Wuxi - Angry

Japanese: 無錫 - むしゃく

A prefecture-level city on the north shore of Lake Taihu in the southern part of Jiangsu Province, China. It has jurisdiction over five city districts and acts as the administrative agent for two county-level cities, Jiangyin and Yixing (as of 2016). Population: 4.809 million (2015). The city is located along the Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity Railway (Shanghai-Nanjing) and the Grand Canal, from which the Xicheng Road and Xicheng Canal branch off. Wuxi County was established in the Western Han Dynasty, and was renamed Youxi County during the Xin Dynasty, but was restored to Wuxi County in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and successive generations have followed this tradition ever since. In 1949, the city was separated and established.

The name Wuxi is said to derive from the fact that the city once produced tin, but by the Han dynasty it had run out of it. After the opening of the Grand Canal, it developed as a distribution center for agricultural products from the Taihu Lake Plain, where waterways run in every direction. Furthermore, from the Ming dynasty, handicraft industries such as cotton spinning and silk reeling also flourished. During the Qing dynasty, it was counted as one of China's four major rice cities along with Changsha, Jiujiang, and Wuhu, and was also the leading trading center for raw silk in the Jiangnan region. From the end of the Qing dynasty, the modern cotton spinning industry developed rapidly with ethnic capital, and after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, industries such as textiles such as cotton weaving, silk weaving, and wool weaving, as well as machinery, electronics, watches, and metallurgy developed, making it the second largest industrial city in the province. As of 2015, its GDP per capita was the second largest in the province.

It is also the center of inland water transportation in the Taihu region. Of the many creeks that have developed like a spider's web, the Zhihe River runs through the city, with commercial districts developed along it, and the industrial zone extends to the northwest outside the city. In 1992, the Wuxi High-Tech Industrial Development Zone was established, and the city has been attracting foreign capital since early on. Japanese electronics manufacturers such as Sony, Sharp, and Toshiba have also established bases in the city, as well as companies such as Sumitomo Corporation. In 2004, Sunan Shuofang International Airport opened in the district.

There are many famous places and historical sites in the area, such as Gentouzhu Park, Reiyuan Garden, Shakukei Park, and Plum Garden.

[Kazuo Hayashi, Editorial Department, February 16, 2017]

World Heritage Registration

In 2014, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) registered the Wuxi Canal as a World Heritage Site as a component part of the "Grand Canal of China" (World Cultural Heritage).

[Editorial Department, February 16, 2017]

[Reference items] | Jiangyin | Jiangsu (province) | Grand Canal | Taihu

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国、江蘇(こうそ)省の南部、太湖(たいこ)北岸にある地級市。5市轄区を管轄し、江陰(こういん)、宜興(ぎこう)の2県級市の管轄代行を行う（2016年時点）。人口480万9000（2015）。市は、滬寧(こねい)城際鉄道（上海(シャンハイ)―南京(ナンキン)）と大運河に沿い、ここから錫澄(しゃくちょう)道路と錫澄運河が分岐する。前漢代に無錫県が置かれ、新の時代に有錫県と改められたが、後漢(ごかん)代に無錫県に復し、以後歴代これに倣った。1949年に市が分離設置された。

　無錫の名は、かつて錫(すず)を産していたが、漢代には取り尽くしたことにちなむという。大運河の開通後は、水路が縦横無尽に走る太湖平原の農産物の集散地として発達し、さらに明(みん)代より綿紡績、製糸などの手工業も盛んとなった。清(しん)代には米の集散地として長沙(ちょうさ)、九江(きゅうこう)、蕪湖(ぶこ)とともに中国の四大米市の一つに数えられ、また江南地方随一の生糸の取引地となった。清末から民族資本により近代的な綿紡績工業が急速に発展し、中華人民共和国成立後は綿織物、絹織物、毛織物などの繊維工業をはじめ、機械、電子、時計、冶金などの工業が発達し、省第二の工業都市となった。2015年時点で、1人当りの域内総生産（GDP）は省内2位である。

　また太湖地区の内陸水運の中心でもある。網の目のように発達したクリークのうち、直河が城内を貫流し、これに沿って商業地区が展開し、工業地帯は城外の北西部に延びている。1992年無錫ハイテク産業開発区を設置して早くから外資の誘致を推進。日本からもソニーやシャープ、東芝といった電機メーカーのほか、住友商事などが進出している。2004年には同区内に蘇南碩放(そなんせきほう)国際空港が開港した。

　黿頭渚(げんとうしょ)公園、蠡園(れいえん)、錫恵(しゃくけい)公園、梅園などの名所・旧跡がある。

［林　和生・編集部　2017年2月16日］