Zhuhai

Qin through Yuan

After the Qin dynasty's conquering of the indigenous Baiyue in 214 BCE, present-day Zhuhai was incorporated into Panyu County within the larger Nanhai Commandery.^[12] Following the Qin's collapse, Zhuhai was part of the Nanyue kingdom until its defeat by the Han in 111 BCE. Sustained migration of Han Chinese into the Zhuhai region began during the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420). One notable instance was after Sun En's failed rebellion was driven out of Guangzhou; Sun's forces escaped to the Wanshan Archipelago, and their descendants eventually settled on the islands among remaining Baiyue and established fishing communities.^[13][14]

By the Tang dynasty (618-907), sedimentation from the region's watershed formed alluvial plains between islands and gradually expanded Zhuhai's shoreline; its first significant settlement, Xiangshan, was established as a military outpost in 757. Located in present-day Shanchang, Xiangshan assisted in countering piracy along the Maritime Silk Road and eventually developed into a center of salt production.^[15] Other regional industries in this period and in the subsequent Song dynasty (960–1279) were silver mining, fishing, and agriculture. Increased migration from Northern China and Xiangshan's productive capacity eventually convinced the imperial court to establish Xiangshan County in 1152 by incorporating land from Dongguang, Nanhai, Panyu, and Xinhui.^[16][17]

Further migration into Zhuhai was prompted by the Jin–Song wars and other upheavals during the Song Dynasty.^[18][19] Zhuhai's prominent local clans, including the Tangs, Zhangs, Yangs, Rongs, and Wus, originated in these waves of migrations; 24 clans had been established in Xiangshan by the Southern Song.^[20] Clans brought more effective agricultural practices to Zhuhai and developed it further through land reclamation efforts.^[20]

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.^[17] The Battle of Yamen, the Song's last stand against the Yuan, took place near the west coast of present-day Doumen. Zhang Shijie later drowned in the South China Sea, and his body was buried by villagers at the foot of Huangyang Mountain in Doumen.^[21] Surviving members of the Song then settled in Xiangshan and were strictly overseen and persecuted by the Yuan government; some lived around Huangyang Mountain and established a hermitage that eventually became Jintai Temple in 1740.^[22]

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.^[17] 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. Problems with piracy continued to intensify and clandestine trade with foreign merchants persisted in the Zhuhai region.^[17] Despite the trade bans, Guangdong governor Lin Fu 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.^[23][24] Trade officials were eventually moved from Lampacau to Haojing in 1535, which was less remote and considered more favorable for trade.^[23]

Portuguese merchants first arrived in Haojing in 1553 after allegedly bribing the port's chief official Wang Bo to allow for the drying of their cargo and establishment of trade operations; increased Portuguese migration to Haojing led to its development into Macau.^[23][25] As Macau grew, the Ming government built fortifications in Zhuhai to prevent further encroachment by Portugal, including a border checkpoint at Gongbei in 1574 and a military garrison at Qianshan in 1621.^[23]

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 in Zhuhai 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.^[23] Piracy and banditry also worsened in Zhuhai during the chaos of the transition to the Qing, and its islands and villages were subject to violent raids.^[26] Many of Zhuhai's original inhabitants did not return after the clearance policy ended in 1684, and the area became populated with migrants from other regions in Guangdong.^[27] Settlements in Zhuhai then proliferated into the 18th century as the economy recovered from the clearance; many of Zhuhai's present-day villages originate from this period.^[28]

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.^[29] 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.^[29]

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.^[30] Illicit opium trafficking then continued between Western and Chinese smugglers in the waters around Cumsingmoon.^[30]

The Pearl River Delta's piracy problem also reemerged beginning in the 1780s, initially with support from the Vietnamese Tây Sơn dynasty that the Qing unsuccessfully fought during their invasion of Đại Việt in 1788.^[31] Primarily targeting foreign and Chinese merchant vessels, including those trading in opium, the region's pirates numbered in the tens of thousands by 1805, and had bases throughout the Delta; those in Zhuhai included anchorages at Gaolan, Sanjiao, and Zhuzhou Islands.^[32] Cheung Po Tsai, considered one of the most formidable pirates of the period, raided several areas in Xiangshan in August 1809.^[33] 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.^[34]

