- Wade-Giles romanization:
- Yang-chou
Yangzhou
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Where is Yangzhou located in China?
Yangzhou is a city in southwest-central Jiangsu province in eastern China. It is north of the Yangtze River at the southern end of the Grand Canal where it meets the Huai River. Since 1949, especially after the restoration of the southern Grand Canal, Yangzhou has revived. It is a transportation and market city with an extensive road network. Tourism has become increasingly important to the city's economy because of its historic sites and scenic gardens.
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What is Yangzhou known for?
Yangzhou is known for its rich history as a major transportation and commercial hub, as well as a cultural center. It is also known for the following:
- Historical Significance From the 6th to 10th centuries, Yangzhou became a major transit center for grain, salt, and iron shipments due to the construction of the Grand Canal. The city has many ancient buildings and sites of historical interest, including remains of the walled city from Tang and Song times.
- Cultural hub From the 16th to the 18th century, immensely wealthy salt merchants in Yangzhou became patrons of the arts, making the city an important center of culture. The Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou were notable 18th-century painters active in the area.
- Tourism Tourism plays an increasingly important role in the city’s economy. As a result of municipal government efforts to preserve the historic city and improve Yangzhou’s residential environment, the city won the UN Habitat Scroll of Honour award in 2006.
- Manufacturing Industries in Yangzhou focus mainly on manufacturing machinery, auto parts, chemicals, textiles, processed agricultural products, clothing, and stationery.
- Cuisine Historically, Huaiyang cuisine is one of the four great traditions of Chinese cuisine. The hot monsoon climate and fertile Yangtze River basin support an abundance of fish, shellfish, fruits, and vegetables. The cuisine uses sugar, vinegar, and rice wine to create sweet and tangy flavors.
- Handicrafts Yangzhou is a center for traditional handicrafts such as silk textiles and lacquerware.
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What famous landmarks or historical sites are in Yangzhou?
Yangzhou is known for its historical significance and scenic spots. The city has ancient buildings and sites dating back to the Tang and Song dynasties, including remains of the walled city. Yangzhou is also known for its scenic gardens. The Slender West Lake (Shou Xihu) area attracts many tourists annually. The local museum has historical artifacts and paintings from the Eight Eccentrics group, who were active in the city. From the 16th to 18th century, the salt merchants of Yangzhou were patrons of the arts, making Yangzhou an important center of culture. The scholars’ gardens of southeastern China, in towns such as Suzhou, Yangzhou and Wuxi, are the finest architectural achievement of the period.
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Why was Yangzhou important in Chinese history?
Yangzhou has been an important city throughout Chinese history due to its strategic location and economic significance. During the Sui dynasty (581–618), it became the southern terminus of the canal system, linking the Yangtze and Huai valleys with major capital cities, transforming into a major port and commercial hub in the Yangtze valley.
Under the Tang dynasty (618–907), Yangzhou was the administrative center for the state's finances in southern China and the headquarters of the salt administration, further solidifying its economic importance as a key seaport. The city continued to prosper as a trading center through the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1206–1368) periods.
From the 16th to the 18th century, Yangzhou became a cultural center, with wealthy salt merchants supporting the arts. The Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, a group of notable painters, were active in the city during this time. Today, Yangzhou has many ancient buildings and sites of historical interest, and tourism plays an increasingly important role in the city’s economy.
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How has Yangzhou influenced Chinese culture or trade?
Yangzhou's geographic location has made it a vital hub for Chinese culture and trade. During the Sui dynasty (581–618), it became the southern terminus of the canal system, linking the Yangtze and Huai valleys with major capital cities. This made Yangzhou a major commercial city and transshipment point in the Yangtze valley.
From the 16th to the 18th century, the city's wealthy salt merchants became patrons of the arts, establishing Yangzhou as a significant cultural center. The Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, a notable group of 18th-century painters, were active in the area.
Today, tourism plays an increasingly important role in the city’s economy. Yangzhou is known for its historical sites, scenic gardens, and the local museum that has a collection of paintings and artifacts.
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What are some special foods or cultural traditions from Yangzhou?
Yangzhou, an ancient city in China, boasts a rich cultural heritage with unique culinary traditions and handicrafts.
Special Foods:
* Yangzhou is known for lacquerware.
* The Slender West Lake (Shou Xihu) area of Yangzhou attracts large numbers of tourists annually.Cultural Traditions:
* From the 16th to 18th century, salt merchants in Yangzhou were patrons of the arts and letters, establishing the city as a cultural center. The Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, a group of 18th-century painters, were active in the area.
* Traditional handicrafts such as silk textiles, carving, and embroidery are still practiced.
