CHANG-CHOU

also called Lung-ch'i, Pinyin Zhangzhou, or Longxi, city in southeastern Fukien Province (sheng), China. The city is situated on the north bank of the Hsi Hsi (stream), some 25 mi (40 km) upstream from Amoy in the small alluvial plain formed by the Hsi Hsi and the Chiu-lung Chiang (stream), which flow together into the Chang Chiang estuary. Chang-chou was first established as a county in AD 502515 and became a prefecture under its present name in 686. It was, however, only a minor Chinese outpost of about 1,600 families in the mid-8th century; and it was only in the 9th century that, with the rapid colonization of Fukien (which continued until the 13th century), the city began to grow. After the fall of the T'ang dynasty (618907), it was renamed Nan-chou and began to flourish under the Fukienese kingdom of Min (909944). Under the Sung dynasties (9601279) it rapidly grew into a great city and was a major trading centre on the southeast coast and an entrept for overseas trade with Indonesia and Southeast Asia. During the Ming period (13681644) it developed a brisk trade with the Philippines and was famous for its sugar and its silk textiles, particularly satins. In 1604 it was first visited by Dutch ships; but with the gradual silting up of the river, its trade was transferred first to Ma-ma-chen, further downstream at the junction of the Chiu-lung Chiang and Hsi Hsi, and then to Amoy, which, in the 17th and 18th centuries, took over its role as a major port. Since then Chang-chou has become a regional city and the commercial and market centre for southeast Fukien Province, with which it has good river and highway connections. It is a collecting centre for fruit, jute, sugarcane, and timber from its hinterland; they are shipped on to Amoy, which dominates it commercially and through which most of its imports pass. It has rail connections with central China and all parts of inland Fukien. There is some small-scale industry, mostly based on local agriculture. Flour milling, wine making, tea curing, the manufacture of jute sacking, glass manufacture, papermaking, and printing are the main trades. Pop. (1989 est.) 174,000.