Ep. 308 | The History of Guangzhou (Part 6)

In this final sixth episode of the History of Guangzhou series, the events of the Nanjing Decade and the city's role as a bastion of anti-Chiang Kai-shek factions will be discussed. Then we'll wind things down with a rush to the finish, reviewing the Japanese occupation, the fall of Guangzhou to the Communists, and finally take a quick look at the Special Economic Zones that helped to transform Guangzhou and the entire Pear River Delta Region.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Guǎngzhōu	广州	Capital of Guangdong province
Qín Shǐhuáng	秦始皇	Founding Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, China's first emperor
Qīng Dynasty	清朝	China's final imperial dynasty, lasting 1644-1912
Bǎinián Guóchǐ	百年国耻	The Hundred years of Humiliation
Chiang Kai-shek	蒋介石	1887-1975, President of the Republic of China from 1950-1975, major figure in 20th century China
Guǎngdōng	广东	Province in southernmost China. Capital is Guangzhou
Chén Jìtáng	陈济棠	1890-1954, Major military and political figure during the Nanjing Decade in Guangding and to a lesser extent, Guangxi
Hakka	客家	A Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan, Guizhou in China, as well as in parts of Taiwan. Unlike other Han Chinese subgroups, the Hakkas are not named after a geographical region in China. The word Hakka or "guest families" is Cantonese in origin and originally refers to the Northern Chinese refugees fleeing social unrest, upheaval and invasions in northern parts of China who migrated to the south.
Guǎngxī	广西	Province just to the west of Guangdong.
Nán Tiānwáng	南天王	the Southern Heavenly King, a nickname for Chen Jitang
Bái Chóngxī	白崇禧	1893-1966, a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army and a prominent Chinese Nationalist leader. He was of Hui ethnicity and of the Muslim faith. From the mid-1920s to 1949, Bai and his close ally Li Zongren ruled Guangxi province as regional warlords with their own troops and considerable political autonomy. His relationship with Chiang Kai-shek was at various times antagonistic and cooperative.
Lǐ Zōngrén	李宗仁	1890-1969, prominent Guangxi warlord and KMT military commander during the Northern Expedition, Second Sino-Japanese War and Chinese Civil War. He also served as vice-president and acting President of the Republic of China under the 1947 Constitution
Mukden Incident	九一八	A false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel on 9-18-1931 in the city of Shenyang (also called Mukden) that was used as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria.
Jiāngxī	江西	Inland province in southern China
Jǐnggāngshān	井冈山	Mountain range near the Jiangxi-Hunan border. It's called the Birthplace of the Communist Red Army and "The Credle of the Chinese Revolution"
Yán’ān	延安	A prefecture-level city in northern Shaanxi province, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. Yan'an served as the headquarters of the Chinese Communists in the 1930's
Hú Hànmín	胡汉民	1879-1936, Chinese philosopher and politician who was one of the early conservative right factional leaders in the KMT during the 1920's-30's
Chén Jiǒngmíng	陈炯明	1878-1933, early revolutionary figure in Southern China during the late Qing and early Republican period
Jiāngnán	江南	The term "Jiangnan" means "South of the Yangzi River." It comprises a geographic area in China mmediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Shanghai, the southern part of Jiangsu Province, the southeastern part of Anhui Province, the northern part of Jiangxi Province and the northern part of Zhejiang Province.
Liǎngguǎng Incident	两广事变	An attempted coup against the Chiang Kai-shek regime in July 1936 led unsuccessfully by Chen Jitang
Hǎinán	海南	Island province off the coast of western Guangdong
Dàlián	大连	Port city in Liaoning Province
Dàyà Bay	大亚湾	A bay in the South China SEa bordered by the Dapeng Peninsula of Shenzhen to the west and the city of Huizhou to the north and east.
Hànkǒu	汉口	City in Hubei that is part of Wuhan, Hubei Province
Wǔhàn	武汉	Major city in Hubei Province comprised of the cities of Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang
Arthur Chin	陈瑞钿	1913-1997, Son of a Toi-San Chinese American immigrant. Flew for the Chinese-American Volunteer Pilots. Arthur Chin went on to become the first American Air Force Ace of WWII, shooting down five enemy planes in the action he saw.
