The prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei province, China, has a long and rich history that dates back over 3,500 years. Starting out from the Shang dynasty-era archaeological site at Panlongcheng associated with Erligang culture, the region would become part of the E state and Chu state during the Zhou dynasty. The region evolved into an important port on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and the cities of Hanyang, Hankou and Wuchang were united into the city of Wuhan in 1926. Wuhan briefly serving as the capital city of China in 1927 and in 1937. Modern-day Wuhan is known as 'China's Thoroughfare' () due to its status as a major transportation hub, with dozens of railways, roads and expressways passing through the city and connecting to other major cities.
Antiquity
With a 3,500-year-long history, Wuhan is one of the most ancient and civilized metropolitan cities in China. Panlongcheng, an archaeological site associated with the Erligang culture, is located in modern-day Huangpi District. During the Western Zhou, the E state controlled the present-day Wuchang area south of the Yangtze River. After the conquest of the E state, the present-day Wuhan area was controlled by the Chu state for the rest of the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou periods.
Early Imperial China During the Han dynasty, Hanyang became a fairly busy port. The Battle of Xiakou in AD 203 and Battle of Jiangxia five years later were fought over control of Jiangxia Commandery (present-day eastern Hubei). In the winter of 208/9, one of the most famous battles in Chinese history and a central event in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms—the Battle of Red Cliffs—took place in the vicinity of the cliffs near Wuhan. Around that time, walls were built to protect Hanyang (AD 206) and Wuchang (AD 223). The latter event marks the foundation of Wuhan. In AD 223, the Yellow Crane Tower (), one of the Four Great Towers of China, was constructed on the Wuchang side of the Yangtze River by order of Sun Quan, leader of the Eastern Wu.
Due to tensions between the Eastern Wu and Cao Wei states, in the autumn of 228, Cao Rui, grandson of Cao Cao and the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei, ordered the general Man Chong to lead troops to Xiakou (夏口; in present-day Wuhan).(秋，使曹休從廬江南入合肥，令寵向夏口。) Sanguozhi vol. 26.
In 279, Wang Jun wrote a memorial to Emperor Wu, requesting that he order a military campaign against Eastern Wu. The emperor agreed, appointed Wang Jun as Prancing Dragon General () and ordered him to lead troops from Yi Province's capital, Chengdu, to invade Eastern Wu. Wang Jun and his army conquered strategic locations in Wu territory such as Xiling (西陵; in present-day Yichang, Hubei), Xiakou (夏口; present-day Hankou) and Wuchang (武昌; present-day Ezhou, Hubei). When the Jin invasion forces reached the Wu capital Jianye, the last Wu emperor Sun Hao surrendered, thus bringing an end to the conquest of Wu.
During the Northern and Southern dynasties period, the Wuhan area was part of the successive Southern dynasty states Liu Song (420–479), Southern Qi (479–502), Liang, and Western Liang.
In fall 550, Hou Jing sent Ren Yue to attack both Xiao Daxin and Xiao Fan's son Xiao Si (). Ren killed Xiao Si in battle, and Xiao Daxin, unable to resist, surrendered, allowing Hou to take his domain under control. Meanwhile, Xiao Guan, who had by now settled at Jiangxia (江夏, in modern Wuhan), was planning to attack Hou, but this drew Xiao Yi's ire—believing that Xiao Guan was intending to contend for the throne—and he sent Wang to attack Xiao Guan. Xiao Guan, not willing to engage Wang, abandoned Jiangxia and fled to Ru'nan (汝南, in modern Jingmen, Hubei), where he entered into an alliance with Eastern Wei's successor state Northern Qi (with Gao Cheng's brother Gao Yang having seized the throne in summer 550) and was created the Prince of Liang as well. Meanwhile, Hou made Emperor Jianwen create him the Prince of Han.
In summer 567, Chen Xu commissioned Wu Mingche as the governor of Xiang Province and had him command a major part of the troops against Hua, along with Chunyu Liang (). The opposing sides met at Dunkou (沌口, in modern Wuhan). Wu and Chunyu were able to ram Hua's, Northern Zhou's, and Western Liang's fleets, causing them to collapse. Hua and the Northern Zhou general Yuwen Zhi () were forced to flee to Western Liang's capital Jiangling. In light of the victory, Wu first captured Western Liang's Hedong Commandery (河東, part of modern Jingzhou), and then further put Jiangling under siege. Western Liang's Emperor Ming was forced to flee to the subsidiary fort of Ji'nan (紀南, near Jiangling).
The city has long been renowned as a center for the arts (especially poetry) and for intellectual studies. Cui Hao, a celebrated poet of the Tang dynasty, visited the building in the early 8th century; his poem made it the most celebrated building in southern China.Wan: Page 42.
In spring 877, Wang Xianzhi captured E Prefecture (鄂州, in modern Wuhan). He then returned north, joining forces with Huang again, and they surrounded Song Wei at Song Prefecture (宋州, in modern Shangqiu, Henan). Only after the imperial general Zhang Zimian () came to Song Wei's aid did the agrarian rebels release their hold on Song Wei. Wang Xianzhi then headed south, successively capturing An Prefecture (安州, in modern Xiaogan, Hubei) and Sui Prefecture (隨州, in modern Suizhou, Hubei), before further raiding Fu (復州, in modern Tianmen, Hubei) and Ying (郢州, in modern Jingmen, Hubei).Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 253.