In the prelude to the First Opium War, villagers on Qi'ao Island, an opium depot in northwestern Zhuhai, skirmished with British and American opium traffickers on July 1, 1836 and successfully pushed them out.^[35] 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.^[35] The Qing's loss of the war in 1842 and subsequent signing of unequal treaties with a series of Western countries motivated the Portuguese to assert greater authority over Macau; this led to 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.^[36] Further Portuguese encroachments into Xiangshan resulted in the Qing government signing the Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking in 1887, which officially recognized Portugal's sovereignty over Macau.^[30] Border disputes in Zhuhai between Macau and the Qing government continued into the early 20th century; some villages organized local militias to resist Portuguese expansionism.^[37] Beyond conflicts with foreign powers, Zhuhai was also impacted by the Red Turban Rebellion led by the Hongmen society in the 1850s, with areas like Doumen serving as bases of activity for the rebels.^[38]

Throughout the 19th century, many of Zhuhai's residents migrated abroad in pursuit of economic opportunity; others were trafficked as a part of Macau's coolie trade that boomed after the First Opium War.^[39] Some became successful businessmen and reinvested their earnings into their hometowns. These included Wu Yuzheng and Wang Xi, who along with others in Xiangshan worked to establish Xiangzhou in 1908 as a tax-exempt port and commercial center. Xiangzhou's prosperity was short-lived, and it was eventually deserted due to lack of government support and investment, competition from Macau, and a devastating fire in 1911.^[40][41][30] Remittances also emerged as an important source of income for locals as migration increased.^[42]

Zhuhai's proximity to Macau and Hong Kong 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.^[44] 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 organizer and CCP member who led the 1922 seamen's strike and 1925 Canton–Hong Kong strike.^[41] The Zhuhai area was also a major source of compradors that worked with Western firms in Guangzhou, Shanghai, and other ports throughout China with significant international trade; notable figures from this group hailing from Zhuhai included Tong King-Sing.^[45]

Early Republican era and establishment of Zhongshan County

Qing rule ended in Xiangshan on November 6, 1911 during the Xinhai Revolution.^[46] Banditry and piracy was rife throughout Zhuhai's villages and islands in the subsequent Warlord Era.^[47] The Portuguese made numerous attempts to take advantage of early Republican China's instability and expand Macau's territory further into Zhuhai, leading to violent border disputes.^[48] Tensions between Macau and the Nationalist government reached a head following the May 29th Incident in 1922; Chinese forces were stationed at Qianshan and the waters surrounding Macau until the crisis subsided after Chen Jiongming's coup against Sun Yat-sen on June 15.^[49][50] During the 1925 Canton–Hong Kong strike, merchants and farmers in Zhuhai assisted in blockading Macau at Qianshan between June 1925 and October 1926.^[51][52]

Under the First United Front between the KMT and CCP, the Central Committee of the Kuomintang ordered the Peasant's Department and its associated Peasant Movement Training Institute in 1924 to cultivate the peasant movement against landlords in Xiangshan.^[53] Peasant associations, which consisted of grassroots militias and governing organizations, were first formed in Zhuhai at Shangzha in December 1925.^[54] This coincided with Ye Jianying's establishment of a National Revolutionary Army (NRA) regiment in Xiangzhou under orders from Sun Yat-sen and Liao Zhongkai; per Liao's instructions, part of the regiment assisted in the growth of the area's peasant movement. In reaction to the peasant movement, local landlords and right-wing members of the NRA staged a violent mutiny against suspected left-wing members of the Xiangzhou regiment on April 26, 1925, resulting in the death of 27 officers and soldiers.^[55] 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.^[56] Following the Shanghai massacre of CCP members in April 1927, forces allied with the KMT's right wing successfully suppressed Zhuhai's peasant organizations by executing or imprisoning its leaders and militiamen.^[57]

After Sun Yat-sen passed away in 1925, Xiangshan County was renamed to Zhongshan in his honor. In 1929, Zhongshan was designated by the Nationalist government as a "model county" within their larger modernization efforts during the Nanjing decade, entitling Zhongshan to state support via tax exemptions and financial assistance.^[58] Modernization initiatives under magistrates Tang Shaoyi between 1930 and 1934 and Yang Ziyi between 1935 and 1937 resulted in the completion of multiple infrastructure projects and the reform of public services, including law enforcement and public health programs per the prescriptions of the New Life Movement.^[59][60][61] These plans originally proposed the development of Tangjiawan, Zhongshan's seat of government between 1930 and 1934, into a commercial port that would compete with Hong Kong; they were ultimately aborted due to prohibitive costs and insufficient support from the central government.^[62][63] Political instability, including that instigated by warlord Chen Jitang during his consolidation of power in Guangdong, further disrupted Tangjiawan's development.^[64] Several sites in Zhuhai from this period, including Gongle Garden on Tang's former estate, have been retained and preserved.^[65]

