SUNG-CHIANG

Pinyin Songjiang, town in Shanghai shih (municipality), China. Until 1958 it was a part of Kiangsu province. It takes its name from the Sung Chiang (river), which flows from the T'ai Lake to the sea, through Shanghai. It first became an independent county in 751 under the name of Hua-t'ing, and in 1278 its name was changed to Sung-chiang. It was a superior prefecture under the Ming (13681644) and Ch'ing (16441911) dynasties and grew into a large town. Sung-chiang was originally the centre of a prosperous rice-growing area andtogether with Schowwas a major source of grain revenues. After cotton was introduced under the Mongols in the 14th century, the area produced cotton, and cotton spinning, and weaving became a major domestic industry. By the 18th century the quality of the region's cotton textiles had gained an international reputation. In the 19th century the town was a strategic centre for the defense of Shanghai during the Taiping Rebellion (185064) and was badly damaged in the fighting. The phenomenal 19th-century growth of Shanghai, however, also took away the town's role as a commercial centre, and in the 20th century it became completely dominated by its metropolitan neighbour. Sung-chiang has excellent waterway communications with the plain around T'ai Lake and is also on the railway from Shanghai to Hang-chou. Pop. (mid-1980s est.) 50,000100,000.