent kingdom. Its capital was Yingqiu, located within present-day Zibo in Shandong, Qi was founded shortly after the Zhou overthrow of Shang in the 11th century BC. Its first marquis was Jiang Ziya, minister of King Wen and his family ruled Qi for several centuries before it was replaced by the Tian family in 386 BC. In 221 BC, Qi was the major state annexed by Qin during its unification of China. During the Zhou conquest of Shang, Jiang Ziya served as the minister to King Wu. After Wus death, Jiang remained loyal to the Duke of Zhou during the Three Guards failed rebellion against his regency, the Shang prince Wu Geng had joined the revolt along with the Dongyi states of Yan, Xu, and Pugu. These were suppressed by 1039 BC and Jiang was given the Pugu lands in what is now western Shandong as the march of Qi. Little information survives from this period, but the Bamboo Annals suggest that the people of Pugu continued to revolt for about another decade before being destroyed a second time c. 1026. In the mid-9th century BC, King Yi attacked Qi and boiled Duke Ai to death, under the reign of King Xuan, there was a local succession struggle. During this time, many of the native Dongyi peoples were absorbed into the Qi state, in 706 BC, Qi was attacked by the Shan Rong. Qi rose to prominence under Duke Huan of Qi and he and his minister Guan Zhong strengthened the state by centralizing it. He annexed 35 neighboring states including Tan and brought others into submission, in 667 BC, Duke Huan met with the rulers of Lu, Song, Chen and Zheng and was elected leader. Subsequently King Hui of Zhou made him the first Hegemon and he attacked Wei for supporting a rival of the Zhou king and intervened in the affairs of Lu. In 664 BC, he protected Yan from the Rong, in 659 BC, he protected Xing and in 660, Wei, from the Red Di. In 656 he blocked the expansion of Chu. After his death, his sons quarrelled and the passed to Jin. In 632 BC, Qi helped Jin defeat Chu at the Battle of Chengpu, in 589 BC, Qi was defeated by Jin. In 579 BC, the four powers of Qin, Jin, Chu and Qi met to declare a truce
Qi (state)
–
Qi in 260 BC
Qi (state)
–
The Great Wall of Qi on Dafeng Mountain
Qi (state)
–
Bronze knife-shaped coins of State of Qi, collected in Shandong Museum
Qi (state)
–
Sacrificial horses discovered in the tomb of
Duke Jing of Qi
38.
Emperor Yang of Sui
–
Emperor Yangs original name was Yang Ying, but was renamed by his father, after consulting with oracles, to Yang Guang. Yang Guang was made the Prince of Jin after Emperor Wen established Sui Dynasty in 581, in 588, he was granted command of the five armies that invaded the southern Chen dynasty and was widely praised for the success of this campaign. These military achievements, as well as his machinations against his older brother Yang Yong, after the death of his father in 604, generally considered, though unproven, by most traditional historians to be a murder ordered by Yang Guang, he ascended the throne as Emperor Yang. Emperor Yang, ruling from 604 to 618, committed to large construction projects. He commanded the reconstruction of the Great Wall, a project which took the lives of six million workers. These expeditions, along with a series of campaigns against Goguryeo, left the empire bankrupt. With northern China in turmoil, Emperor Yang spent his last days in Jiangdu, Yang Guang was born in 569, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. His parents were Yang Jian the Duke of Sui and Yang Jians wife Duchess Dugu Qieluo. He was their son, after Yang Yong, and he had at least one older sister, Yang Lihua. He was considered handsome and intelligent in his youth, and of Yang Jians and Duchess Dugus sons, sometime during Northern Zhou, on account of Yang Jians achievements, he was created the Duke of Yanmen. In 580, Yang Jian seized power as regent after Emperor Xuans death, in 581, he had Emperor Xuans son, Emperor Jing, yield the throne to him, ending Northern Zhou and establishing Sui Dynasty as its Emperor Wen. Emperor Wen created Yang Yong crown prince and created his other imperial princes. Yang Guang thus received the title of Prince of Jin, also in 581, Emperor Wen made Yang Guang the commandant at Bing Province, in charge of the provinces north of the Yellow River. In 582, Emperor Wen set up a branch of the bureau of his government at Bing Province. He made the official Wang Shao the deputy head and had him assist Yang Guang, later in 582, Emperor Wen took a daughter of his vassal Emperor Ming of Western Liang to be Yang Guangs wife and princess. It was said that Yang Guang loved and respected her, in 585, with Ashina Shetu under attack from one of his subordinate khans, the Datou Khan Ashina Dianjue, Emperor Wen in fact sent Yang Guang to aid Ashina Shetu. In 588, Emperor Wen moved Yang Guangs headquarters to Shouchun, in winter 588, Emperor Wen launched a major attack on rival Chen Dynasty. Yang Guang, his brother Yang Jun, and the general Yang Su were in command of the three prongs of the operation, with Yang Guang in command of the eastern prong as well as the overall operation
Emperor Yang of Sui
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Yang Guang
39.
