'' (;
Postal map spelling: ''Kiangsu'') is a
province of the
People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country.
The name comes from ''jiang'', short for the city of Jiangning (now
Nanjing), and ''su'', for the city of
Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" (sū), the second character of its name.
Jiangsu borders
Shandong in the north,
Anhui to the west, and
Zhejiang and
Shanghai to the south. Jiangsu has a coastline of over one thousand
kilometers along the
Yellow Sea, and the
Yangtze River passes through its southern parts.
History
During the earliest Chinese dynasties, the area in what is now Jiangsu was far removed from the center of Chinese civilization, which was in the northwest
Henan; it was home of the
Huai Yi (淮夷), an ancient ethnic group. During the
Zhou Dynasty more contact was made, and eventually the
state of Wu (centered at Gusu, now
Suzhou) appeared as a vassal to the
Zhou Dynasty in south Jiangsu, one of the many hundreds of states that existed across northern and central China at that time. Near the end of the
Spring and Autumn Period, Wu became a great power under
King Helu of Wu, and was able to defeat in
484 BC the
state of Qi, a major power in the north in modern-day
Shandong province, and contest for the position of overlord over all states of China. The state of Wu was subjugated in
473 BC by the
state of Yue, another state that had emerged to the south in modern-day
Zhejiang province. 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, and established China as a unified nation in
221 BC.
Under the reign of the
Han Dynasty (
206 BC to
220 AD), which brought China to its first golden age, Jiangsu was a relative backwater, far removed from the centers of civilization in the
North China Plain. Jiangsu was at that time administered under two ''
zhou'' (provinces):
Xuzhou Province in the north, and
Yangzhou Province in the south. Although south Jiangsu was eventually the base for the
kingdom of Wu (one of the
Three Kingdoms from
222 to
280), it did not become significant role until the invasion of northern nomads during the
Western Jin Dynasty, starting from the
fourth century. As northern nomadic groups established kingdoms across the north, ethnic
Han Chinese aristocracy fled southwards and set up a refugee
Eastern Jin Dynasty in
317, in Jiankang (modern day
Nanjing). From then until
581 (a period known as the
Southern and Northern Dynasties), Nanjing in south Jiangsu was the base of four more ethnic
Han Chinese dynasties facing off with northern barbarian (but increasingly
sinicized) dynasties. In the meantime, north Jiangsu was a buffer of sorts between north and south; it initially started as a part of southern dynasties, but as northern dynasties gained more ground, it became part of northern dynasties.
In
581 unity was reestablished again, and under the
Tang Dynasty (
618 to
907) China once more went through a golden age, though Jiangsu at this point was still rather unremarkable among the different parts of China. It was during the
Song Dynasty (960-1279), 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 major cities like
Suzhou or
Yangzhou, would be synonymous with opulence and luxury in China. Today south Jiangsu remains one of the richest parts of China, and
Shanghai, arguably the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan of
mainland China cities, is a direct extension of south Jiangsu culture.
The
Jurchen Jin Dynasty gained control of
North China in
1127, and the river
Huai He, which used to cut through north Jiangsu to reach the
Yellow Sea, was the border between the north, under the Jin, and the south, under the
Southern Song Dynasty. 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, initially put its capital in
Nanjing. Following a coup by Zhu Di (later
Yongle Emperor), however, the capital was moved to
Beijing, far to the north. (The naming of the two cities continue to reflect this: "Nanjing" literally means "southern capital", "Beijing" literally means "northern capital.) The entirety of modern day Jiangsu as well as neighbouring
Anhui province kept their special status, however, as territory-governed directly by the central government, and were called Nanzhili (南直隸 "Southern directly-governed"). Meanwhile, South Jiangsu continued to be an important center of trade in China; some historians see in the flourishing
textiles industry at the time incipient
industrialization and
capitalism, a trend that was however aborted, several centuries before similar trends took hold in the West.
The
Qing Dynasty changed this situation by establishing Nanzhili as Jiangnan province; in
1666 Jiangsu and Anhui were split apart as separate provinces, and Jiangsu was given borders approximately the same as today. With the start of the Western incursion into China in the
1840s, the rich and mercantile south Jiangsu was increasingly exposed to Western influence;
Shanghai, originally an unremarkable little town of Jiangsu, quickly developed into a metropolis of trade, banking, and cosmopolitanism, and was split out later as an independent municipality. South Jiangsu also figures strongly in the
Taiping Rebellion (
1851 –
1864), a massive and deadly rebellion that attempted to set up a
Christian theocracy in China; it started far to the south in
Guangdong province, swept through much of South China, and by
1853 had established Nanjing as its capital, renamed as Tianjing (天京 "Heavenly Capital").
