Zhenjiang

Prior to the adoption of Hanyu Pinyin, the city's name was typically romanized as Chin-keang-foo,^[3] Chen-kiang-fu,^[4] or Chinkiang.^[4]

Human activity in Zhenjiang dates to the early Neolithic period. Excavations at the Zuohu (左湖) site reveal a continuous cultural sequence from the Majiabang to the Bronze Age Hushu culture. Adapted to the Ning-Zhen Hills , prehistoric inhabitants developed distinct ground-level dwellings that differ from contemporary Majiabang sites in the plains. Micro-botanical evidence further identifies the area as one of the early regions for rice cultivation in the lower Yangtze River valley.^[5]

The Yi Hou Ze-gui (宜侯夨簋) unearthed at Dantu records the Zhou investiture of an aristocrat at "Yi," presumed to be the region where the vessel was discovered, including the granting of land and people, namely fengjian.^[6][7] Despite ongoing scholarly debate, it remains the only bronze inscription interpreted as providing epigraphical support for Sima Qian's account of Wu Taibo's enfeoffment in the Jiangnan region.^[8]

During the Spring and Autumn period, the region was incorporated into the State of Wu and first appeared in historical records under the name Zhufang (朱方). In 543 BC, Qing Feng, a minister from the State of Qi, fled to Wu seeking asylum following a failed power struggle. King Yuji of Wu granted him Zhufang as a fief. However, in 537 BC, King Ling of Chu led a coalition of feudal lords to besiege and capture Zhufang, subsequently executing Feng.^[9]

For millennia prior to the 3rd century AD, the apex of the Yangtze River's funnel-shaped estuary was located near present-day Zhenjiang. During the early imperial era, the counties of Dantu (丹徒) and Qu'e (曲阿) were established along the narrow coastal plains of this region. These locations served as critical transit hubs for both land and water transport, linking the imperial center with the core of Wu Commandery and the Kuaiji region.

At the turn of the 3rd century AD, the Sun clan—who later founded the Eastern Wu—used Dantu as a primary administrative base, and the patriarch Sun Jian was interred in Qu'e. In 209 AD, Sun Quan renamed the base "Jing" (京), which subsequently became known as Jingkou (京口).^[10] In 211 AD, Sun Quan relocated his seat of government 80 kilometers westward to Jianye (modern-day Nanjing).

To improve transport links between the new capital and the Kuaiji region while bypassing the navigational hazards of the Yangtze estuary, the Eastern Wu commissioned the construction of the Pogang Canal (破岡瀆) through the Ning-Zhen Hills in the mid-3rd century, followed by the Shangrong Canal (上容瀆) to its south.

Although situated at a strategic transport hub, Jingkou remained sparsely populated and underdeveloped; during the Sun clan's rule, the area served as a frequent hunting ground for tigers and other wildlife. To the southeast lay the state farm (tuntian) under the jurisdiction of the Commandant of Agricultural Settlements in Biling (毗陵典農校尉). Following the collapse of the Western Jin, the statesman Xi Jian utilized this existing administrative framework to implement a large-scale resettlement of emigrant refugees (qiaoren) from Northern China.

The Sui took the city in AD 581 from Chen and made it an important garrison on the lower Yangtze, the source of its present name ("Protecting the River"). In 595, it was restored to commandery status. Its importance grew with the construction of the Grand Canal, after which it served as the chief collection and transit center for the grain tax paid by the farmers of the Yangtze delta. The city flourished from the 10th to 13th centuries, when it produced fine silks, satins, and silverware for the Song emperors. The 11th-century scientist and statesman Shen Kuo composed his 1088 Dream Pool Essays during his retirement in a garden estate on the outskirts of the city. It was taken by the Mongolians during their 1275 campaign against the Southern Song capital at Hangzhou.^[11] Under their Yuan dynasty, some Nestorian Christians were reported living in the city. The city fell to Xu Da on 17 March 1356.^[12] According to Odoric of Pordenone, Zhenjiang had a vast amount of shipping, more so than any other city in the world. The ships which worked the city were painted white and often doubled as businesses such as taverns or other gathering spots.^[13] Under the Ming, it was the seat of a prefecture (fu) of Nanzhili, the Southern Directly-Administered District around the secondary capital Nanjing. The Southern Ming placed the town under Zheng Zhifeng, brother of Zheng Zhilong and favorite uncle of Koxinga. He was fooled into wasting most of his ammunition against a feint, however, and forced to abandon the city to the Manchus on 1 June 1645.^[14]

