User:Wikipedian1234/sandbox: Difference between revisions – Wikipedia

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[[File:William John Huggins – The opium ships at Lintin, China, 1824.jpg|200px|thumb|alt=Opium ships at Lintin, [[William John Huggins]] (1824)|Opium ships at Lintin, [[William John Huggins]] (1824)]]

[[File:William John Huggins – The opium ships at Lintin, China, 1824.jpg|200px|thumb|alt=Opium ships at Lintin, [[William John Huggins]] (1824)|Opium ships at Lintin, [[William John Huggins]] (1824)]]

In the prelude to the [[First Opium War]], villagers on Qi’ao Island, which served as an opium depot, succeeded in pushing out British and American opium traffickers on July 1, 1836 after a skirmish.<ref name = “Relics p. 7″/> After the war broke out in 1839, the British Army instigated the [[Battle of the Barrier]] at the Macau-Xiangshan border wall at Gongbei on August 19, 1840; the British force’s superior firepower resulted in a Qing defeat.<ref name = “Relics p. 7″/> The Qing’s defeat and subsequent signing of [[unequal treaties]] with a series of Western countries motivated the the Portuguese assert greater authority over Macau; this resulted in the [[Passaleão incident]] in August 1849, when Portuguese troops successfully occupied the Qing’s fort Baishaling at Gongbei after the assassination of Macau Governor [[João Maria Ferreira do Amaral]].(pp. 103-104)<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Christina Miu Bing |title=On the Border Gate: João Maria Ferreira do Amaral and Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita |journal=Review of Culture |date=2010 |issue=22 |pages=103-104 |url=https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40033/3560 |access-date=25 January 2026}}</ref> After further encroachments into Xiangshan, the Qing government signed the [[Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking]] in 1887, which officially recognized Portugal’s sovereignty over Macau.<ref name = “Him p. 3″/> Beyond conflicts with foreign powers, the [[Hongmen|Tiandihui’s]] [[Red Turban Rebellion (1854–1856)|Red Turban Rebellion]] during the mid-1850s affected northern Xiangshan for around ten months, likely causing outmigration.<ref name = “Him p. 3″/>

In the prelude to the [[First Opium War]], villagers on Qi’ao Island, which served as an opium depot, succeeded in pushing out British and American opium traffickers on July 1, 1836 after a skirmish.<ref name = “Relics p. 7″/> After the war broke out in 1839, the British Army instigated the [[Battle of the Barrier]] at the Macau-Xiangshan border wall at Gongbei on August 19, 1840; the British force’s superior firepower resulted in a Qing defeat.<ref name = “Relics p. 7″/> The Qing’s defeat and subsequent signing of [[unequal treaties]] with a series of Western countries motivated the the Portuguese assert greater authority over Macau; this resulted in the [[Passaleão incident]] in August 1849, when Portuguese troops successfully occupied the Qing’s fort Baishaling at Gongbei after the assassination of Macau Governor [[João Maria Ferreira do Amaral]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Christina Miu Bing |title=On the Border Gate: João Maria Ferreira do Amaral and Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita |journal=Review of Culture |date=2010 |issue=22 |pages=103-104 |url=https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40033/3560 |access-date=25 January 2026}}</ref> After further encroachments into Xiangshan, the Qing government signed the [[Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking]] in 1887, which officially recognized Portugal’s sovereignty over Macau.<ref name = “Him p. 3″/> Beyond conflicts with foreign powers, the [[Hongmen|Tiandihui’s]] [[Red Turban Rebellion (1854–1856)|Red Turban Rebellion]] during the mid-1850s affected northern Xiangshan for around ten months, likely causing outmigration.<ref name = “Him p. 3″/>

[[File:Chinese encampment near Macao.jpg|200px|thumb|left|alt=1842 illustration of a Chinese encampment outside of the Macau-Xiangshan border|1842 illustration of a Chinese encampment outside of the Macau-Xiangshan border]]

[[File:Chinese encampment near Macao.jpg|200px|thumb|left|alt=1842 illustration of a Chinese encampment outside of the Macau-Xiangshan border|1842 illustration of a Chinese encampment outside of the Macau-Xiangshan border]]

