Yang Yu (swimmer)
Chinese swimmer
Yang Yu (; born February 6, 1985, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang) is an Olympic medal-winning swimmer from the People's Republic of China. She became part of the Chinese national swimming team in 1999, and competed for Team China at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Career.
International debut and the 2000 Olympics.
Yang competed in her big international meet in the 2000 World Short Course Championships in Athens, where she won the 200 freestyle in 1:56.06. Later she qualified to swim at the Sydney Olympics, where she placed 17th in the 200 free (2:01.34).
2001, 02 and 03 World Aquatic Championships.
Yang competed at the 2001 Fukuoka World Championships and won the silver medal in the Women's 200 m Freestyle event (1:58.78), after Australia's Giaan Rooney (1:58.57). At the 2001 Chinese National Games, she placed 2nd in both the 100 (54.94) and 200 free (1:58.71).
In the 2002 World Short Course Championships in Moscow, Yang took gold in the 4x200 free relay (7:46.30, world record), silver in the 200 free (1:55.34, Asian record) and 200 fly (2:06.10), and bronze in the 4x100 free relay (3:36.18). She won gold in the 200 free (1:58.43), 4x100 free relay (3:40.95), 4x200 free relay (7:58.46) and silver in the 100 free (55.51) at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.
Yang started the 2003 season strongly by posting a world-leading 1:57.70 at the Chinese Nationals in April 2003, but at the 2003 World Championships (Barcelona), she only managed 3rd in this event (1:58.54). She also took bronze in the 4x200 free relay (7:58.53. Yang split 1:57.24, the fastest in history), and gold in the 4x100 medley relay (3:59.89, Asian record and 2nd fastest time in history. Yang swam the freestyle leg and split 53.71).
2004 Olympic Games.
Yang competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. There she was a member of China's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay team, which won the silver medal in 7:55.97 (Asian record), beaten by the USA team who won in the world record of 7:53.42. Yang was also part of China's 4 × 100 m women's freestyle relay team. China reached the final in this event but finished a disappointing 8th.
Yang competed as an individual in the 200m freestyle event, and qualified for the semi-final, but did not progress to the final.
2005-06.
Yang did compete at the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, winning the bronze medal in the 200m freestyle event. She posted strong times at the 2005 Chinese National Games, winning the 200 free in 1:57.86, 2nd fastest in the world globally. At the 2006 World Short Course Championships in Shanghai, she took gold in the 200 free (1:54.94). She failed to defend her 200 free title at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, beaten by teammate Pang Jiaying (1:59.26 to 2:00.73).
2007 World Aquatic Championships.
Yang Yu took part in the 2007 World Aquatic Championships in Melbourne. She did not progress beyond the heat stage in the Women's 200 m freestyle, finishing 18th. She was also a member of China's 4 × 200 m freestyle relay (which barely missed the final, placing 9th in the heats) and the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay which ranked seventh.
Notable Achievements.
On January 18, 2004, she broke Susie O'Neill's world record in the women's short course 200 butterfly during a World Cup meet in Berlin, Germany, clocking a time of 2:04.04.
References.
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Zhejiang
Province of China
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangsu and Shanghai to the north, Anhui to the northwest, Jiangxi to the west and Fujian to the south. To the east is the East China Sea, beyond which lies the Ryukyu Islands. The population of Zhejiang stands at 64.6 million, the 8th largest in China. It has been called "the backbone of China" because it is a major driving force in the Chinese economy and being the birthplace of several notable people, including the Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and entrepreneur Jack Ma. Zhejiang consists of 90 counties (incl. county-level cities and districts).
The area of Zhejiang was controlled by the Kingdom of Yue during the Spring and Autumn period. The Qin Empire later annexed it in 222 BC. Under the late Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty that followed it, Zhejiang's ports became important centers of international trade. It was occupied by the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese war and placed under the control of the Japanese puppet state known as the Reorganized National Government of China. After the establishment of the PRC, Zhejiang's economy became stagnant under Mao Zedong's policies. Nevertheless, after China's economic reform, Zhejiang has grown to be considered one of China's wealthiest provinces, ranking fourth in GDP nationally and sixth by GDP per capita, with a nominal GDP of US$1.14 trillion as of 2022.
Zhejiang consists mostly of hills, which account for about 70% of its total area, with higher altitudes towards the south and the west. Zhejiang also has a longer coastline than any other mainland province of China. The Qiantang River runs through the province, from which it derives its name. Included in the province are three thousand islands, the most in China. The capital Hangzhou marks the end of the Grand Canal and lies on Hangzhou Bay on the north of Zhejiang, which separates Shanghai and Ningbo. The bay contains many small islands collectively called the Zhoushan Islands.
Hangzhou is a historically important city of China and is considered a World City with a "Beta+" classification according to GaWC. It includes the notable West Lake. Various varieties of Chinese are spoken in Zhejiang, the most prominent being Wu Chinese. Zhejiang is also one of China's leading provinces in research and education. As of 2024[ [update]], two major cities in Zhejiang ranked in the world's top 200 cities (Hangzhou 13th and Ningbo 123rd) by scientific research output, as tracked by Nature Index.
Etymology.
The province's name originates from the Zhe River (), the former name of the Qiantang River which flows past Hangzhou and whose mouth forms Hangzhou Bay. It is usually understood as meaning "Crooked" or "Bent River", from the meaning of Chinese , but is more likely a phono-semantic compound formed from adding (the "water" radical used for river names) to phonetic (Pinyin "zhé" but reconstructed Old Chinese *"tet"), preserving a proto-Wu name of the local Yue, similar to Yuhang, Kuaiji and Jiang.
History.
Prehistory.
Kuahuqiao culture was an early Neolithic culture that flourished in the Hangzhou area in 6,000-5,000 BC.
Zhejiang was the site of the Neolithic cultures of the Hemudu (starting in 5500 BC) and Liangzhu (starting in 3400 BC).
Ancient history.
The area of modern Zhejiang was outside the major sphere of influence of Shang civilization during the second millennium BC. Instead, this area was populated by peoples collectively known as Dongyue.
The kingdom of Yue began to appear in the chronicles and records written during the Spring and Autumn period. According to the chronicles, the kingdom of Yue was in Northern Zhejiang. Shiji claims that its leaders were descended from the Xia founder Yu the Great. The "Song of the Yue Boatman" () was transliterated into Chinese and recorded by authors in North China or inland China of Hebei and Henan around 528 BC. The song shows that the Yue people spoke a language that was mutually unintelligible with the dialects spoken in north and inland China. The Sword of Goujian bears bird-worm seal script. Yuenü () was a swordswoman from the state of Yue. To check the growth of the kingdom of Wu, Chu pursued a policy of strengthening Yue.
Under King Goujian, Yue recovered from its early reverses and fully annexed the lands of its rival in 473 BC. The Yue kings then moved their capital center from their original home around Mount Kuaiji in present-day Shaoxing to the former Wu capital at present-day Suzhou. With no southern power to turn against Yue, Chu opposed it directly and, in 333 BC, succeeded in destroying it. Yue's former lands were annexed by the Qin Empire in 222 BC and organized into a commandery named for Kuaiji in Zhejiang but initially headquartered in Wu in Jiangsu.