Under the Qing, Zhenjiang was a city of half a million surrounded by a series of brick city walls up to 35 feet (11 m) high.^[3] It continued as a prefectural seat, first under the "Right" Governor of Jiangnan at Suzhou and later under the governor of Jiangsu in Jiangning (now Nanjing). After a fierce resistance, Zhenjiang—romanized at the time as Chinkiang—was captured by the British on 21 July 1842 during the First Opium War.^[3][4] As this left the path open to Nanjing, its fall prompted the unequal Treaty of Nanking to avoid further conflict. A decade later, massive floods of the Yellow River altered its course from south to north of Shandong and closed the northern path of the Grand Canal. Soon after, Zhenjiang was sacked by the Taiping rebels in 1853.^[3] It was recaptured by the Qing in 1858^[3] and opened as a treaty port in 1861.^[15] Into the 1870s, Chaozhou merchants used their connections in Zhenjiang to make it a regional distribution center for opium purchased from the foreign merchants in Shanghai; when David Sassoon attempted to avoid taxation by delivering his cargoes directly to the opium merchants in Zhenjiang, the Chinese organized to intimidate his customers and then bought out his failed organization.^[16] The population was estimated at 168,000 in 1904.^[4]

The southern part of the Grand Canal was obstructed in the early 20th century,^{[citation needed]} although by that point the city was connected by rail to Shanghai and Nanjing.^[4] The Kuomintang government revoked the British concession at Zhenjiang in 1929.

From 1928 to 1949, while Nanjing served as the capital of the Republic of China, Zhenjiang served as the provincial capital for Jiangsu. During World War II, the city fell to Japan's Shanghai Expeditionary Army in the morning of 8 December 1937,^[17] shortly before the capture of Nanjing, but local resistance to the Japanese is still celebrated among the Chinese.^{[citation needed]} When the Communists won the Chinese Civil War and relocated the capital to Beijing, Nanjing resumed its role as Jiangsu's capital.

Zhenjiang is still one of China's busiest ports for domestic commerce, serving as a hub for trade among Jiangsu, Anhui, and Shanghai. The trade mostly consists of grain, cotton, oils, and lumber. The other main industries are mostly in the field of food processing and paper pulp manufacturing.

The prefecture-level city of Zhenjiang administers 6 county-level divisions, including three districts and three county-level cities.

These are further divided into 77 township-level divisions, including 66 towns, 1 township and 10 subdistricts.

More information Administrative divisions of Zhenjiang, Subdivision ...

Administrative divisions of Zhenjiang
Jingkou Runzhou Dantu Danyang (city) Yangzhong (city) Jurong (city)
Subdivision	Simplified Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2020)	Area (km2)	Density (/km2)
City Proper
Jingkou District	京口区	Jīngkǒu Qū	619,570	426.8	1,452
Runzhou District	润州区	Rùnzhōu Qū	299,956	127.4	2,354
Suburban
Dantu District	丹徒区	Dāntú Qū	347,264	634.5	547.3
Satellite cities (County-level cities)
Danyang City	丹阳市	Dānyáng Shì	988,900	1,047	944.5
Yangzhong City	扬中市	Yángzhōng Shì	315,462	330.8	953.6
Jurong City	句容市	Jùróng Shì	639,266	1,380	463.2
Total			3,210,418	3,947	813.4

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As in Nanjing, Zhenjiang's old Wu dialects have been entirely supplanted by a dialect of Lower Yangtze Mandarin.^{[citation needed]} It is incomprehensible to the residents of neighboring Changzhou, whose dialect remains a form of Taihu Wu.

