Guangdong

Guangdong ({{zh-stpw |t=廣東 |s=广东 |p=Guǎngdōng |w=Kuang-tung}}; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1; Vietnamese: Qu?ng ?ông), is a province on the south coast of the People's Republic of China. Sometimes, "Canton Province" (based on an obsolete French-derived transliteration of "Guangdong") is used to mean Guangdong. This is as opposed to "Canton (City)", which refers to the city of Guangzhou, the provincial capital.

History

Guangdong was far removed from the center of ancient Chinese civilization in the north China plain. It was populated by peoples collectively known as the Hundred Yuet (百越), who may have been Tai-Kadai and related to the Zhuang people in modern Guangxi.

Related Topics:
Guangdong - Hundred Yuet - Tai-Kadai - Zhuang - Guangxi

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Chinese administration in the region began with the Qin Dynasty, which, after establishing the first unified Chinese empire, expanded southwards and set up Nanhai Commandery (南海郡) at Panyu (番禺), near what is now Guangzhou. The Han Dynasty administered Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam as Jiao Province (交州). Under the Wu Kingdom of the Three Kingdoms, Guangdong was made its own province, the Guang Province (廣州), in 226.

Related Topics:
Qin Dynasty - Nanhai Commandery - Guangzhou - Vietnam - Jiao Province - Wu Kingdom - Three Kingdoms - Guang Province - 226

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As time passed, the demographics of what is now Guangdong slowly shifted to Han Chinese-dominance, especially during several periods of massive migration from the north during periods of political turmoil and/or nomadic incursions from the fall of the Han Dynasty onwards. For example, internal strife in northern China following the rebellion of An Lushan resulted in a 75% increase in the population of Guangzhou prefecture between 740s-750s and 800s-810shttp://www.nhyz.org/yxx/jxzy/zy/zy48.htm. As more migrants arrived, the local population was gradually assimilated to Han Chinese culture http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=11836649, or displaced.

Related Topics:
Han Chinese - Han Dynasty - An Lushan - Guangzhou - 740s - 750s - 800s - 810s

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Together with Guangxi, Guangdong was made part of Lingnan Circuit (嶺南道), or Mountain-South Circuit, in 627 during the Tang Dynasty. The Guangdong part of Lingnan Circuit was renamed Guangnan East Circuit(廣南東路 guǎng nán dōng lù) in 971 during the Song Dynasty. "Guangnan East" is the source of "Guangdong".

Related Topics:
Guangxi - Lingnan - Circuit - 627 - Tang Dynasty - 971 - Song Dynasty

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As Mongols from the north engaged in their conquest of China in the 13th century, the Southern Song Dynasty retreated southwards, eventually ending up in today's Guangdong. The Battle of Yamen (1279) in Guangdong marked the end of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Related Topics:
Mongols - 13th century - Southern Song Dynasty - Battle of Yamen - 1279 - Song Dynasty

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During the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, Guangdong was a part of Jiangxi. Its present name, "Guangdong Province" was given in early Ming Dynasty.

Related Topics:
Mongol - Yuan Dynasty - Jiangxi - Ming Dynasty

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Since the 16th century, Guangdong has had extensive trade links with the rest of the world. European merchants coming northwards via the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea, particularly the British, traded extensively through Guangzhou. Macau, on the coast of Guangdong, was the first European settlement in China (since 1557). It was the opium trade through Guangzhou that triggered the Opium Wars, opening an era of foreign incursion and intervention in China. In addition to Macau, Hong Kong was ceded to the British, and Kwang-Chou-Wan to the French. In the 19th century, Guangdong was also the major port of exit for laborers in southeast Asia and the Western United States. Until the late 20th century, residents in Chinatowns tended to be overwhelmingly from Guangdong, so much so that Cantonese, spoken by less than 10% of Chinese people in China, remains the lingua franca of the Chinese diaspora in many places abroad.

Related Topics:
16th century - Straits of Malacca - South China Sea - Macau - 1557 - Opium - Opium Wars - Hong Kong - Kwang-Chou-Wan - 19th century - Southeast Asia - United States - Chinatown

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During the 1850s, the first revolt of the Taiping Rebellion took place in Guangdong. Because of direct contact with the West, Guangdong was a center of anti-Manchu and anti-imperialist activity. The generally acknowledged founder of modern China, Sun Yat-Sen, was from Guangdong.

Related Topics:
Taiping Rebellion - Manchu - Sun Yat-Sen

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During the early 1920s of the Republic of China, Guangdong was the staging area for KMT to prepare for the Northern Expedition, an effort to bring the various warlords of China back under the central government. Whampoa Military Academy was built near Guangzhou to train military commanders.

Related Topics:
1920s - Republic of China - Staging area - KMT - Northern Expedition - Whampoa Military Academy

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In recent years, the province has seen extremely rapid economic growth, aided in part by its close trading links with Hong Kong, which borders it. It is now the province with the highest gross domestic product in China.

Related Topics:
Hong Kong - Gross domestic product

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Hainan island was originally part of Guangdong but it was separated as its own province in 1988.

Related Topics:
Hainan - 1988

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Guangdong is believed to be the source of SARS in 2003.

Related Topics:
SARS - 2003

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