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.

The majority of inhabitants speak Qingtianese, while a small minority of residents in Wenxi town (温溪镇) speak Wenzhounese, both of which belong to the larger Wu language family.

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. The area is also well known by its traditional stonecarving industry, that has been defined as "embroidery on stone" since the Northern and Southern dynasties period.^[1][2]

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the area now known as Qingtian belonged to the Ouyue (瓯越), 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 (闽越), and established Minzhong Commandery (闽中郡) 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 (驺摇), leader of the Ouyue tribe, was enfeoffed as the King of Donghai (东海王) for his meritorious service in assisting the Han Dynasty in destroying the Qin Dynasty. He established his capital in Dong'ou (东瓯, 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 (711) as a part of the Kuozhou prefecture (alias of present-day Lishui).^[3] 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.^[4]

In 1197 (3rd year of Qingyuan, Southern Song), in a major reconstruction project initiated by the local notable Zheng Ruxie (郑汝谐), 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.^[5]

In the 35th year of Emperor Jiajing of Ming (1556), due to the constant attacks by Wokous coming from the coastal areas, the county magistrate Li Kai (李楷) ordered the construction of a 3 kilometers long stone wall surrounding the town, the section of wall along the Ou River still remains today,^[6] and Qingtian is henceforth the only county in Lishui to have its own walled fortifications.^[7]

In April 1558, another assault on the town by Wokous was successfully repelled due to the protection by the wall.^[6]

In the early years of the Republic of China, almost the entire county was devastated by the flood brought by a heavy rainstorm on August 29, 1912. Record says that the flood had affected as many as 16,133 households and destroyed 76,623 buildings,^[3] and only 5000 people were left in Hecheng which had at once boasted more than 14,000 residents. Extreme hardship in the aftermath of the floods pushed many to emigrate abroad, which between 1912 and 1914, approximately a thousand people had left the county,^[8] and around two thousand Qingtianese were among the 140,000 Chinese Labour Corps that served on the Western Front, following China's entry into the World War I on the side of Entente Powers in 1917.

Owing to its scarce arable lands and its vibrant overseas communities with access to ideas and news from the Western world, Qingtian was the earliest region where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began its activities in southwestern Zhejiang.^[9]

The restoration of Nanking government since 1927 has brought a period of relative stability in Qingtian and the wider region, allowing certain construction projects to be initiated in this era. As part of Zhejiang's provincial road network, a gravel road with a total length of 124.08 km that ran from Lishui to Wenzhou via Qingtian was completed and opened to traffic in 1934.^[10]

In 1948, to deal with the increasing Communist guerrilla activities and banditry in the climax of Chinese Civil War, Nantian township (南田乡), also known as the birthplace of Liu Bowen, was separated from Qingtian and incorporated into the newly established county of Wencheng (文成县); as a compensation, the town of Wenxi from the neighboring Yongjia county (永嘉县) was added into Qingtian, giving the county access to its inland port facility.^[11]

Due to the influence of Chen Cheng, the First-Class General of the Republic of China Army and leading figure in KMT's party, government and military affairs, Qingtian had produced an unusually high number of National Revolutionary Army (NRA) generals in comparison to other counties. As the tide Second Chinese Civil War gradually shifted to the favour of CCP, over 3,300 people of Qingtianese descent, most of whom NRA military personnel with their families and associates, relocated to Taiwan together with the retreating nationalist government,^[12] forming an important element of Taiwan's Waishengren (外省人) community.