Han and the Three Kingdoms.
Kuaiji Commandery was the initial power base for Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu's rebellion against the Qin Empire which initially succeeded in restoring the kingdom of Chu but eventually fell to the Han. Under the Later Han, control of the area returned to the settlement below Mount Kuaiji but authority over the Minyue hinterland was nominal at best and its Yue inhabitants largely retained their own political and social structures.
At the beginning of the Three Kingdoms era (AD 220–280), Zhejiang was home to the warlords Yan Baihu and Wang Lang prior to their defeat by Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who eventually established the Kingdom of Wu. Despite the removal of their court from Kuaiji to Jianye (present-day Nanjing) and they continued development of the region and benefitted from influxes of refugees fleeing the turmoil in northern China. Industrial kilns were established and trade reached as far as Manchuria and Funan (southern Mainland Southeast Asia).
Zhejiang was part of the Wu during the Three Kingdoms. Wu (229–280), commonly known as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, had been the economically most developed state among the Three Kingdoms (220–280). The historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms records that Zhejiang had the best-equipped naval force. The story depicts how the states of Wei () and Shu (), lack of material resources, avoided direct confrontation with the Wu. In armed military conflicts with Wu, the two states relied intensively on tactics of camouflage and deception to steal Wu's military resources including arrows and bows.
Six Dynasties.
Despite the continuing prominence of Nanjing (then known as Jiankang), the settlement of Qiantang, the former name of Hangzhou, remained one of the three major metropolitan centers in the south to provide major tax revenue to the imperial centers in the north China. The other two centers in the south were Jiankang and Chengdu. In 589, Qiantang was raised in status and renamed Hangzhou.
Following the fall of Wu and the turmoil of the Wu Hu uprising against the Jin dynasty (266–420), most of elite Chinese families had collaborated with the non-Chinese rulers and military conquerors in the north. Some may have lost social privilege and took refuge in areas south of the Yangtze River. Some of the Chinese refugees from North China might have resided in areas near Hangzhou. For example, the clan of Zhuge Liang (181–234), a chancellor of the state of Shu Han from Central Plain in north China during the Three Kingdoms period, gathered together at the suburb of Hangzhou, forming an exclusive, closed village Zhuge Village (Zhege Cun), consisting of villagers all with family name "Zhuge." The village has intentionally isolated itself from the surrounding communities for centuries to this day and only recently came to be known in public. It suggests that a small number of powerful, elite Chinese refugees from the Central Plain might have taken refuge south of the Yangtze River. However, considering the mountainous geography and relative lack of agrarian lands in Zhejiang, most of these refugees might have resided in some areas in South China beyond Zhejiang, where fertile agrarian lands and metropolitan resources were available, mainly Southern Jiangsu, Eastern Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Anhui and provinces where less cohesive, organized regional governments had been in place. Metropolitan areas of Sichuan was another hub for refugees, given that the state of Shu had long been founded and ruled by political and military elites from the Central Plain and North China. Some refugees from North China might have found residence in South China depending on their social status and military power in the north. The rump Jin state or the Southern dynasties vied against some elite Chinese from the Central Plain and south of the Yangtze River.
Sui and Tang eras.
Zhejiang, as the heartland of the Jiangnan (Yangtze River Delta), remained the wealthiest area during the Six Dynasties (220 or 222–589), Sui and Tang. After being incorporated into the Sui dynasty, its economic richness was used for the Sui dynasty's ambitions to expand north and south, particularly into Korea and Vietnam. The plan led the Sui dynasty to restore and expand the network which became the Grand Canal of China. The Canal regularly transported grains and resources from Zhejiang, through its metropolitan center Hangzhou (and its hinterland along both the Zhe River and the shores of Hangzhou Bay) and from Suzhou and thence to the North China Plain. The débâcle of the Korean war led to Sui's overthrow by the Tang, who then presided over a centuries-long golden age for the country. Zhejiang was an important economic center of the empire's Jiangnan East Circuit and was considered particularly prosperous. Throughout the Tang dynasty, The Grand Canal had remained effective, transporting grains and material resources to North China plain and metropolitan centers of the empire. As the Tang dynasty disintegrated, Zhejiang constituted most of the territory of the regional kingdom of Wuyue.
Wuyue era.
After the collapse of the Tang dynasty in 907, the entire area of what is now Zhejiang fell under the control of the kingdom Wuyue established by King Qian Liu, who selected Hangzhou (a city in the modern day area of Zhejiang) as his kingdom's capital. Despite being under Wuyue rule for a relatively short period of time, Zhejiang underwent a long period of financial and cultural prosperity which continued even after the kingdom fell.
After Wuyue was conquered during the reunification of China, many shrines were erected across the former territories of Wuyue, mainly in Zhejiang, where the kings of Wuyue were memorialised, and sometimes, worshipped as being able to dictate weather and agriculture. Many of these shrines, known as "Shrine of the Qian King" or "Temple to the Qian King", still remain today, with the most popularly visited example being that near West Lake in Hangzhou.
China's province of Zhejiang during the 940s was also the place of origin of the Hú family (Hồ in Vietnamese) from which the founder of the Hồ dynasty who ruled Vietnam, Emperor Hồ Quý Ly, came from.
Song era.
The Song dynasty re-established unity around 960. Under the Song, the prosperity of South China began to overtake that of North China. After the north was lost to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in 1127 following the Jingkang Incident, Hangzhou became the capital of the Song dynasty under the name Lin'an, which was renowned for its prosperity and beauty, it was suspected to have been the largest city in the world at the time.
From then on, northern Zhejiang and neighboring southern Jiangsu have been synonymous with luxury and opulence in Chinese culture. The Mongol conquest and the establishment of the Yuan dynasty in 1279 ended Hangzhou's political clout, but its economy continued to prosper. The famous traveler Marco Polo visited the city, which he called "Kinsay" (after the Chinese "Jingshi", meaning "Capital City") claiming it was "the finest and noblest city in the world."
Greenware ceramics made from celadon had been made in the area since the 3rd-century Jin dynasty, but it returned to prominence—particularly in Longquan—during the Southern Song and Yuan. Longquan greenware is characterized by a thick unctuous glaze of a particular bluish-green tint over an otherwise undecorated light-grey porcellaneous body that is delicately potted. Yuan Longquan celadons feature a thinner, greener glaze on larger vessels with decoration and shapes derived from Middle Eastern ceramic and metalwares. These were produced in large quantities for the Chinese export trade to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and (during the Ming) Europe. By the Ming, however, production was notably deficient in quality. It is in this period that the Longquan kilns declined, to be eventually replaced in popularity and ceramic production by the kilns of Jingdezhen in Jiangxi.
Yuan and Ming eras.
Zhejiang was finally conquered by the Mongols in the late 13th century who later established the short lived Yuan dynasty. Zhejiang became part of the much larger Jiangzhe Province.
The Ming dynasty, which drove out the Mongols in 1368, finally established the present day province of Zhejiang with its borders having little changes since this establishment.
As in other coastal provinces, number of fortresses were constructed along the Zhejiang coast during the early Ming to defend the land against pirate incursions. Some of them have been preserved or restored, such as Pucheng in the south of the province (Cangnan County).
