KWANGTUNG

Chinese (Wade-Giles) Kuang-tung, (Pinyin) Guangdong, sheng (province) of South China. It is the southernmost of the mainland provinces and constitutes the region through which South China's trade is primarily channeled. Kwangtung has one of the longest coastlines of any province and has an area of 76,100 square miles (197,100 square kilometres). It is bounded by the Chuang Autonomous Region of Kwangsi to the west, by the provinces of Hunan and Kiangsi to the north and Fukien to the northeast, and by the South China Sea and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the south. One foreign holding remains on the coast of Kwangtungthe Portuguese territory of Macao. The capital is Canton (WadeGiles: Kuangchou; Pinyin: Guangzhou). Historically Kwangtung and Kwangsi often were jointly governed. Kwangtung was first administered as a separate entity in AD 997; it was from this time that the term Kwangtung (Chinese: Eastern Expanses) began to be used. Kwangtung has its own physical and cultural identity. Its topography separates it somewhat from the rest of China, and this factor, together with its long coastline, its contact with other countries through its overseas emigrants, and its early exposure to Western influence through the port of Canton, has resulted in the emergence of a degree of self-sufficiency and separatism. Canton dominates the province to an unusual extent. Wade-Giles romanization Kuang-tung, Pinyin Guangdong, sheng (province), the southernmost mainland province of China. Kwangtung constitutes the region through which South China's trade is primarily channeled. It is bounded by the Chuang Autonomous Region of Kwangsi to the west, the provinces of Hunan and Kiangsi to the north and Fukien to the northeast, and the South China Sea to the south. Kwangtung has one of the longest coastlines of any Chinese province. Along the coast of the province are the former British crown colony of Hong Kong (now a special administrative region of China) and the Portuguese territory of Macau. The provincial capital is Canton. Historically, Kwangtung and Kwangsi often were governed jointly. Kwangtung was first incorporated into the Chinese empire in 222 BC. During the five centuries of the Sui, T'ang, and Northern Sung dynasties, from AD 581 to 1126, the military and agricultural colonization of the region gradually took place. This, combined with increasing overseas trade through Canton, led to an increase of Chinese migration into Kwangtung and to the rise of Canton as a metropolis with a population of hundreds of thousands. Further major migrations spurred the rapid development of Kwangtung. Its population growth was so fast that by the late 17th century the province had become an area from which emigration took place. Kwangtung's topography separates it somewhat from the rest of China, and this factor, together with its long coastline, its contact with other countries through its overseas emigrants, and its early exposure to Western influence through the port of Canton, has resulted historically in the emergence of a degree of self-sufficiency, with which a tendency to separatism has also been associated. Canton dominates the economic, cultural, and political life of Kwangtung to an unusual extent. The surface configuration of Kwangtung is diverse, being composed primarily of rounded hills cut by streams and rivers, and ribbonlike alluvial valleys. The greater part of eastern Kwangtung consists of the southerly extension of the Southern Uplands, which stretch down from Fukien and Chekiang provinces. Since much of Kwangtung lies south of the Tropic of Cancer, it is the only Chinese province with tropical and subtropical climates. Almost the entire province lies within an area in which two crops of rice can be grown per year. There is no true winter, but the hot summer varies in length in different regions. Kwangtung is largely populated by Han Chinese. The most important dialect, which itself exhibits a variety of forms, is Cantonese. Most of the province's population lives in the villages, the greatest number of which are in the fertile river deltas and along the waterways. Other major cities in addition to Canton are Swatow, Sh'ao-kuan, Chiang-men, Chan-chiang, Fo-shan, Hai-k'ou, and Ch'ao-an. In addition to its two rice crops, Kwangtung also produces nearly half of China's annual output of sugarcane and has a significant fruit production, particularly bananas and citrus fruits. Kwangtung, with its long coastline, produces about one-fifth of China's fish catch. More than 400 species of saltwater fish are caught from numerous fishing ports. Kwangtung's light industry, which has long been important to its economy and which is located mostly in the Canton Delta, includes food processing, textile manufacturing, sugar refining, silk filature (the reeling of silk from cocoons), weaving, and rice milling; the latter is the largest and most widespread industry and takes place in nearly every county and municipality. The province's heavy industries include metal processing, the manufacture of machinery, shipbuilding and ship repairing, the production of hydroelectricity, and mining. Significant mineral deposits found in Kwangtung are hematite, coal, manganese, tungsten, and oil shale. Oil refineries have been established at Mao-ming. Water transport accounts for much of Kwangtung's total traffic tonnage. The waterways are maintained by continual dredging, widening, and clearing of canals and other channels. Connections with other provinces depend principally on land transportation, however, and Kwangtung has developed the best highway network in China. The province also provides a crucial link in China's domestic and international air service, and its telecommunications and mail delivery are among the most advanced in the country. Area 76,100 square miles (197,100 square km). Pop. (1995 est.) 66,890,000. History Physically separated from the early centres of Chinese civilization in North China, Kwangtung was originally occupied by non-Han ethnic groups. It was first incorporated into the Chinese empire in 222 BC, when Shih huang-ti, first emperor of the Ch'in dynasty, conquered the area along the Hsi and Pei river valleys down to the Pearl River Delta. In 111 BC Chinese domination was extended to the whole of what is now Kwangtung, including Hai-nan, by Wu-ti of the Han dynasty. The conquest, however, was not followed by successful colonization, and Kwangtung remained part of the empire only politically. During the five centuries of the Sui, T'ang, and Pei (Northern) Sung dynasties, from AD 581 to 1127, the military and agricultural colonization of Kwangtung gradually took place. This colonization, combined with increasing overseas trade channeled through Canton, led to an increase of migration into Kwangtung and to the emergence of Canton as a metropolis with a population of hundreds of thousands. At the end of the period, however, Kwangtung was still occupied predominantly by its original ethnic population. The region was viewed as a semicivilized frontier, and disgraced officials often were exiled there. The southward thrust of the Han was greatly intensified from 1126, when the Juchen of the Chin dynasty captured the Pei Sung capital at what is now K'ai-feng, forcing the Sung to migrate south. Another major population movement followed a century and a half later as China fell to the Mongols. These migrations marked the beginning of effective Han occupation and the rapid cultural development of Kwangtung. Especially after the 16th century the growth of population was so fast that, by the late 17th century, Kwangtung had become an area from which emigration took place. Migrants from Kwangtung moved first to Kwangsi, Szechwan, and Taiwan and then in the mid-19th century began to pour into Southeast Asia and North America, and some were also taken as indentured labourers to British, French, and Dutch colonies. Since the mid-19th century, Kwangtung has produced a number of prominent political and military, as well as intellectual, leaders. Many of the leaders of political movements during this periodsuch as Hung Hsiu-ch'uan, leader of the Taiping Rebellion (185064); K'ang Yu-wei and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao of the Reform Movement (1898); and Sun Yat-sen, who led the republican revolution of 191112had associations with Kwangtung. In the 1920s Chiang Kai-shek made Canton the base from which his program to reunify China under Nationalist rule was launched. Foreign privileges in the city were reduced, and modernization of the economy was undertaken. The almost simultaneous rise of the Communist movement and the advent of Japanese aggression in the 1930s, however, thwarted the plans of Chiang and the Nationalists. From 1939 to 1945 the Japanese occupied Kwangtung Province. After World War II the conflict between the Communists and the Nationalists erupted into full-scale civil war and continued until the Communist victory in late 1949. Yue-man Yeung Chen-tung Chang Victor C. Falkenheim