The
Republic of China was established in
1912, and China was soon torn apart by warlords. Jiangsu changed hands several times, but in April
1927 Chiang Kai-Shek established a government at
Nanjing; he was soon able to bring most of China under his control. This was however interrupted by the
second Sino-Japanese War, which began full-scale in
1937; on
December 13,
1937,
Nanjing fell, and the combined
atrocities of the occupying Japanese for the next 3 months would come to be known as the
Nanjing Massacre. Nanjing was the seat of the collaborationist government of East China under
Wang Jingwei, and Jiangsu remained under occupation until the end of the war in
1945.
After the war,
Nanjing was once again the capital of the
Republic of China, though now the
Chinese Civil War had broken out between the
Kuomintang government and
Communist forces, based further north, mostly in
Manchuria. The decisive
Huaihai Campaign was fought in northern Jiangsu; it resulted in Kuomintang defeat, and the communists were soon able to cross the
Yangtze River and take
Nanjing. The Kuomintang fled southwards, and eventually ended up in
Taipei, from which the
Republic of China government continues to administer
Taiwan and its neighbouring islands, though it also continues to claim (technically, at least)
Nanjing as its rightful capital.
After communist takeover,
Beijing was made capital of China and Nanjing was demoted to be the provincial capital of Jiangsu. The
economic reforms of
Deng Xiaoping initially focused on the south coast of China, in
Guangdong province, which soon left Jiangsu behind; starting from the
1990s they were applied more evenly to the rest of China.
Suzhou and
Wuxi, two southern cities of Jiangsu in close proximity to neighbouring
Shanghai Municipality, have since become particularly prosperous, being among the top 10 cities in China in
gross domestic product and outstripping the provincial capital of
Nanjing. The income disparity between north Jiangsu and south Jiangsu however remains large.
Geography
Town of
Zhouzhuang, Jiangsu. South Jiangsu is famed for its towns crisscrossed by canals.
Jiangsu is very flat and low-lying, with plains covering 68 percent of its total area (water covers another 18 percent), and most of the province not more than fifty meters above sea level. Jiangsu is also laced with a well-developed irrigation system, which earned it (especially the southern half) the moniker of 水乡 (shuǐxiāng "land of water"); the southern city of
Suzhou is so crisscrossed with canals that it has been dubbed "
Venice of the East". The
Grand Canal of China cuts through Jiangsu from north to south, traversing all the east-west river systems. Jiangsu also borders the
Yellow Sea. The
Yangtze River, the longest river of China, cuts through the province in the south and reaches the
East China Sea.
Mount Yuntai near the city of
Lianyungang is the highest point in this province, with an altitude of 625 meters. Large lakes in Jiangsu include
Lake Taihu (the largest),
Lake Hongze,
Lake Gaoyou,
Lake Luoma, and
Lake Yangcheng.
Historically, the river
Huai He, a major river in central China and the traditional border between
North China and South China, cut through north Jiangsu to reach the
Yellow Sea. However, starting from
1194 AD, the
Yellow River further to the north changed its course several times, running into the
Huai He in north Jiangsu each time instead of its other usual path northwards into
Bohai Bay. The silting caused by the
Yellow River was so heavy that after its last episode of "hijacking" the Huai He ended in
1855, the Huai He was no longer able to go through its usual path into the sea. Instead it flooded, pooled up (thereby forming and enlarging
Lake Hongze and
Lake Gaoyou), and flowed southwards through the
Grand Canal into the
Yangtze. The old path of the
Huai He is now marked by a series of
irrigation channels, the most significant of which is the
North Jiangsu Irrigation Main Channel (苏北灌溉总渠), which channels a small amount of the water of the
Huai He along its old path into the sea.
Jiangsu Province spans the warm-temperate/humid and subtropical/humid
climate zones, and has clear-cut seasonal changes, with temperatures at an average of -2 to 4
°C in January and 26 to 30°C in July. There are frequent rains between spring and summer (''
meiyu''),
typhoons with
rainstorms in late summer and early autumn. The annual average rainfall is 800 to 1200
mm, concentrated mostly in
summer when the southeast
monsoon carries rainwater into the province.
