Wuchang 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 ...

of the

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

Wuhan Wuhan; is the capital of Hubei, China. With a population of over eleven million, it is the most populous city in Hubei and the List of cities in China by population, eighth-most-populous city in China. It is also one of the nine National cent ...

, the capital of

Hubei Province Hubei is a province in Central China. It has the seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland provinces. Its provincial capital at Wuhan serves as a major politi ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the right (southeastern) bank of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

River, opposite the mouth of the Han River. The two other cities, Hanyang and

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers w ...

, 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 1,102,188. 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 The Wuchang Uprising was an armed rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty that took place in Wuchang (now Wuchang District of Wuhan) in the Chinese province of Hubei on 10 October 1911, beginning the Xinhai Revolution that successfully overthr ...

, a turning point of the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

that overthrew the

Qing dynasty 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 ...

and established the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

History

The old Wuchang county

In 221, warlord

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

moved the capital of

Eastern Wu Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...

from

Gong'an Gong'an County () is a county in southern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hunan to the south. It is under the administration of Jingzhou City. History During the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era, Gong'an County was k ...

county,

Jingzhou Jingzhou ( zh, s=, c=荆州, t=, p=Jīngzhōu) is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the Seventh National Population Censu ...

(northwest of present-day Gong'an county, Hubei) to È county (in present-day

Ezhou Ezhou ( zh, s= ) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hubei Province, China. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,079,353, of which 695,697 lived in the core Echeng District. The Ezhou - Huanggang built-up (''or metro'') area w ...

City), and renamed È to Wuchang (literally ''prospering from military'', regarding its

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

role of the

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

s 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 China that took place during the winter of AD 208–209. It was fought on the Yangtze River between the forces of warlords controlling different parts ...

). Later in the year

Cao Pi Cao Pi () (late 187 – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the ...

proclaimed himself the emperor of

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

. 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 Sun Hao (242 – January or February 284), courtesy name Yuanzong, originally named Sun Pengzu with the courtesy name Haozong, was the fourth and last emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a son of ...

, the emperor of Eastern Wu between 264 and 280, moved the capital back to Wuchang in 265. In 589, the Wuchang

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

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

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 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 word, "''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 inter ...

, headquartered in the town, became the capital of

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

province. During 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 ...

, Wuchang and the surrounding area changed hands several times after the Taiping capture of the city in the

Battle of Wuchang A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

(1852). At the end of the

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 ...

Empire, the Wuchang Prefecture (, then transcribed as 'Ou-tchang-fou') was the capital of the combined provinces of

and

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

, called the 'two Hu' or '' Huguang Viceroyalty''. It was the seat of the provincial government of Huguang, at the head of which was a

viceroy of Huguang The Viceroy of Huguang, fully in Chinese as the Governor-General of Hubei, Hunan and Other Local Areas, in Charge of Military Affairs, Food and Wages and Governor Affairs, was one of eight regional Viceroys in China#Qing dynasty, Viceroys during ...

. Next to

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

and

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, it was one of the most important vice-royalties in the empire. It possessed an arsenal and a mint. The provincial government established

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

works for the manufacture of rails and other

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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 who 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 Miss ...

, both

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, 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 Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

to Guangzhou; and was on the route of the

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

railway. In Wuchang on October 10, 1911, a revolt broke out against the Qing Dynasty. This event, now called the

and celebrated as

Double Ten Day The National Day of the Republic of China, also referred to as Double Ten Day or Double Tenth Day, is a Public holidays in Taiwan, public holiday on 10 October, now held annually as national day in the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC, commonly ...

, was the catalyst that started the

, which led to the development of the

. 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

and Hanyang to form a new city named

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 Capital Group (HSG; ) is a Chinese venture capital firm founded in 2005. It was previously the China investment arm of Sequoia Capital (Sequoia) and was known as Sequoia Capital China and Sequoia China before it was rebranded and spun- ...

districts, while the remaining, mostly rural, southern part retained the name of Wuchang County. In 1995, Wuchang County became

Jiangxia District Jiangxia District () is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, China, situated on the eastern (right) bank of the Yangtze River. Jiangxia district has an area of and a population of 1,308, ...

of Wuhan.

Geography

Administrative divisions

Wuchang District administers:

Notable people

Saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

Francis Regis Clet François-Régis Clet, CM (; 19 August 1748 – 18 February 1820) was a Catholic Church in France, French Catholic missionary who served in East Asia during the 19th century as a member of the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians. He was cano ...

, one of the

Martyr Saints of China The Martyr Saints of China ( zh, t=中華殉道聖人, s=中华殉道圣人, first=t, p=Zhōnghuá xùndào shèngrén), or Augustine Zhao Rong and his Companions, are 120 saints of the Catholic Church. The 87 Chinese Catholics and 33 Wester ...

, executed in Wuchang in 1840 * Li Bingbing, actress and singer *

Jayne Meadows Jayne Meadows (born Jane Cotter; September 27, 1919 – April 26, 2015) was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards during her career and was the elder sist ...

, American stage, film and television actress

References

External links

Official website of Wuchang District Government
{{authority control County-level divisions of Hubei Geography of Wuhan