Lianjiang County
Lianjiang County
连江县 | |
|---|---|
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Fujian |
| Prefecture-level city | Fuzhou |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,168.1 km2 (451.0 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 620,000 |
| • Density | 530/km2 (1,400/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
Lianjiang (simplified Chinese: 连江; traditional Chinese: 連江; pinyin: Liánjiāng; Wade–Giles: Lien²-chiang¹; BUC: Lièng-gŏng) is a suburban county of Fuzhou on the eastern coast of Fujian province, People's Republic of China. Most of the county is controlled by the People's Republic of China (PRC), while a number of outlying islands, collectively referred to as the Matsu Islands, are administered as a separate Lienchiang County (same Chinese name but in Wade–Giles Romanization) by the Republic of China (ROC), based in Taiwan since 1949. As a result, the county has two governments governing separate jurisdictions.
See Matsu Islands for a description of ROC-governed Lienchiang County.[Notes 1]
Administration
PRC jurisdiction:
- Capital: Fengcheng Town
- Population: 620,000
- Area: 1,168.1 km2 (451.0 sq mi)
- Geographic coordinates: 26°03'-26°27' N, 119°17'-120°31' E
- Coastline length: 209 km (130 mi)
Towns (镇, zhen)
The PRC governs 14 towns:
- Fengchang (凤城镇) ("Phoenix City Town")
- Mabi (马鼻镇) ("Horse Snout Town")
- Danyang (丹阳镇)
- Dongdai (东岱镇)
- Donghu (东湖镇) ("East Lake Town")
- Guanban (官坂镇) (Traditional: 官阪镇)
- Tailu (苔菉镇)
- Aojiang (敖江镇) ("Ao River Township")
- Pukou (浦口镇) ("River Mouth Township")
- Toubao (透堡镇)
- Huangqi (黄岐镇)
- Xiao'ao (晓澳镇)
- Guantou (琯头镇 - Guàntóu; officially 倌头 Guāntou)
- Xiaocheng (筱埕镇 - Xiǎochéng)
Townships (乡, xiang)
- Xiagong (下宫乡)
- Xiaocang She-nation Ethnic Township (小沧畲族乡; Traditional: 小滄佘族鄉)
- Changlong (长龙乡) ("Long Dragon Township")
- Ankai (安凯乡)
- Kengyuan (坑园乡)
- Liaoyan (蓼沿乡)
- Pandu (潘渡乡)
These townships are divided into 266 villages.
History
Lianjiang, in 282, during the Jin Dynasty, was Wenma, named after a shipyard there, Wensha Ship-hamlet (溫麻船屯). It was incorporated into Min Prefecture (閩縣) in 607, during the Sui Dynasty.
Wenma was changed to the present name and made its own county during in 623, during the Tang Dynasty, when Baisha (白沙) or Fusha (伏沙) of Aojiang was the capital of Lianjiang County. The capital was changed to Fengcheng as today in 742.
After the Republic of China was established, Lianjiang switched back and forth numerous times between two special regions:
- Minhou Special Region (閩侯專區) (total 18 years)
- Fu'an (Ningde) Special Region (福安（寧德）專區) (total 16 years)
In 1949, the county was split in two due to the Chinese Civil War, as it remains today.
Beginning on 1 July 1983, the PRC side reverted control to Fuzhou Municipality.
Culture
Residents of Lianjiang, both mainland and Matsu speak Lianjiang dialect, a subdialect of Fuzhou dialect, a branch of Eastern Min. The dialect is also known as Bàng-uâ (平話).
Language
The Lianjiang dialect is a subdialect of Fuzhou dialect (the most prestigious dialect of Min Dong or Eastern Min). The Lianjiang dialect is mutually intelligible with Fuzhou dialect. It differs from Fuzhou dialect in its tonal sandhi pattern and vowel sandhi system. Small lexical differences also exist on object names, e.g. waxmelon is called "卷瓜" /kuoŋ˨ŋua˦/ in Fuzhou but "冬瓜" /tøyŋ˦ŋua˦/in Lianjiang.
