Wuchang

China

Also known as: Wu-ch’ang

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Wade-Giles romanization:: Wu-ch’ang

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Wuchang, large urban area, east-central Hubei sheng (province), central China. It is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) at its confluence with the Han River, opposite Hankou and Hanyang. Formerly an independent city, it was merged with those two entities in 1949 to form a district of the new city of Wuhan. Wuchang is the oldest of the three former cities of the Wuhan conurbation. For a time it was the capital of the Wu dynasty during the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo) period (220–280 ce), and it now serves as both the administrative and the cultural centre of both Wuhan city and Hubei province. Northeast of the Wuchang district proper and within the conurbation’s Qingshan district is the huge Wuhan iron and steel complex, built in the 1950s and one of the largest in China.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

Hankou

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Hankou

China

Also known as: Han-k’ou, Hankow, Jiangxia

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Wade-Giles romanization:: Han-k’ou

Conventional:: Hankow

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Hankou, large urban area and river port, east-central Hubei sheng (province), central China. Located on the left bank of the Han River at its confluence with the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), it is the largest of the three former cities (the other two being Hanyang and Wuchang) now constituting the Wuhan conurbation.

It was founded as Jiangxia under the Song dynasty (960–1279). During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911/12) dynasties, it was one of the four most famous towns (zhen) in China. Hankou was one of the first Chinese cities opened to foreign trade (1861); it came under Nationalist Chinese administration in 1928; and it was occupied by the Japanese in 1938–45. In 1949, following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, it became part of Wuhan. Hankou is the most populous component of the great Wuhan urban complex and has the conurbation’s most thriving business sector.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kenneth Pletcher.