Guangfu is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in Yongnian District,

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It comprises the , a AAAAA-rated tourist attraction that preserves the appearance of a

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

-era

Chinese town When referring to political divisions of China, town is the standard English translation of the Chinese (traditional: ; ). The Constitution of the People's Republic of China classifies towns as third-level administrative units, along with for ...

through its

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, large

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

, and expansive

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

Names

"Guangfu" is an elision of the town's older name Guangpingfu, referring to its former status as the seat of Guangping ("Expansively Pacified" or "Peaceful")

Prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

under the

.. The name was first borne by the town under the

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

. By the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

, it was known as Mingzhou from its former prefecture, itself named after the nearby

Ming River The Ming River, also formerly known as the Qin, Qianbu, and Nanyi River, is a tributary of the Ziya River in Hebei, China. History The river gave its name to Imperial China's Ming Prefecture and to its capital Mingzhou, now Guangfu. During the ...

. It has also been known as Yongnian ("

Longevity The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...

") from the name of its former county and present district.

Geography

Guangfu is located in the middle of Yongnian Marsh in the western reaches of

's Yongnian District.

History

The area around Guangfu has been typically

marsh A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found at ...

y since the earliest historical records. Guangfu itself was first settled during the

Spring and Autumn Period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

around the 6thcenturyBC. It made up part of Jin during the Zhou, and part of Zhao during the

Warring States Period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

. Under the

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

, it was organized as part of Handan Commandery. During the fall of the Sui, it served as the capital of

Dou Jiande Dou Jiande (; 573 – 3 August 621) was a leader of the agrarian rebels who rose against the rule of Emperor Yang of Sui near the end of the Chinese Sui dynasty. Generally considered the kindest and most able of the agrarian rebel leaders ...

's short-lived "Xia Principality" after he captured it in AD619. At the time, the city lay on the principal road running from points south of the

Yellow River The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...

northeast to

Youzhou You Prefecture or You Province, also known by its Chinese name Youzhou, was a prefecture ('' zhou'') in northern China during its imperial era. "You Province" was cited in some ancient sources as one of the nine or twelve original provinces of ...

(now within

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 ...

) and

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

.. When Dou captured Li Shentong (), the Prince of Huai'an, the Tang scion was held in Guangfu's prison. When Dou was captured at the 621

Battle of Hulao The Battle of Hulao () or Battle of Sishui (汜水之戰, Wade–Giles: Ssŭ Shui), on 28 May 621 was the main and final battle of the Luoyang–Hulao campaign between the rival Tang, Zheng, and Xia regimes during the transition from Sui to Tan ...

, a few hundred of his cavalry escaped to his capital, looted its treasury, and then yielded the town to the victorious

. After Dou was executed in

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

, his cavalry officer

Liu Heita Liu Heita () (died 623) was an agrarian rebel leader during China's transition period from Sui Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, who initially successively served under Hao Xiaode (), Li Mi, and Wang Shichong. He eventually followed Dou Jiande the Prin ...

again rose in rebellion, defeating the Tang near Guangfu in late 621 with Turkic assistance. He then occupied the city and made it his capital, proclaiming his realm the "Principality of Handong".

Li Shimin Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty ...

—the future Emperor Taizong—defeated him by erecting a dam across the nearby

and then bursting it when it was able to flood most of the Handong army. Liu was able to return to the field with more Turkic help but again defeated. He was executed in Guangping's marketplace in the first month of 623. Guangfu's present

began as earthen

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * "O'er the Ramparts We Watched" is a key line from "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the ...

s during the

(7th–9thcenturies) and were built up with

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

under the Yuan (13th–14thcenturies) and

(14th–17thcenturies).. During the 19th century, under the

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

, it was the home to

Yang Luchan Yang Lu-ch'an or Yang Luchan, also known as Yang Fu-k'ui or Yang Fukui (1799–1872), was an influential Chinese practitioner and teacher of the internal style t'ai chi ch'uan (taijiquan). He is known as the founder of Yang-style t'ai chi ch'ua ...

and

Wu Yuxiang Wu Yuxiang (Wu Yu-hsiang, 1812?–1880?) was the founder of Wu (Hao)-style t'ai chi ch'uan. Wu was a scholar from a wealthy and influential family who became a senior student of Yang Luchan, the founder of Yang-style t'ai chi ch'uan. Wu also st ...

, the founders of

Yang Yang may refer to: * Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy * Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902 * YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration pr ...

and Wu-style

tai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an neijia, internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and medita ...

, two of the largest schools of tai chi in the world.

Horace William Houlding Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his '' ...

's South Chihli Mission opened a Protestant church in the town in 1905. It was overseen in its early years by Katharine Ewald. The historical area within the city walls. has been refurbished since China's opening up, with current construction mimicking the town's appearance under the

. Yang and Wu's former homes have been converted into public museums honoring their lives and schools of

.. The town was named a AAAAA tourist attraction by China's

National Tourism Administration The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA; ) was a Chinese government authority responsible for the development of tourism in the country. The CNTA was subordinate to the State Council. Its headquarters are in Beijing, with regional branche ...

in 2017..

In popular culture

The

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

drama ''Guangfu Tai Chi'' (, ''Guǎngfǔ Tàijí Chuánqí'') was filmed on location in the city in 2007 and aired in 2010..

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . * . * . * . * .

External links

GuangFutures
by the University of Sheffield's School of Architecture
Photographs of Guangfu Ancient City
at Beautiful Places 4 You {{coord, 36, 42, 07, N, 114, 43, 24, E, display=title Handan Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Hebei AAAAA-rated tourist attractions Populated places established in the 1st millennium BC Township-level divisions of Hebei