Generally speaking, the tonal sandhi system of Lianjiang is more conservative than that of Fuzhou, in that the Lianjiang tonal sandhi is still largely controlled by the Middle Chinese tonal registers,[1] while the Fuzhou tonal sandhi shows more deviation and irregularity.
Lianjiang vowel sandhi is more complicated than that of Fuzhou. Both Lianjiang and Fuzhou have systematic vowel variations between citation forms and non-final forms of the same morpheme, e.g. "地"/tei/ "land" - "地主"/ti-tsuo/ "landlord". However, not all morphemes have such variations. Only the morphemes with low-starting tones show such variation. The morphemes with high-starting tones instead only have the more close variant, e.g. "迟"/ti/ "late"- "迟早" /ti tsia/ "early or late".[2][3] However, some cognates are produced with different vowels in Lianjiang and Fuzhou, e.g. "江 river" is produced as /kyeŋ/ in Lianjiang, but /kouŋ/ in Fuzhou. Also, the rimes in Lianjiang are generally more close and front than that in Fuzhou, which is especially salient in the open vowels, e.g. "下 down" is [ɑ] in Fuzhou, but [a] in Lianjiang.[4]
Surrounded by mountains, Lianjiang used to be a relatively isolated from the inland part of China for centuries. This explains why the Lianjiang phonological system is relatively more conservative. However, with the construction of the high-speed railway system [5] and the improvement of tunnel system, northern migrants are flooding into Lianjiang in the past decade, which may bring language contact into perspective. Just like in Fuzhou, most young or middle-aged Lianjiang speakers speak Standard Chinese fluently, but usually with a local accent influenced by the local dialect. However, due to the misleading language policy (Not speaking Standard Chinese is taken as "immoral".) [6] and disadvantageous status of the dialect, both Fuzhou and Lianjiang dialects are losing speakers in the youngest generation. More and more young people and children are only receptive bilinguals in Lianjiang.[7]
Economy
Food products:
- Farm: loquats, rice, sweet potato, bean, cotton, sugar cane, tea plant, jasmine, watermelon, mushroom, grapes.
- Sea: rhubarb, hairtail, shad, pomfret, cuttlefish, garoupa, prawn, crab, clam.
- Other: Yuanhong wine ("元紅")
Transportation
Luochang Express Way runs through the county 104 national Highway in 500.3 kilometres (310.9 mi). 42.6-kilometre (26.5 mi) navigable river length.
Guantou and Kemen (可門) are the largest seaports in Lianjiang with national access.
Tourism
There are hot springs in Gui'an (貴安) and Tanghui (湯尾) of Pandu. There is a Dragon King Palace-Temple (龍宮廟) in the Xiaocang She Nationality Rural Township.
Notes
- ^ In the ROC, 鎮 (镇, zhen) is englished as Township and 鄉 (乡, xiang) as Rural Township.
External links
- Tourism website Template:Zh icon
- Tourism (Matsu National Scienic Area)
- County Official Website (ROC) Template:Zh-tw
- ^ Wu, J., & Chen, Y. (2012). The Effect of Historical Tone Categories on Tone Sandhi in Lianjiang. Paper presented at the The 20th Annual Conference of the IACL, Hongkong.https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271849974_The_Effect_of_Historical_Tone_Categories_on_Tone_Sandhi_in_Lianjiang
- ^ Wu,J., & Chen, Y. (in prep.) Lianjiang.
- ^ 冯爱珍, & 李荣. (Eds.). (1998) 福州方言词典. 江苏教育出版社. ISBN 7534334217
- ^ Wu,J., & Chen, Y. (in prep.) Lianjiang.
- ^ http://www.gaotie.cn/lianjiangzhan/
- ^ http://www.fjfqsz.com/Article_Print.asp?ArticleID=1301
- ^ Wu,J., & Chen, Y. (in prep.) Lianjiang.