Jiangnan
Encyclopedia
Jiangnan or Jiang Nan is a geographic area in China
referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River
, including the southern part of the Yangtze Delta
. This region is largely Wu-speaking.
, Cháng Jiāng, and nán meaning "south." The region encompasses the Shanghai
Municipality, the southern part of Jiangsu
Province, the southern part of Anhui
Province, the northern part of Jiangxi
Province, and the northern part of Zhejiang
Province. The most important cities in the area are Shanghai
, Nanjing
, Ningbo
, Hangzhou
, Suzhou
, Wuxi
, Changzhou
and Shaoxing
.
Jiangnan has been a leading region of China for at least 1000 years, with its strong economy and human resources. Although only constituting 5% of area in China, it has been historically responsible for a significant amount of the Chinese GDP. The intellectual life of Jiangnan has been highly distinguished throughout Chinese history and greatly influenced Chinese culture as a whole.
In the last 15 years, manufacturing, including automobiles (General Motors, Volkswagen
), electronics and textiles industries, concentrated in this area, taking advantage of cheap labor and convenient transportation. Jiangnan industries play an important role in China's export trade and produce much of the consumer goods used around the world.
and of the Hemudu culture
s. The later Liangzhu culture
, from around 2600-2000 BC, created complex and beautiful jade
artifacts. Their economy was based on rice cultivation, fishing and constructed houses on stilts over rivers or lakes. During the Zhou Dynasty
, the Wu
and Baiyue peoples inhabited the area with heavy aquaculture and stilt houses, but became increasingly sinicized through contact with northern Chinese states. They adopted the Chinese writing system and created excellent bronze swords. The Chu
state from the west (in Hubei
) expanded into this area and defeated the Yue
state. After Chu was conquered by Qin
, China was unified. It was not until the fall of Western Jin during the early 4th century AD that northern Chinese moved to Jiangnan in significant numbers. The Yellow River valley was becoming barren due to flooding (lack of trees after intensive logging to create farmland) and constant harassment and invasion by the Wu Hu
nomads.
Although Chinese civilization originated in the North China Plain
around the Yellow River
, natural climate change and continuous harassment from nomadic enemies damaged North China's agricultural productivity throughout the 1st millennium AD. Many people settled in South China, where the Jiangnan area's warm and wet climate were ideal for supporting agriculture and allowed highly sophisticated cities to arise. As early as the East Han period (circa 2nd century AD), Jiangnan areas became one of the more economically prominent areas of China. Other than rice, Jiangnan produced highly profitable trade products such as tea, silk, and celadon
porcelain (from Shangyu
). Convenient transportation - the Grand Canal
to the north, the Yangtze River to the west, and seaports such as Yangzhou
- contributed greatly to local trade and also trade between ancient China and other nations.
Several Chinese Dynasties were based in Jiangnan. During the Three Kingdoms
period, Jianye (modern-day Nanjing
) was the capital of the Kingdom of Wu. In the 3rd century, many northern Chinese moved here after nomadic groups controlled the north. In the 10th century, Wuyue was a small coastal kingdom founded by Qian Liu
who made a lasting cultural impact on Jiangnan and its people to this day. After the Jurchen completely overran northern China
in the 1120s, the exiled Song Dynasty
government retreated south, establishing the new Southern Song capital at Hangzhou
in 1127.
During the last years of the Yuan Dynasty
Jiangnan was fought for by two major rebel states: Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming, based in Nanjing, and the Suzhou
-centered Wu led by Zhang Shicheng
. A ten-year rivalry ended with Zhu's capture of Suzhou in 1367; having thus reunified Jiangnan, Zhu proclaimed himself the first emperor of the new Ming Dynasty
on the Chinese New Year Day (20 January) of 1368, and a few month later expelled the Mongols from Northern China as well. Nanjing remained the capital of the Ming Dynasty until the early 15th century, when the third Ming Emperor, Yongle, moved the capital to Beijing
.
When the Qing dynasty
first took over China, Jiangnan's gentry offered resistance in the form of denying the ability to deal with taxes to the government.
The Qing Dynasty
Qianlong Emperor
made many visits to Jiangnan , which have been the popular subject of numerous Chinese opera
s and television dramas. Earlier, the Kangxi Emperor
visited the region as well.
During the 19th century Taiping Rebellion
, the rebel Taiping state occupied much of Jiangnan and eventually made Nanjing
its capital. The area suffered much damage as the Rebellion was quelled and Manchurian rule restored.