Qing era.
Under the late Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty that followed it, Zhejiang's ports were important centers of international trade.
"In 1727 the to-min or 'idle people' of Cheh Kiang province (a Ningpo name still existing), the yoh-hu or 'music people' of Shanxi province, the si-min or 'small people' of Kiang Su (Jiangsu) province and the Tanka people or 'egg-people' of Canton (to this day the boat population there), were all freed from their social disabilities and allowed to count as free men." "Cheh Kiang" is another romanization for Zhejiang. The Duomin () are a caste of outcasts in this province.
During the First Opium War, the British navy defeated Eight Banners forces at Ningbo and Dinghai. Under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking, signed in 1843, Ningbo became one of the five Chinese treaty ports opened to virtually unrestricted foreign trade. Much of Zhejiang came under the control of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom during the Taiping Rebellion, which resulted in a considerable loss of life in the north-western and central parts of the province, sparing the rest of Zhejiang from the disastrous depopulation that occurred. In 1876, Wenzhou became Zhejiang's second treaty port. Jianghuai Mandarin speakers later came to settle in these depopulated regions of northern Zhejiang.
Republican era.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, which led into World War II, much of Zhejiang was occupied by Japan and placed under the control of the Japanese puppet state known as the Reorganized National Government of China. Following the Doolittle Raid, most of the B-25 American crews that came down in China eventually made it to safety with the help of Chinese civilians and soldiers. The Chinese people who helped them, however, paid dearly for sheltering the Americans. The Imperial Japanese Army began the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign to intimidate the Chinese out of helping downed American airmen. Imperial Japanese forces killed an estimated 250,000 Chinese civilians from the area of Hangzhou to Nanchang and also Zhuzhou while searching for Doolittle's men.
People's Republic era.
After the People's Republic of China took control of Mainland China in 1949, the Republic of China government based in Taiwan continued to control the Dachen Islands off the coast of Zhejiang until 1955, even establishing a rival Zhejiang provincial government there. During the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), Zhejiang was in chaos and disunity and its economy was stagnant, especially during the high tide (1966–69) of the revolution. The agricultural policy favoring grain production at the expense of industrial and cash crops intensified economic hardships in the province. Mao's self-reliance policy and the reduction in maritime trade cut off the lifelines of the port cities of Ningbo and Wenzhou. While Mao invested heavily in railroads in interior China, no major railroads were built in South Zhejiang, where transportation remained poor.
Zhejiang benefited less from central government investment than some other provinces due to its lack of natural resources, a location vulnerable to potential flooding from the sea and an economic base at the national average. Zhejiang, however, has been an epicenter of capitalist development in China and has led the nation in the development of a market economy and private enterprises. Northeast Zhejiang, as part of the Yangtze Delta, is flat, more developed and industrial.
Geography.
Zhejiang consists mostly of hills, which account for about 70% of its total area. Altitudes tend to be the highest to the south and west and the highest peak of the province, Huangmaojian Peak (), is located there. Other prominent mountains include Mounts Yandang, Tianmu, Tiantai and Mogan, which reach altitudes of .
Valleys and plains are found along the coastline and rivers. The north of the province lies just south of the Yangtze Delta and consists of plains around the cities of Hangzhou, Jiaxing and Huzhou, where the Grand Canal of China enters from the northern border to end at Hangzhou. Another relatively flat area is found along the Qu River around the cities of Quzhou and Jinhua. Major rivers include the Qiangtang and Ou Rivers. Most rivers carve out valleys in the highlands, with plenty of rapids and other features associated with such topography. Well-known lakes include the West Lake of Hangzhou and the South Lake of Jiaxing.
There are over three thousand islands along the rugged coastline of Zhejiang. The largest, Zhoushan Island, is mainland China's third largest island, after Hainan and Chongming. There are also many bays, of which Hangzhou Bay is the largest. Zhejiang has a humid subtropical climate with four distinct seasons. Spring starts in March and is rainy with changeable weather. Summer, from June to September is long, hot, rainy and humid. Fall is generally dry, warm and sunny. Winters are short but cold except in the far south. Average annual temperature is around , average January temperature is around and average July temperature is around . Annual precipitation is about . There is plenty of rainfall in early summer and by late summer Zhejiang is directly threatened by typhoons forming in the Pacific.
Administrative divisions.
Zhejiang is divided into eleven prefecture-level divisions: all prefecture-level cities (including two sub-provincial cities):
The eleven prefecture-level divisions of Zhejiang are subdivided into 90 county-level divisions (37 districts, 20 county-level cities, 32 counties, and one autonomous county). Those are in turn divided into 1,364 township-level divisions (618 towns, 488 townships, and 258 subdistricts). Hengdian belongs to Jinhua, which is the largest base of shooting films and TV dramas in China. Hengdian World Studios is called "China's Hollywood." At the year end of 2021, the total population was 65.40 million.
Urban areas.
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Politics.
The politics of Zhejiang is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China. The Governor of Zhejiang is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Zhejiang. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor is subordinate to the secretary of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.
Several political figures who served as Zhejiang's top political office of Party Secretary have played key roles in various events in PRC history. Tan Zhenlin (term 1949–1952), the inaugural Party Secretary, was one of the leading voices against Mao's Cultural Revolution during the so-called February Countercurrent of 1967. Jiang Hua (term 1956–1968), was the "chief justice" on the Special Court in the case against the Gang of Four in 1980. Three provincial Party Secretaries since the 1990s have gone onto prominence at the national level. They include CPC General Secretary and President Xi Jinping (term 2002–2007), National People's Congress Chairman and former Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang (term 1998–2002), and Zhao Hongzhu (term 2007–2012), the Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, China's top anti-corruption body. Of Zhejiang's fourteen Party Secretaries since 1949, none were native to the province.
Zhejiang was home to Chiang Kai-shek and many high-ranking officials in the Kuomintang, who fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Civil War.
Economy.
Zhejiang is one of the richest and most developed provinces in China. As of 2022[ [update]], its nominal GDP was US$1.15 trillion (CN¥ 7.77 trilion), about 6.42% of the country's GDP and ranked 4th among province-level administrative units; the province's primary, secondary and tertiary industries were worth CN¥232.48 billion (US$34.56 billion), CN¥3.3205 trillion (US$493.67 billion) and CN¥4.2185 trillion (US$627.18 billion) respectively. Its nominal GDP per capita was US$17,617 (CN¥118,496) and ranked the 6th in the country. The private sector in the province has been playing an increasingly important role in boosting the regional economy since Economic Reform in 1978. Zhejiang is generally regarded as having one of the strongest private sectors among Chinese provinces and its local governments typically adopt permissive business policies.186
Zhejiang's main manufacturing sectors are electromechanical industries, textiles, chemical industries, food and construction materials. In recent years Zhejiang has followed its own development model, dubbed the "Zhejiang model", which is based on prioritizing and encouraging entrepreneurship, an emphasis on small businesses responsive to the whims of the market, large public investments into infrastructure, and the production of low-cost goods in bulk for both domestic consumption and export. As a result, Zhejiang has made itself one of the richest provinces and the "Zhejiang spirit" has become something of a legend within China. However, some economists now worry that this model is not sustainable, in that it is inefficient and places unreasonable demands on raw materials and public utilities, and also a dead end, in that the myriad small businesses in Zhejiang producing cheap goods in bulk are unable to move to more sophisticated or technologically more advanced industries. The economic heart of Zhejiang is moving from North Zhejiang, centered on Hangzhou, southeastward to the region centered on Wenzhou and Taizhou. The per capita disposable income of urbanites in Zhejiang reached 55,574 yuan (US$8,398) in 2018, an annual real growth of 8.4%. The per capita disposable income of rural residents stood at 27,302 yuan (US$4,126), a real growth of 9.4%.
