Wuhan

Japanese: 武漢 - ぶかん

A sub-provincial city (a prefecture-level city with autonomy equivalent to that of a province) in the central-eastern part of Hubei Province, China, and the capital of the province. Its abbreviation is Han. It is also known as Jiangcheng. Located at the confluence of the Yangtze River (Changjiang) and the Han River, it is the political, economic, cultural, and transportation center of the province. As of 2017, it has jurisdiction over 13 municipal districts and a population of 10,892,900 (2017). It is the merger of three cities: Wuchang on the right bank of the Yangtze River, Hankou on the left bank of the Han River, and Hanyang on the right bank of the Han River. In the past, it was called the Three Towns of Wuhan. It is also known as the "Meeting of the Nine Provinces" (a place where transportation routes from nine provinces converge), and is a transportation hub where water and land transportation routes converge, and was also a "place of war."

The average annual temperature is warm, at 15.8 to 17.5°C. The annual precipitation is 1,150 to 1,450 mm, with most of the rainfall in early summer. There are four distinct seasons, with a long summer of about 135 days, and spring and autumn each about 60 days long. The city has a sister city relationship with Oita City.

[Michihiro Kono, Editorial Department, January 19, 2018]

history

Wuchang was the seat of Wuchang Prefecture during the Ming and Qing dynasties and had a strong political character; it was the flashpoint of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 (Wuchang Uprising), and is still the seat of the provincial government today. Hankou, formerly known as Xiakou, has long been a transportation and commercial center, and after the Opium Wars it was opened as a key location for shipping along the Yangtze River, and a foreign concession was established there. Hankou Special City was established in 1927 (temporarily Wuhan Special City in 1929), but was changed to an ordinary city in 1931. Hanyang became Hanyang County during the Sui dynasty, and the seat of Hanyang Prefecture during the Qing dynasty. In 1949, these three towns were merged to form Wuhan City.

[Michihiro Kono January 19, 2018]

Industry and Transportation

In the past, commerce was the main industry, and although there was a steel mill and an arsenal (weapons factory) in Hanyang, which were established in the late Qing Dynasty, there was no active production activity. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, a large steel complex was built in the Qingshan District in the southeast of Wuchang, and industries such as machinery, shipbuilding, chemicals, petrochemicals, electronics, and spinning were established, and a meat processing complex is also located in Hankou. Since the 1990s, three national-level economic development zones have been established, with the high-tech industry, centered on optical communications, developing in the Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Industrial Development Zone (High-Tech Zone) in Wuchang, food processing and electronic equipment manufacturing developing in the Wuhan Lianqing Economic and Technological Development Zone in Hankou, and the automobile industry developing in the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone in Hanyang. Since the late 2000s, the retail market has grown rapidly due to the entry of foreign distribution companies.

In the early 20th century, the Beijing-Hankou Railway was completed, followed by the Guangzhou-Guangxi Railway (Wuchang-Guangzhou), making it a transit point on the transportation artery connecting Beijing and Guangzhou. In 1957, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was completed, and the two railways were unified and renamed the Beijing-Guangzhou Line, making direct service between Beijing and Guangzhou possible. The bridge is located between Guishan in Hanyang and Shenshan in Wuchang, and is the first double-deck iron bridge for railway and roadway built over the Yangtze River. Since then, the Handan Line (Wuhan-Danjiangkou), the branch Xiangyu Line that reaches Chongqing, the Wujiang Line that reaches Jiujiang, the Wuma Line (Wuhan-Macheng) and the Changjiangbu-Jingmen Line have also been built. Furthermore, the Beijing-Guangzhou High-Speed Railway was opened in 2012, the Shanghai-Hanrong High-Speed Railway (Shanghai-Wuhan-Chengdu) in 2014, the Xibu High-Speed Railway (Xi'an-Wuhan) in 2015, and the Wujiang High-Speed Railway in 2017, making Wuhan the hub of China's high-speed railway network. The Wuhan Second Yangtze River Bridge has also been built in the eastern part of Hankou.

Water transport has been active since ancient times, and there are steamships that run not only along the Yangtze River and the Han River, but also via these rivers to the Xiangjiang River and other areas. In particular, when the Yangtze River is flooded, 10,000-ton ocean-going ships travel up the river to Hankou, and 3,000-ton ships operate to Chongqing. As for air transport, Wuhan Tianhe International Airport opened in 1995, and there are now air routes to various cities around the country.

[Michihiro Kono, Editorial Department, January 19, 2018]

Culture and Tourism

There are many higher education and scientific research institutions, with over 80 universities concentrated in the city, including Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Huazhong Normal University, and China University of Geosciences. Wuhan University, located at the foot of Luojia Mountain in Wuchang District, is a comprehensive university that originated from Wuchang Higher Normal School, founded in 1913, and is designated as a national key university. Surrounded by lakes and mountains, the campus, which blends traditional Chinese school buildings with modern architecture, is said to be one of the most beautiful in China. It is also famous as a cherry blossom viewing spot.

There are many revolutionary historical sites from the Xinhai Revolution to the Kuomintang-Communist cooperation. The scenic East Lake Park has a memorial hall for Qu Yuan, a poet of the Chu state during the Warring States period.

[Michihiro Kono, Editorial Department, January 19, 2018]

The spread of COVID-19

Pneumonia of unknown cause reported in Wuhan City in December 2019 was identified as a novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in January 2020. To contain the infection, Wuhan City imposed a city lockdown from January to April of that year, but the infection continued to spread, and in March the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that COVID-19 had become a pandemic.

