Suzhou

Japanese: 蘇州 - そしゅう

A prefecture-level city in the southern part of Jiangsu Province, China. Its abbreviation is Su. Formerly known as Wu. Located northeast of Lake Taihu, it occupies a strategic location on the fertile Yangtze River delta. It governs five city districts, Huqiu, Wuzhong, Xiangcheng, Wujiang, and Gusu, and acts as the governing agent for four prefecture-level cities, including Changshu and Taicang (as of 2017). It has a population of 6,670,124, and a city district population of 3,412,564 (2015). The annual average temperature is about 16°C, and the annual precipitation is about 1,000 mm. It has sister city relationships with Kanazawa City and Ikeda City.

[Kazuo Hayashi, Editorial Department, January 19, 2018]

history

Because of its particular advantage in water transportation, it was the first city to develop in the Yangtze River basin. During the Spring and Autumn Period, it was the capital of Wu, and after the unification of the Qin Dynasty, it became Wu County. From the Qin Dynasty through the Western Han Dynasty, it was the administrative center of Kuaiji County, and in the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it was changed to the administrative center of Wu County. At that time, it was already the economic and cultural center of Jiangnan, but after the Three Kingdoms period, it developed rapidly as the Han people began to migrate south. When the Grand Canal connecting the Central Plains and Jiangnan was opened in the Sui Dynasty, it prospered even more as the largest distribution center for goods along the canal, and the name of Wu County was changed to Suzhou. Thus, it became the city with the largest population in Jiangnan, and in 742, during the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the population of Wu County and the seven other counties under its jurisdiction totaled about 630,000. It is said that the independence of the Wuyue Kingdom during the Five Dynasties was made possible by the economic power of Suzhou.

From the Southern Song to the Yuan dynasty, together with the Southern Song capital Hangzhou, it was known as "above heaven, below Suzhou," and its urban culture developed and was compared to a paradise on earth. At the time, it was connected to the open sea by the Wusong River, and served as a base for overseas travel and foreign trade. Its heyday was from the late Ming to the Qing dynasties, when silk weaving, embroidery, cotton spinning, and other industries flourished, and commercial finance also developed, sometimes accounting for 10% of the nation's tax revenue.

However, during the late Qing Dynasty, the city was hit by floods and occupied by the Taiping army, and for ten years it became the base of operations for one of its leaders, Li Xiucheng, so the center of prosperity shifted to Shanghai. The city of Suzhou was founded in 1949.

[Kazuo Hayashi January 19, 2018]

Industry and Transportation

The county-level city, which also serves as the administrative agent for the city, is a waterside area with a developed waterway network that stretches across the country, producing rice, cotton, wheat, and rapeseed, and the sericulture industry is thriving. Freshwater aquaculture is also carried out on a large scale, and the area is known as the "village of fish and rice." Yangcheng Lake in the northeast of the city is famous as a production and farming area for Shanghai crabs.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, industries such as textiles, chemicals, machinery, paper, electronic equipment, and steel developed, and preferential zones such as the Suzhou Industrial Park and the Suzhou High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (Hi-tech Zone) were established. The city is connected to the capital Beijing, the economic and financial center Shanghai, and the provincial government seat Nanjing by the Beijing-Shanghai Railway. Traditional handicrafts such as embroidery, sandalwood fans (fans made from fragrant woods such as sandalwood), and Song brocade are known worldwide.

[Kazuo Hayashi, Editorial Department, January 19, 2018]

Culture and Tourism

It is a representative old water town and is famous as a scenic tourist city. Inside and outside the city, there are many scenic places and historical sites, including Zhouzhuang Town, a water town area where buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties still remain, famous gardens such as Canglang Pavilion, Lion Grove, Humble Administrator's Garden, and Liuying Garden, as well as Fengqiao, Huqiu, Hanshan Temple, which is famous for Zhang Ji's Chinese poem "Night Mooring at Fengqiao Bridge," and Bao'en Temple.

[Kazuo Hayashi January 19, 2018]

World Heritage Registration

Nine gardens scattered throughout the city, including Canglang Pavilion, Lion Grove Garden, Humble Administrator's Garden, and Lingering Garden, were registered as World Heritage sites by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as "Classical Gardens of Suzhou" in 1997 and 2000. In addition, the Suzhou Canal was registered as a World Heritage site in 2014 as a component part of the "Grand Canal of China."