Major cities:
Administrative divisions
Prefecture-level cities of Jiangsu
Jiangsu is divided into thirteen
prefecture-level divisions, all
prefecture-level cities:
★
Nanjing (
Simplified Chinese: 南京市,
Hanyu Pinyin: Nánjīng Shì)
★
Xuzhou (徐州市 Xúzhōu Shì)
★
Lianyungang (连云港市 Liányúngǎng Shì)
★
Suqian (宿迁市 Sùqiān Shì)
★
Huai'an (淮安市 Huái'ān Shì)
★
Yancheng (盐城市 Yánchéng Shì)
★
Yangzhou (扬州市 Yángzhōu Shì)
★
Taizhou (泰州市 Tàizhōu Shì)
★
Nantong (南通市 Nántōng Shì)
★
Zhenjiang (镇江市 Zhènjiāng Shì)
★
Changzhou (常州市 Chángzhōu Shì)
★
Wuxi (无锡市 Wúxī Shì)
★
Suzhou (苏州市 Sūzhōu Shì)
The thirteen
prefecture-level divisions of Jiangsu are subdivided into 106
county-level divisions (54
districts, 27
county-level cities, and 25
counties). Those are in turn divided into 1488
township-level divisions (1078
towns, 122
townships, one
ethnic township, and 287
subdistricts).
See '
List of administrative divisions of Jiangsu' for a complete list of
county-level divisions.
Economy
Jiangsu has an extensive irrigation system supporting its agriculture, which is based primarily on
rice and
wheat, followed by
maize and
sorghum. Main
cash crops include
cotton,
soybeans,
peanuts,
rape,
sesame,
ambary hemp, and
tea. Other products include
peppermint,
spearmint,
bamboo,
medicinal herbs,
apples,
pears,
peaches,
loquats,
ginkgo.
Silkworms also form an important part of Jiangsu's agriculture, with the
Lake Taihu region to the south a major base of
silk production in China. Jiangsu is also an important producer of freshwater fish and other aquatic products.
Jiangsu has
coal,
petroleum, and
natural gas deposits, but its most significant mineral products are non-metal minerals such as
halite (rock salt),
sulfur,
phosphorus, and
marble. The salt mines of
Huaiyin have more than 0.4 trillion
tonnes of deposits, one of the greatest collections of deposits in China.
Jiangsu is historically oriented towards light industries such as
textiles and
food industry. Since
1949, Jiangsu has also developed heavy industries such as
chemical industry and
construction materials. Jiangsu's important industries include machinery, electronic, chemicals, and automobile
[1]. The
economic reforms of
Deng Xiaoping has greatly benefited southern cities, especially
Suzhou and
Wuxi, which outstrip the provincial capital
Nanjing in total output. In the eastern outskirts of Suzhou,
Singapore has built the
Suzhou Industrial Park, a flagship of
PRC-
Singapore cooperation and the only industrial park in China that is in its entirety the investment of one single foreign country.
Jiangsu is very wealthy among the provinces of China, with the second highest total GDP (after
Guangdong Province). Its GDP per capita was 14,500 yuan in 2002, but geographical disparity is great, and southern cities like
Suzhou and
Wuxi have GDP per capita around twice the provincial average, making south Jiangsu one of the most prosperous regions in China.
In 2004, Jiangsu's nominal GDP was 1.54 trillion yuan (US$191.42 billion), making it the third largest GDP of all the provinces and an annual growth rate of 13.5%. Its per capita GDP was 16,796 yuan (US$2,029). The share of GDP of Jiangsu's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were 8.9%, 54.5%, and 36.6% respectively. The share of GDP by the public and private sector was 49.0% and 51.0% respectively.
Demographics
The majority of Jiangsu residents are ethnic
Han Chinese. Other minorities include the
Hui and the
Manchus.