The population was 3,210,418 as of 2020, reflecting a 0.31% annual change from the 2010 census, which recorded a population of 3,114,105.^{[citation needed]}

Zhenjiang is most famous for its fragrant black vinegar, called Zhenjiang vinegar. Chinese legend traces it to Heita, the son of Dukang, the supposed inventor of alcoholic beverages. Having forgotten about a vat of wine for 21 days, he found it had spoiled but now possessed a pleasant sour taste that could be used to complement foods.^[23] The present recipe is said to date back 1400 years, with its major modern manufacturer—the Jiangsu Hengshun Vinegar Industry Co.—dating to 1840.^[24]

Other local specialties include crab cream bun,^{[clarification needed]} Chinkiang pork (鎭江肴肉, akin to head cheese), and pickled vegetables.^{[citation needed]} Formerly, households in Zhenjiang would prepare for the new year by eating a red-bean dish and avoiding rice. One bowl of beans was left on the table to feed the home's flies, from the belief that they would then avoid disturbing the family during the new year festivities.^[25]

A natural spring in a park on the edge of Zhenjiang has been famed since the Tang (7th–9th century) as the best in Jiangsu for making tea. It is now marketed as the "First Spring under Heaven".

The 15th-century Japanese ink-wash master Sesshū Tōyō studied in Zhenjiang.^[17]

The local Jinshan temple appears in the tale of Madame White Snake and inspired a replica in the Kangxi Emperor's garden at Chengde.^[26]

Zhenjiang is located in the convenient Yangtze River Delta transport corridor, at the crossroads of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze, and between the Shanghai and Nanjing economic regions. The Port of Zhenjiang is the third largest port on the Yangtze. The city has two Yangtze River crossings. The Runyang Yangtze River Bridge complex, which has one of the longest suspension bridge spans in the world, connects to Yangzhou. The Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge, one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world, connects Yongzhong with Taizhou.

Zhenjiang Export Processing Zone was approved by the State Council on March 10, 2003, with a total planned area of 2.53 square kilometres (0.98 square miles). The first-phrase project completed in December 2003 covers 0.91 square kilometres (0.35 square miles) and was certified by the Customs General Administration and other seven ministries for operation on December 24, 2003. Zhenjiang Export Processing Zone is located close to Changzhou Airport and Zhenjiang Port.^[29]

As of 2025, Zhenjiang is a major city for scientific research, appearing among the world's top 100 cities as tracked by the Nature Index.^[30]

Public institutions having full-time Bachelor's degree programs include Jiangsu University (江苏大学) and the Jiangsu University of Science and Technology (江苏科技大学). Zhenjiang is home to the Silkworm Raising Research Institute of the Academy of Agricultural Science of China. The Shaozong Library includes a 100-volume collection of sayings and proverbs dating from the 7th to 11th centuries.

Senior high schools are Jiangsu Provincial Zhenjiang No. 1 High School (江苏省镇江第一中学), the Zhenjiang High School of Jiangsu Province (江苏省镇江中学) and the Jiangsu Provincial Dagang High School (江苏省大港中学).

