Quanzhou

Background: The Rise of the Greatest Port in the East In the history of global navigation, medieval Quanzhou, known to the world as ‘Zayton,’ held a status of unparalleled importance. According to the Bamin Tongzhi, Quanzhou was a ‘strategic and secluded treasury of Min-Yue,’ serving as a major hub since the Tang Dynasty. Its geography, described as ‘rivers pressing against the vast sea and mountains connecting to distant peaks,’ provided ideal deep-water conditions. During the Five Dynasties period, Governor Liu Congxiao expanded the city walls and planted Erythrina trees (Citong) around the perimeter, giving birth to the iconic name ‘Citong City.’ By the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Quanzhou had reached its zenith, rivaling Alexandria in Egypt. ...

A friend of mine works in digital heritage preservation. A while back, he told me something that stopped me cold. He said: “Crack open a Ming dynasty local gazetteer. You’ll see more of Quanzhou in one afternoon than in three days of walking the old city.” I called bullshit. He said: go read the Wanli Quanzhou Prefecture Gazetteer. So I did. Not one volume. Thirty-three. From the Ming-era Wanli Gazetteer, through the Qing-era Qianlong Gazetteer, all the way to the modern Quanzhou City Chronicles series — administration, customs, religion, overseas Chinese, dialect, agriculture, education, water conservancy. One by one. ...