Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province

Suzhou, formerly known as Gusu and Pingjiang, is a prefecture level city in Jiangsu Province, one of the important central cities in China's Yangtze River Delta approved by the State Council, a national high-tech industrial base and a scenic tourist city. By 2019, the city has five districts and four county-level cities under its jurisdiction, with a total area of 8657.32 square kilometers, built-up area of 477.63 square kilometers, permanent resident population of 10.75 million, urban population of 8.277 million, and urbanization rate of 77%.

Suzhou is located in East China, Southeast Jiangsu and Central Yangtze River Delta. It is an important part of Yangtze River city group. It is adjacent to Shanghai in the East, Jiaxing in the south, Taihu Lake in the West and Yangtze River in the north. It is located between 119 ° 55 ′～ 121 ° 20 ′ E and 30 ° 47 ′～ 32 ° 02 ′ n. The terrain of the whole city is low and flat, with plains accounting for 54.8% of the total area, altitude of about 4 meters, and hills accounting for 2.7% of the total area. Suzhou has a subtropical monsoon marine climate with four distinct seasons and abundant rainfall. It grows rice, wheat and rape, and produces cotton, sericulture and fruits. Its specialties include Biluochun tea, Yangtze River swordfish, Taihu silverfish, Yangcheng Lake hairy crab, etc.

Suzhou is one of the first batch of national historical and cultural cities with a history of nearly 2500 years. It is an important birthplace of Wu culture and has the reputation of "paradise on earth". The representative of Chinese private gardens, the classical gardens in Suzhou and the Suzhou section of the Grand Canal, are listed as world cultural heritage by UNESCO.

In June 2020, the Central Committee for the rule of law was selected as the first batch of national government construction demonstration areas and projects.

Many ancient cultural sites have been found in Suzhou, especially the Liangzhu Culture in the late Neolithic age. The famous sites are zhaolingshan site, shaoqingshan site, Chuodun site, caojieshan site, luodun site, etc. among them, zhaolingshan site was listed as one of the top ten archaeological sites in China in 1992.

At the end of the Shang Dynasty, Taibo and Zhongyong, the sons of Gu Gongfu, the leader of the Zhou clan surnamed Ji in Northwest China, fled from Zhouyuan at the foot of Qishan to Meili on the South Bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River to establish the "Kingdom of Gouwu" with local residents. In the middle of the 11th century BC, Zhou Dynasty destroyed the Shang Dynasty and implemented the enfeoffment system. King Wu of Zhou found Zhou Zhang, the fifth grandson of Taibo and Zhongyong, who had already been monarchs in Wu, and granted him the title of marquis. "Gouwu" became a vassal state and was formally incorporated into the territory of the Western Zhou Dynasty. In the first year of the king of Zhou Jian (585 BC), Shoumeng succeeded to the throne and became the king. The exact date of the state of Wu began. From Shoumeng on, the state of Wu became more and more powerful, and began to communicate with other countries in the Central Plains. In the 12th year of King Ling of Zhou Dynasty (560 BC), the throne of the state of Wu was passed to the 20th sun Zhufan, and the capital of the state moved to the south. In the third year of King yuan of Zhou Dynasty (473 BC), the state of Yue destroyed Wu, and the land of Wu was owned by the state of Yue. In the 35th year of Xianwang (334 BC), Chu destroyed Yue. Wu and Yue belonged to Chu. In the first year of King kaolie of Chu (262 BC), Huang Xie, the Prime Minister of Chu, was granted the land of Chunshen in Jiangdong, and Wu became the land of Chunshen.

At the end of the Warring States period, the state of Qin implemented the county system in its jurisdiction. In 223 BC, Wang Jian captured the king of Chu and built Chu County in the north of the Yangtze River. In the 25th year, Wang Jian conquered Chu County in the south of the Yangtze River and divided Chu County into Jiujiang County, Zhangjun county and Kuaiji county. In 221 BC, Qin unified China and formally implemented the county system in the whole country, which divided the country into 36 counties and Wu Prefecture Kuaiji County, the former capital of the state of Wu (now Suzhou City), is the first city of 26 counties under its jurisdiction. Wu county has been named since then. In the first year of Qin II (209 BC), Xiang Liang and Xiang Yu fought against Qin in Wu County. After the death of Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu became the overlord of Western Chu in the battle between Chu and Han Dynasty. He led Liang, Chu and other nine counties, and Kuaiji county also belonged to Chu.