After the fall of the Qing
monarchy in 1911, and Chiang Kai-shek
's Northern Expedition, the Republic of China
, following the wishes of Dr. Sun Yat-sen
, made Nanjing the national capital. From the late 1920s until the Second World War, the Jiangnan area was the focus of Chinese economic development. Much of the Kuomintang
's ruling elite and the ROC's economic elite hailed from the Jiangnan area.
and Jiangnan regions. While the city of Yangzhou
was the center of trade, flourishing and prosperous, it was considered part of Jiangnan, which was known to be wealthy, even though Yangzhou was north of the Yangzi river. Once Yangzhou
's wealth prosperity were gone, it was then considered to be part of Jiangbei, the "backwater". After Yangzhou was removed from Jiangnan, its residents decided to replace Jianghuai Mandarin, which was the dialect of Yangzhou, with Taihu Wu dialects
. In Jiangnan itself, multiple subdialects of Wu fought for the position of prestige dialect.
, Jiangnan became home to a large and important Muslim communities. Taozhou was settled by the Muslim troops, who constructed a mosque in 1379 during the Ming dynasty.
Ethnic Han Chinese from the Yangtze delta region migrated to Seng ge gshong "at the turn of" the 1400s. Seng ge gshong was renamed Wutun due to these colonists. During the Qianlong reign this migration was recorded in the Xunhua zhi. Wutun is located in Qinghai
province.
During the Ming dynasty
people from Jiangsu
migrated to Taomin in Northwest China, where the Taozhou dialect is spoken. Chen Ming developed a theory in which he claimed that the hua'er song style popular in northwest China was created by a synthesis between the songs of these Jiangsu migrants and the Tibetans and Qiang of Taomin.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
, including the southern part of the Yangtze Delta
Yangtze River Delta
The Yangtze River Delta, Yangtze Delta or YRD, also called Yangzi, or Chang Jiang Delta, Rive Chang Delta Tai Lake Region or the Golden Triangle of the Yangtze, generally comprises the triangular-shaped territory of Wu-speaking Shanghai, southern Jiangsu province and northern Zhejiang province of...
. This region is largely Wu-speaking.
Etymology
The word Jiangnan is based on the Chinese name for the YangtzeYangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
, Cháng Jiāng, and nán meaning "south." The region encompasses the Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
Municipality, the southern part of Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
Province, the southern part of Anhui
Anhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
Province, the northern part of Jiangxi
Jiangxi
' is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to...
Province, and the northern part of Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
Province. The most important cities in the area are Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, Ningbo
Ningbo
Ningbo is a seaport city of northeastern Zhejiang province, Eastern China. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, the municipality has a population of 7,605,700 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 3,089,180 in the built up area made of 6 urban districts. It lies south of the Hangzhou Bay,...
, Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
, Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
, Wuxi
Wuxi
Wuxi is an old city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Split in half by Lake Tai, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The northern half looks across to Taizhou across the Yangtze River, while the southern half also borders the province of Zhejiang to the south...
, Changzhou
Changzhou
Changzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, Jinling, and Wujin. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Zhenjiang to the...
and Shaoxing
Shaoxing
Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou to the southeast, Jinhua to the southwest, and Hangzhou to the west. It was once known as "越"...
.
Jiangnan has been a leading region of China for at least 1000 years, with its strong economy and human resources. Although only constituting 5% of area in China, it has been historically responsible for a significant amount of the Chinese GDP. The intellectual life of Jiangnan has been highly distinguished throughout Chinese history and greatly influenced Chinese culture as a whole.
In the last 15 years, manufacturing, including automobiles (General Motors, Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...
), electronics and textiles industries, concentrated in this area, taking advantage of cheap labor and convenient transportation. Jiangnan industries play an important role in China's export trade and produce much of the consumer goods used around the world.
History of Jiangnan
The earliest archaeological evidences were of the MajiabangMajiabang culture
The Majiabang culture was a Neolithic culture that existed at the mouth of the Yangtze River, primarily around the Taihu area and north of Hangzhou Bay in China. The culture was spread throughout southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang from around 5000 BC to 3000 BC...
and of the Hemudu culture
Hemudu culture
The Hemudu culture was a Neolithic culture that flourished just south of the Hangzhou Bay in Jiangnan in modern Yuyao, Zhejiang, China. The site at Hemudu, 22 km north-west of Ningbo, was discovered in 1973...
s. The later Liangzhu culture
Liangzhu culture
The Liangzhu culture was the last Neolithic jade culture in the Yangtze River Delta of China. Its area of influence extended from around Lake Tai north to Nanjing and the Chang Jiang, east to Shanghai and the sea, and south to Hangzhou...
, from around 2600-2000 BC, created complex and beautiful jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
artifacts. Their economy was based on rice cultivation, fishing and constructed houses on stilts over rivers or lakes. During the Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...
