Taishan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taishan (台山; Mandarin: Táishān; Cantonese: Toisan; Taishan dialect: Hoisan, Other: Toishan, Toisaan) is a coastal county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. The city is located in the Pearl River Delta, southwest of Jiangmen (to which it administratively belongs) and 140 kilometers west of Hong Kong, with a population of approximately 1 million. It contains 95 islands and islets, including the largest island in Guangdong, Shangchuan Island.
Because it is estimated that over 75% of all overseas Chinese in North America until the mid- to late-20th century claimed origin in Taishan, the city is also known as the "Home of Overseas Chinese."[1]
Taishanese speak the Taishan dialect or sei yap (four counties), a dialect of Cantonese usually considered to be similar to Standard Cantonese. Before the 1970s, Taishanese was the predominant Chinese language spoken throughout North America's Chinatowns.
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[edit] History
On February 12, 1499 in the 12th year of the reign of the emperor Hongzhi during the Ming Dynasty, Taishan was founded as Xinning County (新宁县) from land in the southwest of Xinhui County. Xinning has also been romanized as Sunning, Sinning, Hsinning, Hsînnîng, and Llin-nen.
From 1854 to 1867 a genocidal war broke out mainly in Taishan County between the Punti and Hakka people with disastrous results for all sides.
In 1914, Xinning was renamed Taishan to avoid confusion with the Xinnings of Hunan and Sichuan. Unfortunately it is now confused with Taishan Mountain in Shandong Province.
On April 17, 1992, Taishan's status was upgraded from county (县) to county-level city (县级市).
[edit] Education
Education in the city of Taishan enjoys significant support from overseas Chinese professionals and businessmen. Many secondary schools were built and financed by Chinese living in the SAR (Hong Kong and Macau) and various foreign countries, such as the US, Canada and Brazil. To their credit, almost no strings are attached to their beneficence.
To honor their benefactors, these schools often bear their names or the names of their parents. An outstanding example is the Pengquan Middle School (鹏权中学), which was constructed during 1999–2001, and is now integrated into the city's public school system. It is situated on the west side of the city, and was built by a Hong Kong businessman.
Primary and secondary education is generally excellent for the region.
The only university is the Deng Xiaoping-era Television University (电视大学), which mostly services high school dropouts and adults seeking additional education credentials for jobs they have already have.
Local high school students usually try to attend universities outside the city, in Guangzhou and Jiangmen. Admissions to prestigious universities are rare, but a few students succeed each year, with most attending Tsinghua and Beijing University.
[edit] Administration
Taishan is under the jurisdiction of Jiangmen. In a jurisdiction of 3,286 km², Taishan contains 20 townships (鎮), which are subdivided into 503 village residential committees (村居委會) and 3,655 natural villages (自然村).
These townships (鎮) are:
- Baisha (白沙鎮)
- Beidou (北陡鎮): separated from the other townships by Zhenhai Bay (鎮海灣) inlet
- Chixi (赤溪鎮)
- Dajiang (大江鎮)
- Doushan (鬥山鎮)
- Duhu (都斛鎮)
- Guanghai (廣海鎮)
- Haiyan (海宴鎮): contains an overseas Chinese farm (華僑農場)
- Nafu (那扶鎮)
- Duanfen (端芬鎮)
- Sanba (三八鎮)
- Sanhe (三合鎮)
- Shangchuan (上川鎮): islands; Tourism Open Integrated Experimental Zone (旅遊開發綜合試驗區)
- Shenjing (深井鎮)
- Shuibu (水步鎮)
- Sijiu (四九鎮)
- Taicheng (台城鎮): contains downtown and the city seat
- Wencun (汶村鎮)
- Xiachuan (下川鎮): islands; Tourism Open Integrated Experimental Zone (旅遊開發綜合試驗區)
- Chonglou (沖蔞鎮)
These "natural villages" (自然村) include:
- An Nan Jiang Chao (安南江潮)
- Bei Hou (庇厚)
[edit] Demographics
Today, some 1.3 million people living overseas can trace their ancestry to Taishan, outnumbering those who now live in Taishan.
Among these are:
- Gary Locke - Former Governor of Washington of Shuibu
- Adrienne Clarkson - Former Governor General of Canada of Sijiu
- Julius Chan - Former Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea of Annanjiangchao Village (安南江潮村) of Duoshan
- Jack Yan - Magazine publisher of New Zealand, of Taishan descent since c. 1600
- Chin Siu Dek (aka Jimmy H. Woo) - Martial Artist of Sanba, who emigrated to the United States in the 1930's, was a Grandmaster of Kung Fu San Soo and died in 1991.
- Tony Leung - Actor
- Flora Chan - Actress/Singer
- Matt Fong (aka Matt Kwong) - Former Treasurer of the State of California
- Wong Ka Kui - lead singer of Hong Kong band Beyond
- Wong Ka Keung - member of Hong Kong band Beyond
- Wong Koon Chung Paul - member of Hong Kong band Beyond
- Yip Sai Wing - member of Hong Kong band Beyond
- Norman Kwong - former professional CFL football player, Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta, former president and general manager of the Calgary Stampeders, one of the founders of the Calgary Flames.
[edit] References
- ^ Hsu, Madeline Y: "Dreaming of Gold, Dreaming of Home," Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 2000, page 3.
