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Qingtian County
Qingtian (Chinese: 青田; pinyin: Qīngtián; Wade–Giles: Ch'ing-t'ien; lit. 'azure field') is a county located in the southeastern part of Lishui, Zhejiang, China. It is split in two by the Ou River, which flows 388 kilometers before finally reaching the city of Wenzhou and emptying into the East China Sea. Situated in a hilly terrain with many ravines, the county's seat is Hecheng (鹤城, lit: 'the town of cranes'), also known as Qingtian City.
As one of China's best-known qiaoxiangs (侨乡, hometown of overseas Chinese), Qingtian is particularly famous for its diasporas, whose strong commercial networks and family ties have created highly visible diasporan communities across the globe, forming the bulk of Chinese populations in many European states, especially in Spain where they constitute over 80% of the entire Chinese community. It is also well known for its traditional stonecarving industry, which has been widely acclaimed as "embroidery on stone" since the Northern and Southern dynasties period.
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the area now known as Qingtian belonged to the Ouyue (甌越), then one of the ancient conglomeration of Baiyue tribes living across southern China. After the Empire of Qin unified the six kingdoms under its rule, it then conquered the tribes of Ouyue and Minyue (閩越), and established Minzhong Commandery (閩中郡) which included the present-day Qingtian county.
In May of the 3rd year of Emperor Hui of the Western Han Dynasty (1 BC), Zou Yao (騶搖), leader of the Ouyue tribe, was enfeoffed as the King of Donghai (東海王) for his meritorious service in assisting the Han Dynasty in destroying the Qin Dynasty. He established his capital in Dong'ou (東甌, present-day Wenzhou) and was known as the King of Dong'ou, and ruled over much of southern half of today's Zhejiang region.
The county of Qingtian was officially established in the 2nd year of Jingyun (景雲, 711) as a part of the Kuozhou prefecture (alias of present-day Lishui). The etymology of its name derives from a grass with bamboo-like leaves that can be turned into cyan-colored dyes, which is abundant in the paddy fields at the foot of the mountain in the county's northern corner.
The Song represented a period of significant economic development and cultural prosperity in the county's history. During the Qingli era of the Northern Song Dynasty (慶曆, 1041–1048), a Confucian temple was built half a mile east of the county's government office for the veneration of Confucius. By the era of Chongning (崇寧, 1102–1106), the temple was expanded and the dormitories were built, and a county school was established to teach the "Six Arts" of rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics.
In the 3rd year of Qingyuan, Southern Song (1197), in a major reconstruction project initiated by the local notable Zheng Ruxie (鄭汝諧), all the shabby thatched cottages in the county town were replaced with houses built of ceramic tiles, significantly improving the county's sanitary conditions whilst reducing the risk of fire.
In the early years of the Hongwu (洪武), Liu Bowen, the Imperial Censor and Grand Astrologer, returned to his hometown of Qingtian to investigate the local conditions. After finding out that the area had suffered from a three-year drought and was unable to pay its land taxes (田賦), he then decided to petition the court to reduce or exempt the taxes for the people of Qingtian. A few days later, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang received Liu Bowen's memorial to the throne and read it aloud:
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Qingtian County
Qingtian (Chinese: 青田; pinyin: Qīngtián; Wade–Giles: Ch'ing-t'ien; lit. 'azure field') is a county located in the southeastern part of Lishui, Zhejiang, China. It is split in two by the Ou River, which flows 388 kilometers before finally reaching the city of Wenzhou and emptying into the East China Sea. Situated in a hilly terrain with many ravines, the county's seat is Hecheng (鹤城, lit: 'the town of cranes'), also known as Qingtian City.
As one of China's best-known qiaoxiangs (侨乡, hometown of overseas Chinese), Qingtian is particularly famous for its diasporas, whose strong commercial networks and family ties have created highly visible diasporan communities across the globe, forming the bulk of Chinese populations in many European states, especially in Spain where they constitute over 80% of the entire Chinese community. It is also well known for its traditional stonecarving industry, which has been widely acclaimed as "embroidery on stone" since the Northern and Southern dynasties period.
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the area now known as Qingtian belonged to the Ouyue (甌越), then one of the ancient conglomeration of Baiyue tribes living across southern China. After the Empire of Qin unified the six kingdoms under its rule, it then conquered the tribes of Ouyue and Minyue (閩越), and established Minzhong Commandery (閩中郡) which included the present-day Qingtian county.
In May of the 3rd year of Emperor Hui of the Western Han Dynasty (1 BC), Zou Yao (騶搖), leader of the Ouyue tribe, was enfeoffed as the King of Donghai (東海王) for his meritorious service in assisting the Han Dynasty in destroying the Qin Dynasty. He established his capital in Dong'ou (東甌, present-day Wenzhou) and was known as the King of Dong'ou, and ruled over much of southern half of today's Zhejiang region.
The county of Qingtian was officially established in the 2nd year of Jingyun (景雲, 711) as a part of the Kuozhou prefecture (alias of present-day Lishui). The etymology of its name derives from a grass with bamboo-like leaves that can be turned into cyan-colored dyes, which is abundant in the paddy fields at the foot of the mountain in the county's northern corner.
The Song represented a period of significant economic development and cultural prosperity in the county's history. During the Qingli era of the Northern Song Dynasty (慶曆, 1041–1048), a Confucian temple was built half a mile east of the county's government office for the veneration of Confucius. By the era of Chongning (崇寧, 1102–1106), the temple was expanded and the dormitories were built, and a county school was established to teach the "Six Arts" of rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics.
In the 3rd year of Qingyuan, Southern Song (1197), in a major reconstruction project initiated by the local notable Zheng Ruxie (鄭汝諧), all the shabby thatched cottages in the county town were replaced with houses built of ceramic tiles, significantly improving the county's sanitary conditions whilst reducing the risk of fire.
In the early years of the Hongwu (洪武), Liu Bowen, the Imperial Censor and Grand Astrologer, returned to his hometown of Qingtian to investigate the local conditions. After finding out that the area had suffered from a three-year drought and was unable to pay its land taxes (田賦), he then decided to petition the court to reduce or exempt the taxes for the people of Qingtian. A few days later, Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang received Liu Bowen's memorial to the throne and read it aloud: