HAN-K'OU

Pinyin Hankou, conventional Hankow large urban area and river port in Wu-han Municipality (shih), Hupeh Province (sheng), central China. Located on the left bank of the Han Shui (river) at its confluence with the Yangtze, it is the largest of the three Wu-han (q.v.) cities (Han-k'ou, Han-yang, and Wu-ch'ang). It was founded as Hsia-k'ou under the Sung dynasty (9601279). Han-k'ou was one of the first Chinese cities opened to foreign trade (1861), came under Nationalist Chinese administration in 1928, was occupied by the Japanese in 1938, and passed to Communist rule in 1949. It is now part of the great Wu-han urban complex.