Grand Canal (China)
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The Grand Canal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the longest canal or artificial river in the world and a famous tourist destination. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou, linking the Yellow River and Yangtze River. The oldest parts of the date back to the 5th century BC. The total length of the Grand Canal is 1,776 km and its greatest height is reached in the mountains of Shandong, at a summit of 42 m. The canal has been admired by many throughout history including Japanese monk Ennin, Persian historian Rashid al-Din, Korean official Choe Bu, historically, periodic flooding of the adjacent Yellow River threatened the safety and functioning of the canal. During wartime the high dikes of the Yellow River were sometimes deliberately broken in order to flood advancing enemy troops and this caused disaster and prolonged economic hardships. Despite temporary periods of desolation and disuse, the Grand Canal furthered an indigenous and it has allowed faster trading and has improved Chinas economy. The southern portion remains in constant heavy use to the present day, in the late Spring and Autumn period, King Fuchai of Wu, ruler of the State of Wu, ventured north to conquer the neighboring State of Qi. He ordered a canal be constructed for trading purposes, as well as a means to ship ample supplies north in case his forces should engage the northern states of Song and this canal became known as the Han Gou. Han Gou is known as the second oldest section of the later Grand Canal since the Hong Gou most likely preceded it and it linked the Yellow River near Kaifeng to the Si and Bian rivers and became the model for the shape of the Grand Canal in the north. The exact date of the Hong Gous construction is uncertain, it is first mentioned by the diplomat Su Qin in 330 BC when discussing state boundaries. The historian Sima Qian dated it much earlier than the 4th century BC, attributing it to the work of Yu the Great and its main role throughout its history was the transport of grain to the capital. By the year 600, there were major build ups of silt on the bottom of the Hong Gou canal, obstructing river barges whose drafts were too deep for its waters. The chief engineer of the Sui dynasty, Yuwen Kai, advised the dredging of a new canal that would run parallel to the existing canal, diverging from it at Chenliu. The new canal was to pass not Xuzhou but Suzhou, to connecting with the Si River. With the recorded labor of five men and women under the supervision of Ma Shumou. The Grand Canal was fully completed under the second Sui emperor, from the years 604 to 609, first by linking Luoyang to the Yangzhou, then expanding it to Hangzhou and this allowed the southern area to provide grain to the northern province, particularly to troops stationed there. Running alongside and parallel to the canal was an imperial roadway, the government also planted an enormous line of trees
Grand Canal (China)
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Grand Canal of China in
Suzhou
Grand Canal (China)
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Emperor Wen of Sui, who launched the project of the Grand Canal. Painting by
Tang dynasty artist
Yan Liben (600–673).
Grand Canal (China)
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Emperor Yang of Sui, son of Emperor Wen of Sui, who completed the project. Painting by Yan Liben.
Grand Canal (China)
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The
Yongle Emperor (r. 1402–1424) restored the Grand Canal in the Ming era.
40.
