:''This article is about the city in Fujian province. For the city in Jiangxi province, see
Fuzhou, Jiangxi.''
'' (;
BUC:
Hók-ciŭ;
EFEO: Fou-Tcheou; also seen as 'Foochow' or 'Fuchow') is the capital and the largest
prefecture-level city of
Fujian (福建)
province,
People's Republic of China. It is also referred to as Rongcheng (榕城) which means "city of
banyan trees."
Its GDP was ¥31582 (ca. US$3800) per capita in 2003, ranked no. 21 among 659 Chinese cities.
History
The exact foundation date of this city is not known. When
Yue to the north of Fujian was annexed by
Chu in
306 BC, a branch of the royal family of the defeated Yue fled Fujian and became the
Minyue (闽越) tribe.
The first city wall of Fuzhou was built in
202 BC when
Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the
Han Dynasty, gave permission to Wuzhu (无诸), the king of Minyue, to set up his capital in Fuzhou. The city was named Ye (冶), meaning "The Beautiful". The name has changed many times, but the city has been continuously occupied since 202 BC and has never suffered major destruction by wars or natural disasters.
The Minyue was annexed by Han in
110 BC and became a part of China, and Fuzhou became Ye County. During the
Jin Dynasty, West Lake, East Lake (now silted up) and numerous canals in the city were constructed (
282 AD).
When the Jin Dynasty collapsed, the first wave of immigrants of the gentile class arrived in Fujian (
308 AD). During the
Tang Dynasty (
725 AD), it started to be called Fuzhou.
More immigrants arrived from the north starting from
892 as the Tang Dynasty was collapsing. After the Tang Dynasty fell in
907, the Wang family managed to establish a kingdom called
Min (
909 –
945) with its capital in Fuzhou, then known as Changle. Min is still used as another name for the province of
Fujian, in names of region such as
minnan, and the river that runs through Fuzhou is called
Min Jiang.
New city walls were built in
282 AD,
901 AD,
905 AD, and
974 AD, so the city had many layers of walls — more than the Chinese capital.
Emperor Taizong of the
Song Dynasty (宋) ordered destruction of all the walls in Fuzhou in
978 AD but new walls were rebuilt later. The latest was built in
1371 AD.
During the
Southern Song Dynasty, Fuzhou became more prosperous; many scholars came here to live and work. Among them were
Zhu Xi (朱熹), the most celebrated Chinese philosopher after
Confucius, and
Xin Qiji (辛弃疾), the greatest composer of
ci (a specialized form of poem). After them came
Marco Polo, who
transcribed the
placename in
Italian as ''Fugiu'' according to
Mandarin Chinese.
Hualin Temple in the original Ye city, which has been declared a national heritage site, was built in
964 AD according to documentation, but was
carbon-dated to the 4th or 5th century AD. It is probably the oldest existing wooden structure in China.
Between 1405 and 1433 AD, the Chinese (
Ming) navy fleet, led by
Zheng He, sailed from Fuzhou to the
Indian Ocean seven times; on three occasions the fleet landed on the east coast of
Africa. Before the last sailing, Zheng erected a
stele dedicated to the goddess
Tian-Fei (Matsu) near the
seaport.
In the 19th century,
Lin Zexu, a native of Fuzhou, led an unsuccessful attempt to resist the British fleet at
Canton Bay, and Lin was exiled to the
Russian border. At the end of the
First Opium War, Fuzhou became one of the five Chinese ''
treaty ports'' opened by the
Treaty of Nanjing (signed in
1842).
Lin Zexu died on November 22, 1850 at age of 66.
On November 8,
1911, revolutionaries staged an uprising in Fuzhou. After an overnight street battle, the
Qing (Manchu) army surrendered. On November 22,
1933, the leaders of the
19th Army set up a short-lived
Republic of China (中華共和國) in Fuzhou (compare the name to
Chiang’s “
Republic of China” (中華民國), which literally means “People’s State of China”); it collapsed in two months.
Aroung
1940, the
Japanese army decided to invade Fuzhou. Surrounded by hills on 3 sides, the Japanese army quickly bombed and invaded the city. Japanese planes quickly bombed the only escape route for Chinese civilians- the bridges across the neighbouring river, leaving many civilians dangerously crossing the river on foot. The Japanese soon took the city and enslaved its people until Japan's surrender in 1945.
See also:
Battle of Foochow
Districts and Counties
The administrative divisions of Fuzhou have changed frequently in history. In 1983, Fuzhou administered 5 districts and 8 counties, whose territory has not changed since then. In 1990 and 1994, Fuqing (Hók-chiăng) and Changle (Diòng-lŏ̤h) counties were promoted to county-level cities. Despite this change, the old statement of "5 districts and 8 counties" is still popular among the local people.
★ Districts: Gulou (鼓楼，Gū-làu), Taijiang (台江，Dài-gĕ̤ng), Cangshan (仓山，Chŏng-săng), Mawei(马尾，Mā-muōi), Jin'an(晋安，Céng-ăng).
★ County-level cities:
Fuqing (福清，Hók-chiăng),
Changle (长乐，Diòng-lŏ̤h).
★ Counties: Minhou (闽侯，Mìng-âu), Minqing (闽清，Mìng-chiăng), Yongtai (永泰，Īng-tái),
Lianjiang (连江，Lièng-gŏng), Luoyuan (罗源，Lò̤-nguòng), Pingtan (平潭，Bìng-tàng).
Transportation
Fuzhou Changle International Airport
Tourism
Fuzhou, also known as the City of Banyan after the many Banyan trees that dot the city landscape, may not be as rich in history as some other ancient Chinese cities but still boasts a fair number of historical sights.
★ Sanfang Qixiang (三坊七巷) (a cluster of ancient resident buildings dated from late Jin Dynasty)
★ West Lake (福州西湖)(an artificial lake built in
282 AD)
★ Hualin Temple (华林寺)(founding date uncertain)
★ Dizang Temple (founded in
527 AD)
★ Xichan Temple (西禅寺)(founded in
867 AD)
★ Wu Ta (乌塔)(Black Pagoda) (originally built in
799 AD, rebuilt in
936 AD)
★ Bai Ta (白塔)(White Pagoda) (originally built in
905 AD, 67 m in height, collapsed in
1534 AD, rebuilt in
1548 AD, 41 m in height)
★ Yongquan Temple (涌泉寺)(founded in
915 AD)
★ Gu Shan (鼓山)(Drum Mountain)
★ Fuzhou National Forest Park (福州国家森林公园)
Sister cities
★
Tacoma, Washington
★
Nagasaki, Japan
★
Naha, Japan
★
Gunsan, South Korea
★
George, South Africa
★
Koszalin
Colleges and universities
★
Fujian Normal University (福建师范大学) (founded in 1907)
★
Fuzhou University (福州大学)
★
Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (福建农林大学)
★
Fujian Medical University (福建医科大学)
★
Fujian College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (福建中医学院)
★
Minjiang University (闽江学院)
★
Fujian University of Technology (福建工程学院)
Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.
See also
★
Min Dong language
★
Fuzhou dialect
★
List of cities in the People's Republic of China by population
External links
★
Fu Zhou Photo Gallery
★
Fujian Travel Guide (Text & Photos)
★
Government website of Fuzhou (in Simplified Chinese)
★
An early history of Fujian and Fuzhou (Chinese)
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