Zhuhai draft

History

Prehistoric era through Bronze age

Archeological evidence suggests human inhabitation in the Zhuhai region from at least the Neolithic Age. Numerous sites, including Baojingwan on Gaolan Island and Houshawan on Qi’ao Island, have yielded artifacts including pottery, rings, tools, and discs made of stone and jade that date between the Late Neolithic and Bronze Ages.^[1][2] Baojingwan also contains petroglyphs and paintings from the Late Neolithic period.^[3] Zhuhai’s prehistoric cultures demonstrate similarities with others discovered in the Pearl River Delta, and indicate the presence of maritime, hunter-gatherer, and agricultural societies.^[4][5] Sites such as Tangxiahua have also revealed bronze casts, indicating the existence of regional bronze manufacturing that was contemporary with the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties.^[6]

Imperial China

Qin through Yuan

The Qin dynasty’s conquering of the indigenous Baiyue in 214 BCE incorporated present-day Zhuhai into China. Following the Qin’s collapse, Zhuhai was part of the Nanyue kingdom until its defeat by the Han in 111 BCE. After Sun En’s rebellion during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420) was driven out of Guangzhou, remaining forces evacuated to the Wanshan Archipelago; their descendants eventually settled on the islands and established fishing communities.^[7]

By the Tang dynasty (618-907), Zhuhai was within Dongguan County and became the location of the town of Xiangshan in 757, which developed into a center of salt production.^[7] Other regional industries in this period and in the subsequent Song dynasty (960–1279) were iron and silver mining. Given its proximity to Guangzhou, Xiangshan also along the Maritime Silk Road(exhibit pic 29) Xiangshan’s productive capacity eventually convinced the imperial court to establish Xiangshan County in 1152 by incorporating land from Dongguang, Nanhai, Panyu, and Xinhui.^[8] Villages proliferated throughout Xiangshan during the rest of the Southern Song period (1127–1279). Wars and instability in the Central Plains and areas south of the Yangtze River during the Song resulted in migration to Xiangshan; these migrants further enabled Xiangshan’s development and established prominent clans, including the Tangs, Zhongs, and Yangs.(exhibit pic 27)

During their retreat from encroaching Yuan forces, the Song imperial court passed through several settlements in Zhuhai, with Hengqin being the location of a battle against the Yuan led by Zhang Shijie.^[8] The Battle of Yamen, which was the Song’s last stand against the Yuan, took place near the west coast of present-day Dongmen.

Ming through emergence of Macau

Raids by wokou pirates along China’s coasts during the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644) instigated the construction of fortifications in Zhuhai, including on Sanzao Island and Jinding.^[8] By the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (1521-1567), the imperial government instituted the Haijin policy, which banned maritime trade throughout Guangdong and other provinces with the intent of countering piracy. Despite this, problems with piracy intensified and clandestine trade with foreign merchants, including those from Europe and Southeast Asia, continued in the Zhuhai region.^[8]

Guangdong governor Lin Fu succeeded in persuaded the Ming government to open a port at Lampacau in present-day Nanshui in 1529, which between 1553 and 1557 was a center of trade with the Portuguese.^[9][10] Trade officials were eventually moved from Lampacau to Haojing in 1535, which was less remote and considered more favorable for trade.^[9] Portuguese merchants first arrived in Haojing in 1553 after allegedly bribing the port’s chief official Wang Bo to allow for the drying their cargo and establishment trade operations; increased Portuguese migration to Haojing led to its development into Macau.^[9][11] The Ming government established fortifications in Zhuhai as Macau grew to prevent further encroachment by Portugal, including a border checkpoint at Gongbei in 1574 and a military garrison at Qianshan in 1621.^[9]

Following the collapse of the Ming, the Qing dynasty enforced the Great Clearance along China’s coastal provinces between 1656 and 1684 to counter Ming loyalists that operated out of Taiwan. Xiangshan County and all surrounding municipalities were subsequently evacuated, with anyone resisting facing death. Residents reluctant to leave their homes hid in Hengqin, Sanzao, Gaolan, and elsewhere; they were infamously lured out by the Qing army in 1664 to Huangshan mountain in Doumen and killed en mass.^[9] Many of Zhuhai’s original inhabitants did not return after the policy ended in 1684, and the area became populated with migrants from other regions in Guangdong.^[12]

To emphasize their sovereignty over Macau, the Qing government implemented a local governance structure in 1731 at Qianshan to manage Chinese and Portuguese affairs, which was eventually moved to Mong Ha in 1743.^[13] A further layer of authority, the Macau Coast Military and Civilian Government, was added in 1744 and governed Xiangshan as well as other nearby counties; this organization’s chief official was based out of the Qianshan fort until 1910.^[13] Society in Zhuhai stabilized during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735-1796); this period saw the establishment of several imperial examination academies in Xiangshan County.^[14]

