The Humen, also Bocca Tigris or Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shiziyang in the north and

Lingdingyang Lingdingyang () or Lingding Channel is the middle channel of the Pearl River estuary which runs from Humen to Jiuzhouyang. Humen separates Lingdingyang and Shiziyang, the upper channel of the Pearl River Estuary, in the north and Jiuzhouyang, th ...

in the south near

Humen Town Humen Town (), formerly Fumun, is a town in Dongguan city on the eastern side of the Humen strait on the Pearl River Delta, in Guangdong province, China. The former town of Taiping was incorporated into Humen Town in 1985. The population was 577,5 ...

in China's

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Province. It is the site of the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

's discharge into the South China Sea. It contains the Port of Humen at Humen Town. The strait is formed by the islands of Chuenpi (, p ''Chuanbi'') and Anunghoy (, p ''Aniangxie''; also called , p ''Weiyuan'') on the eastern side, and Taikoktow (大角头, p ''Dajiaotou'') on the western side. Since 1997, the strait has been traversed by the

Humen Pearl River Bridge The Humen Pearl River Bridge () is a bridge over the Humen, Pearl River in Guangdong Province, southern China. It consists of two main spans - a suspension bridge section and a segmental concrete section. It connects the Nansha District of Guan ...

. Bocca Tigris was the entry to China's only trading city, Kanton.

Name

The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

ate ' is derived from the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

', which is a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language w ...

of the Chinese and

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

name , literally meaning "The Tiger Gate".Taylor 1898, p. 70 The name ''Bogue'' is also a corruption of the Portuguese ''Boca''. The name comes from the impression given by Tiger Island, situated about above the Hengdang Islands in the middle of the strait, of a tiger couchant or at least of a tiger's head on its eastern side.Hawks, Francis L.; Perry, Matthew (1857).
Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan
'. New York: D. Appleton and Company. p. 161. American Commodore

Matthew Perry Matthew Langford Perry (born August 19, 1969) is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the NBC television sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004). As well as starring in the short-lived television series '' St ...

, who later played a leading role in the

opening of Japan was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. ...

to the West, noted that: "Although the resemblance is not at first very striking, it becomes quite obvious after examination".

History

Because of its strategic location as the naval gateway to the city of

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 ...

(Canton), the strait was strongly fortified during the

Qing dynasty 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-spea ...

. It was defended by eight forts: Shakok (Shajiao), Taikok (Dajiao), Wangtung (Hengdang), Yung-an (Yong'an), Kung-ku (Gonggu), Chen-yuan (Zhenyuan), Ching-yuan (Jingyuan), and Wei-yuan. Between September 1809 and January 1810,

Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy ( pt, Marinha Portuguesa, also known as ''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'' or as ''Armada Portuguesa'') is the naval branch of the Portuguese Armed Forces which, in cooperation and integrated with the other branches of the Port ...

ships based in

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

defeated a group of Chinese pirates in the

Battle of the Tiger's Mouth The Battle of the Tiger's Mouth (; pt, Batalha da Boca do Tigre) was a series of engagements between a Portuguese flotilla stationed in Macau, and the Red Flag Fleet of the Chinese pirate Ching Shih, led by her second-in-command, Cheung Po Tsai ...

. The first major battle of the First Opium War between the United Kingdom and China occurred at the entrance of the Humen in the First Battle of Chuenpi on 3 November 1839. The British captured the Bogue forts in the

Second Battle of Chuenpi The Second Battle of Chuenpi () was fought between British and Chinese forces in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong province, China, on 7January 1841 during the First Opium War. The British launched an amphibious attack at the Humen strait (Bog ...

on 7 January 1841 and the Battle of the Bogue on 23–26 February. The forts were recaptured on 2 April 1847 during the British

Expedition to Canton The Expedition to Canton was a British punitive expedition that captured the forts along the Pearl River, Guangdong province, China, on 2–3 April 1847. Beginning at the Humen Strait (Bogue), the British captured the forts leading up to the city ...

. In the Second Opium War, the British recaptured the forts in the 1856 Battle of the Bogue on 12–13 November.

Geography

*Eastern shore:

Dongguan Dongguan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the ...

City *Western shore: the Nansha District of Guangzhou City *Upper and Lower Hengdang Islands (), or North and South Wangtong Islands, in the middle of the strait *

*Several Qing dynasty forts, including: **

Weiyuan Fort Weiyuan Fort () is a coastal-defense fort, now in ruins, in Humen, Dongguan, Guangdong, China. The fort was constructed in 1835 and was in use during the Opium Wars. The fort is situated immediately under the Humen Bridge. There were 44 cannons t ...

(), near Humen Town **Shajiao Fort (), in Humen Town *Nansha Pier (), in the Nansha District, south of the Humen Bridge

Port of Humen

The Port of Humen at Humen Town serves as the port of the industrial city of Dongguan and as one of the big logistic hubs of the Pearl River Delta. It extends on the east shore of the delta beyond the strait all the way to the

Dongjiang River The Dong River is the eastern tributary of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River in Guangdong province, southern China. The other two main tributaries of Pearl River Delta, Pearl River are Xi River and Bei River. The headwater is located in Mount ...

. It is divided into five port areas: *Shatian Port Area (): focuses on containers, chemicals, yard logistics, shoreline industry, and comprehensive trading services. *Mayong Port Area (): focuses on grain, vegetable oil, coal, construction materials, and break-bulk cargo. *Shajiao Port Area (): focuses on passenger transport, leisure boating, and coastal transport and cabotage. *Chang'an Port Area (): focuses on large-scale deep-water berths and the waterfront industry. *Neihe Port Area (): focuses on traditional waterborne transport services for the Dongguan industries. The port has of territorial waters and of jurisdictional area. The main navigation channel is deep, enough for vessels of 100,000 DWT. Originally called Taiping port, the State Council approved it as an open port in 1983. It was merged with the Shatian port in June 1997 and renamed Humen port.Yeung, Godfrey (2001). ''Foreign Investment and Socio-Economic Development: The Case of Dongguan''. New York: Palgrave. p. 97. .

Notes

References

*Taylor, Isaac (1898).
Names and Their Histories: A Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature
' (2nd ed.). London: Rivingtons.

External links

Satellite view of Bocca Tigris on Google maps
{{Ports of China Bodies of water of Guangdong Pearl River (China) Pearl River Delta Straits of China