Directory_and_Chronicle_1902 — Page 852

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

WUCHOW-FU

315.

Chao Kuang, prince of Ts'ang Wu, to reside at Kuanghsin, an old town which was situated one mile to the east of the present Wuchow and which no longer exists. In the year 135 B.C. Han Wu Ti despatched one of his generals to conquer Southern Yüeh, who divided it into seven districts, one of which was Ts'ang Wu, and placed all under the control of an officer known as the Governor of Annam to reside at Kuangshin. In 592 A.D. the present city of Ts'ang Wu or Wuchow was built, and thenceforward became the seat of government. The province of Kwangsi was first defined in the year 1364 by the last of the Sungs. In 1465 the office of Governor-General of the Liang Kwang was instituted by the Ming Emperor Chêng Hua. This officer resided for some sixty years at Ts'ang Wu, and then occasionally went to reside at Shui Hing in Kwangtung, one of the present ports of call on the river, returning as necessity arose to Wuchow. Things stood this way at the commencement of the present dynasty, but in 1665 the seat of provincial government was transferred to Kweilin, and Wuchow reverted to the status of an ordinary prefectural city. In the autumn of 1857 it fell, after a siege of 100 days, into the hands of the Boat Rebels, who, availing themselves of the anarchy caused by the Taipings, appear to have harried this and the neighbouring province for many years. The city was, however, retaken two years later. Since then the course of events in Wuchow has not been marked by anything noteworthy, except the occurrence of a large fire about the middle of the year 1894, which consumed the greater portion of the business quarter of the city. But all the houses destroyed have been rebuilt, and the only trace of the catastrophe is that furnished by the superior look of the new buildings.

As regards trade, Wuchow bids fair to be a place of importance. It is situated at the head of navigation from the sea and just below where the West River and Fuho rapids commence. It is thus of necessity a port of transhipment and, as such, a centre to which business will converge. On reference to the Customs returns it will be seen that a good beginning has been made. The import of foreign goods is already considerable and will continue to increase as new districts are opened up by means of the transit pass. In short the present of Wuchow as a treaty port gives every promise of a prosperous future. In September, 1900, owing to Chinese restrictions on trade, the foreign shipping companies at Hongkong withdrew all their steamers plying on the West River, but in November the sternwheel s.s. "Nanning" appeared on the Canton-Wuchow run.

The port was opened on the 4th June, 1897. The net value of the trade coming under the cognisance of the Foreign Customs during 1900 was Tls. 6,526,063, against Tls. 6,123,242 in 1899, and Tls. 4,221,758 in 1898.

Directory_and_Chronicle_1902 — Page 852

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