* Other cities in the Jiangsu province possess historical monuments, famous temples, and local shrines and pailou (arches) honoring their illustrious citizens. Many cities have a rich folklore.3 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Yangzhou, city, southwest-central Jiangsu province (sheng), eastern China. It lies to the north of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) at the southern terminus of the section of the Grand Canal that joins the Huai River to the Yangtze. Pop. (2002 est.) 548,204.
History
In the 4th and 3rd centuries bce, Yangzhou was a fief known as Guangling in the state of Chu. After the Qin unification of the empire in 221 bce, it became the seat of a county. Under the Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce), it was the seat of a feudal principality. In the 5th and 6th centuries it was the seat of a commandery (district controlled by a commander) called Guangling. During this early period, Yangzhou was the traditional name for southeastern China—one of the nine traditional divisions of China.
The identification of the old city of Guangling with Yangzhou began in 589, during the Sui dynasty (581–618), when the prefecture located there was renamed Yangzhou. In 606–607, during the reign of the Yangdi emperor (604–617/618), it became the southern terminus of the canal system built to link the Yangtze and Huai valleys with the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang’an (present-day Xi’an). Yangzhou became a major port and transshipment point, as well as the chief commercial city of the Yangtze valley. After 763, under the Tang dynasty (618–907), Yangzhou became the administrative centre for the state’s financial apparatus in southern China and the headquarters of the salt administration. It was also an important seaport. During the Ten Kingdoms (Shiguo) period, it was the capital of the Wu state (902–937).
Yangzhou continued to be a flourishing trading centre through the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1206–1368) periods. According to some scholars, the 13th-century Venetian traveler Marco Polo (who knew the city as Yonju) was employed as an official there and noted its flourishing trade and large garrison forces.
During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Yangzhou’s importance as a port diminished with the decline of Chinese seaborne trade. The city, previously located near modern Jiangdu some distance to the east, had been moved to its present site during the Nan (Southern) Song period (1127–1279). Under the Ming the present city was constructed on a part of the Song site, the whole surrounded by 5.5 miles (9 km) of walls.
Yangzhou remained a regional administrative centre from Ming to Qing times (1368–1911/12), forming a superior prefecture of the same name. During that period it was of national importance as the base for the Lianghuai Salt Administration. The salt merchants of Yangzhou grew immensely wealthy, and from the 16th to the 18th century they were patrons of the arts and letters, making Yangzhou an important centre of culture. The Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou were a notable group of 18th-century painters who were active in the vicinity.
The city’s decline dates from the Taiping Rebellion (1850–64). The city was taken by the rebels in 1853, and in 1855 it was the site of a major battle in which the imperial (Manchu) forces were disastrously defeated. During those years Yangzhou was seriously damaged, its temples and public buildings destroyed. Its recovery was hampered by the fact that from 1855 onward the Grand Canal was flooded and its northern reaches damaged, so grain shipments to Beijing and Tianjin were increasingly sent north by sea from Shanghai. At the same time, the changes in the salt administration also struck at the other base of Yangzhou’s traditional prosperity. In 1912 Yangzhou ceased to be a superior prefecture and reverted to a county municipality.
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In the early part of the 20th century, it remained relatively prosperous and was still a centre of the salt administration, although no longer the home of its merchant princes. It also remained a centre of such traditional handicrafts as silk textiles, lacquer ware, carving, and embroidery. It was a regional market, especially for rice, and a centre of food processing.
The contemporary city
Since 1949 Yangzhou has experienced a revival, especially following the restoration of the southern reaches of the Grand Canal and improvements made in the canal system to the north. Industries, focused mainly on manufacturing machinery, auto parts, chemicals, textiles, processed agricultural products, clothing, and stationery, have been developed. In the 1970s a pumping station was constructed there as part of a large water-control project: Yangtze River water is pumped to the northern part of the country.
However, Yangzhou is primarily a transportation and market city and is the focus of an extensive road network. A railway from Nanjing to Qidong, completed in 2005, passes through the city and provides it access to the regional rail network. In addition, an expressway from the city and via a bridge across the Yangtze south to Liyang also links it with the expressway network south of Yangtze.
Tourism has played an increasingly important role in the city’s economy. The city has many ancient buildings and sites of historical interest, including the remains of the walled city from Tang and Song times. A local museum has a large collection of historical artifacts as well as dozens of paintings from the Eight Eccentrics group. The city is also known for its scenic gardens. As a result of the municipal government’s efforts to preserve the historic city and greatly improve Yangzhou’s residential environment, the city won the UN Habitat Scroll of Honour award in 2006.