Jianye.
Sun Hao
Sun Hao (243 – January or February 284), courtesy name Yuanzong, originally named Sun Pengzu with the courtesy name Haozong, was the fourth and last emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the son ...
, the emperor of Eastern Wu between 264 and 280, moved the capital back to Wuchang in 265. In 589, the Wuchang
commandery
In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...
was abolished and the Wuchang county was transferred to a new commandery named Ezhou (headquartered in present-day Wuchang District), and remained in the administration since then.
The present day Wuchang town
The Wuchang
commandery
In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...
was set up when È was renamed to Wuchang, and included six counties. In 223 the commandery was renamed to
Jiangxia, and the capital of the commandery moved to Xiakou (in present-day Wuchang town). The name of the town was switched back and forth between Wuchang and Jiangxia several times in the following centuries. The present-day version of
Wuying Pagoda, the oldest standing architecture in Hubei Province, was built around the time of fall of the Southern Song Dynasty. After 1301, the Wuchang
prefecture, headquartered in the town, became the capital of
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...
province.
During the
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...
, Wuchang and the surrounding area changed hands several times after the Taiping capture of the city in the
Battle of Wuchang (1852).
At the end of the
Qing Empire, the Wuchang Prefecture (, then transcribed as 'Ou-tchang-fou') was the capital of the combined provinces of
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...
and
Hunan
Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi ...
, called the 'two Hu' or ''
Huguang Viceroyalty''. It was the seat of the provincial government of Huguang, at the head of which was a
viceroy of Huguang
The Viceroy of Huguang, fully referred to in Chinese as the Governor-General of Hubei and Hunan Provinces and the Surrounding Areas; Overseeing Military Affairs, Food Production; Director of Civil Affairs, was one of eight regional Viceroys in C ...
. Next to
Nanjing
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
and
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, it was one of the most important vice-royalties in the empire.
It possessed an arsenal and a mint. The provincial government established
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
works for the manufacture of rails and other
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
material. As the works did not pay under official management, they were transferred to the director-general of railways. Wuchang was not open to foreign trade and residence, but a considerable number of
missionaries, both
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
and
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
, lived within the walls. The native population was estimated at 800,000 around 1911, including cities on both banks. At that time, Wuchang was an important junction on the trunk railway from
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
to Guangzhou; and was on the route of the
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
railway.
In Wuchang on October 10, 1911, a revolt broke out against the Qing Dynasty. This event, now called the
Wuchang Uprising
The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan), Hubei, China on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthrew China's last ...
and celebrated as
Double Ten Day
The National Day of the Republic of China ( zh, 中華民國的國慶日) or the Taiwan National Day, also referred to as Double Ten Day or Double Tenth Day, is a public holiday on 10 October, now held annually in Taiwan (officially the Republi ...
, was the catalyst that started the
Xinhai Revolution
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a ...
, which led to the development of the
Republic of China.
In 1912, the Wuchang prefecture was abolished and a new Wuchang county (just next to the Wuchang county in the Ezhou city) was created. In 1926 the Wuchang town was promoted to a city, and merged with
Hankou
Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...
and
Hanyang Hanyang may refer to:
China
*Hanyang District (漢陽區, 汉阳区, ''Hànyáng Qū''), Wuhan, Hubei
:*Hanyang Arsenal (漢陽兵工廠), founded in 1891 as one of the oldest modern arsenals in Chinese history
:*Hanyang 88 (漢陽八八式步槍), ...
to form a new city named
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...
.
After 1949, the more urban part of the Wuchang County was absorbed into the new Wuhan City and was administratively partitioned into Wuchang,
Qingshan and
Hongshan districts, while the remaining, mostly rural, southern part retained the name of Wuchang County. In 1995, Wuchang County became
Jiangxia District
Jiangxia District () is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China, situated on the eastern (right) bank of the Yangtze River. Jiangxia district has an area of and a population of 680,0 ...
of Wuhan.
Geography
Administrative divisions
Wuchang District administers:
Notable people
*
Saint Francis Regis Clet
François-Régis Clet ( Chinese: 劉格來; pinyin: Liú Gélái; 19 August 1748 – 18 February 1820) is one of the Martyr Saints of China.
Biography Early life
Francois-Regis Clet was born in Grenoble, France in 1748. His family was middle c ...
, one of the
Martyr Saints of China
The Martyr Saints of China ( zh, t=中華殉道聖人, s=中华殉道圣人, first=t, p=Zhōnghuá xùndào shèngrén), or Augustine Zhao Rong and his Companions, are 120 saints of the Catholic Church. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Western ...
, executed in Wuchang in 1840
*
Li Bingbing
Li Bingbing (; born 27 February 1973) is a Chinese actress and singer who rose to fame with her role in '' Seventeen Years'' (1999) and since then received critical acclaim for her roles in ''A World Without Thieves'' (2004), '' Waiting Alone'' (2 ...
, actress and singer
*
Jayne Meadows
Jayne Meadows (born Jane Cotter; September 27, 1919 – April 26, 2015), also known as Jayne Meadows Allen, was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards duri ...
, American stage, film and television actress
See also
The Wuchang fish (''
Megalobrama amblycephala''; ) is named after the town.
References
External links
Official website of Wuchang District Government
{{authority control
County-level divisions of Hubei
Geography of Wuhan