The Nationalist rule in Qingtian officially ended with the arrival of the People's Liberation Army on May 13, 1949, and the People's Government of Qingtian was officially established on November 4 the same year.^[13]

Waves of intense political violence grappled Qingtian during the early phase of Cultural Revolution as part of the nationwide violent struggles.^[14]

With the start of China's Reform and Opening Up in 1979, Qingtian started to experience sustained economic growth as immigration to the developed Western countries and overseas remittances resumed. This in turn resulted in rapid urban and infrastructural development. Since 1980s, the county's town center began to expand eastward and southward across the Ou River, incorporating numerous townships nearby .^[15]

Booming civillian-run manufacturing industries down in Wenzhou brought increasing flows of traffic, and placed the infrastructural capacity in Qingtian, then the most crucial thoroughfare for freight vehicles from Wenzhou, under heavy pressure. Comprehensive renovation of the National Highway 330 (G330) was completed in 1988, and the first ever bridge that spans across Ou River in Qingtian was officially opened to traffic in 1995, ending the history of townspeople's reliance on ferries to cross the river.^[16]

The Jinhua-Wenzhou railway that runs through Qingtian, as the first railway with investment from a joint venture, between Chinese state-owned enterprise and privately held companies in the infrastructural history of China was opened on June 11, 1998.^[17]

The county of Qingtian is divided into 4 subdistricts, 10 towns, 18 townships, and 363 villages, with a total area of 2493 km².^[18]

• Hecheng (鹤城街道), Ou'nan (瓯南街道), Youzhu (油竹街道), Sanxikou (三溪口街道)

• Wenxi (温溪镇), Dongyuan (东源镇), Chuanliao (船寮镇), Beishan (北山镇), Shankou (山口镇), Haikou (海口镇), Gaohu (高湖镇), Lakou (腊口镇), Renzhuang (仁庄镇)

• Zhangcun (章村乡), Shuqiao (舒桥乡), Gui'ao (贵岙乡), Shixi (石溪乡), Zhenbu (祯埠乡), Zhenwang (祯旺乡), Wanshan (万山乡), Huangyang (黄垟乡), Jizhai (季宅乡), Haixi (海溪乡), Gaoshi (高市乡), Jupu (巨浦乡), Wanfu (万阜乡), Tangyang (汤垟乡), Fangshan (方山乡), Wukeng (吴坑乡), Renguan (仁宫乡), Zhangdan (章旦乡), Fushan (阜山乡), Linggen (岭根乡), Xiaozhoushan (小舟山乡)

By the end of 2013, the highway mileage in Qingtian county was 2,155.8 kilometers, including 67.3 kilometers of expressways, 145.7 kilometers of secondary roads, 16.8 kilometers of tertiary roads, 483.8 kilometers of quasi-fourth-class roads, and 1,442.2 kilometers of quasi-fourth-class roads. In 2013, the social passenger volume was 11.3 million, the freight volume was 4.53 million tons, the freight turnover was 717.49 million tons-kilometers, and the passenger turnover was 356.43 million person-kilometers. National Highway 330 passes through the county.

Qingtian is served by the Jinhua–Wenzhou high-speed railway.

The Port of Wenxi is the only port in Lishui prefecture that has direct access to the outer sea, with an annual cargo throughput of more than 1.4 million tons. Cargo ships departing from the Port of Wenxi can directly reach major ports in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Qingtian stone (青田石), a silicate rock unique to the mountains of Qingtian, is widely considered as one of China's four most exquisite stones for arts of sculpture and carving, together with stones of Balin (巴林), Shoushan (寿山), and Changhua (昌化). The seals carved out of Qingtian stone are among the list of China's traditional "Four Great Seal Stones" (四大印章). ^[24]

Cprinus carpio var, commonly known as dia'ngai (田鱼) in Qingtianese dialect, is a local aquaculture species in the Ou River basin. Historical records show that the pisciculture of dia'ngai in Qingtian could be traced back over two millenia ago. Dia'ngai is an essential delicacy for every family in Qingtian during festive seasons, and air-dried dia'ngai together with Longquan celadon and swords have been tribute items to the imperial court since the Southern Song dynasty.^[25]

• Chen Cheng, National Revolutionary Army commander, Vice President and Premier of Taiwan
• Chen Li-an, electrical engineer, mathematician and Taiwanese politician
• Chen Qi, politician, diplomat, and head of the Chinese delegation to the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition
• Chen Muhua, Communist revolutionary and People's Republic of China politician
• Xia Chao, civil governor of Zhejiang 1924–1926
• Zhang Naiqi, People's Republic of China politician

• Qingtian dialect