Xiangcheng District (), or Sin Kang District in

Min Nan Southern Min (), Minnan ( Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ...

, is a district of

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and surrounding the prefect ...

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 to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

province, People's Republic of China.

Location

Xiangcheng is surrounded by the Chuan Chiam Boey Mountains in the south, a bay in the north, the Khor Chu Village in the east, and the Hui Chor Village in the west, where the clan village residents with the surname Qiū () are the majority. Xiangcheng was developed as a clan village with specific surnames for more than 600 years since the

Ming Dynasty 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 peo ...

, with various small communities settled within the clan were formed. Clusters of houses with red-tiled roofs scatter among the labyrinthine alleys, and westward, in the near mid-west of the village, the main street runs from north to south. In the middle part of it stands the marketplace. Xiangcheng is the second place where dominated by (Qiū, Khoo in

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...

) surnames settlers, and the second is Penang,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. The village has thirteen ancestral halls of different sizes, each representing a branch of the Qiu clan. There are two main temples in the village, namely the Cheng Soon Keong and the Hock Leng Keong. The former enshrines Ong Soon Yah and Tua Sai Yah, the patron saints of the Qiu clan, while the latter houses Poh Seh Tai Tay(), the God of Medicine.

Administrative divisions

Subdistricts: *Dongputou Subdistrict (), Xiqiao Subdistrict (), Xinqiao Subdistrict (), Xiangkou Subdistrict (), Nankeng Subdistrict (), Tongbei Subdistrict () Towns: *Punan (), Tianbao (), Zhishan (), Shiting () Other: Jinfeng Economic Development Zone ()

Landmarks

The original Cheng Soon Keong temple collapsed due to lack of maintenance during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

(1966~1976). The present building was rebuilt in 1997 with a donation of US$0.84 million from Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi, Penang. Situated at the downstream of

Jiulong River The Jiulong River, formerly known as the Longjiang or Zhangjiang, is the largest rivers of China, river in southern Fujian and the second largest in the province. It has a length of and a basin of . Like all Fujianese rivers Ting River, but ...

, Xiangcheng was near the trading ports of Southern China from where people of Southern Fujian went overseas during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In 1567,

Yuegang Yuegang () was a seaport situated at the estuary of the Jiulong River near Zhangzhou in Fujian, China. Known as a smuggling hub since the early Ming dynasty, Yuegang rose to prominence in the 16th century as the Ming government cracked down on oth ...

(), a new port which was located about from Xiangjiang, replaced

as the major port in Southern Fujian. Yuegang was then superseded by

Amoy Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...

during the Qing dynasty.

References

Fujian
{{Authority control County-level divisions of Fujian Zhangzhou