Zhejiang was the first province to pilot a common prosperity pilot program.166
Traditionally, the province is known as the "Land of Fish and Rice." True to its name, rice is the main crop, followed by wheat; north Zhejiang is also a center of aquaculture in China, and the Zhoushan fishery is the largest fishery in the country. The main cash crops include jute and cotton and the province also leads the provinces of China in tea production. (The renowned Longjing tea is a product of Hangzhou.) Zhejiang's towns have been known for handicraft production of goods such as silk, for which it is ranked second among the provinces. Its many market towns connect the cities with the countryside.
In 1832, the province was exporting silk, paper, fans, pencils, wine, dates, tea and "golden-flowered" hams.
Zhejiang has been leading the digital economy development in China, in recent years, the provincial economy has been boosted by the economic surge brought by internet corporations such as Alibaba and NetEase.
Ningbo, Wenzhou, Taizhou and Zhoushan are important commercial ports. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge between Haiyan County and Cixi, is the longest bridge over a continuous body of sea water in the world.
Economic and technological development concerns.
Waste disposal.
On Thursday, September 15, 2011, more than 500 people from Hongxiao Village protested over the large-scale death of fish in a nearby river. Angry protesters stormed the Zhejiang Jinko Solar Company factory compound, overturned eight company vehicles, and destroyed the offices before police came to disperse the crowd. Protests continued on the two following nights with reports of scuffles, officials said. Chen Hongming, a deputy head of Haining's environmental protection bureau, said the factory's waste disposal had failed pollution tests since April. The environmental watchdog had warned the factory, but it had not effectively controlled the pollution, Chen added.
Demographics.
Han Chinese make up the vast majority of the population and the largest Han subgroup are the speakers of Wu varieties of Chinese. There are also 400,000 members of ethnic minorities, including approximately 200,000 She people and approximately 20,000 Hui Chinese. Jingning She Autonomous County in Lishui is the only She autonomous county in China.
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Religion.
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The predominant religions in Zhejiang are Chinese folk religions, Taoist traditions and Chinese Buddhism. According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 23.02% of the population believes and is involved in ancestor veneration, while 2.62% of the population identifies as Christian, decreasing from 3.92% in 2004. The reports did not give figures for other types of religion; 74.36% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, folk religious sects. As of the mid-2010s, Zhejiang has 34,880 registered folk religious temples greater than 20 sqm and 10,000 registered places of worship of the five doctrines (Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam).
In mid-2015 the government of Zhejiang recognised folk religion as "civil religion" beginning the formal registration of the province's folk religious temples under the aegis of the provincial Bureau of Folk Faith. Buddhism has an important presence since its arrival in Zhejiang 1,800 years ago.
Catholicism arrived 400 years ago in the province and Protestantism 150 years ago. Zhejiang is one of the provinces of China with the largest concentrations of Protestants, especially notable in the city of Wenzhou. In 1999, Zhejiang's Protestant population comprised 2.8% of the provincial population, a small percentage but higher than the national average.
The rapid development of religions in Zhejiang has driven the local committee of ethnic and religious affairs to enact policies to rationalise them in 2014, variously named "Three Remodelings and One Demolition" operations or "Special Treatment Work on Illegally Constructed Sites of Religious and Folk Religion Activities" according to the locality. These regulations have led to cases of demolition of churches and folk religion temples or the removal of crosses from churches' roofs and spires. An exemplary case was that of the Sanjiang Church. Despite English-language media focused on Christian churches, only 2.3% of the buildings affected by the regulations were Christian churches; most of them were folk religious temples.
Islam arrived 1,400 years ago in Zhejiang. Today Islam is practiced by a small number of people including virtually all the Hui Chinese living in Zhejiang. In 2020, there are 117,000 Muslims in Zhejiang. Another religion present in the province is She shamanism (practiced by She ethnic minority).
Media.
The Zhejiang Radio & Television Group, Hangzhou Radio & Television Group, Ningbo Radio & Television Group are the local broadcasters in Zhejiang Province.
Culture.
Languages.
Zhejiang is mountainous and has therefore fostered the development of many distinct local cultures. Linguistically speaking, Zhejiang is extremely diverse. Most inhabitants of Zhejiang speak varieties of Wu, but those Wu dialects are very diverse, especially in the south, where one valley may speak a dialect completely unintelligible to the next valley a few kilometers away. Other varieties of Chinese are spoken as well, mostly along the borders; Mandarin and Huizhou dialects are spoken on the border with Anhui, while Min dialects are spoken on the border with Fujian. (See Hangzhou dialect, Shaoxing dialect, Ningbo dialect, Wenzhou dialect, Taizhou dialect, Jinhua dialect and Quzhou dialect for more information)
Throughout history there have been a series of "lingua francas" in the area to allow for better communication. The dialects spoken in Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Ningbo have taken on this role historically. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Mandarin, which is not mutually intelligible with any of the Wu dialects, has been promoted as the standard language of communication throughout China. As a result, most of the population now can, to some degree, speak and comprehend Mandarin and can code-switch when necessary. A majority of the population educated since 1978 can speak some Mandarin. Urban residents tend to be more fluent in Mandarin than rural people. Nevertheless, a Zhejiang accent is detectable in almost everyone from the area communicating in Mandarin and the home dialect remains an important part of the everyday lives and cultural identities of most Zhejiang residents.
Music.
Zhejiang is the home of Yue opera, one of the most prominent forms of Chinese opera. "Yueju" originated in Shengzhou and is traditionally performed by actresses only, in both male and female roles. Other important opera traditions include Yongju (of Ningbo), Shao opera (of Shaoxing), Ouju (of Wenzhou), Wuju (of Jinhua), Taizhou Luantan (of Taizhou) and Zhuji Luantan (of Zhuji).
Cuisine.
Longjing tea (also called dragon well tea), originating in Hangzhou, is one of the most prestigious, if not "the" most prestigious Chinese tea. Hangzhou is also renowned for its silk umbrellas and hand fans. Zhejiang cuisine (itself subdivided into many traditions, including Hangzhou cuisine) is one of the eight great traditions of Chinese cuisine.
Place names.
Since ancient times, north Zhejiang and neighboring south Jiangsu have been famed for their prosperity and opulence and simply inserting north Zhejiang place names (Hangzhou, Jiaxing, etc.) into poetry gave an effect of dreaminess, a practice followed by many noted poets. In particular, the fame of Hangzhou (as well as Suzhou in neighboring Jiangsu province) has led to the popular saying: "Above there is heaven; below there is Suzhou and Hangzhou" (), a saying that continues to be a source of pride for the people of these two still prosperous cities.