In the fifth year of emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty (202 BC), Liu Bang conquered Xiang Yu, and Guan Ying, the Han general, conquered Wu County and Kuaiji. In the same year, Liu Bang granted Hanxin the title of king of Chu, and Kuaiji and other counties were granted the title of king of Chu. In the following year, Liu Bang descended to Hanxin as the Marquis of Huaiyin, divided his fiefdom into three counties and fifty-two cities, including Kuaiji in the East, and rebuilt the state of Jing. He took his brother Liu Jia as the king of Jing, understood the county of Ji, and took the capital of Wu. In the 11th year (196 BC), yingbu fought against the Han Dynasty, killed Liu Jia, and occupied the fiefdom of Jing. In the following year, Liu Bang pacified yingbu's rebellion, and abolished Jingguo to become Kuaiji Prefecture. In the same year, he was granted the title of king of Wu, and Kuaiji Prefecture was granted the title of fief of Wu. In 171 B.C., Zhangjun was incorporated into Kuaiji county. The county government was once transferred from Wuxian county to Zhangjun county (now between Anji County and Changxing County in Zhejiang Province), and Wuxian county was restored seven years later. In the third year of the reign of emperor Jing (154 BC), Liu Liao conspired against Fu Zhu, abolished the state of Wu, and restored it to Kuaiji County, with 24 leading counties. Wu County was still the first city. In the fifth year of Yuanfeng (106 BC), Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty divided the whole country into 13 prefectures in order to strengthen the local control, and each prefecture had a governor. Kuaiji county belongs to the governor of Yangzhou. At this time, the state is not a formal administrative region. Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty to build a new dynasty, and changed Wu County into Ted county. After the collapse of Wang Mang's new dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty changed Taide county to Wu County in the first year of Jianwu (AD 25). During the reign of Emperor Shun of Han Dynasty, because of the vast territory of Kuaiji County, it was inconvenient to manage, so in the fourth year of Yongjian (A.D. 129), another Wujun was set up in the northeast, and the southwest was still Kuaiji county. Wu County was the first city of the newly established 13 leading counties of Wu County. The county government was located in Wu County, while Kuaiji county government was moved to Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang).

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the warlords fought together. In the second year of Xingping (195 A.D.), the sun CE Department captured Wujun and led the Taishou. Since then, the Wu area has been under the Sun Wu regime of the Three Kingdoms. In the Tenth Five Year Plan of Lingxian County, Wuxian county was the first city. In the first year of SUN Hao's Baoding reign (266 AD), five counties including Yangxian, Yuhang and several counties of Danyang county were divided from Wu County, and another Wuxing county (now Huzhou, Zhejiang Province) was set up.

In the Western Jin Dynasty, Wu County, Danyang county and Wuxing county were known as "three Wu". In the first year of Taikang (AD 280), the Jin Dynasty destroyed Wu and unified the whole country, which was divided into 19 prefectures. Wu County was the governor of Yangzhou. In 283 ad, Haiyu county (now Changshu area) was set up in Yu township of Wu County. In the first year of Xianhe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (326 AD), Emperor Cheng of Jin granted his younger brother Sima Yue the title of king of Wu, changed Wu County into the state of Wu, and set up the internal history department as the official. After that, although Sima Yue was granted the title of King Langya, the name of Wu continued to the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

