Yongchun (;

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 ...

: Éng-chhun; lit. 'eternal spring') is a county in western

Quanzhou Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...

city of southern

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 capi ...

province, People's Republic of China, located on the upper reaches of the Jin River. It is under the administration of

City. , it had a total population of 558,996 residing in an area of . Many

overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, refe ...

in Southeast Asia have ancestors from Yongchun. The county's historical sites include the Dongguan Bridge, an ancient

covered bridge A covered bridge is a timber-truss bridge with a roof, decking, and siding, which in most covered bridges create an almost complete enclosure. The purpose of the covering is to protect the wooden structural members from the weather. Uncovered woo ...

with a number of shrines inside. Originally built in 1145 and renovated a number of times since, the bridge is located in Dongmei village of Dongguan Township, on the road from Yongchun to the neighboring

Xianyou County Xianyou (; Puxian Min: ) is a county in the municipal region of Putian, in eastern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. Administration The county seat is in Licheng Subdistrict (). Towns (镇, ''zhen'') * Linan, Xianyou Linan () is a ...

. In 2011, the Taiwanese temple of goddess

Mazu Mazu or Matsu is a Chinese sea goddess also known by several other names and titles. She is the deified form of the legendary figure Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness whose life span is traditionally dated from 960 to 987. Re ...

Xingang The Port of Tianjin (''Tianjin Gang'', ), formerly known as the Port of Tanggu, is the largest port in Northern China and the main maritime gateway to Beijing. The name "Tianjin Xingang" (), which strictly speaking refers only to the main seaport ...

opened a branch Mazu temple in the county, located in Chenban village. Instrumental to this foundation was Professor Chen, of the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, a scholar of goddess Mazu whose family lived in Chenban village, who in 2010 attended a conference in Xingang. The Xingang Mazu Temple funded the construction, and Professor Chen secured the necessary authorizations in Yongchun County to expand an existing temple to the Daoist Master

Zhang Daoling Zhang Ling (; traditionally 34–156), courtesy name Fuhan (), was a Chinese religious leader who lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty credited with founding the Way of the Celestial Masters sect of Taoism, which is also known as the Way of the F ...

by adding a Mazu Black Hall. The statue of Mazu is carried in procession through the county during the

Chinese New Year Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...

holidays. The fame of the temple has helped placing Chenban village, whose name according to Professor Chen "nobody had ever heard before" on the map. Yongchun is home to a Chinese martial art called Yongchun White Crane Kung Fu. The style was founded in the 17th century and Yongchun remains its ancestral centre to this day.

Administration

Towns (镇, ''zhen'')

The county oversees 18 towns:

Townships

There are 4

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

(, '): * Hengkou Township () *

Chengxiang Township Chengxiang may refer to: *Grand chancellor (China), the highest-ranking executive official in imperial Chinese governments *Chengxiang District () is a district of the city of Putian, Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien ...

Administration

Towns (镇, ''zhen'')

Townships

Climate

See also

References

External links