Tourism.
Tourist destinations in Zhejiang include:
Sports.
Professional sports teams based in Zhejiang include:
Education and research.
Zhejiang is one of China's leading provinces in research and education. As of 2024[ [update]], two major cities in Zhejiang ranked in the world's top 200 cities (Hangzhou 13th and Ningbo 123rd) by scientific research output, as tracked by Nature Index.
Notes.
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References.
Citations.
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Sources.
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Former Residence of Yang Yong
Former Residence of Yang Yong or Yang Yong's Former Residence () was built in the late Qing Dynasty in 1873, it is located in Wenjiashi Town of Liuyang, Hunan, China. It has an area of about and a building area of about .
History.
In 1913, Yang Yong was born in here.
In 2004, it was listed as a "Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the County Level".
In 2011, it was listed as a "Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the Provincial Level".
References.
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Yangzhou
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across the river to the south. Its population was 4,559,797 at the 2020 census and its urban area is home to 2,635,435 inhabitants, including three urban districts, currently in the agglomeration.
Historically, Yangzhou was one of the wealthiest cities in China, known at various periods for its great merchant families, poets, artists, and scholars. Its name ( "Rising Prefecture") refers to its former position as the capital of the ancient Yangzhou prefecture in imperial China. Yangzhou was one of the first cities to benefit from one of the earliest World Bank loans in China, used to construct Yangzhou thermal power station in 1994.
Administration.
Currently, the prefecture-level city of Yangzhou administers six county-level divisions, including three districts, two county-level cities and one county. Accordingly, they are further divided into 98 township-level divisions, including 87 towns and townships, and 11 subdistricts.
History.
Ancient China.
During the Spring and Autumn period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty, the hegemon Fuchai of Wu constructed the Han or Hangou Canal ( , , "Hángōu") to improve his supply lines from his center of power around present-day Suzhou to the North China Plain, where he was engaged in an ongoing conflict with Qi. Taking advantage of the many streams and lakes of the Jianghuai Plain, the canal connected the Yangtze River within present-day Yangzhou to the Huai River within present-day Huai'an by 486BC. The next year, Fuchai established a fortress to protect the southern end of the new canal at Hancheng. Following the Chinese urban design principles of the time, it was constructed as a 3 li by 3 li square about above the water level on the Yangtze's northern bank, with the Han Canal forming a moat around the southern and eastern sides of the city. The town was intended to stall any possible counterattack from Qi down the canal, giving time to raise reinforcements from Suzhou and Wu's other lands in the Yangtze Delta.
Imperial China.
Under the Eastern Han dynasty, the area was organized as the Guangling Commandery of Xu Province. Its seat of government—also known as Guangling—was also near the confluence of the Yangtze and the Han Canal, although at a slightly different location than the former Wu fortress.
Under the Sui, Guangling was reorganized as Yang Province ("zhou") in the year AD 590. Its seat of government took the new name as well. Prospering as the Emperor Yang (r.604–617) connected the Han Canal to other waterways north and south to form the core of the Grand Canal, Yangzhou became the southern capital of China under the name Jiangdu. With the failure of his invasions of Korea and a series of natural disasters, Emperor Yang abandoned to north entirely in 616 and made Jiangdu his primary capital until his assassination in 618.
Restoring the former name Guangling, the Tang made the city a major port for foreign trade and turned it into a leading economic and cultural center. Many foreign merchants lived in the city, including many Koreans, Arabs, and Persians. Thousands of Muslim Arab, Persian and other foreign merchants were massacred in 760 by forces under Tian Shengong, sent to suppress the city's rebellion.
Jiangdu served briefly as the capital of a revived Wu Kingdom during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
After the 1127 Jingkang Incident led to the Jurchen-led Jin conquest of Kaifeng, the Song used Yangzhou as their capital in 1128 and 1129. Song troops under Du Chong (, "Dù Chōng", d.1141) breached the southern embankments of the Yellow River in an effort to stop the southward of Jin army, but the resulting avulsion caused the river to swing south of the Shandong Peninsula and capture the Si River and lower Huai. The Grand Canal was truncated for decades and the Southern Song moved to Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang).
In 1280, during the Yuan, Yangzhou was the site of a massive gunpowder explosion when the bomb warehouse of the Weiyang arsenal accidentally caught fire. The blast killed over a hundred guards, hurled debris from buildings into the air that landed 10 li away, and could be felt 100 li. Marco Polo claimed to have served Kubilai Khan in Yangzhou shortly thereafter, variously placed at 1282–1285 or 1282–1287. Although some versions of Polo's memoirs imply that he was the governor of Yangzhou, it is more likely that he was an official in the salt industry if he was employed there at all. Surviving Chinese texts do not mention him at all. It is well documented, however, that Kublai Khan trusted foreigners more than Chinese/Han subjects in internal affairs and the discovery of the 1342 tomb of Katarina Vilioni, member of an Italian trading family in Yangzhou, does, however, suggest the existence of an Italian community in the city in the 14th century. Moreover, both in "The Travels of Marco Polo" and in the "History of Yuan" there is documentation about a Nestorian Christian who funded two churches in China during the three years he served as an official of the emperor. This functionary is named "Mar Sarchis" by Marco Polo and "Ma Xuelijisi" in the "History of Yuan". This person served as a supervisor in the prefecture of Zhenjiang. Arabic inscriptions during the 13th and 14th centuries similarly indicate a revival of the Muslim community.
During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) until the 19th century Yangzhou acted as a major trade exchange center for salt (a government regulated commodity), rice, and silk. The Ming were largely responsible for building the city as it now stands and surrounding it with of walls, in part as protection against Wokou raids.
There was a Hui or Chinese Muslim community in Yangzhou during the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties with historic mosques like Crane Mosque and the tomb of Sayyid Puhaddin.
After the fall of Beijing and northern China to the Manchus in 1644, Yangzhou remained under the control of the short-lived Southern Ming based in Nanjing. Qing forces led by Prince Dodo reached Yangzhou in the spring of 1645, and despite the heroic efforts of its chief defender, Shi Kefa, the city fell on May 20, 1645, after a brief siege. The Yangzhou massacre followed; Wang Xiuchu's contemporary account alleged that the number of victims was close to 800,000, but that number is certainly an exaggeration. Shi Kefa himself was killed by the Manchus when he refused to switch his allegiance to the Manchurian Qing regime. Han bannermen were responsible for most of the atrocities in Yangzhou but they were nevertheless labelled as Manchus by other Han.
The city's rapid recovery from these events and its great prosperity through the early and middle years of the Qing dynasty were due to its role as administrative center of the Lianghuai sector of the government salt monopoly. As early as 1655, the Dutch envoy Johan Nieuhof described the city of Yangzhoufu ( in his transcription):
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />This Trade alone has so very much enrich'd the Inhabitants of this Town, that they have re-built their City since the last destruction by the "Tartars", erecting it in as great splendor as it was at first.
Famed at that time and since for literature, art, and the gardens of its merchant families, many of which were visited by the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors during their Southern Tours, the Qing-era Yangzhou has been the focus of intensive research by historians.