In winter 877, Huang Chao pillaged Qi and Huang (黃州, in modern Wuhan) Prefectures. The Tang general Zeng Yuanyu () defeated him, however, and he fled. In 894, Wu Tao () the prefect of Huang Prefecture (黃州, modern Wuhan), who was under Du Hong the military governor of Wuchang Circuit (武昌, headquartered in modern Wuhan), offered to submit to Yang Xingmi. In response, Du put Huang Circuit under siege. Yang sent Zhu to aid Wu. When another subordinate of Du's, Feng Jingzhang () the prefect of Qi Prefecture (蘄州, in modern Huanggang, Hubei) tried to intercept Zhu, Zhu put Qi Prefecture under siege but was initially unable to capture it. However, it appeared that subsequently, after Wu evacuated Huang Prefecture, Yang's forces were nevertheless able to hold it.Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 259.
Before Kublai Khan arrived in 1259, word reached him that Möngke had died. Kublai decided to keep the death of his brother secret and continued the attack on Wuhan, near the Yangtze. While Kublai's force besieged Wuchang, Uryankhadai joined him. The present-day Wuying Pagoda was constructed at the end of the Song dynasty between attacks by the Mongolian forces. Under the Mongol rulers (Yuan dynasty), Wuchang was promoted to the status of provincial capital.
Qing dynasty
Opening Hankou as a trading port
By the dawn of the 18th century, Hankou had become one of China's top four most important towns of trade. In the late 19th century, railroads were extended on a north–south axis through the city, making Wuhan an important transshipment point between rail and river traffic. Also during this period foreign powers extracted mercantile concessions, with the riverfront of Hankou being divided up into foreign-controlled merchant districts. These districts contained trading firm offices, warehouses, and docking facilities. The French had a concession in Hankou.Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion, Google Print, p. 83, Robert Aldrich, Palgrave Macmillan, 1996,
The forces of the Taiping Rebellion captured the Wuhan area in following the Battle of Wuchang in late 1852 and continued to hold the area and much of the lower Yangtze River region until the Heavenly Kingdom's defeat in 1864. Both urban and rural areas suffered severe damage as a result of constant fighting.
During the Second Opium War (known in the West as the Arrow War, 1856–1860), the government of the Qing dynasty was defeated by the western powers and signed the Treaties of Tianjin and the Convention of Peking, which stipulated eleven cities or regions (including Hankou) as trading ports. In December 1858, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, High Commissioner to China, led four warships up the Yangtze River in Wuhan to collect the information needed for opening the trading port in Wuhan. And in the spring of 1861, Counselor Harry Parkes and Admiral Herbert were sent to Wuhan to open a trading port. On the basis of the Convention of Peking, Harry Parkes concluded the Hankou Lend-Lease Treaty with Guan Wen, the governor-general of Hunan and Hubei. It brought an area of along the Yangtze River (from Jianghan Road to Hezuo Road today) to become a British Concession and permitted Britain to set up its consulate in the concession. Thus, Hankou became an open trading port.
Hubei under Zhang Zhidong
In 1889, Zhang Zhidong was transferred from Viceroy of Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi provinces) to Viceroy of Huguang (Hunan and Hubei provinces). He governed the province for 18 years, until 1907. During this period, he elucidated the theory of "Chinese learning as the basis, Western learning for application," known as the ti-yong ideal. He set up many heavy industries, founded Hanyang Steel Plant, Daye Iron Mine, Pingxiang Coal Mine and Hubei Arsenal and set up local textile industries, boosting the flourishing modern industry in Wuhan. Meanwhile, he initiated education reform, opened dozens of modern educational organizations successively, such as Lianghu (Hunan and Hubei) Academy of Classical Learning, Civil General Institute, Military General Institute, Foreign Languages Institute and Lianghu (Hunan and Hubei) General Normal School, and selected a great many students for study overseas, which well promoted the development of China's modern education. Furthermore, he trained a modern military and organized a modern army including a zhen and a xie (both zhen and xie are military units in the Qing dynasty) in Hubei. All of these laid a solid foundation for the modernization of Wuhan.
Originally known as the Hubei Arsenal, the Hanyang Arsenal was founded in 1891 by Qing official Zhang Zhidong, who diverted funds from the Nanyang Fleet in Guangdong to build the arsenal. It cost about 250,000 pounds sterling and was built in 4 years. On 23 April 1894, construction was completed and the arsenal, occupying some , could start production of small-calibre cannons. It built magazine-fed rifles, Gruson quick fire guns, and cartridges.
Wuchang Uprising
On October 10, 1911, Sun Yat-sen's followers launched the Wuchang Uprising,戴逸, 龔書鐸. (2003) 中國通史. 清. Intelligence press. . pp 86-89. which led to the collapse of the Qing dynasty,Fenby, Jonathan. (2008). The History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power. . pg 107, pg 116, pg 119. as well as the establishment of the Republic of China.Welland, Sasah Su-ling. (2007). A Thousand Miles of Dreams: The Journeys of Two Chinese Sisters. Rowman Littlefield Publishing. , . pg 87. Wuhan was the capital of a leftist Kuomintang government led by Wang Jingwei, in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalist government during the 1920s.