Canton/Guangzhou - 廣州
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New Created May 06 2019
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Canton, properly known as Guangzhou, has long been a major port city, is the capital of Kwangtung (Guangdong) Province and the sometime capital - briefly - of China.
The city has been known under various names - the earliest known is as Panyu, established on the banks of the Pearl River in 214 BCE. It became the capital of the kingdom of Nanyue in 204 BCE following the fall of the Qin Dynasty, and rapidly developed into a significant commercial centre with evidence found of trade with South-east Asia, India and Africa. Following a series of conflicts, the city and kingdom was absorbed into the Han Empire in 111 BCE. There was trade |
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with the Middle East, and a population of Christians, Jews and Parsees living in the city by the 8th century CE. The city was visited by the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta during his 14th-century journey's across much of the known world.
The rise of the Ming Dynasty however saw the virtual end of international trade in stages from 1371, with private foreign maritime trade virtually abolished by 1384. The Portuguese were allowed to trade in the region (Macau) from the early 16th century - with the occasional expulsion. The policy was lifted in 1567, though partially re-applied later.
The rise of the Ming Dynasty however saw the virtual end of international trade in stages from 1371, with private foreign maritime trade virtually abolished by 1384. The Portuguese were allowed to trade in the region (Macau) from the early 16th century - with the occasional expulsion. The policy was lifted in 1567, though partially re-applied later.
Above: The Mausoleum of the 72 Martyrs, completed in 1921. The statue of Liberty was removed before 1936 and replaced with the KMT sun symbol. In turn this was later removed and left empty, then replaced with a flaming torch (c1970s). Recently the statue (new?) was returned.
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By the 18th century, Canton had again developed into a major international port; it's greatest and best known exports were tea and porcelain. The next century however saw decline, with the First Opium War in 1839, leading to the British capturing the city itself in 1841. Treaty negotiations between Britain and the Qing government in 1842 led to the establishment of numerous treaty ports which had the effect of greatly reducing Canton's status. Canton itself became one of these ports. A series of clan wars of 1855-1867 between the Hakka and Cantonese (Punti) peoples caused further chaos with up to 1 million people killed. At the end of the century, several failed uprisings against the crumbling Qing dynasty occured, the most famous in 1911. The bodies of some of those slain were soon after interred in the Mausoleum of the 72 Martyrs, (shown left) an important monument which would feature on several local currency issues. This monument over time became more a symbol of the Republic under the KMT, than of the dead specifically. Shortly after this failed rebellion, the Wuchang Uprising occured. This broke out on October 1 1911 and is seen as the beginning of the Xinhai Revolution. The Qing were defeated and the emperor Puyi forced to abdicate (the Regent conducting the process on his behalf as he was only six), on February 12 1912. |
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Right: street life in Canton (Guangzhou) in March 1949, with a tea seller (?) right. By October, the city would be taken by Communist forces with little resistance. |
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Below: stamps associated with Canton (Guangzhou):
Lower left: South China/Canton - Communist Liberation, Canton Postal Administration issue 20 yuan of 1949, depicting the Haizhu Bridge in Canton. Centre: French colonial issue of Indo-China overprinted for the use of the French post offices in China. 25 cts, c1902-1904. Lower right: Hong Kong, King George V 4 cts overprinted for the use of British post offices in China: Canton.
Lower left: South China/Canton - Communist Liberation, Canton Postal Administration issue 20 yuan of 1949, depicting the Haizhu Bridge in Canton. Centre: French colonial issue of Indo-China overprinted for the use of the French post offices in China. 25 cts, c1902-1904. Lower right: Hong Kong, King George V 4 cts overprinted for the use of British post offices in China: Canton.
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Kwangtung (Guangdong) province, of which Canton (Guangzhou) is the capital, is a coastal province of south-eastern China. Hong Kong was once part of the province. Originally inhabited by a mixture of tribal groups known to the Chinese as the Baiyue ("Hundred Yue"), the region first became part of China during the Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE). After the fall of the short-lived dynasty, the region became part of the Kingdom of Nanyue until the rise of the Han dynasty. Kwangtung was created as a province in 226 CE, though it didn't acquire it's current name and territory until the 15th century, during the Ming dynasty. Over subsequent centuries, the Han Chinese became the dominant group in the region.
Kwangtung was the site of the 'last stand' of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), at the Battle of Yamen on the Pearl River Delta in 1279, defeated by the forces of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (formally established in 1271 by Kublai Khan).
A regional centre of international commerce focused on Canton, the trade in opium through the region led to China's war with Britain, the First Opium War 1839-1842. Subsequent defeat led to the partial or entire loss of control of various territories across China, with the most famous being that of Hong Kong, formerly part of Kwangtung province. Other lost territories in the region included Macau - leased by the Portuguese from 1557; they however claimed full sovereignty in 1887, and, Kouang-Tchéou-Wan (Guangzhouwan), leased to France from 1898.
Kwangtung was the site of the 'last stand' of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), at the Battle of Yamen on the Pearl River Delta in 1279, defeated by the forces of the Mongol Yuan dynasty (formally established in 1271 by Kublai Khan).
