Kunshan
Restored sourced content and expanded with additional references. Wakeman (1985) p.654-5, "On August 25, Qing troops stormed the city amid great slaughter....Some sources claim that more than forty thousand people died in Kunshan on the day the city fell." Gu Cheng (2022) ,"清军屠城，士民死难者达数万人"; Cao Shuji (2001)p.21, "昆山县绅民杀清委知县，起兵反清。顾炎武、归庄等积极参与。七月初六日，清军破城，继而屠城，士民死难者达数万人". Tens of thousands of deaths documented in multiple scholarly sources.
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'''Kunshan''' is a [[county-level city]] in [[ |
'''Kunshan''' is a [[county-level city]] in southeastern [[Jiangsu Province|Jiangsu province]] with [[Shanghai]] bordering its eastern border. It is under the administration of the [[prefecture-level city]] of [[Suzhou]]. |
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By the late 11th century, extensive land reclamation led by local magnates—particularly around [[Dianshan Lake]]—began to obstruct irrigation and drainage systems.{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=111, 115-6}} The weakening flow of the [[Wusong River]] further impeded flood discharge—an environmental crisis that persisted until the mid-12th century.{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=126-7}} |
By the late 11th century, extensive land reclamation led by local magnates—particularly around [[Dianshan Lake]]—began to obstruct irrigation and drainage systems.{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=111, 115-6}} The weakening flow of the [[Wusong River]] further impeded flood discharge—an environmental crisis that persisted until the mid-12th century.{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=126-7}} |
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In 1217, the eastern higher-lying areas of Kunshan County, being geographically remote and marked by tax evasion, were partitioned to form [[Jiading, Shanghai|Jiading]] county.{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=313-7}} The region's strategic importance grew |
In 1217, the eastern higher-lying areas of Kunshan County, being geographically remote and marked by tax evasion, were partitioned to form [[Jiading, Shanghai|Jiading]] county.{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=313-7}} The region's strategic importance grew during the Yuan dynasty with the rise of maritime grain transport.{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=200}} |
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In 1296, Kunshan was elevated to a subprefecture, and in 1315 its administrative seat was relocated to present-day Taicang,{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=200}} until [[Zhang Shicheng]] seized control of the region.{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=327}} The era was marked by the emergence of notably wealthy individuals, including [[Shen Wansan]]. Concurrently, a vibrant cultural scene developed, supported by patrons such as Gu Ying,{{Cite book |last=Marme |first=Michael |title=Suzhou: where the goods of all the provinces converge |date=2005 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-4517-8 |location=Stanford, Calif}} whose "Yushan Grass Hall" became an important gathering place for artists like [[Ni Zan]].{{Cite book |title=The Columbia history of Chinese literature |date=2001 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-10984-0 |editor-last=Mair |editor-first=Victor H. |location=New York |pages=388}} |
In 1296, Kunshan was elevated to a subprefecture, and in 1315 its administrative seat was relocated to present-day Taicang,{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=200}} until [[Zhang Shicheng]] seized control of the region.{{sfn|Xie|2015|p=327}} The era was marked by the emergence of notably wealthy individuals, including [[Shen Wansan]]. Concurrently, a vibrant cultural scene developed, supported by patrons such as Gu Ying,{{Cite book |last=Marme |first=Michael |title=Suzhou: where the goods of all the provinces converge |date=2005 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-4517-8 |location=Stanford, Calif}} whose "Yushan Grass Hall" became an important gathering place for artists like [[Ni Zan]].{{Cite book |title=The Columbia history of Chinese literature |date=2001 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-10984-0 |editor-last=Mair |editor-first=Victor H. |location=New York |pages=388}} |