The Yangzhou riot in 1868 was a pivotal moment of Anglo-Chinese relations during late Qing China that almost led to war. The crisis was fomented by the scholar-officials of the city, who opposed the presence of foreign Christian missionaries there. The riot that resulted was an angry crowd estimated at eight to ten thousand who assaulted the premises of the British China Inland Mission in Yangzhou by looting, burning and attacking the missionaries led by Hudson Taylor. No one was killed, however several of the missionaries were injured as they were forced to flee for their lives. As a result of the report of the riot, the British consul in Shanghai, Sir Walter Henry Medhurst took seventy Royal Marines in a man-of-war and steamed up the Yangtze to Nanjing in a controversial show of force that eventually resulted in an official apology from Viceroy Zeng Guofan and financial restitution made to the injured missionaries.
Modern China.
From the time of the Taiping Rebellion (1853) to the beginning of the Reform Era (1980) Yangzhou was in decline, due to war damage, neglect of the Grand Canal as railways replaced it in importance, and stagnation in the early decades of the PRC. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, it endured eight years of Japanese occupation and was used by the enemy as a site for internment camps. About 1200 civilians of Allied nationalities (mostly British and Australian) from Shanghai were transported here in 1943, and located in one of three camps (A, B, and C). Camps B and C were closed down in September, 1943, after the second American-Japanese prisoner exchange, and their inhabitants transferred back to Shanghai camps. Camp C, located in the former American Mission in the north-west of the city, was maintained for the duration of the war.
Among early plans for railways in the late Qing was one for a line that would connect Yangzhou to the north but this was jettisoned in favor of an alternative route. The city's status as a leading economic center in China was never to be restored. Not until the 1990s did it begin to regain some semblance of prosperity, benefitting from national economic growth and a number of targeted development projects. With the canal now partially restored, and excellent rail and road connections, Yangzhou is once again an important transportation and market center. It also has some industrial output, chiefly in cotton and textiles. In 2004, a railway linked Yangzhou for the first time with Nanjing.
Geography.
Yangzhou is located on a plain north of the Yangtze. The Grand Canal, also known as the Jing-Hang Canal, crosses the prefecture-level from the north to the south; its modern route passes through the eastern outskirts of Yangzhou's main urban area, while its old route runs through the city center. Other major bodies of water within the prefecture-level city include the Baoshe River, Datong River, Beichengzi River, Tongyang Canal, Xintongyang Canal, Baima Lake, Baoying Lake, Gaoyou Lake and Shaobo Lake.
Like much of the entire prefecture-level city, Yangzhou's main urban area (the "city proper") is criss-crossed by an intricate network of canals and small lakes. The historic city center (the former waled city) is surrounded by canals on all sides: the Old Grand Canal forms its eastern and southern boundaries; the City Moat Canal runs along the former walled city's northern edge, connecting the Old Grand Canal with the Slender West Lake; the Erdaohe Canal runs along the old city's western edge, from the Slender West Lake to the Lotus Flower Pond (Hehuachi), which in its turn is connected by the short Erdaogou canal with the Old Grand Canal. It is possible to sail a small water craft from the Thin West Lake, via the Erdaohe, the Hehua Pond, and the Erdaogou into the Old Grand Canal.
Climate.
Yangzhou has a subtropical monsoon climate with humid changeable wind; longer winters for about 4 months, summers 4 months and shorter springs and autumns, 2 months respectively; frost-free period of around 240 days and annual average sunshine of around 1,912 hours.
The mean annual temperature is annually, with an annual average daily maximum temperature of and an annual average daily minimum temperature of . The normal monthly mean 24-hour temperature ranges from in January to in July.
The annual average precipitation is , and about 59.1% of rainfall is concentrated in the summer. The rainy season known as "plum rain season" usually lasts from mid-June to mid-July. During this season, the plums are ripening, hence the name plum rain. Extreme temperatures since 1951 has ranged from on 6 January 1955 to on 14 August 2022 during the 2022 China Heatwave.
Transportation.
Yangzhou has one Yangtze River crossing, the Runyang Yangtze River Bridge complex, which has one of the longest suspension bridge spans in the world, and carries the G4011 Yangzhou–Liyang Expressway to Zhenjiang.
Air.
The Yangzhou Taizhou International Airport, completed in 2012 to serve Yangzhou and neighboring Taizhou, is located in Jiangdu district. The Nanjing Lukou International Airport is over away; it takes one hour and 40 minutes to get there from central Yangzhou. Prior to the completion of the Yangzhou Taizhou Airport, Lukou Airport in Nanjing was the primary air gateway for passengers destined for Yangzhou. There are over 10 airline ticket offices in Yangzhou, providing convenient service for foreign and domestic tourists. domestic and international fight are available with 10 international airlines and more than 20 domestic ones
Rail.
Until 2004, Yangzhou was not served by passenger rail. Yangzhou Railway Station began construction in 2003 and was completed a year later. It is located on the western outskirts of the city, and is a major station on the Nanjing–Qidong railway, and provides direct passenger service to the provincial capital as well as a number of major cities to the west, north, and south (such as Xi'an, Wuhan, and Guangzhou), including an overnight Z-series express train to Beijing. Later, frequent high-speed (D-series) service has been introduced on this line as well.
In 2020, the new Yangzhoudong Railway Station came into service along with Lianyungang-Zhenjiang High-Speed Railway, an important high-speed railway running through the eastern part of the city that connects Southern and Northern Jiangsu with a design speed of 250kph. The railway connects Yangzhou to many major cities in the country using high-speed trains. The fastest direct train to Shanghai takes only 1 hour 19 minutes.
A new railway with a design speed of 350kph, Shanghai-Nanjing-Hefei High-Speed Railway, is also under construction. It is expected to run through the major existing railway station, Yangzhoudong Railway Station.
Major passenger railway stations in Yangzhou:
River transport.
Yangzhou harbor, south from the city center, is located at the junction of the Beijing–Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River. The average water depth is 15–20 meters. In 1992, the State Council approved it to become a first-grade open state harbor, and General Secretary Jiang Zemin inscribed its name. Now, it has developed into a comprehensive inland harbor, integrating passenger, freight, container transportation and harbor trade, and has become the main distribution center of northern Jiangsu province, eastern Anhui Province and southeast Shandong Province. There are several dozen categories of goods including iron and steel, timber, minerals, coal, grain, cotton, container, products of light industry and machinery. The passenger routes reach Nanjing, Wuhu, Jiujiang, Huangshi and Wuhan in the west, and Nantong and Shanghai in the east. Some well-known luxury international liners also anchor here. The harbor has greatly promoted the development of exports and the overall local economy.
Expressways.
