Hankou was one of the three cities whose merging formed modern-day Wuhan

Wuhan

Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, and is the most populous city in Central China. It lies at the east of the Jianghan Plain, and the intersection of the middle reaches of the Yangtze and Han rivers...

, the capital of the Hubei

Hubei

' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

 province, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. It stands north of the Han

Han River (Hanshui)

The Han River is a left tributary of the Yangtze River with a length of 1532 km. Historically it was referred to as Hànshuǐ and the name is still occasionally used today....

 and Yangtze River

Yangtze River

The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...

s where the Han falls into the Yangtze. Hankou is connected by bridges to its former sister cities Hanyang (between Han and Yangtze) and Wuchang (on the south side of he Yangtze).

Hankou is the main port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

 of Hubei province.

History

The city's name literally means "The Mouth of the Han", referring to its location on the north bank of the confluence of the Han and Yangtze Rivers. The name appears in a Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 poem by Liu Changqing

Liu Changqing

Liu Changqing , and whose name, especially in older English transliteration, appears as "Liu Chang-ch'ing", was a poet of the Middle Tang Dynasty, and eleven of whose poems were collected in the popular anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems.-See also:...

. Other historical names for the city include Xiakou , Miankou , and Lukou .

Hankou used to have five colonial concessions from the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Germany and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The German and Russian concessions were administered by the Chinese government after the First World War. The British left in 1927 during the Northern Expedition after the Chinese Kuomintang

Kuomintang

The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...

 forces seized the multimillion dollar concession from them, refusing to hand it back to the British. The French and Japanese left after the Second World War.

On October 10, 1911, a revolution to establish the Republic of China

Republic of China

The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...

 and replace the Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

 led to the involvement of Hankou in the struggle between Hubei revolutionary forces and the Qing army, led by Yuan Shikai

Yuan Shikai

Yuan Shikai was an important Chinese general and politician famous for his influence during the late Qing Dynasty, his role in the events leading up to the abdication of the last Qing Emperor of China, his autocratic rule as the second President of the Republic of China , and his short-lived...

. Although the revolution began in Wuchang with a revolt started by members of the New Army

New Army

The New Armies were the modernized Qing armies, trained and equipped according to Western standards...

, revolutionaries quickly captured major strategic cities and towns throughout the province, including Hankou on October 12. The Qing Dynasty Army recaptured Hankou later, but as the revolution spread throughout China, eventually the town and the province came under control of the Republic of China.

Hankow was the destination on the escape route of groups of missionaries fleeing the Boxers

Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...

 in the Northern provinces around 1900. The flight of some missionaries from the T'ai-yüan massacre

Taiyuan Massacre

The Taiyuan Massacre was one of the more bloody and infamous parts of the Boxer Rebellion. It took place on July 9, 1900, in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, North China, when the governor of Shanxi named Yuxian , or Yu-Hsien , ordered the killings of 45 Christian missionaries and of local church members,...

 in Shan-si

Shanxi

' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....

 is recorded in the work A Thousand Miles of Miracles in China" (1919) by Reverend A E Glover, one of the fleeing missionaries.

Before the Communist Revolution, Hankou was the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou is an archdiocese based in the city of Hankou in China. It is now, due to the political situation, an underground diocese.-History:...

, covering the province of Hubei. The dioceses in Wuchang, Hanyang, and elsewhere in the province, were subordinated to it.

Modern status

"Hankou" remains a commonly used name for the part of Wuhan urban area north of the Yangtze and Han Rivers. The name was long preserved in the name of the old Hankou Railway Station (also known as Dazhimen Station, 大智门火车站), the original terminal of the Jinghan Railway

Jinghan railway

The Beijing–Hankou or Jinghan Railway was a railway line extending from the Chinese capital Beijing to Hankou in Hubei province that was finished in 1905. It was originally known as the Peking–Hankow Railway. Across the Yangtze river in Wuchang was another line, the Canton–Hankow...

. After the old Dazhimen station closed in 1991, the Hankou name was transferred to the new Hankou Railway Station

Hankou Railway Station

Hankou Railway Station is one of the three main railway stations in the city of Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei Province of the People's Republic of China...

, which opened in 1991 at a new location, farther away from central city. Railway passengers traveling to Wuhan need to purchase tickets to a particular station: the Hankou Railway Station, the Wuchang Railway Station

Wuchang Railway Station

Wuchang Railway Station, located at the east side of Zhongshan Road in Wuchang District, Wuhan, Hubei, China is a major railway station administrated by the Wuhan Railway Bureau under the Ministry of Railways....

 (near central Wuchang, on the right bank of the Yangtze), or the new Wuhan Railway Station (which opened in 2009, also on the right bank, but a long distance from the historical Wuchang).

Nonetheless, Hankou is no longer the name of an administrative unit (e.g., a district

District (China)

The term district, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China....

), as its area now falls mostly within Jiang'an District

Jiang'an District

Jiang'an District is a district of Hubei, China. It is under the administration of Wuhan city.-External links:...

, Jianghan District

Jianghan District

Jianghan District is a district of Hubei, China. It is under the administration of Wuhan city....

, and Qiaokou District

Qiaokou District

Qiaokou District is a district of Hubei, China. It is under the administration of Wuhan city.-External links:...

. This contrasts with Wuchang and Hanyang, whose names have been retained in the eponymous administrative districts within the City of Wuhan.

External links

• Historic US Army map of Hankou, 1945

30°32′51"N 114°19′55"E