Zhōu Dynasty	周朝	A Bronze Age dynasty in northern China that lasted 1046-256 BC
Lín Zéxú	林则徐	1785-1850, politician and scholar who served in a number of high-ranking positions in the Qing government. His forceful measures taken against the foreign traders dealing in opium, changed the course of history. Once a former lair for pirates, now it's the site of a nuclear power plant
Kūnmíng	昆明	Capital of Yunnan Province
Tiānhé	天河	A district of Guangzhou
Zhāng Fākuí	张发奎	1896-1980, Chinese Nationalist general who fought against northern warlords, the Imperial Japanese Army and Chinese Communist forces in his military career. He served as commander-in-chief of the 8th Army Group and commander-in-chief of NRA ground force before retiring in Hong Kong in 1949
Wāng Jīngwèi	汪精卫	1883-1944, initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in opposition to the right-wing government in Nanjing, but later became increasingly anti-communist after his efforts to collaborate with the Chinese Communist Party ended in political failure. His political orientation veered sharply to the right later in his career after he collaborated with the Japanese.
Chén Bìjūn	陳璧君	1891-1959, Wang Jingwei's wife and partner in crime in the eyes of many
Shǐxìng County	始兴县	A county in northern Guangdong that borders Jiangxi
Wú Pèifú	吴佩孚	1874-1939, A major figure during the Warlord Era in China
Zhāng Zuòlín	张作霖	1875-1928, another major figure during the Warlord Era, sometimes referred to as The Old Marshall
Nánchāng	南昌	Capital of Jiangxi Province
Zhào Tuó	赵陀	240-137 BC, Qin dynasty Chinese general and first emperor of Nanyue. He participated in the conquest of the Baiyue peoples of Guangdong, Guangxi and Northern Vietnam. After the fall of the Qin, he established the independent kingdom of Nanyue with its capital in Panyu (now Guangzhou) in 204 BC
Nányuè Kingdom	南越国	A kingdom located in Southern China and northern Vietnam that lasted 204-111 BC, falling during the Western Han
Liú Yǎn	刘䶮	Founding emepror of the Southern Han Dynasty. He reigned from 917-942
Southern Hàn Dynasty	南汉	One of the Ten Kingdoms that existed following the fall of the Tang Dynasty. The Southern Han lasted 917-971
Chángshā	长沙	Capital of Hunan Province
Fúzhōu	福州	Capital of Fujian Province
Lánzhōu, Gānsù	甘肃兰州	Lanzhou is the capital of the northwestern province of Gansu
Shānxī	山西	Province in northern China located in between Shaanxi and Hebei
Yán Xīshān	阎锡山	1883-1960, known as The Model Warlord, he governed Shanxi province during the Warlord Period all the way to the fall of the province to the Communists.
Tàiyuán	太原	Capital of Shanxi Province
Chóngqìng	重庆	Once a part of Sichuan, now a municipality in southwest China, also known in Hollywood as "Chungking"
Chéngdū	成都	Capital of Sichuan Province
kingdom of Shǔ	蜀汉	Also known as Shu Han and Han, one of the three kingdoms that competed for supremacy over China in the Three Kingdoms period (220–280). It was based in the area around present-day Hanzhong, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, and north Guangxi, an area historically referred to as "Shu" based on the name of the past ancient state of Shu
Liú Bèi	刘备	161-223, a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler
Taipei	台北	The capital of Taiwan, known also as Taipei
Nánhǎi	南海	The South Seas, referring to The South China Sea
Emperor Qiánlóng	乾隆帝	Qing emperor who reigned 1735-1796
Gǎigè Kāifàng	改革开放	Reform and Opening Up to the World, the centerpiece of the Deng Xiaoping Reforms of the 1980's and 90's
Xí Jìnpíng	习近平	General Secretary of the CCP and the 7th President of the PRC
Xí Zhòngxūn	习仲勋	1913-2002, father of China's current president and a major revolutionary during the rise of the Communists and the founding of the PRC
Shékǒu	蛇口	An area on the tip of Shenzhen at Nanshan, across the bay from Hong Kong's New Territories
Shēnzhēn	深圳	The first and most successful Special Economic Zone, today one of China's largest cities, located just over the border from Hong Kong
Zhūhǎi	珠海	Another Special Economic Zone located just over the border from Macau
Shàntóu	汕头	Port City in Eastern Guangdong, also known once as Swatow
Xiàmén	厦门	Port City in Southern Fujian
Fóshān	佛山	City just to the west of Guangzhou
Zhàoqìng	肇庆	City just to the west of Foshan
Jiāngmén	江门	City southwest of Guangzhou and south of Foshan
Dōngguǎn	东莞	City just to the east of Guangzhou
Huìzhōu	惠州	City just to the east of Dongguan

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