Late Qing

Beginning in the 18th century, the opium trade arose in Zhuhai and the broader Pearl River Delta. British merchants originally stored opium at Yunque Bay to the south of Macau before moving their operations to Lintin Island following the Qing bans on the trade.^[15] Illicit opium trafficking then continued between Western smugglers and Chinese merchants in the waters around Jinxing Men.^[15]

The Pearl River Delta’s piracy problem also intensified between the 1780s and 1810, initially with support from the Vietnamese Tây Sơn dynasty that the Qing unsuccessfully fought during their invasion of Đại Việt in 1788.^[16] Primarily targeting foreign and Chinese merchant vessels, including those trading in opium, the region’s pirates numbers in the tens of thousands by 1805, and had bases throughout the Delta; those in Zhuhai included anchorages at Gaolan, Sanjiao, and Zhuzhou Islands.^[17] Cheung Po Tsai, considered one of the most formidable pirates of the period, raided several areas in Xiangshan in August 1809.^[18] After repeated failures at combating the region’s piracy, the Qing began offering amnesty to pirate leaders in exchange for military postings and monetary rewards; this, along with infighting among pirate gangs, significantly reduced pirate activity by 1810.^[19]

In the prelude to the First Opium War, villagers on Qi’ao Island, which served as an opium depot, succeeded in pushing out British and American opium traffickers on July 1, 1836 after a skirmish.^[14] After the war broke out in 1839, the British Army instigated the Battle of the Barrier at the Macau-Xiangshan border wall at Gongbei on August 19, 1840; the British force’s superior firepower resulted in a Qing defeat.^[14] The Qing’s defeat and subsequent signing of unequal treaties with a series of Western countries motivated the the Portuguese assert greater authority over Macau; this resulted in the Passaleão incident in August 1849, when Portuguese troops successfully occupied the Qing’s fort Baishaling at Gongbei after the assassination of Macau Governor João Maria Ferreira do Amaral.^[20] After further encroachments into Xiangshan, the Qing government signed the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking in 1887, which officially recognized Portugal’s sovereignty over Macau.^[15] Beyond conflicts with foreign powers, the Tiandihui’s Red Turban Rebellion during the mid-1850s affected northern Xiangshan for around ten months, likely causing outmigration.^[15]

Throughout the 19th century, many of Zhuhai’s residents migrated abroad or to other Chinese cities in pursuit of economic opportunity. Some became successful businessmen and reinvested their earnings in their hometowns. These included Wu Yuzheng and Wang Xi, who along with others in Xiangshan worked to establish Xiangzhou in 1908 as a planned port and commercial center. Xiangzhou’s prosperity was short-lived, and it was eventually deserted due to lack of government support and a devastating fire in 1911.^[21][15]

Zhuhai’s proximity to Macau and Hong Kong also enabled greater exposure to Western ideas and education among its residents; many went on to become prominent intellectuals, reformers, and revolutionaries. This was exemplified in the life of Yung Wing, a native of Zhuhai who was the first Chinese graduate of an American college, founder of the Chinese Educational Mission, and ardent supporter of reform during the late Qing and early Republican periods.^[22] Others included Yang Pao’an, a Marxist activist and early member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who helped facilitate the First United Front between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the CCP, and Su Zhaozheng, a labor activist and CCP member who lead the 1922 seamen’s strike and 1925 Canton–Hong Kong strike.^[21]

Republican period through Sino-Japanese war

After Sun Yat-sen, a native of Xiangshan and founder of the Republic of China, passed away in 1925, the county was renamed to Zhongshan in his honor. By 1930, Zhongshan was designated by the Nationalist government as a “model county”; under the leadership of Tang Shaoyi between 1929 and 1934, several infrastructure projects and public works were completed, including roads and parks. These plans were ultimately scaled back due to China’s ongoing economic and political difficulties.

