Everything about Zhoushan Archipelago totally explained
Zhoushan, formerly transliterated as
Chusan, is a
prefecture-level city in northeastern
Zhejiang province,
People's Republic of China. The only prefecture-level city consisting solely of
islands, it lies across the mouth of the
Hangzhou Bay, and is separated from the mainland by a narrow body of water.
Administration
The
prefecture-level city of Zhoushan administers 2
districts and 2
counties.
These are further divided into 45
township-level divisions, including 24
towns, 12
townships and 9
subdistricts.
History
The archipelago was inhabited 6,000 years ago during the
Neolithic by people of the
Hemudu culture. During the
Spring and Autumn Period, Zhoushan was called Yongdong (涌东), referring to its location east of the
Yong River, and belonged to the
State of Yue.
The fishermen and sailors who inhabited the islands often engaged in piracy and became recruits for uprisings against the central authorities. At the time of the
Eastern Jin Dynasty, Zhoushan Islands served as the base for Sun En's rebellion. Sun En, an adherent of the
Taoist sect Wudou Midao (Five Bushels of Rice), launched his rebellion around the year 400 and was defeated by Jin forces in 402.
In 863, the
Japanese
Buddhist monks
Hui'e (慧锷) and Zhang-shi (张氏) of
Putuoshan, Zhoushan placed a statue of
Guanyin at Chaoying Cave (潮音洞) that would later become popular tourist destination.
During the
Ming dynasty, especially between the years 1530 and 1560, Japanese and Chinese pirates used Zhoushan as one of their principal bases from which they launched attacks as far as
Nanjing; "the whole Chinese coast from northern
Shandong to western
Guangdong was ravaged to a distance of sixty miles inland."
After suppression of the pirates, Zhoushan became an important commercial entrepôt. Under the early
Qing dynasty, it played a similar role to
Amoy and
Canton as a frequent port of call for Western traders. The restriction of all European trade to the port of Canton in 1760 forced Westerners to leave Zhoushan. One of the requests of
Lord Macartney's embassy to emperor
Qianlong in 1793 was an acquisition of "a small unfortified island near Zhoushan for the residence of English traders, storage of goods, and outfitting of ships." Emperor Qianlong denied this request together with all the rest.
British forces under Captain
Charles Elliott seized Zhoushan in the summer of
1840 during the
First Opium War and evacuated it in early 1841, after Elliott reached an agreement with Qishan, the governor general of Tianjin and grand secretary to emperor Daoguang, in exchange for cession of
Hong Kong. At that time, Zhoushan was a well known port while Hong Kong was only a fishing village. The British Foreign Secretary
Palmerston was famously livid when he learned that Elliott agreed to cession of Hong Kong ("a barren island with hardly a house on it") while giving up Zhoushan. Elliott was dismissed in April 1841 for his blunder. His replacement
Sir Henry Pottinger led a British fleet that recaptured Zhoushan in late August 1841. The First Opium War ended with conclusion of the
Treaty of Nanjing in which China opened up the cities of Canton,
Fuzhou, Amoy,
Ningbo, and
Shanghai to residence by British subjects for the purpose of trade. As a result, Britain had no longer any use for Zhoushan but it kept the island until
1846 as a guarantee for the fulfilment of the stipulations of the treaty.
Zhoushan was also occupied by the British in
1860 (
Second Opium War).
In February 13, 1862, Wang Yijun (王义钧) of the
Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping attempted overtake Zhoushan from
Qing forces, but died in the unsuccessful attempt.
Sun Yat-sen visited Zhoushan on August 25, 1916 and wrote
Travelling to Putuo (游普陀志奇 You Putuo Zhiqi).
On October 1, 1942, the Japanese
Lisbon Maru (里斯本丸) transported 1,800
POW back to
Tokyo, but
Lisbon Maru sank after being hit by a torpedo near Qingbing Island (青浜). 384 of the British POW overboard were rescued by the fishermen of Dongji Township (东极乡) nearby.