Sui dynasty
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The Sui Dynasty was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China of pivotal significance. It was succeeded by the Tang dynasty, which inherited its foundation. Founded by Emperor Wen of Sui, the Sui dynasty capital was Changan and they also spread and encouraged Buddhism throughout the empire. By the middle of the dynasty, the unified empire entered a golden age of prosperity with vast agricultural surplus that supported rapid population growth. A lasting legacy of the Sui dynasty was the Grand Canal, the dynasty, which lasted only thirty-seven years, was undermined by ambitious wars and construction projects, which overstretched its resources. Particularly, under Emperor Yang, heavy taxation and compulsory labor duties would eventually induce widespread revolts, the dynasty is often compared to the earlier Qin dynasty for unifying China after prolonged division. Wide-ranging reforms and construction projects were undertaken to consolidate the newly unified state, after crushing an army in the eastern provinces, Yang Jian usurped the throne to become Emperor Wen of Sui. In a bloody purge, he had fifty-nine princes of the Zhou royal family eliminated, Emperor Wen abolished the anti-Han policies of Zhou and reclaimed his Han surname of Yang. In his campaign for southern conquest, Emperor Wen assembled thousands of boats to confront the forces of the Chen dynasty on the Yangtze River. The largest of ships were very tall, having five layered decks. They were outfitted with six 50-foot-long booms that were used to swing and damage enemy ships, besides employing Xianbei and other Chinese ethnic groups for the fight against Chen, Emperor Wen also employed the service of people from southeastern Sichuan, which Sui had recently conquered. In 588, the Sui had amassed 518,000 troops along the bank of the Yangtze River. The Chen dynasty could not withstand such an assault, by 589, Sui troops entered Jiankang and the last emperor of Chen surrendered. Although Emperor Wen was famous for bankrupting the treasury with warfare and construction projects. He established granaries as sources of food and as a means to market prices from the taxation of crops. The large agricultural surplus supported rapid growth of population to historical peak, the state capital of Changan, while situated in a military-secured heartland of Guanzhong, was remote from the economic centers to the east and south of the empire. Emperor Wen initiated the construction of the Grand Canal, with completion of the first route that directly linked Changan to the Yellow River, Later Emperor Yang would enormously enlarge the scale of the Grand Canal construction. Externally, the emerging nomadic Turkic Khaganate in the north posed a threat to the newly founded dynasty
Sui dynasty
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History of China
Sui dynasty
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Sui dynasty circa 609 AD
Sui dynasty
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Sui dynasty
Bodhisattva, sandstone, Tianlongshan Grottoes,
Shanxi, 6th century.
Sui dynasty
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A Sui dynasty pilgrim flask made of
stoneware.
41.
Tang dynasty
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The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is generally regarded as a point in Chinese civilization. Its territory, acquired through the campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. The dynasty was founded by the Lǐ family, who seized power during the decline, the dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population by number of registered households at about 50 million people. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also conquered or subdued several regions which it controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful influence over neighboring states such as those in Korea, Japan. Like the previous Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty maintained a service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardized examinations and recommendations to office. This civil order was undermined by the rise of military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century. Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang era, it is considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Two of Chinas most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, there was a rich variety of historical literature compiled by scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographical works. The adoption of the title Tängri Qaghan by the Tang Emperor Taizong in addition to his title as emperor was eastern Asias first simultaneous kingship, there were many notable innovations during the Tang, including the development of woodblock printing. Buddhism became an influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, Buddhism would later be persecuted by the state, subsequently declining in influence, although the dynasty and central government were in decline by the 9th century, art and culture continued to flourish. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage, which includes the Tang poet Li Bai, the Tang Emperors also had Xianbei maternal ancestry, from Emperor Gaozu of Tangs Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu. He had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang, who raised and commanded her own troops. In winter 617, Li Yuan occupied Changan, relegated Emperor Yang to the position of Taishang Huang or retired emperor, and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor, Emperor Gong of Sui. On the news of Emperor Yangs murder by General Yuwen Huaji on June 18,618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, the Tang
Tang dynasty
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History of China
Tang dynasty
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Tang dynasty circa 700
Tang dynasty
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Portrait painting of
Emperor Yang of Sui, commissioned in 643 by
Taizong, painted by
Yan Liben (600–673)
Tang dynasty
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Emperor Taizong (r. 626–649) receives
Gar Tongtsen Yülsung, ambassador of
Tibet, at his court; painted in 641 AD by
Yan Liben (600–673)
42.
