TSUN-I

Pinyin Zunyi, city in northern Kweichow sheng (province), China. Tsun-i is situated on the main route from Kuei-yang in the south to Chungking in the north. The city was brought under regular Chinese administration only in the early 7th century AD. A county was set up there in 640, and its present name, Tsun-i, was given in 642. It remained the seat of Tsun-i hsien (county), but the area did not begin to be developed until Ming times (13681644). The county seat, originally to the west, was established on its present site under the Sung dynasty (9601279). Tsun-i achieved fame as a result of the Long March (193435) of the Communist armies northwestward from their bases in Kiangsi province, which took them through Tsun-i. In 1935 the Central Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party held a conference there at which Mao Zedong, the future founder of the Chinese Communist state, finally established his dominance in the party over rival leaders in it who did not share his views on revolutionary strategy. Until 1949 Tsun-i was not much more than a local market town dependent upon Kuei-yang. During the period of the First Five-Year Plan (195357), Tsun-i expanded considerably, was designated a city, and became an industrial centre. The old town, primarily administrative, was joined by a newer area containing the commercial and industrial quarters. A silk textile mill, rice and flour mills, small engineering works, and a chemical industry producing phosphates were established. The surrounding area also became important for the production of manganese. In the late 1950s large iron- and steelworks were built at Tsun-i. Pop. (1990) 261,862.