Japanese invasion and occupation

Japanese forces established a presence in Zhuhai from the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, docking warships from the 5th Fleet along the coast and launching air raids throughout the region.^[66] Chinese soldiers and civilian militias successfully resisted several Japanese incursions.^[67] The Imperial Japanese Army then ordered the construction of an airbase at Sanzao Island on December 3, 1938, which they occupied from February following a brief withdrawal.^[68][69] Forces from the 4th Fleet docked at Sanzao on December 5 and began building docks and cabins; 30 islanders that refused to work on the structures were executed, and local women were raped.^[69]

Between April 12 and 14, as a part of scorched earth "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.^[70] 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.^[71] Of Sanzao's pre-war 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.^[72] Around 1,000 refugees that had fled to Macau relocated to the Ying Hang camp in Wanzai in 1939.^[73]

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.^[71] Residents were subject to surveillance, prohibited from leaving Sanzao, and forced to engage with senbu educational and propaganda programs.^[74] 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.^[75] 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.^[76]

More than 6,000 Japanese were stationed on Sanzao by the end of September 1938, and the airbase served as an important position in Japanese attacks throughout South China.^[77] Japan's position in Sanzao also enabled it to repress Zhuhai's remaining Chinese resistance, and by March 1940 Zhuhai was fully under Japanese control; CCP guerilla units continued to engage with Japanese occupiers in the region's mountainous rural areas and islands.^[78][79]

After the war, survivors and overseas Chinese funded and constructed a memorial to the victims of Sanzao in 1948, which has since been relocated and designated as a protected cultural site since 1983.^[80] Buildings from the former airbase have been preserved and dedicated as historical landmarks.^[81] 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.^[82]

Zhuhai High-Tech Industrial Development Zone

As one of the four earliest Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in China, Zhuhai SEZ was set up in the year 1980 and granted with a local legislative right. Zhuhai hi-tech zone is located in the north of Zhuhai, which is very close to downtown. Furthermore, technological resources are centralised in this zone. There is also a huge development in hi-tech industries led by the software and IC industries. The hi-tech zone is the showcase for Zhuhai's scientific development.^[112] Meizu is one high tech product headquartered in Zhuhai.

Zhuhai Free Trade Zone

Zhuhai Free Trade Zone (Zhuhai FTZ) was founded in 1996 with the State Council's approval, occupying 3 km² (1.2 sq mi). A Zhuhai FTZ Administrative Committee was set up in June 1997. By the end of 2006 there had been over 200 companies registered in the Free Trade Zone, including more than 150 foreign-funded enterprises, and the total investment amount was one billion US dollars. Industries encouraged in the zone include electronics assembly and manufacturing, telecommunications equipment, building/construction materials, instruments and industrial equipment production, medical equipment and supplies, raw material processing, research and development, shipping/warehousing/logistics, and heavy industry.^[113][114]

Wanshan ocean development testing zone

The Wanshan archipelago is located in one of the major fishing areas of China and is core to the Wanshan ocean development testing zone. However, Perna viridis, a species of green mussel, was found to be contaminated by HCHs, DDTs, and PCBs.^[115][116]

Hengqin economic development zone

In April 2023, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has published for the Hengqin economic development zone a list of industries that are illegible for investment policies, including income tax benefits for workers. The stated aim of the investment policy is to integrate Macao with key industries in the Pearl River Delta.^[117]

Global printer consumables manufacturing centre

Zhuhai manufactured and supplied 70 per cent of the world's ribbons, 60 per cent of the world's aftermarket inkjet cartridges and 20 per cent of the world's third-party laser toner cartridges. Their combined sales were worth more than 1.3 billion US dollars or 10 per cent of all the sales in the world. Zhuhai owns a comprehensive supply chain and almost any of the raw materials needed by the printer consumables industry can be provided locally.

Mayors

CPC Committee Secretaries