An Lushan Rebellion
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The An Lushan Rebellion was a devastating rebellion against the Tang dynasty of China. The rebellion overtly began on 16 December 755, when general An Lushan declared himself emperor in Northern China, thus establishing a rival Yan Dynasty, the rebellion and subsequent disorder resulted in a huge loss of life and large-scale destruction. It significantly weakened the Tang dynasty, and led to the loss of the Western Regions, beginning in 742, Eurasia entered a 13-year period of major political turmoil, with the regional empires generally suffering a major rebellion, revolution, or dynastic change. In this year the Türk dynasty of the eastern Eurasian Steppe was overthrown, in 747, the Abbasids began their rebellion against the Umayyad Caliphate in Merv, Khurasan, resulting in the proclamation of a new Abbasid Caliph in about 750. This rebellion also seems to have been organized by merchants and persons identifying themselves as merchants, however, the Arabs did not proceed any further after the battle, and the Tang retained their Central Asian territories until the An Lushan rebellion. Further, southern expansion of the empire was limited by the ineffective, however, the concurrent Tang campaign against the Tibetan Empire was proceeding more successfully, with the campaign to capture the Tibetans Central Asian territories appearing near success. With the assassination of the Tibetan emperor Me Agtsom in 755 in the midst of a rebellion within the Tibetan polity, final Tang victory over the Tibetan Empire seemed all. An Lushan was a general of uncertain origin, but thought to have been adopted by a Sogdian father. Eventually he managed to become a favorite of the emperor of China. His success in this regard is shown, for example, by the luxurious house Emperor Xuanzong built for him in 751, the house was furnished with luxuries such as gold and silver objects and a pair of ten-foot-long by six-foot-wide couches appliqued with rare and expensive sandalwood. He was appointed by Emperor Xuanzong to be commander of three garrisons in the north—Pinglu, Fanyang and Hedong, in effect, An was given control over the entire area north of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, including garrisons about 164,000 strong. He was a favorite in the Tang court, even calling himself the son of Yang Guifei. He was thus protected from criticism, even when her relative, Chief Minister Yang Guozhong, at the end of 755 An Lushan revolted. His army surged down from Fanyang, along the way, An Lushan treated surrendered local Tang officials with respect. As a result, more and more of them joined his ranks and he moved rapidly along the Grand Canal and captured the Eastern Capital city of Luoyang within the year, defeating the poorly supplied General Feng Changqing. There, An Lushan declared himself Emperor of the new Great Yan dynasty and his next steps would be to capture the Tang western capital of Changan and then to attempt to continue into southern China to complete his conquest. However, the horrific Battle of Yongqiu, in the spring of 756 and this prevented the Yan forces from conquering southern China, before the Tang were able to recover. The Yan army did not take control of the Suiyang District until after the Siege of Suiyang, almost two years after their initial capture of Luoyang
An Lushan Rebellion
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Sogdian donors to the Buddha (fresco, with detail),
Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, eastern Tarim Basin, China, 8th century
An Lushan Rebellion
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Tang dynasty c. 700
An Lushan Rebellion
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Tang dynasty
sancai pottery camel and man
An Lushan Rebellion
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Camel with rider, earthenware, Tang dynasty
43.
Silla
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Silla was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, and one of the worlds longest sustained dynasties. Although it was founded by King Park Hyeokgeose, the dynasty was ruled by the Gyeongju Kim clan for most of its 992-year history. It began as a chiefdom in the Samhan confederacies, once allied with China, thereafter, Unified Silla or Later Silla, as it is often referred to, occupied most of the Korean Peninsula, while the northern part re-emerged as Balhae, a successor-state of Goguryeo. After nearly 1000 years of rule, Silla fragmented into the brief Later Three Kingdoms, Silla, Hubaekje, and Taebong, handing over power to its successor dynasty Goryeo in 935. From its founding until its growth into a kingdom, Silla was recorded with various hanja phonetically approximating its native Korean name, 斯盧, 斯羅, 徐那, 徐耶, 徐羅. In 503, King Jijeung standardized on the characters 新羅, which in Modern Korean is pronounced Shilla, in the modern Mongolian language, Korea and Koreans are still known as Солонгос Solongos, which seems to be an alteration of Silla influenced by the Mongolian word for rainbow. Scholars have traditionally divided Silla history into three periods, Early, Middle, and Late. The Park clan held power for three generations before a coup by the Seok clan. During the reign of the first Seok ruler, Talhae of Silla, the Park and Seok clans constantly fought each other for power and both were eventually overthrown by the Kim clan. The Kim clan then ruled over Silla for many generations with the Park, the final ruler of Later Silla, King Gyeongsun, was a member of the Kim clan. During the Proto–Three Kingdoms period, the city-states of central and southern Korea were grouped into three confederacies called Samhan, Silla began as Saro-guk, a statelet within the 12-member confederacy called Jinhan. Saro-guk consisted of six villages and six clans, according to Korean records, Silla was founded by King Park Hyeokgeose in 57 BC, around present-day Gyeongju. Hyeokgeose is said to have hatched from an egg laid from a white horse. He is also the progenitor of the Park clan, now one of the most common names in Korea. The Samguk Sagi and Bei Shi say that the originally Lelang Commandery area which became the Jinhan confederacy was the origin of Silla. By the 2nd century, Silla existed as a state in the southeastern area of the Korean peninsula. It expanded its influence over neighboring Jinhan chiefdoms, but through the 3rd century was no more than the strongest city-state in a loose federation. To the west, Baekje had centralized into a kingdom by about 250, to the southwest, Byeonhan was being replaced by the Gaya confederacy
Silla
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Gold ornament from early Silla.
