Huizhou () is a historical region in

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

Province which roughly corresponds to

Huangshan City Huangshan () is a prefecture-level city in southern Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. Huangshan means ''Yellow Mountain'' in Chinese and the city is named after the famously scenic Yellow Mountains which cover much of the city's vast g ...

today – the southernmost region of the province. In Ming and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

dynasties, Huizhou was a prefecture corresponding to Huangshan city and

Jixi County Jixi County (, Mandarin pronunciation: ; Jixihua pronunciation: ''jie' cii xin'') is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xuancheng, in the southeast of Anhui province, China, bordering Zhejiang province to the eas ...

of modern

Xuancheng Xuancheng ( zh, s=宣城, p=Xuānchéng''; Xuanzhou Wu dialects, Xuanzhou Wu:'' Shye-san) is a city in the southeast of Anhui province. Archeological digs suggest that the city has been settled for over 4,000 years, and has been under formal admin ...

, plus Wuyuan County in northeastern

Jiangxi ; Gan: ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = , translit_lang1_type3 = , translit_lang1_info3 = , image_map = Jiangxi in China (+all claims hatched).svg , mapsize = 275px , map_caption = Location ...

. Anhui, the name of the province, is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

word combining the first characters of

Anqing Anqing ( zh, s=, t=安慶, p=Ānqìng, l=, also Yicheng, Nganking and formerly Hwaining, now the name of Huaining County) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui province of China, province, China, People's Republic of China. Its popu ...

and Huizhou.

History

During the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

(1211), Huizhou was named from Shezhou () or She Prefecture (), now the name of She County under Huangshan City. The prefecture remained intact for about 800 years with six counties: Shexian County (), Yixian County (),

Xiuning Xiuning County () is a county in the south of Anhui Province, China, under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Huangshan City. The southernmost county-level division in the province, it has a population of and an area of . The gove ...

(), Qimen (),

Jixi Jixi () is a city in southeastern Heilongjiang Province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 census, 1,502,060 people resided within its administrative area of and 560,118 in its built-up (''or metro'') area made up of 3 out of 6 urban di ...

(), and Wuyuan (). The region was known for its production of writing utensils. In the late

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

, the city also became known for publishing texts on a broad range of subjects, such as

genealogy Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

, classic literature, and illustrated novels and dramas. The carvers of the printing blocks were highly skilled, allowing the printed works to be of high quality.

Geography

Huizhou is a mountainous region in the south of Anhui province. Huizhou is also well known for the scenic Huangshan Mountains, which the modern-day city is named after.

Economy

Since the Ming dynasty, the merchants of Huizhou, collectively known in Chinese as Huishang ( 徽商; pinyin: Huīshāng), were renowned for their economic prowess. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, they formed a formidable political force both regionally and nationally. After the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...

, Huizhou merchants became less prominent as the war disrupted trade in inland China.

Culture

Huizhou has its own distinct culture as well as spoken dialect known as

Huizhou Chinese Huizhou (), or the Hui dialect (), is a group of Sinitic languages spoken in and around the historical region of Huizhou (for which it is named), in about ten or so mountainous counties in southern Anhui, plus a few more in neighbouring Zhejia ...

and recognized as one of the main subdivisions of spoken Chinese.

Peking opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime, martial arts, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became ...

, which arose in the 18th century, has its origins in a local opera form from Huizhou. Hui cuisine, which is known for its extensive use of wild herbs, is one of the eight main Chinese cuisines.

Architecture

Huizhou is famous for ancient streets and buildings, such as ancestral temple, memorial archway. Residential buildings in Huizhou attach importance to

feng shui Feng shui ( or ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in ancient China and claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term ''feng shui'' mean ...

and

yin-yang Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...

Notable people

Zhu Xi Zhu Xi ( zh, c=朱熹; ; October 18, 1130April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese philosopher, historian, politician, poet, and calligrapher of the Southern Song dynasty. As a leading figure in the development of Neo-Confuci ...

(1130-1200) *

Huang Binhong Huáng Bīnhóng (; January 27, 1865– March 25, 1955) was a Chinese literati painter and art historian born in Jinhua, Zhejiang province. His ancestral home was She County, Anhui province.Cihai: Page 2056. He was the grandson of artist Hua ...

(1865-1955) *

Hu Shih Hu Shih ( zh, t=胡適; 17 December 189124 February 1962) was a Chinese academic, writer, and politician. Hu contributed to Chinese liberalism and language reform, and was a leading advocate for the use of written vernacular Chinese. He part ...

(1891-1962) *

Tao Xingzhi Tao Xingzhi (; October 18, 1891 – July 25, 1946), was a renowned Chinese educator and reformer in the Republic of China mainland era. He studied at Teachers College, Columbia University, and returned to China to champion progressive education ...

(1891-1946) * Hu Xueyan (1823-1885) * Hu Zongxian (1512-1565) * Zhan Tianyou (1861-1919) * Sai Jinhua (1872-1936) *

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...

(1926-2022) *

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...

(1942- ) * Wang Zhi (?-1560)

References

{{Regions and cities of China Geography of Anhui Regions of China Huangshan City