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Changzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Zhenjiang to the northwest, Wuxi to the east, and the province of Zhejiang to the south. The population of the Changzhou Municipality was 5,278,121 at the 2020 census. The city is the birthplace of Zhou Youguang who created the pinyinromanization system.
Human activity in the Changzhou region can be traced back more than 6,000 years to the Neolithic Majiabang culture. The Weidun (previously known as Yudun, 圩墩) site, located in the region, is one of the northernmost major sites of that culture and contains a large cemetery whose use continued into the subsequent Songze culture.
By the Liangzhu period, the region was characterized by the Sidun (寺墩) site, a polity covering approximately 900,000 square meters. The settlement was organized around a central earthen altar, roughly 100 meters in diameter and 20 meters high, surrounded by multiple moats and distinct cemetery clusters. Notably excavations of a high-status burial at the site yielded an assemblage of 57 jade artifacts, including bi discs and cong tubes.
During the late Spring and Autumn period, the walled site of Yancheng (淹城) was constructed in the region. The site, roughly 850 meters across, is noted for its three concentric systems of walls and moats. Because clear evidence of ordinary habitation is limited, scholars have proposed various interpretations of Yancheng's function: as a ritual center, or a stronghold associated with a local chiefdom later absorbed into the Wu sphere. Ancient written accounts, by contrast, identify it as a Wu settlement and sometimes connect it with Prince Jizha (季札) of Wu.
A high-status burial (Tomb No. 3) at the Liangzhu Sidun site, showing the ritual arrangement of jade bi and cong.
Scale model of Yancheng, illustrating the "three concentric walls and moats" layout.
The preserved moats and earthen ramparts of the Yancheng site today.
Changzhou is traditionally associated with Prince Jizha, who reportedly settled in Yanling (延陵) —an area encompassing modern Changzhou—after declining the Wu throne. While early records focus on his self-imposed exile, later traditions treat Yanling as his formal fief. His reputation for integrity made him a central figure in the city's identity; the veneration of "Master Ji of Yanling" persisted throughout imperial China, as evidenced by numerous local temples dedicated to him.
Following the completion of the Grand Canal in 609, Changzhou prospered as a stop along its course. During the interregnum between the Sui and Tang, the city of Piling (毗陵) was the capital of Shen Faxing's short-lived Liang Kingdom (619–620).
In spring 1275, Mongol forces briefly occupied Changzhou after its surrender on 8 April, but the city reverted to Southern Song control a week later. In autumn, the Mongols launched a siege lasting about 45 days. On 5 December, commander Bayan issued an ultimatum: surrender for amnesty or face annihilation. After one day, the Mongols breached the city on 6 December and ordered a general massacre; only some 400 women and children were reportedly spared. The operation may have intimidated the Song populace and prompted other cities to surrender smoothly to avoid a similar outcome.
Changzhou served as a prefectural seat (fu) of MingNanzhili and the Qing provinces of Jiangnan and Jiangsu. In the 1850s and 1860s, the Taiping Rebellion held the area. One of five palaces housing the leaders of Taiping was constructed in Changzhou. Today the ruins of the "King's Palace" can be found near the People's No. 1 Hospital.
In the 1920s, Changzhou started to attract cotton mills. The cotton industry got a boost in the late 1930s when businesses began relocating outside of Shanghai due to its Japanese occupation. On January 1, 1953, Changzhou was set as a provincially administered municipality.
As approved by State Council on June 8, 1995, Wujin County was promoted to Wujin City, with the government set in Hutang Town. In 1999, as approved by the provincial government, Taixiang Town of Jiaoqu District was revoked and incorporated into Xueyan Town of Wujin City.
Geography
Changzhou is located in the Yangtze Delta region, in the northwestern part of the Taihu Lake Plain. It is bordered by the Yangtze River in the north, Taihu Lake in the south, Anhui province and Nanjing in the southwest, Wuxi in the east and Zhenjiang in the west. It is equidistant from Shanghai and Nanjing, and 144 kilometres from the provincial capital Nanjing. Southwest of the Yili mountains, mountain peaks have Maoshan.
Changzhou has Tao Lake and Ge Lake. Rivers are Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal, Wuyi Canal, Tai Ge Canal, Jingxi, South Canal and so on. Changzhou has a dense network of waterways, and in the 1930s, when flooding broke out in the southern part of the Yangtze River, Zhou Chen went to the southern part of the Yangtze River to control the water, he greatly promoted the enclosure of lakes to create fields. The local government created 2,467 hectares (6,100 acres) of land in 20 years, making Furong Lake, Yang Lake and Linjin Lake gradually shrink to the point of disappearing.