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In the 16th century, Wei Liangfu reformed the local Southern songs into the more sophisticated Kunshan melody, favored by the literati.{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge history of Chinese literature |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-11677-0 |editor-last=Chang |editor-first=Kang-i Sun |location=Cambridge, UK; New York |pages=127 |editor-last2=Owen |editor-first2=Stephen}} Kunshan native Liang Chenyu subsequently authored ''Washing Silk'' (Huan Sha Ji), the first play composed specifically for this melody. Known as ''[[Kunqu]]'', the genre became the dominant form of elite theatre in China proper until the mid-19th century Taiping Rebellion.{{Cite book |last=Liu |first=Su yan |title=Routledge handbook of Asian theatre |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-09931-9 |series= |location=London New York |pages=491–5}} |
In the 16th century, Wei Liangfu reformed the local Southern songs into the more sophisticated Kunshan melody, favored by the literati.{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge history of Chinese literature |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-11677-0 |editor-last=Chang |editor-first=Kang-i Sun |location=Cambridge, UK; New York |pages=127 |editor-last2=Owen |editor-first2=Stephen}} Kunshan native Liang Chenyu subsequently authored ''Washing Silk'' (Huan Sha Ji), the first play composed specifically for this melody. Known as ''[[Kunqu]]'', the genre became the dominant form of elite theatre in China proper until the mid-19th century Taiping Rebellion.{{Cite book |last=Liu |first=Su yan |title=Routledge handbook of Asian theatre |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-09931-9 |series= |location=London New York |pages=491–5}} |
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In 1645, Kunshan suffered a massacre by Qing forces, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths.{{Cite book |last=Wakeman |first=Frederic E. |title=The great enterprise: the Manchu reconstruction of imperial order in seventeenth-century China |date=1985 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-04804-1 |location=Berkeley|pages=654-5|author-link=Frederic Wakeman}}{{cite book |last=Gu |first=Cheng |script-title= |trans-title=History of the Southern Ming |language=zh |series= |location= |publisher=Beijing Daily Press |date= |isbn=978-7-5477-4022-4|title=南明史|year=2022|pages=225-6}}{{cite book |last=Cao |first=Shuji |title=中国人口史 第五卷 清时期 |publisher=Fudan University Press |location=Shanghai |language=zh |isbn=978-7-309-02775-4|year=2001|trans-title=A History of China's Population, Vol. 5: The Qing Dynasty|pages=21}} Notable local Ming loyalists include [[Gu Yanwu]] and Zhu Yongchun, both of whom remained active until the late 17th century.{{Cite journal |last=Mizoguchi |first=Yūzō |title=The Ming–Qing transition as turning point |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14649373.2016.1242190 |journal=Inter-Asia Cultural Studies |language=en |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=526–573 |doi=10.1080/14649373.2016.1242190 |issn=1464-9373}} |
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[[Xu Qianxue]] established a large private library: Chuanshi lou (Pavilion for the Transmission of the Truth) in the county.{{Cite book |last=Elman |first=Benjamin A. |title=From philosophy to philology: intellectual and social aspects of change in late Imperial China |date=2001 |publisher=Univ of California Los Angeles |isbn=978-1-883191-05-4 |edition= |location=Los Angeles}} In 1724, due to its dense population, Kunshan was split into two counties: Kunshan and Xinyang ({{lang|zh|新陽}}) to share a same walled city. By the mid-Qing period, market towns such as Siqiao, Shipu, Qiuxu, and Penglang rose to prominence.{{Cite book |last=Cao |first=Shu Ji |title=The population history of China (1368-1953) |date=2024 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-68265-8 |series=The quantitative economic history of China |location=Leiden}} |
[[Xu Qianxue]] established a large private library: Chuanshi lou (Pavilion for the Transmission of the Truth) in the county.{{Cite book |last=Elman |first=Benjamin A. |title=From philosophy to philology: intellectual and social aspects of change in late Imperial China |date=2001 |publisher=Univ of California Los Angeles |isbn=978-1-883191-05-4 |edition= |location=Los Angeles}} In 1724, due to its dense population, Kunshan was split into two counties: Kunshan and Xinyang ({{lang|zh|新陽}}) to share a same walled city. By the mid-Qing period, market towns such as Siqiao, Shipu, Qiuxu, and Penglang rose to prominence.{{Cite book |last=Cao |first=Shu Ji |title=The population history of China (1368-1953) |date=2024 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-68265-8 |series=The quantitative economic history of China |location=Leiden}} |
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