The Ningyang (Nanjing–Yangzhou) Expressway crosses the southern part of Yangzhou's metropolitan area while the Ningtong (Nanjing–Nantong) Expressway is connected to Yangzhou at Liaojiagou. In recent years, local government have attached great importance to the development of the tourism, in conjunction with a greater effort dedicated to the improvement of the local road transport system. With a total investment of 680 million yuan, the Yangzhou section of the Ningyang Expressway was completed on December 18, 1998, and opened to traffic in June 1999. Stretching nearly , the section of the expressway starts from the Bazi Flyover as the entry/exit, via the Yanggua Highway, the Tonggang Highway, an ancient canal, the Yangwei Highway, the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangling Highway, to Liqojiagou Entry/Exit of Yangjiang Highway. It then passes the Jiangdu Flyover to directly link up with the Huaijiang Expressway. In addition, the section of Huaijiang Expressway within the territory of Yangzhou began construction on March 22, 1997, which will be commonly used by the state planned Tongjiang–Sanya and Beijing–Shanghai trunk lines. The section of Huaijiang Expressway in Yangzhou totals in length, starting from Jinghe Town of Baoying in the north to the entry/exist of Zhuanqiaozhen Flyover of Jiangdu in the south. It then links with Ningtong Expressway, passing by three counties (cities) such as Baoying, Gaoyou and Jiangdu and 26 towns, at a total cost of 3.7 billion yuan. It is expected to be open to traffic by the year 2000.
Intercity bus service.
During the daytime, frequent bus service operates between Yangzhou and nearby cities. There are several bus stations on the city's outskirts; most of the buses from Nanjing (Nanjing West Bus Station) and Zhenjiang (where the bus station is adjacent to the Zhenjiang Railway Station) arrive to Yangzhou South Bus Station, located a few kilometers southwest from downtown. Most of the intercity bus service stops in the early evening.
Transportation in the urban area.
The city is served by an extensive network of public bus routes.
Yangzhou's taxi industry began in 1982, and has developed rapidly since 1993. the city has over 40 taxi companies of various ownership structures, with a total of 1,571 vehicles. Parking lots were established at key stations and hotels, and eight taxi companies have opened round-the-clock telephone service. The construction department of the municipal government has strengthened the management of taxi services, providing education in the relevant laws, professional ethics and safety aspects.
In 2014, Yangzhou's government approved plans for the construction of a subway system, which will initially include two lines. Line 1 will run in the general east–west direction, from Yangzhou Railway Station in the west to the historic central city to the future high-speed railway station (east of the Grand Canal) to Jiangdu District. Line 2 will run in the general north–south direction.
Tourist transportation.
To develop tourism in Yangzhou, sightseeing buses have been introduced in the city run by the Tianma travel agency under the Yangzhou Tourist Bureau. There is a tour guide on each bus. The route, starting from Yangzhou station, has eight stops, and passes by such scenic spots of the Slender West Lake, Daming Temple, Imperial Dock, Siwang Pagoda, Wenchang Pagoda, and Shita Temple. Yangzhou Public Transit also operates No. 1, No. 2, and No. 5 special tourist lines. The No. 1 bus departs from the bus station and goes by the Slender West Lake, Shigong Temple, Ge Garden, and He Garden; the No. 5 bus starts from the bus station and goes by the Crane Temple, Wenchang Pagoda, Slender West Lake, Five-Pavilion Bridge, and Pingshan Hall. A sight-seeing route on Slender West Lake has opened, connecting Imperial Dock, Yichun Garden, Hong Garden, Dahong Bridge, Xiaojinshan, Diaoyutai, Five-Pavilion Bridge, and the 24 Bridge, finally reaching Daming Temple and Pingshan Hall.
Industries and shipyards.
Yangzhou is the site of Chengxi shipyard, large shipyard where bulk carriers and other types of large ships are built. Owned partly by the state owned CSSC holdings, through Jiangsu Xinrong shipyard, Chengxi Yangzhou shipyard builds ships from 25,000 dwt to 170,000 dwt in size.
Culture.
The Yangzhou dialect () of Chinese is representative of Lower Yangtze Mandarin, and is particularly close to the official language of the Ming and Qing courts, which was based on the Nanjing dialect. However, it does differ considerably from modern Standard Chinese, although they are still moderately mutually intelligible.
Dialect has also been used as a tool for regional identity and politics in the Jiangbei 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 and 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.
During a period of prosperity and imperial favor, the arts of storytelling and painting flourished in Yangzhou. The innovative painter-calligrapher Shitao lived in Yangzhou during the 1680s and again from 1697 until his death in 1707. A later group of painters from that time called the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou are famous throughout China.
Former General secretary of CPC, President of China Jiang Zemin was born and raised in Yangzhou. His middle school is located right across from the public notary's office in Yangzhou.
Yangzhou is famous for its carved lacquerware and jade.
Some of China's most creative and eye catching dishes come from the Yangzhou school of cuisine called Huaiyang (also commonly known as the Weiyang school). Along with Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, and Shandong cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine () is a distinctive and masterful skill that locals are quite proud of.
The city is famous for its public bath houses, lacquerware, jadeware, embroidery, and paper-cut arts and crafts.
The city was awarded Habitat Scroll of Honor in 2006.
Yangzhou is also very famous for its toy industry (especially stuffed animals). Many tourists from neighboring cities travel to the city for its good-quality and low-priced toys.
It is worth mentioning that the city is also famous for an ancient folk art called Yangzhou storytelling (), which is like Xiangsheng—the traditional Chinese comedic performance. It rose as a performing act during the Ming dynasty. In the performance, the artist details an interesting historical story to audiences, using Yangzhou dialect. These stories have been edited by artists, so they sound very soul-stirring and funny. The best known artist of Yangzhou storytelling was Wang shaotang. His most famous works are The 10 chapters of Wu Song (), The 10 chapters of Song Jiang (), The 10 chapters of Lu Junyi (), and The 10 chapters of Shi Xiu ().
Literary references.
Yangzhou was frequently referenced in Chinese literature. Poet Li Bai (c. 700–762) wrote in "Seeing Meng Haoran off to Yangzhou from Yellow Crane Pavilion":
At Yellow Crane Pavilion in the west
My old friend says farewell;
In the mist and flowers of spring
He goes down to Yangzhou;
Lonely sail, distant shadow,
Vanish in blue emptiness;
All I see is the great river
Flowing into the far horizon.
Du Mu wrote the famous lines on Yangzhou:
After ten years, I awoke from my Yangzhou dream,
All I gained was a fickle reputation in the green mansions.
The "green mansions" or "green/black lofts" ("qinglou") refers to the pleasure districts for which Yangzhou became known.
In the Qing dynasty novel Dream of the Red Chamber, the character of Lin Daiyu is from Yangzhou.
Tourism.
Tourist sights include Slender West Lake and old residences in the moated town, such as the Wang Residence and the Daming temple. Yangzhou is famous for its many well preserved Yangzhou style gardens. Most of the Historic city is in the Guangling District.
Slender West Lake.
Named after Hangzhou's famous West Lake, this long, narrow stretch of water which meanders through Yangzhou's western limits is a well-known scenic spot. A long bank planted with weeping willows spans the lake. At its midpoint stands the Five-Pavilion Bridge with five covered terraces, one at each of the corners and one in the center. Around the lake is a park in which are found several attractions: Xu Garden, the White Dagoba of Lianxing Temple, copied from the similar tower in Beijing's Beihai Park; Small Gold Mountain (Xiao Jinshan); and the Fishing Platform (Diaoyutai), a favorite retreat of the Qing emperor Qian Long. The emperor was so gratified by his luck in fishing at this spot that he ordered additional stipends for the town. As it turns out, his success had been augmented by local swimmers who lurked in the lake busily attaching fish to his hook.