In 1925, Ye Jianying established a regiment of the Second Division of the National Revolutionary Army’s (NRA) Guangdong Army in Xiangzhou. On April 26, 1925, several members of the regiment staged a mutiny that resulted in the death of 27 officers and soldiers. Ye successfully quelled the mutiny on April 27 and built a memorial cemetery for the soldiers that died during the revolt; it is known today as the Xiangzhou Martyr’s Cemetery and has been designated a protected landmark.^[23]

Japanese occupation of Sanzao

During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Navy docked aircraft carriers at Hebao and Gaolan Islands in October 1937 to support air raids on Guangzhou and other parts of Guangdong.^[24] Following the Canton Operation and their subsequent occupation of Guangdong, the Imperial Japanese Army ordered the construction of an airbase at Sanzao Island on December 3, 1938. Forces from the 4th Fleet docked at Sanzao the following day and began constructing docks and cabins; 30 islanders that refused to work on the structures were executed, and local women were raped.^[25] After a brief withdrawal, the 5th Fleet then occupied Sanzao starting on February 17, 1938.^[26][25] Between April 12 and 14, as a part of “mopping up” operations, Japanese troops began massacring civilians and burning villages throughout the northern part of Sanzao; evidence suggests that more than 2,000 residents were killed.^[27] Further mass killings by the Japanese during their occupation resulted in 2,891 more deaths, and starvation and famine that occurred after surviving residents were forced from their homes killed around 3,500.^[28] Of Sanzao’s prewar population of 12,000, only 1,800 remained by June 1938; any that were not killed in the massacres or subsequent starvations had escaped the island.^[29] These atrocities were part of the Japan’s scorched earth Three Alls policy.^[30]

Survivors were made to perform forced labor to construct the Japanese airbase; labor from Japan’s other occupied territories was imported to accelerate the base’s completion.^[28] More than 6,000 Japanese were stationed on the island by the end of September 1938, and the airbase served as an important position in Japanese attacks throughout South China.^[31] Residents were subject to mass surveillance, prohibited from leaving Sanzao, and forced to engage with senbu educational and propaganda programs.^[32] The Japanese also established 2 schools, the first being for Japanese immigrants brought to colonize the island, and the second, called Zhengbiao, for locals; students of Zhengbiao were forced to learn Japanese and display loyalty to Japan.^[33] Stations for comfort women were also set up around Sanzao with locals as well as women from other Japanese colonies. Rape and sexual violence against Sanzao women continued throughout the rest of the occupation.^[34]

After the war, survivors and overseas Chinese funded and constructed a memorial to the victims in 1948, which has since been relocated and designated as a protected cultural site since 1983.^[30] Buildings from the former airbase, including the “Military Clubhouse” that served as the main comfort women station, have been preserved and dedicated as historical landmarks.^[35] Academic research beginning in the 1990s, which has included interviews with eyewitnesses, has also heightened public understanding of the atrocities committed by the Japanese military at Sanzao.^[36]

Establishment of Zhuhai and modern development

In the final months of the Chinese Civil War, the CCP took control of Zhuhai between October 1949 and August 1950, with the Wanshan Archipelago Campaign forcing the KMT from the region.(p. 9) The area was first designated as “Zhuhai County” in 1953, which included southwestern Zhongshan and the archipelago around Hong Kong. After further administrative merges and separations with Zhongshan and Doumen during the 1950s and 1960s, Zhuhai was established as a city in 1979; Doumen County was put under its jurisdiction in 1983.

Bibliography

• Anthony, Robert J. (2021). “Defending Canton: Chinese Pirates, British Traders, and Hong Merchants, 1780−1810”. Review of Culture (66): 70–95. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
• Li, Yan (2019). “Chapter 6: A Preliminary Analysis of the Development of Neolithic Culture in Coastal Region of Guangdong”. In Wu, Chunming; Rolett, Barry Vladimir (eds.). Prehistoric Maritime Cultures and Seafaring in East Asia. Springer Nature. pp. 103–126. ISBN 978-981-32-9255-0.
• Hao, Zhidong (2011). Macau History and Society. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Univ. Press [u.a.] ISBN 978-988-8028-54-2. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
• Him, Mark Lai (May 9, 2007). “Zhongshan, Zhuhai, and Macau: Geographical and Historical Notes”. himmarklai.org. Chinese Historical Society of America. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
• Qiu, Peipei (2023). “Chapter 20: Narrating Trauma: Memories of the Atrocities under the Japanese Occupation of Sanzao Island”. In Burrett, Tina; Kingston, Jeff (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Trauma in East Asia. Routledge. pp. 237–249. ISBN 9781003292661. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
• Relics and Archeological Institute of Guangdong Province; Museum of Zhuhai (2004). Zhuhai Baojingwan: Archaeological Report of Island-type Prehistoric Cultural Site (PDF) (1 ed.). Beijing: China Science Publishing & Media. ISBN 7-03-012459-6. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
• Zhuhai Historical Relics Management Committee (1994). The Records of Historical Relics in Zhuhai (PDF). Guangdong: Guangdong People’s Publishing House. Retrieved 20 January 2026.