Ep. 303 | The History of Guangzhou (Part 1)

In this Part 1 episode of a multi-part series Laszlo introduces the most ancient history of the great city of Guangzhou. Long known as Canton in many places, this city has a history that is both fascinating and unique in China. In this installment of the series, we'll explore the early stories and legends from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Then we'll look at the period when the Guangzhou region first appears on the China map during the Qin.

The story picks up the pace during Zhao Tuo's Nanyue Kingdom, a story told before in previous CHP episodes. Finally, we'll look at the Han and Three Kingdoms when there's no doubt about it, this part of southernmost China was here to stay and Guangzhou begins its integration with the rest of the Chinese nation.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Guǎngzhōu	广州	Capital of Guangdong province
Táng Dynasty	唐朝	Chinese imperial dynasty that lasted 618-907
Shāng	商朝	Ancient Chinese dynasty 1600-1046 BC
Zhōu	周朝	Ancient Chinese dynasty 1046-256 BC
Bǎiyuè	百越	The Hundred Yue, a term to descirbe the many tribes of indigeous people of southern China
Yúnnán	云南	Province in southwest China
Nánhǎi	南海	The South China Sea
Ruins at Yīn	殷墟	The archaeological site near Anyang, Henan province where one of the Shang Dynasty capitals was located
Lǐngnán Region	岭南地区	A geographic area referring to the lands in the south of the Nanling Mountains: Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, as well as modern northern to central Vietnam
Lǐngnán Culture	岭南文化	The culture of the Lingnan region
Nánlǐng Mountains	南岭山	Mountain range that separates the south of China from the Jiangnan region south of the Yangzi
Gànzhōu	赣州	Major city in Jiangxi province
Jiāngxī Province	江西	Inland province in south China
Guǎngxī	广西	Province in southwest China, west of Guangdong
Guǎngdōng	广东	Coastal province in southern China, east of Guangxi
Teochew	潮州人	The people from the Chaozhou-Shantou-Jieyang area of eastern Guangdong
Hakka	客家人	The Hakka (Kèjiā) people
Zhuàng	壮族	a Tai-speaking ethnic group who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. Some also live in the Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou and Hunan provinces.
Cháng Jiāng	长江	The Yangzi River
Jiāngsū	江苏	Coastal province in China, north of Zhejiang
ĀnhuĪ	安徽	Inland province in central China
Húnán	湖南	Inland province in central China, north of Guangdong
Húběi	湖北	Inland province in central China, north of Hunan
Jiāngnán	江南	The region in China immediately south of the Yangzi River and delta region
Chǔtíng	楚庭	Ancient settlement established after the area bowed to the suzerienty of Chu State to the nortj
Zhōu Dynasty King Yí	周夷王	The ninth king of the Zhoiu dynasty, reigned 885-878 BC
Chǔ State	楚国	Chu State included most of the present-day provinces of Hubei and Hunan, along with parts of Chongqing, Guizhou, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. It was overthrown in 223 BC
Yáng	羊	A goat or sheep or ram
Yángchéng	羊城	One of the early names of Guangzhou
Suìchéng	穗城	Another early name given to Guangzhou
Yuè	粤	The Chinese character abbreviation for Guangdong province
Yuènán	越南	Vietnam
Spring and Autumn Period (Chūnqiū)	春秋	The Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, lasting 770-476 BC or thereabouts. No exact dates.
Eastern Zhōu	东周	The Eastern Zhou Dynasty that lasted 771-256 BC
Nán Wǔ Chéng	南武城	Another early name given to Guangzhou
Wǔ Yáng	五羊	Five Rams, one of the early myths from Guyangzhou history
Pānyú	番禺	The most ancient part of Guangzhou, now a district in the south of the city
Hǔmén	虎门	A narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shizi Yang in the north and Lingdingyang in the south, where the Pearl River discharges into the South China Sea
Shīzi Yáng	狮子洋	The upper channel of the Pearl RIver Estuary, also a wide tidal strait connecting the Huangpu New Port of Guangzhou to the South China Sea
Qin Shihuang	秦始皇	The First Qin Emperor, personal name Ying Zheng. He lived 259-210 BC
Mǐnyuè	闽越	The indigenous people who lived in and around Fujian province
Ōuyuè	瓯越	also 东瓯, the indigenous people who lived in and around Zhejiang province
Zhèjiāng	浙江	Coastal Province
Wēnzhōu	温州	City located in Zhejiang near the Fujian border
Luòyuè	骆越	The Lạc Việt people of ancient northern Vietnam
Nánhǎi Commandery	南海郡	The Nanhai Commandery setup in Guangdong during the Qin Dynasty
Huáinánzǐ	淮南子	An ancient Chinese text consisting of a collection of essays that resulted from a series of scholarly debates held at the court of Liu An, Prince of Huainan, sometime before 139 BC. The Huainanzi blends Daoist, Confucianist, and Legalist concepts, including theories such as yin and yang and Wu Xing theories. The Huainanzi's essays are all connected to one primary goal: attempting to define the necessary conditions for perfect socio-political order. It concludes that perfect societal order derives mainly from a perfect ruler, and the essays are compiled in such a way as to serve as a handbook for an enlightened sovereign and his court
Zhào Gāo	赵高