Daming Temple.
Located on Shugang Hill, in the city's northwest, is Fajing Temple, formerly known as DaMing Temple. The original temple was built in Liu Song dynasty (420–479). A nine-story pagoda, the Qilingta, was built on the temple grounds in the year of Sui dynasty (589–618) . A recent addition to the temple complex is the Jianzhen Memorial Hall, built according to Tang dynasty methods and financed with contributions raised by Buddhist groups in Japan.
When Qing Emperor Qian Long visited Yangzhou in 1765, he was troubled by The temple's name DaMing (which literally means "Great Ming') fearing that it might revive nostalgia for the Ming dynasty, which was overthrown by his Manchu predecessors. He had it renamed Fajing Temple.
The temple was seriously damaged during the Taiping Rebellion at the beginning of the 20th century. The present structure is a reconstruction dating from the 1930s.
Flat Hills (Ping Shan) Hall.
Built by the Song dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu when he served as prefect of the city, this hall stands just west of Fajing Temple. Looking out from this hall, the mountains to the south of the Yangtze River appear as a line at the viewer's eye level, hence the name Flat Hills Hall. When Ouyang Xiu's student Su Dongpo moved to Yangzhou, he too served as prefect of the city. He had a hall built directly behind the one erected by his master, and called it Guling Hall.
Pavilion of Flourishing Culture.
The Pavilion of Flourishing Culture ( , , "Wénchāng Gé") is a round, three-story pavilion in Yangzhou's eastern sector, built in 1585 and celebrating the city's rich cultural traditions. It is also the de facto center of the city.
Built during Ming dynasty, it is located on the cross of Wenchang Road and Wenhe Road. The whole building is about 79-foot high, and looks like Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Today, bordered by many shopping stores, Wenchange had been a symbol of commercial center to residents.
Stone Pagoda.
The Stone Pagoda (, "Shítǎ") is a five-story Tang-era pagoda west of the Pavilion of Flourishing Culture. First built in 837, it is the oldest pagoda still standing in Yangzhou.
Tomb of Puhaddin.
This is essentially a Ming dynasty graveyard that includes the tomb of Puhaddin. According to information at the tomb, he was a 16th generation descendant of Muhammad, the prophet. The tomb is on the eastern bank of the (Old) Grand Canal in the eastern sector of the city and is adjacent to a mosque which houses a collection of valuable materials documenting China's relations with Muslim countries.
Ge Garden.
Ge Garden or Geyuan is a Jiangnan estate and garden, reckoned among the most refined and beautiful in China. Erected off Dongguan Road over a previous estate, the present design was established and named by the prosperous salt merchant Huang Zhiyun, who named it in honor of the virtues of the bamboo that appear in his name and throughout the garden. It is particularly famed for its four rockeries intended to represent the seasons.
He Garden.
He Garden or Heyuan, also known as the Jixiao Shanzhuang, was built by the 19th-century Qing official He Zhidao. The garden is famed for its winding 2 story corridor, the walls of which are lined with stone tablets carved with lines of classical poetry. The garden also has an open-air theater set on an island in the middle of a fish pond.
Yechun Garden.
Yechun Garden or Yechunyuan lies on the banks of the Xiading River at the city's northern limits. Under the Qing, the poet Wang Yuyang and his circle of friends used to gather in the garden to recite their works. The thatched roofs of the pavilions in this garden give it a quaint rustic air.
Yangzhou Museum.
The Yangzhou Museum is on the west shore of Bright Moon Lake, its architecture intended to embody the harmony of man and nature. The museum proper—covering the history of Yangzhou and the surrounding areas of China—occupies only a portion of the third floor, the other floors technically organized and operated as separate museums including the Chinese Block Printing Museum () established by the State Council in August 2003 to house 300,000 printing blocks collected by Yangzhou's Guangling Press. All together, the museums cover an area of with the exhibition area occupying a fifth of the total.
Jiangdu Hydro Project.
The Jiangdu Hydro Project is the southern beginning of the eastern route of the South–North Water Transfer Project, intended to divert massive amounts of freshwater from the mouth of the Yangtze to China's drier northern regions along the route of the Grand Canal. Construction of the pumping facilities involved began in 1961 and was completed in 1975. The project includes facilities for irrigation, drainage, navigation, and power generation including 4 large electric pumping stations, 6 medium-sized check gates, 3 navigation locks, and 2 trunk waterways.
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Yang Du
Chinese politician (1875–1931)
Yang Du (; 15 January 1875 – 17 September 1931) was a Chinese politician.
Names.
His birth name was Yang Chengzan (). His style name was Xizi () and his art names was Hugong (), Huchan (), Huchanshi (), Hutoutuo (), and Shihu ().
Biography.
Yang was born into a family of farming background in the village of Shitang (), in the town of Jiangyu (), Xiangtan in Hunan province. His grandfather, Yang Litang (), was a soldier of the Xiang Army. His father, Yang Yisheng (), was a farmer. Yang was the elder of three children. His father died of illness when he was 10 years old, Yang was raised by his uncle, Yang Ruisheng ().
Yang studied under Wang Kaiyun (). His classmates such as: Xia Shoutian (), Yang Rui (), Liu Guangdi (), Liu Kuiyi (), and Qi Baishi ().
In 1902, Yang went to Japan, studying in Hongwen Academy (). In 1904, Yang studied politics in Hosei University.
In 1911, Yang served as the Director of the National Bureau of Statistics. In 1914, Yang became a senator in the senate. When Yuan Shikai died, Yang became a buddhist.
In 1922, Yang joined the Kuomintang in Shanghai. In 1929, Yang joined the Chinese Communist Party.
In September 1931, Yang died of illness in Shanghai.
Personal life.
Yang had two sons with Huang Hua () and six with Xu Canleng () (three sons and three daughters).
With Huang Hua:
With Xu Canleng:
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Yang (surname)
Yang (; ) is the transcription of a Chinese family name. It is the sixth most common surname in Mainland China. It is the 16th surname on the "Hundred Family Surnames" text.
The Yang clan was founded by Boqiao, son of Duke Wu of Jin in the Spring and Autumn period of the Ji (姬) surname, the surname of the royal family during the Zhou dynasty c. 8th to 5th centuries BCE) who was enfeoffed in the state of Yang.
History.
The German sociologist Wolfram Eberhard calls Yang the "Monkey Clan", citing the totemistic myth recorded in the "Soushenji" and "Fayuan Zhulin" that the Yangs living in southwestern Shu (modern Sichuan) were descendants of monkeys. The "Soushenji" "reported that in the southwest of Shu there were monkey-like animals whose names were "jiaguo" (猳國), "mahua" (馬化), or "jueyuan" (玃猿). These animals abducted women and sent them back when they became pregnant. If the baby were not accepted, the woman would have to die. Therefore these children were raised and they received the clan name the Yang surname. For this reason this clan occurred quite frequently in Southwest Shu."
Emperor of Hua Xia System.
Direct descendants of Huang Di of Hua Xia include descendants of Yellow Emperor and Chiyou during the Xia dynasty, also many sons and grandsons of Yu the Great, have taken Yang as surname, some of its sub