A regional centre of international commerce focused on Canton, the trade in opium through the region led to China's war with Britain, the First Opium War 1839-1842. Subsequent defeat led to the partial or entire loss of control of various territories across China, with the most famous being that of Hong Kong, formerly part of Kwangtung province. Other lost territories in the region included Macau - leased by the Portuguese from 1557; they however claimed full sovereignty in 1887, and, Kouang-Tchéou-Wan (Guangzhouwan), leased to France from 1898.
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Above: the interior of Kwangtung Province, 1872 - by John Thompson 1872
(Wellcome Collection) |
Above: Swatow, Kwangtung province, 1871 - by John Thomson.
(Wellcome Collection) |
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Many overseas Chinese originate from this region, their ancestors leaving either through political upheavals, or the hope of opportunities elsewhere; joining the gold rush in California, and building much of North America's railroad network. Others became agricultural labourers in Hawaii, and across South America. Liverpool, England, has the earliest established Chinese community in Europe, with Chinese migrants arriving from the 1830s onwards and developing a distinct community by the 1890s.
Kwangtung was the birthplace of Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping rebellion of 1850-1864. His contact with Christian missionaries in Canton combined with a later nervous breakdown led him to believe he was the brother of Jesus, and to found a religious movement blending Christianity with more local religions. This eventually led to a China-wide civil war in which an estimated 20-30 million people died. Kwangtung was also a centre for anti-Manchu/anti-imperialist movements, and would soon play a role in the founding and development of the Republic of China. Right: an unknown Westerner and pedestrians posing on a busy Canton street, c1990s. |
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The Koumintang (Guomindang) in Canton
The Kuomintang, the political party founded by Song Jiaoren and Sun Yat-sen shortly after the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, was expelled from parliament and officially dissolved by Yuan Shikai during 1913-1914, following an attempt to remove him from power. The party was reformed by Sun Yatsen at Shanghai in 1919, and established at Canton (Guangzhou) from 1920. This would be the base from which Sun intended to retake China from warlord control.
From 1922, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong) had founded the year previously, began to infiltrate the Kuomintang (KMT) in Canton. In 1924, Michael Borodin, a senior Comintern advisor persuaded Sun Yat-sen to allow the open admission of CCP members into the KMT. In return, the KMT would receive weaponry and military advisors for the new academy to be established at nearby Whampoa.
The Kuomintang, the political party founded by Song Jiaoren and Sun Yat-sen shortly after the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, was expelled from parliament and officially dissolved by Yuan Shikai during 1913-1914, following an attempt to remove him from power. The party was reformed by Sun Yatsen at Shanghai in 1919, and established at Canton (Guangzhou) from 1920. This would be the base from which Sun intended to retake China from warlord control.
From 1922, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong) had founded the year previously, began to infiltrate the Kuomintang (KMT) in Canton. In 1924, Michael Borodin, a senior Comintern advisor persuaded Sun Yat-sen to allow the open admission of CCP members into the KMT. In return, the KMT would receive weaponry and military advisors for the new academy to be established at nearby Whampoa.
Above: Sun Yat-Sen, the revolutionary and founding father of the Republic of China, posing with his wife and officers of his army at the presidential palace in Canton, 1922.
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The Whampoa Military Academy of the Kuomintang was established by Sun Yatsen in 1924, at Changzhou Island offshore from the Whampoa (Huangpu) dock, 10 miles south of central Canton (Guangzhou). Sun Yatsen's military commander Chiang Kai-shek was placed in charge, and Soviet advisors were twinned with Chinese officers. Chou En-lai (Zhou Enlai, future Communist Premier) was appointed deputy director of the political department. Initially 645 students were accepted from 3000 applicants. Candidates were accepted from outside of China. By January 1926 nearly 5500 cadets had graduated, to form the core of the newly created 'National Revolutionary Army'. Their first act was to defeat, disarm and absorb (when suitable) the warlord forces of Chen Chiung-ming, and Hunanese troops remaining in the vicinity of Canton. The army grew to 100,000 men. Within five months of the commencement of the Northern Expedition in 1926 - to remove the warlords and their Peking (Beijing) based government - the army had swelled to 264,000. Sun Yatsen however did not live long enough to see the Northern Expedition triumph, having died in March 1925, leaving Chiang Kai-shek essentially in control of the campaign and the country. Chiang's hatred of his Communist allies and the left-wing of the KMT would lead to division, persecutions and to the outbreak of civil war - which the Communists would eventually win in 1949. |
Above: KMT National Revolutionary Army 1 yuan of 1926, issued at the commencement the Northern Expedition
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Right: a American Banknote Company photo-proof for a "Government Bank of Kwangtung Province" $5 of 1912. The first flag of the Republic of China (used 1912-1928) appears on the left, and an outline map of Kwangtung Province, on the right. The vignette on the back is possibly a section of the Canton Bund on the Pearl River. The issue date is given as January 1st 1912, the date of the formal founding of the Republic. Whether this was intended for a whole new bank or a reorganisation of the Provincial bank, no such issuer is known, and the design is indeed marked 'dead'. |
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Left: May 17, 1924, Sun Yat-sen, his wife Soong Ching Ling, and Song Meiling (better known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek) photographed on Baiyun Mountain, near Canton (Guangzhou). The mountain was a famed scenic point. |