Administrative history
Today's Zhoushan city was made Wengshan District (翁山县) of Ming Prefecture (明洲) in 738 (
Tang). In 1073 (
Song), it was renamed Changguo (昌国县). It was upgraded to a prefecture (昌国州) in early
Yuan Dynasty, and changed to Dinghai District (定海县) of Zhejiang Province in 1688 (
Qing). It was upgraded to a direct-control
subprefecture (定海直隶厅) in 1841, but reverted to a county after the end of empire.
Under the
Republic of China's rule, Dinghai County was, as during always in the Qing Dynasty, part of Zhejiang Province. However, Shengsi was separated into an Archipelago Direct-control District (列岛直属区) of
Jiangsu Province in 1946, and made a county in October 1949. In that same year, the last year under rule of the Republic, the remaining Dinghai County was divided into Dinghai and Wengzhou (翁洲) Counties.
Zhoushan came to be under communist control on May 17, 1950, and Wengzhou was merged back into Dinghai County, which was then under Ningpo
Zhuanqu (宁波专区).
Shengsi was made a
tequ (特区) of
Songjiang Zhuanqu (松江专区), still of Jiangsu this year, and upgraded to a county the following year.
In March 1953, the
Council of Ministers approved to divide Dinghai County into the counties of Dinghai, Putuo, and Daishan. In addition, Shengsi County was returned to Zhejiang, to be administered, with the three former Dinghai counties, as Zhoushan
Zhuanqu of Zhejiang
Xiangshan County (象山) of Ningpo
Zhuanqu was briefly incorporated into Zhoushan from 1954 to 1958.
All subdivisions' county status abolished, the commission became a county of Ningpo
Zhuanqu in 1958, and was reverted to a
zhuanqu on its own in May 1962, and changed to a prefecture (地区) on 1967 (approved by the
State Council on January 23, 1962).
Shengsi was temporarily assigned to
Shanghai in the early 1960s. Created in 1962, the short-lived Daqu (大衢) County was halved into parts of Daishan and Shengsi four years later.
The
prefecture-level city status was granted on January 27, 1987 to Zhoushan, and Dinghai and Putuo Counties were upgraded to districts. The municipal People's Government was established on March 8 of that year. April of the same year, the ports of Zhoushan became open to foreign ships. On April 10, 1988, it became a
coastal economic open zone.
Geography
The Zhoushan Archipelago, comprised 1,390
islands and 3,306
reefs, is located outside
Hangzhou Bay. It is the largest
archipelago of China (not including
South China Sea Islands). Among these islands, 103 are inhabited all year round, 58 are larger than 1 km²; (these make up 96.9 % of the archipelago land area), and only 15 have populations over 10,000. The larger islands, mostly closer together in southern part of the archipelago, include:
Zhoushan includes 20,800 km² of marine territory, but only 1440.12 km² of land, 183.19 km² of which are submerged at high tides. It is 182 km east-east and 169 km north-south. It is heavily populated, but now has little farms.
Demographics
As of late 2001, there are 981,014 people in 351,224 households, with a birthrate of 6.34‰ and death rate of 6.37‰, and population growth rate of -0.03‰ (first time in local history). Population density was 683 persons per km², which is one time higher than provincial average and six times national average. There are 100,000 overseas Zhoushan people.
Notable people
Dong Haoyun (董浩云, 1912-1982), founder of several major companies
Great Monk Guoru (高僧果如, 1854-1917), a National Monk under Cixi
The Great Lord of Yang Estate (羊府大帝), a local fisherman (Yang-shi) who rescued many later deified in a small temple in Daishan
Liu Hongsheng (刘鸿生, 1888-1956)businessman and politician
San Mao (三毛，原名陈懋平，后陈平 1943-1991),famous Taiwanese writer
Wang Xipeng (王锡朋, 1786-1841), high-ranking official died in a fight against the British
Yang Jingjuan (杨静娟, 1924-1941), famous female communist
Ying Yao (应繇, died 1255), a martial official who has a biography in Song Shi
Sister City
Zhoushan is the sister city of the San Francisco Bay Area port city of Richmond, California.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Zhoushan Archipelago'.
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