; Demographic indicators in
2000
Population: 74.058 million (urban: 34.637 million; rural: 39.421 million) (
2003)
Birth rate: 9.04 per 1000 (
2003)
Death rate: 7.03 per 1000 (
2003)
Sex ratio: 102.55 males per 100 females
Average family size: 3.25
Han Chinese proportion: 99.64%
Illiteracy rate: 7.88%
Culture
The province of Jiangsu was formed in the
seventeenth century. Before then, the northern and southern parts of Jiangsu had less connection than that later. Traditionally, South Jiangsu is referred to as the three more prosperous southern cities including Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou. Their culture is more southern than the rest and is oftened referred to as the Wu. All the other parts of the province is dominated by the so-called "Jianghuai Culture", which means the culture in the area between the Yangtse River (Jiang) and Huaihe River (Huai), though not all of them lie within the district defined by the term. In history, the term North Jiangsu refers to the cities to the north of the Yangtze River. For cities of Nanjing and Zhenjiang, neither the two terms (North Jiangsu and South Jiangsu) refers to them, because though they are to the south of the River, culturally they are still of the Jianghuai Region. Since about 1998, there is a new classification used frequently by the government and defined by economic means. It groups all the cities to the south of the Yangtse River as South Jiangsu, the cities of Yangzhou, Nantong and Taizhou as Middle Jiangsu, and all the rest as North Jiangsu.
Though the terms of classification are very complex, by cultural means only the very north cities of Xuzhou and Lianyugang are culturally north Chinese. All the rest areas of the province are culturally south, though the three South Jiangsu cities are more purely southern while the culture in other cities is more a transitional mixture dominated by the southern.
The Humble Administrator's Garden, one of the classical gardens of
Suzhou.
Two main subdivisions of the
Chinese language,
Mandarin (not ''Putonghua'', the national standard speech based on the Beijing dialect, also commonly called ''Mandarin'') and
Wu, are spoken in different parts of Jiangsu.
Dialects of Mandarin are spoken over the traditional North Jiangsu, Nanjing and Zhenjiang, while
Dialect of Wu is used in South Jiangsu. Mandarin and Wu are not mutually intelligible and the dividing line is sharp and well-defined. (''See also''
Nanjing dialect,
Xuzhou dialect,
Yangzhou dialect,
Suzhou dialect,
Wuxi dialect,
Changzhou dialect). In addition,
Standard Chinese (Putonghua/Mandarin) is also spoken by most people.
Jiangsu is rich in cultural traditions. ''
Kunqu'', originating in
Kunshan, is one of the most renowned and prestigious forms of
Chinese opera. ''
Pingtan'', a form of storytelling accompanied by music, is also popular: it can be subdivided into types by origin:
Suzhou Pingtan (of
Suzhou),
Yangzhou Pingtan (of
Yangzhou), and
Nanjing Pingtan (of
Nanjing).
Xiju, a form of traditional
Chinese opera, is popular in
Wuxi, while
Huaiju is popular further north, around
Yancheng.
Jiangsu cuisine is one of the eight great traditions of the
cuisine of China.
Suzhou is also famous for its
silk,
embroidery art,
jasmine tea, stone
bridges,
pagodas, and its classical
gardens. Nearby
Yixing is famous for its
teaware, and
Yangzhou is famous for its
lacquerware and
jadeware.
Nanjing's ''
yunjin'' is a famous form of
woven silk, while
Wuxi is famous for its
peaches.
Since ancient times, south Jiangsu has been famed for its prosperity and opulence, and simply inserting south Jiangsu place names (
Suzhou,
Yangzhou, etc.) into poetry gave an effect of dreaminess, as was indeed done by many famous poets. In particular, the fame of
Suzhou (as well as
Hangzhou in neighbouring
Zhejiang province) has led to the popular saying: 上有天堂，下有蘇杭 (above there is heaven; below there is
Suzhou and
Hangzhou), a saying that continues to be a source of pride for the people of these two still prosperous cities. Similarly, the prosperity of
Yangzhou has led poets to dream of: 腰纏十萬貫，騎鶴下揚州 (with a hundred thousand
strings of coins wrapped around the waist, riding a
crane down to Yangzhou).
Notables
This is a list of famous people from Jiangsu in chronological order. Note that modern-day Jiangsu Province dates from the seventeenth century, so most of the people in this list would not recognise it.
★
King Helu of Wu (died
496 BC), king of the
state of Wu.
★
Gan Jiang
★
Mo Xie
★
Xiang Yu (
232 –
202 BC), warlord at the end of
Qin Dynasty.