[Editorial Department, January 19, 2018]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国、江蘇(こうそ)省南部の地級市。略称は蘇。旧称は呉。太湖(たいこ)の北東にあって、豊かな揚子江(ようすこう)（長江(ちょうこう)）デルタの要地を占める。虎丘(こきゅう)、呉中(ごちゅう)、相城(そうじょう)、呉江(ごこう)、姑蘇(こそ)の5市轄区を管轄し、常熟(じょうじゅく)、太倉(たいそう)など4県級市の管轄代行を行う（2017年時点）。人口667万0124、市轄区人口341万2564（2015）。年平均気温は約16℃、年降水量は約1000ミリメートル。金沢市、池田市と姉妹都市提携を結んでいる。

［林　和生・編集部　2018年1月19日］

歴史

水上交通にとくに恵まれているため、揚子江流域ではもっとも早く開発された。春秋時代は呉の都が置かれ、秦(しん)の統一後、呉県となり、秦から前漢を通じて、会稽(かいけい)郡の治所が置かれ、後漢(ごかん)の中期に呉郡の治所に改められた。当時すでに江南における経済や文化の中心であったが、三国時代以後、漢民族の南方への移住が盛んになってから急速に発展した。隋(ずい)代に中原(ちゅうげん)と江南を結ぶ大運河が開通すると、沿線最大の物資の集散地としていっそう繁栄し、呉郡の名も蘇州と改められた。かくて、江南最大の人口を誇る都市となり、唐の最盛期の742年には、呉県をはじめ管下の7県の人口をあわせて約63万を数えた。五代の呉越(ごえつ)国の独立は蘇州の経済力を基礎にして可能となったといわれる。

　南宋(なんそう)から元にかけては南宋の首都杭州(こうしゅう)とともに「上有天堂、下有蘇杭」と称され、都市文化が発達し地上の極楽に比せられた。当時、呉淞江(ごしょうこう)によって外海に通じ、海外渡航の根拠地となり、外国貿易も行われた。明(みん)代後半から清(しん)代にかけてが全盛期で、絹織物、刺しゅう、綿紡織業などが栄え、商業金融も発達し、全国の租税納入額の1割を占めることもあった。

　しかし清末には洪水に襲われたり、また太平天国軍に占領され、10年間にわたり、その指導者の一人である李秀成(りしゅうせい)の本拠となったりしたため、繁栄の中心は上海(シャンハイ)に移った。蘇州市が設置されたのは1949年である。

［林　和生　2018年1月19日］

産業・交通

市内同様に管轄代行を行う県級市は縦横に水路網が発達した水郷地帯で、米、ワタ、小麦、ナタネ（アブラナ）を産し、養蚕業が盛んである。また淡水養殖業も大規模に営まれ「魚米の里」とよばれる。市東北部にある陽澄湖(ようちょうこ)は、シャンハイガニの産地・養殖地として有名。

　中華人民共和国成立後に繊維製品、化学、機械、製紙、電子機器、鉄鋼などの工業が発達し、蘇州工業園区、蘇州ハイテク産業開発区（高新区）などの優遇区域が設置されている。京滬(けいこ)線によって首都の北京(ペキン)や経済・金融の中心地である上海、省政府所在地の南京(ナンキン)と結ばれている。伝統的手工業として刺しゅう、檀香扇(たんこうせん)（白檀(びゃくだん)など香木を使った扇子）、宋錦などが世界的に知られる。

［林　和生・編集部　2018年1月19日］

文化・観光

代表的な古い水都で、風光明媚(めいび)な観光遊覧都市として名高い。市の内外には、明・清代の建造物が現存する水郷地帯の周荘鎮(しゅうしょうちん)をはじめ、滄浪亭(そうろうてい)、獅子林(ししりん)、拙政園(せっせいえん)、留園(りゅうえん)などの名園や、楓橋(ふうきょう)、虎丘、張継(ちょうけい)の漢詩「楓橋夜泊」で有名な寒山寺、報恩寺など、名勝・旧跡が多い。

［林　和生　2018年1月19日］