In the second year of Yongchu period (421 AD), Emperor Wu of Liu Song Dynasty abolished the name of Wu state and renamed Wujun. In the Southern Dynasties, qiaozhou and Qiaojun were widely established in the south. In the seventh year of the Ming Dynasty (463 AD), Emperor Xiaowu of the Song Dynasty, Wujun was established in southern Xuzhou. The next year, it was still attached to Yangzhou. In the sixth year of Xiaoliang Tianjian (507 A.D.), Wu County was located in Xinyi county. In the year of Datong (535-545 AD), Kunshan county was set up and subordinate to Xinyi county. In the sixth year of Datong (540 AD), Haiyu county was changed to Changshu County, hence the name of Kunshan and Changshu. In the third year of the Taiqing Dynasty (549 AD), Hou Jing made a rebellion and captured the county city, and changed Wu County into Wuzhou. The next year, it was restored to its original position. In 558 ad, Emperor Chen Wu cut Haiyan County, Yanguan county and Qianjing County of Wu county to set up Haining County; later cut Qiantang County, Fuyang county and Xincheng County to set up Qiantang County; cut Jiande County, shouchang county and Tonglu County to set up Xin'an County. The area under the jurisdiction of Wu county has been reduced sharply, with only four counties, namely Wu, Kunshan, Changshu and Jiaxing. In the first year of Zhenming Dynasty (587 A.D.), it was analyzed that Wuzhou was added to Yangzhou, and the Wujun and Qiantang Jun, which originally belonged to Yangzhou, were transferred to Wuzhou, so Wuzhou, Wujun and Wuxian were stationed in the same city.

After the establishment of Sui Dynasty, the three-level system of state, county and county was changed into two-level system of state and county. In the ninth year of kaihuang (589 A.D.), Wu Jun was abolished and established. Since there was Gusu mountain in the west of the city, Suzhou was named after Yiwu state, which was the beginning of Suzhou's name. Under the jurisdiction of Wu, Kunshan, Changshu, Wucheng, Changxing County (Changxing County); eleven years (AD 591), due to frequent rebellious riots, endangering the safety of Su city, so Yang Su in the southwest of Su city Hengshan (Qizi mountain) and Huangshan built another city outline, state and county government know to move the new outline, now the place is still called Xinguo. In the first year of Daye (AD 605), Suzhou was restored to Wuzhou; in the third year (AD 607), the system of prefectures and counties was changed to the system of prefectures and counties.

In the fourth year of Wude (621 A.D.) of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Jun was restored to Suzhou; in the seventh year (624 A.D.), the prefectures and counties moved out of the Sui Dynasty were moved back to their original sites. In the first year of Zhenguan (627 AD), the country was divided into ten roads, and Suzhou belonged to Jiangnan Road. In the 21st year of Kaiyuan (733 AD), Jiangnan Road was divided into East and West roads, and Suzhou was the East Road of Jiangnan. In the first year of Tianbao (742 A.D.), Suzhou was changed to Wujun, and in the first year of Qianyuan (758 A.D.), it was renamed Suzhou. It was under the jurisdiction of zhexidao, and the Department of festival envoys was also stationed in Suzhou. In 778 ad, Suzhou was promoted to be the only Xiongzhou in Jiangnan. In the first year of Guanghua (898 A.D.), Suzhou became the territory of Wu and Yue, and was renamed Zhongwu mansion. In 909 A.D., Qian Liu, the king of Wu and Yue, set up Wujiang County in the south of Wu County, and Wujiang county was built from then on. In the second year of Tongguang (924 A.D.) in the later Tang Dynasty, Qian Liu invited Zhongwu Fu to be promoted to Zhongwu army, and set up Jiedushi, Lingchang, Runzhou and other prefectures. There was no change until the early Song Dynasty. In the same year, Qian Liu set up Kaiyuan Fu in Jiaxing, and Jiaxing was separated from Suzhou, leading Jiaxing, Haiyan and Huating.

In the eighth year of Kaibao in the Song Dynasty (975), Qian hongchu, the king of Wu and Yue, changed the Wu army into Pingjiang army, which was subordinate to Jiangnan Road. In 978, Wu and Yue returned to the Song Dynasty and resumed the establishment of Suzhou, which was transferred to the Liangzhe road. In the third year of Zhenghe (1113), Suzhou was promoted to Pingjiang Prefecture, belonging to Zhexi Road, Jiangnan Road, so Suzhou is also known as Pingjiang. Xuanhe five years (1123) set West Zhejiang tiju division, Jianyan four years (1130) set West Zhejiang tiju division

Chinese PinYin : Jiang Su Sheng Su Zhou Shi