, the Wu
Wu
Wu may refer to:Places:* Wu , a region in China, associated with:** Wu Chinese, a variety of spoken Chinese spoken in the Wu region** Wu , a state in the Wu region during the Spring and Autumn Period...
and Baiyue peoples inhabited the area with heavy aquaculture and stilt houses, but became increasingly sinicized through contact with northern Chinese states. They adopted the Chinese writing system and created excellent bronze swords. The Chu
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...
state from the west (in Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...
) expanded into this area and defeated the Yue
Yue (state)
Yue was a state in China which existed during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period , in the modern province of Zhejiang. During the Spring and Autumn Period, its capital was in Guiji , near the modern city of Shaoxing...
state. After Chu was conquered by Qin
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
, China was unified. It was not until the fall of Western Jin during the early 4th century AD that northern Chinese moved to Jiangnan in significant numbers. The Yellow River valley was becoming barren due to flooding (lack of trees after intensive logging to create farmland) and constant harassment and invasion by the Wu Hu
Wu Hu
Wu Hu was a Chinese term for the northern non-Chinese nomadic tribes which caused the Wu Hu uprising, and established the Sixteen Kingdoms from 304 to 439 AD.-Definition:...
nomads.
Although Chinese civilization originated in the North China Plain
North China Plain
The North China Plain is based on the deposits of the Yellow River and is the largest alluvial plain of eastern Asia. The plain is bordered on the north by the Yanshan Mountains and on the west by the Taihang Mountains edge of the Shanxi plateau. To the south, it merges into the Yangtze Plain...
around the Yellow River
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
, natural climate change and continuous harassment from nomadic enemies damaged North China's agricultural productivity throughout the 1st millennium AD. Many people settled in South China, where the Jiangnan area's warm and wet climate were ideal for supporting agriculture and allowed highly sophisticated cities to arise. As early as the East Han period (circa 2nd century AD), Jiangnan areas became one of the more economically prominent areas of China. Other than rice, Jiangnan produced highly profitable trade products such as tea, silk, and celadon
Celadon
Celadon is a term for ceramics denoting both a type of glaze and a ware of a specific color, also called celadon. This type of ware was invented in ancient China, such as in the Zhejiang province...
porcelain (from Shangyu
Shangyu
Shangyu is a county-level city which is part of the prefecture-level city of Shaoxing in the Northeast of Zhejiang province of the People's Republic of China. Its 2004 population was over 770,000, up from 722,523 in the 2000 census. Shangyu is roughly fifty kilometers from north to south and about...
). Convenient transportation - the Grand Canal
Grand Canal of China
The Grand Canal in China, also known as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting at Beijing, it passes through Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the city of Hangzhou...
to the north, the Yangtze River to the west, and seaports such as Yangzhou
Yangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...
- contributed greatly to local trade and also trade between ancient China and other nations.
Several Chinese Dynasties were based in Jiangnan. During the Three Kingdoms
Three Kingdoms
The Three Kingdoms period was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the...
period, Jianye (modern-day Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
) was the capital of the Kingdom of Wu. In the 3rd century, many northern Chinese moved here after nomadic groups controlled the north. In the 10th century, Wuyue was a small coastal kingdom founded by Qian Liu
Qian Liu
Qian Liu , courtesy name Jumei , nickname Poliu , formally King Wusu of Wuyue with the temple name of Taizu , was founder and first king of the Kingdom of Wuyue during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, ruling over roughly modern Zhejiang on the east coast of China.- Background :Qian...
who made a lasting cultural impact on Jiangnan and its people to this day. After the Jurchen completely overran northern China
Jingkang Incident
The Jingkang Incident , the Humiliation of Jingkang , or The Disorders of the Jingkang Period took place in 1127 when invading Jurchen soldiers from the Jin Dynasty besieged and sacked Bianjing , the capital of the Song Dynasty of China...
in the 1120s, the exiled Song Dynasty
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
government retreated south, establishing the new Southern Song capital at Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
in 1127.
During the last years of the Yuan Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
Jiangnan was fought for by two major rebel states: Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming, based in Nanjing, and the Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
-centered Wu led by Zhang Shicheng
Zhang Shicheng
Zhang Shicheng （1321－1367）was one of the leaders of the Red Turban Rebellion in the late Yuan Dynasty China. Later he established the Kingdom of Dazhou with reigning name Tianyou .-Life:...
. A ten-year rivalry ended with Zhu's capture of Suzhou in 1367; having thus reunified Jiangnan, Zhu proclaimed himself the first emperor of the new Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
on the Chinese New Year Day (20 January) of 1368, and a few month later expelled the Mongols from Northern China as well. Nanjing remained the capital of the Ming Dynasty until the early 15th century, when the third Ming Emperor, Yongle, moved the capital to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
.
When the Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
first took over China, Jiangnan's gentry offered resistance in the form of denying the ability to deal with taxes to the government.
The Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
Qianlong Emperor
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...
made many visits to Jiangnan , which have been the popular subject of numerous Chinese opera
Chinese opera
Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE...
s and television dramas. Earlier, the Kangxi Emperor
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor ; Manchu: elhe taifin hūwangdi ; Mongolian: Энх-Амгалан хаан, 4 May 1654 –20 December 1722) was the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, the first to be born on Chinese soil south of the Pass and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722.Kangxi's...
visited the region as well.
During the 19th century Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
, the rebel Taiping state occupied much of Jiangnan and eventually made Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
its capital. The area suffered much damage as the Rebellion was quelled and Manchurian rule restored.
After the fall of the Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
monarchy in 1911, and Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's Northern Expedition, the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, following the wishes of Dr. Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
, made Nanjing the national capital. From the late 1920s until the Second World War, the Jiangnan area was the focus of Chinese economic development. Much of the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
's ruling elite and the ROC's economic elite hailed from the Jiangnan area.
Identity Politics and Dialect
Dialect has also been used as a tool for regional identitity and politics in the JiangbeiJiangbei
Jiangbei may refer to:*North of the Yangtze River, especially in eastern China, or Jiangsu*Jiangbei District, Chongqing, in Chongqing, China*Jiangbei District, Ningbo, in Zhejiang, China*Jiangbei, Meizhou, in Guangdong, China...
and Jiangnan regions. While the city of Yangzhou
Yangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...
was the center of trade, flourishing and prosperous, it was considered part of Jiangnan, which was known to be wealthy, even though Yangzhou was north of the Yangzi river. Once Yangzhou
Yangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across...
's wealth prosperity were gone, it was then considered to be part of Jiangbei, the "backwater". After Yangzhou was removed from Jiangnan, its residents decided to replace Jianghuai Mandarin, which was the dialect of Yangzhou, with Taihu Wu dialects
Taihu Wu dialects
Taihu Wu dialects , or Northern Wu dialects , are a group of Wu dialects spoken over much of southern part of Jiangsu province, including Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, the southern part of Nantong, Jingjiang and Danyang; the municipality of Shanghai; and the northern part of Zhejiang province, including...
. In Jiangnan itself, multiple subdialects of Wu fought for the position of prestige dialect.
History of Immigration and Emigration in Jiangnan
During the Yuan dynastyYuan Dynasty
The Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
, Jiangnan became home to a large and important Muslim communities. Taozhou was settled by the Muslim troops, who constructed a mosque in 1379 during the Ming dynasty.
Ethnic Han Chinese from the Yangtze delta region migrated to Seng ge gshong "at the turn of" the 1400s. Seng ge gshong was renamed Wutun due to these colonists. During the Qianlong reign this migration was recorded in the Xunhua zhi. Wutun is located in Qinghai
Qinghai
Qinghai ; Oirat Mongolian: ; ; Salar:) is a province of the People's Republic of China, named after Qinghai Lake...
province.
During the Ming dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
people from Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
migrated to Taomin in Northwest China, where the Taozhou dialect is spoken. Chen Ming developed a theory in which he claimed that the hua'er song style popular in northwest China was created by a synthesis between the songs of these Jiangsu migrants and the Tibetans and Qiang of Taomin.
See also
- Chinese macro-regions
- Golden Triangle of the Yangtze
- LingnanLingnanLingnan is a geographic area referring to lands in the south of China's "Five Ranges" which are Tayu, Qitian, Dupang, Mengzhu, Yuecheng. The region covers the Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces of modern China and northern Vietnam...
- Vicariate Apostolic of Kiang-nanVicariate Apostolic of Kiang-nanThe Roman Catholic Vicariate Apostolic of Kiang-nan was a missionary jurisdiction in mainland China, comprising the two imperial provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui, often referred to as Jiangnan .-History:...
for the missionary history - Wu Chinese (topolect or language)
- A'FuA'FuA Fu clay figurines are a speciality of Wuxi, Jiangnan, China, consisting of two figures, a boy with a red carp and a girl with a chicken ....
- Wu-speaking peoplesWu-speaking peoplesWu-speaking peoples also known as Wuyue people are a major subgroup of the Han Chinese . They are a Wu Chinese-speaking people who hail from southern Jiangsu province, the city of Shanghai, all of Zhejiang province, as well as smaller populations in Xuancheng prefecture-level city in southern...
- WuyueWuyueKingdom of Wuyue , 907-978, was a small independent coastal kingdom founded during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms of Chinese history. It was ruled by the Qian family, which remains widespread in the kingdom's former territory.-Founding:...
- Wu (region)Wu (region)Wu is a region in the Jiangnan area , surrounding Suzhou, in Jiangsu province and Zhejiang province of China. It is also the abbreviation of several kingdoms based in Wu. The two largest cities in the Wu region today are Shanghai and Hangzhou...