Wu County or Wuxian (; 221 B.C. – December 2000) is a former county and city located in modern Suzhou City,

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

Province. Its name refers to its former status as the capital of the state of Wu during the Spring and Autumn period.

History

In 221 BC, Emperor

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of " king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Empero ...

established Wu County as the capital of

Kuaiji Commandery Kuaiji Commandery ( Chinese: t , s , p ''Kuàijī Jùn''), formerly romanized as K'uai-chi Commandery, was a former commandery of China in the area of Hangzhou Bay. When first established, its capital was at Wu (present- ...

. The city itself was often known as Kuaiji from this role, prior to return of Kuaiji's administration to present-day

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitant ...

on the southern shore of

Hangzhou Bay Hangzhou Bay, or the Bay of Hangzhou (), is a funnel-shaped inlet of the East China Sea, bordered by the province of Zhejiang and the municipality of Shanghai, which lies north of the Bay. The Bay extends from the East China Sea to its head ...

. In 1928, the government of the Republic of China split the urban area of Wu County and set up Suzhou City. Two years later, the decision was withdrawn. After the establishment of the

People's Republic of 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 ...

, Suzhou City was divided from Wu County again in 1949. In March 1983, Wu County became a county of

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China ...

Suzhou. In June 1995, Wu County was renamed to Wuxian City, a

county-level city A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...

. In December 2000, it was divided into two districts, currently known as

Wuzhong District Wuzhong District () is one of five urban districts of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, ...

and Xiangcheng District.

Notable people

Cai Han Cai Han (; 1647–1686), was a Chinese landscape painter. She was the concubine of the painter Mao Xiang and, with his other concubine Jin Yue, she was commissioned by him with the task of producing paintings as gifts to his guests; they became k ...

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 ...

artist *

Li Minhua Li Minhua (; 2 November 1917 – 19 January 2013), also known as Minghua Lee Wu, was a Chinese aerospace engineer and physicist who was an expert in solid mechanics. The first woman to earn a PhD in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts ...

, aerospace engineer and physicist

References

Administrative divisions of Suzhou History of Suzhou Former counties of China {{Suzhou-stub