WU-HAN

Pinyin Wuhan fifth largest city of the People's Republic of China, in Hupeh Province, located at the confluence of the Han and Yangtze rivers. It is a conurbation of three adjacent citiesHan-k'ou (Hankow), Han-yang, and Wu-ch'ang; the last is the capital of Hupeh Province. Han-k'ou lies on the north bank of the Yangtze at the mouth of the Han. Immediately across the Han from it is the older city of Han-yang, and across from them on the south bank of the Yangtze is the ancient metropolis of Wu-ch'ang. In 1950 the government of the People's Republic of China merged the three cities into a single city called Wu-han. The triple city of Wu-han has a geographical centrality that gives its site immense commercial significance. It lies in the very heart of China and is crossed by converging transportation routes from almost every point of the compass. Wu-han is roughly equidistant from the cities of Peking and Canton on a northsouth axis and is equidistant from Shanghai and Chungking on an eastwest axis. The Yangtze, the greatest of China's arterial waterways, is navigable for large ocean-going vessels up to the site of Wu-han, which can therefore be considered the head of ocean navigation on the river, although the city is 600 miles (950 km) from the coast. The main northsouth railroad linking Peking and Canton crosses the Yangtze on a bridge (completed 1957) at Wu-han. Another large bridge spans the Han River and connects Han-k'ou with Han-yang. As the meeting point of maritime, river, rail, and road transportation, Wu-han has long been the chief collecting and distribution point for the products of the middle Yangtze River valley and for west and southwest China, particularly for tea, cotton, silk, timber, and tung oil, as well as for a variety of manufactured goods. The earliest settlement, during the Western Chou period (1111771 BC), was to the southeast of Wu-ch'ang, which became a capital city of the Wu dynasty during the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220280). The primarily administrative role of Wu-ch'ang continued throughout the Yan (12061368) and Ming (13681644) dynasties, when it served as a district capital. Han-yang was founded during the Sui dynasty (AD 581618) but was of minor commercial significance. In contrast, Han-k'ou (then known as Hsia-k'ou) became known during the Sung dynasty (9601279) as one of China's four major commercial cities. The opening of Han-k'ou to foreign trade under the terms of the treaties of Tientsin (1858) between China, France, and Great Britain gave added impetus to the commercial and industrial development of the three cities. Concessions in Han-k'ou were granted between 1861 and 1896 to British, French, German, Japanese, and Russian interests. A number of foreign commercial, trading, and shipping firms opened offices in Han-k'ou during this period. The Wu-han cities played a prominent role in the 20th-century history of China. The Chinese Republican Revolution of 1911, which toppled the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty, broke out in the barracks at Wu-ch'ang, and the line of heights overlooking the Han River there was the scene of the principal fighting between the Imperial and revolutionary troops, with the main objective being the government arsenal at Han-yang. Han-k'ou's workers were in the forefront of the general strike of 1923, which was the first large-scale industrial strike in China. The capture of Han-k'ou by the Nationalist (Kuomintang) armies marching northward from Kwangtung in December 1926 marked the extension of Nationalist power to the middle Yangtze River valley. It was followed by a serious mob onslaught on the British concession in Han-k'ou, after which an agreement was reached replacing the British municipal council there with one of mixed Chinese and British composition. The Wu-han cities soon afterward became a centre of conflict between the Nationalists and Communists in their short-lived coalition government. After the split between the Nationalists and the Communists in 1927, a left-wing faction of the Nationalists maintained its headquarters in Han-k'ou. Mao Zedong, the future leader of the Chinese Communists, ran a Peasant Movement Institute in Wu-ch'ang, where the Fifth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was convened in 1927. After the fall of the Nationalist capital of Nanking to the invading Japanese in 1937, the Chinese government withdrew to Han-k'ou, which temporarily became the base for Chinese resistance. Han-k'ou fell to the Japanese in October 1938 after a defense that lasted more than four months, and the city was occupied by the Japanese until 1945, after which it reverted to Nationalist control. The Wu-han cities were taken by the Chinese Communists in 1949. Han-k'ou's development as a port in close contact with European commerce brought the three cities early under the influence of Western industrialism, and in the 1890s Han-yang became the site of the first modern steel plant in China. The Wu-han cities' steel industry declined during the Japanese occupation, and in 1938 the Nationalists dismantled the Han-yang steel plant and relocated it at Chungking. Wu-han's steel industry was gradually revived under the Communist government in the 1950s, and by the late 20th century Wu-han was the second most important metallurgical centre of China (after An-shan). It has several large iron- and steel-producing complexes, including a plant on the south bank of the Yangtze about 25 km (15 miles) east of Wu-ch'ang. Iron ore is obtained from the large mine at Ta-yeh, which is about 65 km (40 miles) southeast of Wu-han. Coal is obtained from the major O-nan field, which lies to the south of the city. The iron and steel base has attracted other industries producing chemicals, fertilizers, electrical equipment, glass, agricultural machinery, railroad cars, and trucks. Wu-han also has one of the largest heavy-machine-tool factories in China. Its consumer industries produce watches, bicycles, and radios and other electronic instruments. Older industries in Wu-han include rice, oil, and flour mills and the production of cotton and woolen fabrics and other textiles. Cement works, paper mills, distilleries, and soap factories are among Wu-han's other light industries. It is also the site of one of China's more important arsenals. The surrounding agricultural area produces wheat, tea, rice, and cotton. Wu-han is the seat of Wu-han University and the Central China Technical University. The Wu-han Medical School is in Han-k'ou, but most of the other institutions of higher education are located on the eastern outskirts of Wu-ch'ang. Among places of historic interest are the Chang Chun Kuan, a Taoist temple rebuilt at the end of the 19th century east of Wu-ch'ang; the Ku Chin T'ai, an 8th-century pavilion in Han-yang; and the Yan-dynasty temple and shrine in Wu-ch'ang. Pop. (1985 est.) 2,899,000.