Lably
Skip to content

Anhui

Province in East China

  • 14 min read
  • 12 chapters
Mount Huangshan, Anhui, China
xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0

Related on Lably

Through Neolithic

The name "Anhui" derives from the names of two cities: Anqing and Huizhou (now Huangshan City). The abbreviation for Anhui is Wǎn (皖), corresponding to the historical Wan state, and is also used to refer to the Wan River and Mount Tianzhu. The provincial government of Anhui includes a Governor, Provincial Congress, the People's Political Consultative Conference, and the Provincial Higher People's Court. Aside from managing local government departments, the Anhui provincial government manages 16 cities, 62 counties, 43 county-level districts and 1,522 townships. Anhui's total GDP ranked 14th among China's 31 province-level regions as of 2022.

History

Anhui was established 1667, during the reign of the Qing dynasty's Kangxi Emperor. The province's nickname, "Wan", is taken from the name of a small state that existed in the region during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BC). The name "Wan" also corresponds to the province's Mount Tianzhu and Wan state. Evidence of human beings inhabiting what is now Anhui 20,000 years before present has been attested by archaeological findings in Fanchang County, related to the cultural domains of Yangshao and Longshan, dated to the Neolithic period (8000–2000 BC). In relation to these cultures, archeologists have discovered through excavation a 4500-year-old city called the Nanchengzi Ruins in Guzhen County, after they discovered a Neolithic city wall and a moat that was part of a much larger and integrated city in the region during their 2013 disinterment.

There are many historical sites located in the province dating to the pre-imperial period. The culture of northern Anhui was associated with that of the North China Plain, together with what is now Henan, northern Jiangsu, and southern Shandong. Central Anhui was densely populated, and consisted of the fertile Huai River watershed. Contrastingly, southern Anhui was closer to Jiangxi and southern Jiangsu; the hills in the southeastern part of the province formed a unique cultural sphere. After the Qin dynasty unified China in 221 BC, the territory of modern Anhui belonged to different prefectures, including Jiujiang, Zhang, Tang, and Sishui. The lands became part of the Yang, Yu, and Xu prefectures during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD). During the Three Kingdoms era (222–280), Anhui was dominated at various times by Eastern Wu and Cao Wei. By the Song dynasty (960–1279), the economy and culture of area was flourishing. Anhui became part of the province of Henan during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368); during the Ming dynasty the area was directly administrated by the imperial capital in Nanjing.

Anhui and Jiangsu were merged into one province under the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) until 1666, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor. It played an important role in the Self-Strengthening Movement led by Li Hongzhang during the later Qing. During this time, western weapons, factories and administrative theories were being introduced into China. Over the next 50 years, Anhui became one of the country's most radically liberal areas, with important 20th-century figures moving to the province, like the poet and diplomat Hu Shih, and Chen Duxiu, the founder of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In 1938, large areas in north and central Anhui were severely damaged by the decision of President Chiang Kai-shek to demolish a critical dam on the Yellow River, hoping that this would physically impede the ongoing invasion by the Imperial Japanese Army and prevent them from capturing Zhengzhou. Within only ten days of the dam breaking, the water and sands drowned all of north and middle area of this province, resulting in the deaths of between 500,000 and 900,000 Chinese people, as well as an unknown number of Japanese soldiers. Following the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, the capital city of Anhui moved to Hefei, then a small town. The provincial government made significant investments for its development. After 1949, the government launched projects to repair the damages suffered during World War II. Anhui was one of the worst affected provinces in The Great Chinese Famine. The province underwent significant development via the Third Front campaign to build basic and national defense industries in protected locations, in case of invasion by the Soviet Union or United States. The centerpiece of the Shanghai Small Third Front was the "rear base" in Anhui which served as "a multi-function manufacturing base for anti-aircraft and anti-tank weaponry". During the late 1990s Anhui became one of China's fastest-growing provinces. The province forms part of the China Yangtze River Delta Economic Area, which is the most developed area of China.

Sign in to keep reading

11 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Regions and countries

British ColumbiaProvince of CanadaKeralaState in southwestern IndiaMassachusettsU.S. stateVirginiaU.S. stateNative Americans in the United StatesIndigenous peoples of the United StatesKarnatakaState in southwestern India