Lǐ Sī	李斯	The Huainanzi's essays are all connected to one primary goal: attempting to define the necessary conditions for perfect socio-political order.[1] It concludes that perfect societal order derives mainly from a perfect ruler, and the essays are compiled in such a way as to serve as a handbook for an enlightened sovereign and his court
Húhài	湖海	The Second Qin emperor (秦二世)
Fúsū	扶苏	The crown prince who should have become the second Qin emperor. Older brother to Huhai
Méng Tián	蒙恬	Great Qin general and loyal supporter of Qin Shihuang
Zǐyīng	子婴	The third and final Qin Emperor
Xiányáng	咸阳	The capital of Qin, present day Xian
Âu Lạc Kingdom	瓯骆	Founded in 257 BC, it was an early polity in the lands where Vietnamese history began
Shíjiāzhuāng	石家庄	Capital of Hebei province
Liú Bāng	刘邦	Emperor Han Gāozǔ, founder of the Han dynasty
Xiàng Yǔ	项羽	A noble of the Chu state, who rebelled against the Qin dynasty, becoming a major warlord. He engaged Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han dynasty, in a long struggle for power, known as the Chu–Han Contention, which concluded with his eventual defeat at the Battle of Gaixia and his suicide.
Lù Jiǎ	陆贾	Loyal official and envoy of Han Gaozu who tried to negotiate peace between the Han and Nanyue Kingdom. Died in 170 BC
Nán Wǔdì	南武帝	The title Zhao Tuo gave himself in the wake of the polticial turmoil following the death Han dynasty founder Gaozu.
Han Wǔdi	汉武帝	One of China greatest and consequential emperors who reigned 141-87 BC
Zhào Mò	赵眜	Grandson and successor to the long-lived Zhao Tuo. He reigned 137-124 BC
Cháng’ān	长安	Capital of many Chinese dynasties, located in and around present day Xian
Zhào Yīngqí	赵婴齐	Nanyue King who reigned 122-115 BCE
Yuèxiù District	越秀区	One of 11 urban districts of Guangzhou, located west of the Tianhe District and east of the Liwan District. It's the commercial, political and cultural centre of Guangdong province as well as the capital of the province and the city of Guangzhou. Established in 1960, the district absorbed the former Dongshan District in May 2005 along with several former subdistricts of the Baiyun and Tianhe district.
Xī Hàn Nányuè Wáng Bówùguǎn	西汉南越王博物馆	The Western Hàn Nányuè King Museum
Lǚ Jiā	吕嘉	Nanyue Kingdom official who conspired to murder the emperor and take over power
King Jiàndé	赵建德	The final Nanyue Emperor, 112-111 BC
Gǎigè Kāifàng	改革开放	Reform and Opening Up to the World, Deng Xiaoping's marquee achievement as paramount leader during the 1980's
Kingdom of Wú	吴国	Sun Quan's kingdom in the south and east of China
Kingdom of Wèi	魏国	Also referred to as Cao Wei 曹魏, based in the north of China, it was one of the three major states that competed for supremacy over China in the Three Kingdoms period (220–280)
The Kingdom of Shǔ	蜀国	Also referred to as Shu Han 蜀汉, one of the three major states that competed for supremacy over China in the Three Kingdoms period (220–280)
Sūn Quán	孙权	182-252, founder of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period.
zhōu	州	A prefecture (or state)
Guǎng Prefecture	广州	The prefecture established by Sun Quan during the Three Kingdoms era that gave the city its name
Jiāozhǐ	交趾	A historical region corresponding to present-day northern Vietnam
Qín Lùn	秦论	A merchant from the Roman Empire who arrived in Jiaozhi and who was taken to see Emperor Sun Quan
Sixteen Kingdoms Period	十六国	That period following the fall of the Western Jin that included states/kingdoms comprising five Liáng’s four Yàn’s, 3 Qín’s, 2 Zhào’s, a Chéng Hàn and Xià. It lasted 304-439
Southern and Northern Dynasties	南北朝	A period of disunity that ran 386-589
Liáng Dynasty	梁朝	Also referred to as The Southern Liang dynasty, it ran 502-557
Liáng Wǔdì	梁武帝	Also called Emperor Wu of Liang who reigned 542-549
Guāngxiào Temple	光孝寺	Oldest Buddhist temple in Guangzhou
Jìn Dynasty	晋朝	Ancient dyansty that ran 266-420
Khanfu	广府	The city of Guangzhou as referred to by the Arabs
Suí Dynasty	隋朝	Short-lived but influential dynasty that ran 581-618
Fānfāng	蕃坊	The foreign district of the city of Guangzhou back in early times
Fānzhāng	蕃长	The head of the foreigners community in Guangzhou
Hángzhōu	杭州	Capital of Zhejiang province as well as the capital of several southern dynasties
dào	道	These Tang circuits would be equivalent to a province
Lǐngnán Dào	岭南道	Lǐngnán Circuit
Sòng Dynasty	宋朝	Chinese dynasty established by Zhao Kuangyin that ruled China 960-1279
Guǎngnán East	广南东	One of the political administrative regions during the Song, mostly Guangdong
Guǎngnán West	广南西	One of the political administrative regions during the Song, mostly west Guangdong and Guangxi
Yuán Dynasty	元朝	Dyansty established by Kublai Khan that ruled 1271-1368
Guìzhōu	贵州	Western interior province in China
Húguǎng province	湖广行省	One of the provinces of Yuan dyansty China that contained both Hunan and Guangdong
Jiāngxī province	江西行省	The name of Jiangxi province during the Yuan dynasty
Five Dynasties Ten Kingdoms	五代十国	The period of disunity in between the fall of the Tang and founding of the Song. It lasted 907-979
Míng Dynasty	明朝	Imperial dynasty that lasted 1368-1644

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