Wuchang (city)
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Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban
districts 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 the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province,
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 is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the right (southeastern) bank of the Yangtze River, opposite the mouth of the Han River. The two other cities, Hanyang and Hankou, were on the left (northwestern) bank, separated from each other by the Han River. The name "Wuchang" remains in common use for the part of urban Wuhan south of the Yangtze River. Administratively, however, it is split between several districts of the City of Wuhan. The historic center of Wuchang lies within the modern Wuchang District, which has an area of and a population of 1,003,400. Other parts of what is colloquially known as Wuchang are within Hongshan District (south and south-east) and Qingshan District (north-east). Presently, on the right bank of the Yangtze, it borders the districts of Qingshan (for a very small section) to the northeast and Hongshan to the east and south; on the opposite bank it borders Jiang'an, Jianghan and Hanyang. On 10 October 1911, the New Army stationed in the city started the Wuchang Uprising, a turning point of the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
.


History


The old Wuchang county

In 221, warlord
Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...
moved the capital of
Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < : ''*ŋuɑ''), known in h ...
from Gong'an county, Jingzhou (northwest of present-day Gong'an county, Hubei) to È county (in present-day Ezhou City), and renamed È to Wuchang (literally ''prospering from military'', regarding its logistics role of the military bases established before the
Battle of Red Cliffs The Battle of Red Cliffs, also known as the Battle of Chibi, was a decisive naval battle in the winter of AD 208–209 at the end of the Han dynasty, about twelve years prior to the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. T ...
). Later in the year Cao Pi proclaimed himself the emperor of Cao Wei. Sun Quan declared independence in the following year, and started to build forts and palaces in Wuchang. Sun Quan proclaimed himself the emperor of Eastern Wu in 229, and moved the capital to Jianye. Sun Hao, the emperor of Eastern Wu between 264 and 280, moved the capital back to Wuchang in 265. In 589, the Wuchang commandery 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 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 Wuying Pagoda (), also known as the Xingfu Temple Pagoda () and The Thousand Year-Old Pagoda of Wuhan (), is a Buddhist pagoda in Wuchang, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Built of stone 750 years ago during the final years of the Southern Song ...
, the oldest standing architecture in Hubei Province, was built around the time of fall of the Southern Song Dynasty. After 1301, the Wuchang
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 ...
, headquartered in the town, became the capital of Hubei province. During the Taiping Rebellion, Wuchang and the surrounding area changed hands several times after the Taiping capture of the city in the
Battle of Wuchang The Battle of Wuchang occurred in 1852 during the Taiping Rebellion in Wuchang, part of the modern-day city of Wuhan. Background In November 1852 Hong Xiuquan called off the siege of Changsha. The Taiping armies advanced northward down the Xia ...
(1852). At the end of 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 ...
Empire, the Wuchang Prefecture (, then transcribed as 'Ou-tchang-fou') was the capital of the combined provinces of Hubei and Hunan, called the 'two Hu' or ''
Huguang Viceroyalty 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 ...
''. It was the seat of the provincial government of Huguang, at the head of which was a viceroy of Huguang. Next to Nanjing and Guangzhou, it was one of the most important vice-royalties in the empire. It possessed an arsenal and a mint. The provincial government established ironworks for the manufacture of rails and other railway 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 A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
, both Roman Catholic and Protestant, 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 to Guangzhou; and was on the route of the Sichuan railway. In Wuchang on October 10, 1911, a revolt broke out against the Qing Dynasty. This event, now called the Wuchang Uprising and celebrated as Double Ten Day, was the catalyst that started the Xinhai Revolution, which led to the development of the
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
. 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 and Hanyang to form a new city named Wuhan. 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 Hongshan may refer to: Places in China Districts *Hongshan District, Chifeng () in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia *Hongshan District, Wuhan () in Wuhan, Hubei Subdistricts * Hongshan Subdistrict, Changsha (), in Kaifu District, Changsha, Hunan * Hongsh ...
districts, while the remaining, mostly rural, southern part retained the name of Wuchang County. In 1995, Wuchang County became Jiangxia District of Wuhan.


Geography


Administrative divisions

Wuchang District administers:


Notable people

*
Saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
Francis Regis Clet, one of the Martyr Saints of China, executed in Wuchang in 1840 * Li Bingbing, actress and singer * Jayne Meadows, 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