Meixian (, Hakka: Moiyen), formerly Meihsien, is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of Meizhou City, in northeastern Guangdong Province, China. The county is an important Hakka settlement and is the ancestral home of many Hakka descendants living in Taiwan.

History

Its original name was Chengxiang county () during the southern Han Dynasty where it was first created, all the way to the Song, Yuan and

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han pe ...

dynasties, and then renamed Jiaying county during the Qing dynasty. It only obtained the name Meixian in 1911 during the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty, the Manchu people, Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of Chi ...

Geography

Meixian almost completely surrounds

Meizhou Meizhou (, Hakka Chinese: Mòichû) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong province, China. It has an area of , and a population of 3,873,239 million as of the 2020 census. It comprises Meijiang District, Meixian District, Xingning Cit ...

's central urban

Meijiang District Meijiang () is a district of Meizhou City, Guangdong Province, China. Administrative divisions * Subdistricts (): ** Jinshan () **Jiangnan () ** Xijiao () *Towns: **Changsha () ** Sanjiao () ** Chengbei () Ethno-linguistic make-up Meijiang is n ...

. This is due to the old urban core of Meixian becoming separated from the bulk of the county in the territorial reorganization following the 1949 establishment of the People's Republic of China, when it was given equal status.

Ethno-linguistic make-up

Meixian is noted for its large

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

population.

Administrative divisions

Meixian has administrative jurisdiction over one

subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Ind ...

and 18

towns 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 or ...

. ;

Subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Ind ...

: * Xincheng () ;

Towns 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 or ...

: * Chendong () * Shisan () * Meixi () * Daping () * Shikeng () * Shuiche () * Meinan () * Bincun () *

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() *

Songyuan Songyuan () is a prefecture-level city in west-central Jilin province, China. History Even though the present city of Songyuan is predominantly modern in appearance, the area has a long history dating back to the Neolithic age. The city w ...

() *

Longwen Longwen District () is a district of Zhangzhou, Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong ...

() * Taoyao () * Shejiang () * Yanyang () * Songkou () *

Nankou Nankou railway station () is a railway station in Beijing. The station was opened in 1906. Schedules 10 passenger trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles ...

() *

Chengjiang Chengjiang (; earlier Tchinkiang) is a city located in Yuxi, Yunnan Province, China, just north of Fuxian Lake. Administrative divisions Chengjiang City has 2 subdistricts and 4 townships. ;2 subdistricts * Fenglu () * Longjie () ;4 towns C ...

() * Fuda ()

Culture

With a majority

population, Meixian, along with Dabu County, is known as the home of Standard Hakka.

References

External links

* County-level divisions of Guangdong Meizhou {{Guangdong-geo-stub