Silla
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Pre-Unified Silla at its height in 576.
Silla
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A golden inner cap. 5-6th century Silla.
44.
Wu (Ten Kingdoms)
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Wu, also referred to as Huainan, Hongnong, Southern Wu, or Yang Wu, was one of the Ten Kingdoms in south-central China which was in existence between the years of 907 and 937. Some historians consider Wu to have begun in 902, when Yang Xingmi was named Prince of Wu by the Tang dynasty, all 3 rulers of Wu after 907 were Yang Xingmis sons. Yang Pu, the last ruler, was the one to have claimed the title of emperor. The founder of Wu, Yang Xingmi, started his career as a soldier before seizing power in his home prefecture Luzhou in a military coup. The weak Tang court could only confirm his position, in 887 the governor of Huainan, Gao Pian, was captured by Bi Shiduo. Xingmi defeated Shiduo and captured the provincial capital Yangzhou later that year, another rebel leader, Sun Ru had Shiduo killed and absorbed his forces. Yang Xingmi was forced to abandon Yangzhou and retreat to Luzhou, with Luzhou as his base, Xingmi increased his power by seizing neighbouring prefectures until he could recapture Yangzhou in 892. For this act, the Tang court granted him the governorship of Huainan. While still nominally loyal to the Tang dynasty, rival warlords were now carving out their own statelets, Yang Xingmi clashed with Zhu Wen of Later Liang in the north and Qian Liu of Wuyue in the south, successfully defending his territory. In 902 Yang Xingmi was named Prince of Wu by Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, Yang Xingmi died in 905 and was succeeded by his oldest son Yang Wo. In 907 Zhu Wen forced the last Tang emperor to abdicate, Yang Wo refused to acknowledge this change and continued the use of the last reign name of Tang. From this point Wu was an independent, sovereign entity, young and untested at his fathers death Yang Wo had relied on the director of the guard, Xu Wen, for his ascension, but later grew to resent Xu Wens influence. However, before he could pull himself free, Yang Wo was assassinated by Xu Wen, Wen and Hao had initially planned to divide Wu between themselves and submit to Liang, but they soon fell out. Xu Wen installed Yang Wos younger brother Longyan and had Zhang Hao killed, Yang Longyan was a mere puppet with Xu Wen as the states true ruler. Wen made himself Runzhou governor and moved his command to Jinling, the regular administration at the capital was left to his son Xu Zhixun. After Zhixuns murder in 918, this position was inherited by Wens stepson, in 919, Yang Longyan proclaimed himself King of Wu and inaugurated a new era name, thus for the first time Wu officially claimed to be a sovereign state. Longyan died of illness in 922 and was succeeded by his brother, Xingmis fourth son, as before, Xu Wen had the real power. He prodded Yang Pu to proclaim himself emperor, but died in 927 before this could happen,29 November 927 Yang Pu acceded the throne as Emperor of Wu
Wu (Ten Kingdoms)
45.
