Nantou, Shenzhen (historical)
| Nantou | |||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 南頭 | ||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 南头 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Southern End | ||||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | nán tóu |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Jyutping | nam4 tau4 |
Nantou (Chinese:南头) is the former administrative centre of Xin'an County.
It was formerly a walled city facing Qianhai Bay. The city was on the sea route in South China and was regarded as the gatekeeper of the Pearl River and Guangzhou. The walled city is also known as Nantoucheng (南头城), "walled city of Nantou". The inhabitants of Nantou extended south along Taishanwan to Chenwuwei (陈屋围), including Guankou (关口) and Shiqiaotou (石桥头).
The history of Nantou dates back to 331 CE. It was known as Dongguan (东官) as it was the capital of Dongguan Prefecture, which was, amongst others, the areas covering present-day Dongguan, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Huizhou, Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Macau prior to any European settlements. At the same time, it was also the administrative centre of Bao'an, then one of the six counties comprising Donggguan. Since then, it has been repeatedly reported to be prosperous in the salt industry.
In 736 CE, during the Tang dynasty, the city itself was fortified with imperial troops and became to be known as Tunmen (屯门).
The current walled city was built in 1394, at almost exactly the area of Dongguan, when the government of the Ming dynasty revived the coastal defence after the fall of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. It remained as the administrative centre afterwards. Historic reports suggested that the Ming dynasty admiral Zheng He and his crew once sailed pass Nanshan and encountered dangers in the area during the treasure voyages. He went on land and prayed for luck in the Tianhou Temple in Chiwan, which was near to the town itself.
In 1573, 7,608 families, or 33,971 inhabitants, who lived around Dongguan prefecture, moved into the town by the order of the government. Xin'an County was since established.
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