★
Emperor Gao of Han (
256 –
195 BC), first emperor of
Han Dynasty.
★ The
Han Dynasty generals
Han Xin,
Xiao He and
Cao Shen.
★
Zhang Zhao,
Three Kingdoms era strategist.
★
Lu Xun,
Three Kingdoms era strategist and general.
★
Ge Hong
★
Tao Hongjing
★
Gu Kaizhi (
348 –
409), painter.
★
Lu Ji
★
Lu Yun
★
Emperor Wu of Song (
363 –
422), first emperor of the
Song Dynasty (420-479).
★
Zhang Xu,
Tang Dynasty calligrapher.
★
Li Houzhu (
937 –
978), last emperor of
Later Tang Dynasty, poet.
★
Fan Zhongyan (
989 –
1052),
Song Dynasty politician, poet.
★
Shen Kuo (
1031 –
1095),
Song Dynasty scientist, general, and statesman
★
Fan Chengda
★
Gu Xiancheng
★
Xu Xiake (
1586 –
1641), travel writer.
★
Shen Zhou
★
Wen Zhengming
★
Tang Bohu (
1470 - 1524), artist
★
Dong Qichang
★
Zhu Yunming
★
Wu Cheng'en (died
1582), author of ''
Journey to the West''.
★
Gui Youguang
★
Feng Menglong
★
Zheng Banqiao (
1693 –
1765), poet, painter, scholar.
★
Jin Shengtan (
1608 –
1661), writer, critic.
★
Gu Yanwu
★
Zhao Yi
★
Liu E
★
Hsing Yun (born
1927),
Buddhist monk.
★
Xu Beihong (
1895 –
1953), painter.
★
Mei Lanfang (
1894 –
1961),
Beijing opera actor.
★
Liu Tianhua (1895 – 1932), musician and composer.
★
Zhou Enlai (1898 – 1976), former Premier of the People's Republic of China.
★
Zhou Xuan Chinese singer and actress
★
Jiang Zemin (born
1926), former
President of the People's Republic of China
★
Hu Jintao (born
1942), current
President of the People's Republic of China
★
Hau Pei-tsun, Retired general of the ROC Army, former
Premier of the Republic of China
Tourism
Nanjing was the capital of several Chinese dynasties and contains a variety of historic sites, such as the
Purple Mountain,
Purple Mountain Observatory, the
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum,
Ming Dynasty city wall and gates,
Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum (The mausoleum of the first Ming Emperor
Zhu Yuanzhang),
Lake Xuanwu,
Jiming Temple, the
Nanjing Massacre Memorial, Nanjing
Confucius Temple,
Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, and the
Nanjing Zoo, with circus.
Suzhou is renowned for its classical gardens (designated as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site), as well as
Hanshan Temple, and
Huqiu Tower. Nearby is the water-town of
Zhouzhuang, an international tourist destination where Venice alike waterways, bridges and dwellings have been preserved over centuries.
Yangzhou is known for
Thin West Lake.
Wuxi is known for being the home of the world's tallest buddha statue. In the north,
Xuzhou is designated as one of China's "eminent historical cities".
★
Lion Garden in
Suzhou
★
Grand Buddha at Ling Shan,
Wuxi
★
Chaotian Palace
★
Gulin Park
★
Jiangxin Island
★
Night Markets
★
Qixia Temple in
Qixia Mountains
★
Swallow Rock in
Yanziji
★
Tombs of Southern Tang Emperor
Miscellaneous topics
Sports
Professional sports teams in Jiangsu include:
★
Chinese Football Association Jia League
★
★
Jiangsu Shuntian
★
★
Nanjing Youyou
★
Chinese Basketball Association
★
★
Jiangsu Nan'gang Dragons
Colleges and universities
Nanjing
★
Nanjing Aeronautics and Astronautics University
★
Nanjing University of Finance & Economics
★
Nanjing Agricultural University
★
Nanjing Medical University
★
Nanjing Normal University
★
Nanjing University
★
Nanjing University of Science and Technology
★
Southeast University
Suzhou
★
Suzhou Medical College
★
Suzhou University
External links
★
The Provincial Government of Jiangsu
★
Large map of Jiangsu
★
Jiangsu NET - Travel, Recreation, Business, and Other Services
Aural
★
National Public Radio story about Huaxi, Jiangsu, May 16, 2006.
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