• Bao Guancheng (1898–1975), Manchukuo politician
• Bao Rong, poet of the Tang dynasty
• John Lossing Buck (1890–1975), American agricultural economist
• Pearl S. Buck, also known as Sai Zhenzhu (Chinese: 賽珍珠, 1892–1973), Nobel Prize-winning author of The Good Earth and other novels about China, lived in Zhenjiang with her missionary parents until the age of 18.
• Chen Ling (born 1987), archer
• Du Jin (c.1465–1509), painter
• Duan Zhengcheng (1934-2020), industrial engineer and inventor
• Fan Xiaojun (born 1956), general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force
• John Calvin Ferguson (1866–1945), American scholar of Chinese art
• Ge Fei (born 1964), author
• Ge Hong (283– 343 or 364) linguist, philosopher, physician, politician
• He Shuangqing (1715 – c.1737), poet who lived during the Qing dynasty
• He Zhi (264–280), official of the state of Eastern Wu
• Hu Mingfei (born 1993), footballer
• Hu Peng (born 1989), powerlifter
• Huang Shuxian (born 1954), politician
• Charles Judd (1842-1919), British missionary
• Kwang Pu Chen (1880-1976), banker and State Councillor
• Li Lanqing (born 1933), former vice premier of China
• Li Pei (1917–2017), linguist and English professor
• Li Ruofan (born 1978), chess player
• Li Yaguang (born 1958), basketballer
• Lin Jiamei (born 1924), widow of former Chinese president Li Xiannian
• Liu Jie (born 1970), politician
• Liu Xie (c.465-522), monk, politician, and writer
• Liu Xin (born 1975), television host
• Liu Xiaoming (born 1964), politician
• Liu Chuanzhi (born 1944), founder of Lenovo
• Liu E (1857–1909), late Qing dynasty writer
• Lu Maozeng (1928-2022), wheat breeding expert and politician
• Lü Shuxiang (1904–1998), linguist and lexicographer
• Ma Jianzhong (1845–1900), official and scholar in the late Qing dynasty
• Ma Weiming (born 1960), naval and electrical engineer known for contributions to the Chinese aircraft carrier programme
• Ma Xiangbo (1840–1939), former Jesuit priest, scholar
• Mao Yisheng (1896-1989), structural engineer and social activist
• William David Rudland (1839–1912), English Christian evangelist
• Theodor Schjøth (1890-1932), Norwegian rower
• Shen Kuo (1031–1095), Song dynasty Scientist
• Shi Zhengrong (born 1963), businessman and philanthropist
• Si Guo (1918–2004), English name Frederick Tsai, essayist and translator who worked in Hong Kong for most of his career
• Song Yue (born 1991), footballer
• Sun Ce (175-200), military general and politician
• Tang Jiaxuan (born 1938), diplomat and politician
• Hudson Taylor (1832–1905), British Missionary, Buried in Zhenjiang
• Maria Jane Taylor (1837-1870), British Missionary
• Tong Yuanming (born 1972), chess player
• Wang Fulin (born 1931), television director and producer
• Wei Wei (1922–2023), film actress
• Wei Zhao (204–273), official, historian, and scholar of the state of Eastern Wu
• Emperor Wen of Song (407-453), emperor of the Liu Song dynasty
• Emperor Wu of Song (363-422), founding emperor of the Liu Song dynasty.
• Wu Wenjin (born 1976), chess Grandmaster
• Xiao Pei (born 1961), editor and politician
• Empress Dowager Xiaoyi (1397-1462), concubine of the Xuande Emperor
• Xu Juan (born 1981), goalball player
• Xue Song (born 1994), badminton player
• Ye Xiushan (1935-2016), philosopher, aestheticist and Chinese Opera theorist
• Yin Fanglong (born 1953), general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army
• Yu Xie (born 1959), Chinese-American sociologist
• Yu Yunyao (born 1941), politician
• Zhang Junxiang (1910-1996), film director and playwright
• Zhang Yin (1761–1829), painter
• Zhang Zhaohuan (1925–2005), physician and biostatistician
• Zhou Kunren (born 1937), politician
• Zhou Wenju (942–961), painter

• Fairfield, Australia^[31]
• Mannheim, Germany
• Kiskőrös, Hungary^[32]
• Tsu, Mie, Japan^[33]
• Kuching, Malaysia^[34]
• Stavropol, Russia^[35]
• Tempe, Arizona, United States^[36]

• List of twin towns and sister cities in China