Climate
The climate is humid subtropicalCfa, with cool winters and hot and humid summers. Changzhou has a wide range of temperature differences throughout the year.
Climate data for Changzhou, elevation 4m (13ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1955–present)
Changzhou BRT is the bus rapid transit system of Changzhou which consists of 2 main lines (B1 and B2) and 8 branch lines.Use of the BRT System costs two yuan and provides access throughout Changzhou. The BRT stations and road sections have separate bus lanes or bus-only roadways, enhanced station environments (not just simple bus shelters), pre-boarding fare collection and fare verification, centralized system controls, as well as station access for disabled persons.
Tourism
Comb Lane
Amusement parks
Changzhou is the home of the China Dinosaurs Park located in the Xinbei District of the city. The 5A rated Dinosaur Park has a collection of dinosaur bones and fossils from all over China. The park has 50 various fossils and more than 30 amusement programs including the Brontosaurus Roller Coaster and the Whirling Dinosaur Carriage. The fossils are located in a museum housed in a single building and the amusement rides are spread throughout the park which is categorized into six themed areas. Besides fossils and family oriented rides, Dinosaur Park is home to a giant panda and sea lions.
Tianning Temple and Hongmei Park
The city is also home to the Tianning Temple—one of the largest Zen Buddhist temple and monasteries in China. The city recently rebuilt the Tianning pagoda in the temple grounds, which is adjacent to Hongmei Park. The pagoda, called the Tianning Baota, was first built during the Tang dynasty (AD 618 – 907). Since that time it has been destroyed and rebuilt five times. The current reconstruction is built to the height specification of 153.79m (504.6ft). This makes it the tallest pagoda in China and perhaps also the world. Both the Hongmei Park and Tianning Temple are located just to the east of the city centre.
↑Li, Xueqin; Wang, Zhenzhong; Wang, Yuxin, eds. (2007). Zhongguo gudai wenming yu guojia xingcheng yanjiu (中国古代文明与国家形成研究)[Research on Ancient Chinese Civilization and State Formation] (in Chinese). Beijing: China Social Sciences Press. p.244. ISBN978-7-5004-6045-9.
↑Nanjing Museum; Changzhou Museum (2015). 淹城: 1958至2000年考古发掘报告 [Yancheng: Archaeological Excavation Report, 1958–2000] (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press. ISBN978-7-03-042632-1.
↑Peng, Shifan (2009). 中国南方考古与百越民族研究 [Archaeological Research on Southern China and the Baiyue Peoples] (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press. pp.139–50. ISBN978-7-03-022325-8.
↑Milburn, Olivia (2013). "Commemorating Master Ji of Yanling". Cherishing antiquity: the cultural construction of an ancient Chinese kingdom. Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Published by the Harvard University Asia Center and distributed by Harvard University Press. pp.173–217. ISBN978-0-674-72668-0.
↑Davis, Richard L. (1996). Wind against the mountain: the crisis of politics and culture in thirteenth-century China. Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series. Cambridge, Mass: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University: Distributed by Harvard University Press. pp.98–103. ISBN978-0-674-95357-4.
↑May, Timothy Michael; Hope, Michael, eds. (2022). The Mongol world. Routledge worlds. Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge. pp.118–36. ISBN978-1-138-05667-1.
↑He, Zhongli (2007). 宋代政治史 [A Political History of the Song Dynasty] (in Chinese). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press. p.571. ISBN978-7-308-05310-5.
↑Tillman, Hoyt Cleveland (2003-05-01). 因「亂」而致的心理創傷: 漢族士人對蒙古人入侵回應之研究[Experiencing Disorder as Trauma: Research on Responses to the Mongol Invasion](PDF). 臺大文史哲學報 [NTU Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences] (8): 71–93. doi:10.6258/bcla.2003.58.03.
↑Zhou, Sicheng (2020). 规训、惩罚与征服: 蒙元帝国的军事礼仪与军事法 [Discipline, Punishment, and Conquest: Military Ritual and Military Law in the Mongol Yuan Empire] (in Chinese). Taiyuan: Shanxi People's Publishing House. ISBN978-7-203-11351-5.
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