[Editorial Department]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国、湖北(こほく)省中東部にある副省級市（省と同程度の自主権を与えられた地級市）で、同省の省都。略称は漢。別名を江城という。長江(ちょうこう)（揚子江(ようすこう)）と漢水との合流点に位置する同省の政治、経済、文化、交通の中心地である。2017年時点で13市轄区を管轄し、人口1089万2900（2017）。長江右岸の武昌(ぶしょう)、漢水左岸の漢口(かんこう)、同右岸の漢陽(かんよう)の3都市が統合されたもので、古くは武漢三鎮と称した。また「九省之会」（9省から交通路の集まる所）ともいわれ、水陸交通路が集中する交通の要衝であり、「兵家必争の地」でもあった。

　年平均気温は15.8～17.5℃で温暖。年降水量は1150～1450ミリメートルで、初夏の降水量が多い。四季の区分は明瞭で、夏が約135日と長く、春と秋はそれぞれ60日程度である。大分市と姉妹都市提携を結んでいる。

［河野通博・編集部　2018年1月19日］

歴史

武昌は明(みん)・清(しん)代の武昌府の治所で政治都市的色彩が強く、1911年の辛亥(しんがい)革命の発火点となり（武昌蜂起）、現在も省政府が置かれている。漢口は旧称を夏口(かこう)とよび、古くからの交通や商業の中心地で、アヘン戦争以後は長江水運の要地として開港され、外国租界が設けられたこともある。1927年に漢口特別市（1929年に一時武漢特別市）が設けられたが、1931年に普通市に改められた。漢陽は隋(ずい)代に漢陽県となり、清代に漢陽府の治所となった。1949年この三鎮を合併して武漢市が成立した。

［河野通博　2018年1月19日］

産業・交通

かつては商業が主で、清末に創立された漢陽の製鉄所や兵工廠(へいこうしょう)（兵器工場）があったものの、活発な生産活動はみられなかった。中華人民共和国成立後、武昌南東部の青山(せいざん)区に大型鉄鋼コンビナートが建設されたのをはじめ、機械、造船、化学、石油化学、電子、紡績などの工業が立地し、漢口には肉類加工コンビナートもある。1990年代以降、三つの国家級経済開発区が設置され、武昌の武漢東湖ハイテク産業開発区（高新区）では光通信を中心とするハイテク産業が、漢口の武漢臨空港経済技術開発区では食品加工や電子機器製造が、漢陽の武漢経済技術開発区では自動車産業が発展している。2000年代後半以降は、外資系流通企業の進出により、小売市場が急成長を遂げている。

　20世紀初頭に京漢鉄道（北京(ペキン)―漢口）が完成、ついで粤漢(えっかん)鉄道（武昌―広州(こうしゅう)）が通じ、北京と広州を結ぶ交通動脈の中継地となった。さらに1957年、武漢長江大橋が完成し、両鉄道は一本化して京広線と名称を変え、北京―広州の直通運転が可能となった。同大橋は漢陽の亀山(きざん)と武昌の蛇山(だざん)の間に位置し、長江に最初に架けられた鉄道と車道の二層式鉄橋である。その後、漢丹線（武漢―丹江口(たんこうこう)）、重慶(じゅうけい)に達する支線の襄渝(じょうゆ)線、九江(きゅうこう)に達する武九線のほか、武麻線（武漢―麻城(まじょう)）や長荊線（長江埠(ちょうこうふ)―荊門(けいもん)）も通じている。さらに、2012年に京広高速鉄道、2014年に滬漢蓉(こかんよう)高速鉄道（上海(シャンハイ)―武漢―成都(せいと)）、2015年に西武高速鉄道（西安(せいあん)―武漢）、2017年に武九高速鉄道が開通し、武漢は中国の高速鉄道網の中枢となりつつある。また漢口東部に武漢第二長江大橋が架設されている。

　水運は古くから盛んで、長江、漢水はもちろん、それらの河川を経由して湘江(しょうこう)などに通じる汽船も就航している。とくに長江の増水期には1万トン級の航洋船舶が漢口まで遡航(そこう)し、重慶へは3000トン級の船が就航している。空運では1995年に武漢天河国際空港が開港し、国内各都市への航空路線が開設されている。

［河野通博・編集部　2018年1月19日］

文化・観光

高等教育・科学研究機関が多く、華中科技大学、華中師範大学、中国地質大学など80あまりの大学が密集している。なかでも武昌区の珞珈山(らくがさん)山麓にある武漢大学は、1913年設立の武昌高等師範学校に由来する総合大学で、国家重点大学に指定されている。湖や山を擁し、中国の伝統的建築の校舎と近代建築の校舎が融和するキャンパスは、中国随一の美しいキャンパスといわれる。サクラの名所としても有名。

　辛亥革命から国共合作にかけての革命史跡が多い。景勝地東湖公園には戦国時代の楚(そ)の詩人屈原(くつげん)の記念館がある。

［河野通博・編集部　2018年1月19日］

新型コロナウイルス感染症の蔓延(まんえん)

2019年12月に武漢市が報告した原因不明の肺炎は、2020年1月に新型コロナウイルスによる感染症（COVID(コビッド)-19）と判明した。感染を抑えるため、武漢市は同年1月から4月まで都市封鎖を行ったが、感染は広がり、3月にWHO（世界保健機関）は新型コロナウイルス感染症がパンデミック（世界的大流行）に至ったと発表した。

［編集部］