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
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The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, also called Five Dynasties, was an era of political upheaval in 10th-century imperial China. During this period, five states quickly succeeded one another in the Chinese Central Plain, while more than a dozen concurrent states were established elsewhere, mainly in south China. Traditionally, the era started with the fall of the Tang dynasty in 907 AD, many states were de facto independent kingdoms long before 907. After the Tang had collapsed, the kings who controlled the central plain crowned themselves as emperor, war between kingdoms occurred frequently to gain control of the central plain for legitimacy, and then over whole China. The last of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms states, Northern Han, was not vanquished until 979, the Five Dynasties were, Later Liang Later Tang Later Jin Later Han Later Zhou. The Ten Kingdoms were, Wu Wuyue Min Chu Southern Han Former Shu Later Shu Jingnan Southern Tang Northern Han and this era also led to the founding of the Liao dynasty in the north. Other regimes during this period were Yan, Qi, Zhao, Yiwu Jiedushi, Dingnan Jiedushi, Wuping Jiedushi, Qingyuan Jiedushi, Yin, Ganzhou, Shazhou, towards the end of the Tang, the imperial government granted increased powers to the jiedushi, the regional military governors. The Huang Chao Rebellion weakened the government, and by the early 10th century the jiedushi commanded de facto independence from its authority. Thus ensued the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, although he was originally a member of Huang Chaos rebel army, he took on a crucial role in suppressing the Huang Chao Rebellion. For this function, he was awarded the Xuanwu Jiedushi title, within a few years, he had consolidated his power by destroying neighbours and forcing the move of the imperial capital to Luoyang, which was within his region of influence. In 904, he executed Emperor Zhaozong of Tang and made his 13-year-old son a subordinate ruler, three years later, he induced the boy emperor to abdicate in his favour. He then proclaimed emperor, thus beginning the Later Liang. During the final years of the Tang Dynasty, rival warlords declared independence in their governing provinces — not all of whom recognized the emperors authority, Li Cunxu and Liu Shouguang fiercely fought the regime forces to conquer northern China, Li Cunxu succeeded. He defeated Liu Shouguang in 915, and declared himself emperor in 923, within a few months, thus began the Shatuo Later Tang — the first in a long line of conquest dynasties. After reuniting much of northern China, Cunxu conquered Former Shu in 925, the Later Tang had a few years of relative calm, followed by unrest. In 934, Sichuan again asserted independence, in 936, Shi Jingtang, a Shatuo jiedushi from Taiyuan, was aided by the Liao dynasty in a rebellion against the Later Tang. In return for their aid, Shi Jingtang promised annual tribute, the rebellion succeeded, Shi Jingtang became emperor in this same year. Not long after the founding of the Later Jin, the Khitans regarded the emperor as a ruler for China proper
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
–
History of China
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
–
The Later Liang (yellow) and contemporary kingdoms
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
–
Night Revels of Han Xizai, by
Gu Hongzhong, 10th century (read right-to-left).
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
–
Painting by Chinese artist
Li Cheng (c. 919–967)
46.
Song dynasty
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The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and continued until 1279. It succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, coincided with the Liao and Western Xia dynasties and it was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money nationally and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as the first discernment of true north using a compass, the Song dynasty is divided into two distinct periods, Northern and Southern. During the Northern Song, the Song capital was in the city of Bianjing. The Southern Song refers to the period after the Song lost control of its half to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. During this time, the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze, the Southern Song dynasty considerably bolstered its naval strength to defend its waters and land borders and to conduct maritime missions abroad. To repel the Jin, and later the Mongols, the Song developed revolutionary new military technology augmented by the use of gunpowder, in 1234, the Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and his younger brother Kublai Khan was proclaimed the new Great Khan, though his claim was only partially recognized by the Mongols in the west. In 1271, Kublai Khan was proclaimed the Emperor of China, after two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khans armies conquered the Song dynasty in 1279. The Mongol invasion led to a reunification under the Yuan dynasty, the population of China doubled in size during the 10th and 11th centuries. The Northern Song census recorded a population of roughly 50 million, much like the Han and this data is found in the Standard Histories. However, it is estimated that the Northern Song had a population of some 100 million people and this dramatic increase of population fomented an economic revolution in pre-modern China. The expansion of the population, growth of cities, and the emergence of a national economy led to the withdrawal of the central government from direct involvement in economic affairs. The lower gentry assumed a role in grassroots administration and local affairs. Appointed officials in county and provincial centers relied upon the gentry for their services, sponsorship. Social life during the Song was vibrant, citizens gathered to view and trade precious artworks, the populace intermingled at public festivals and private clubs, and cities had lively entertainment quarters. The spread of literature and knowledge was enhanced by the expansion of woodblock printing. Technology, science, philosophy, mathematics, and engineering flourished over the course of the Song, although the institution of the civil service examinations had existed since the Sui dynasty, it became much more prominent in the Song period
Song dynasty
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History of China
Song dynasty
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Northern Song in 1111
Song dynasty
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Emperor Taizu of Song (r. 960–976), a court portrait painting
Song dynasty
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Pillow, sandstone with white and brown slip black, incised decoration, Northern Song dynasty, 12th century
.svg)
