Hankou (Witomar Pinyin: Hankow) is an important part of Wuhan, one of the three towns in Wuhan, a political, financial, commercial, foreign exchange center and an important transportation hub in Wuhan and even Central China. Known as "the first prosperous place in Chu" since ancient times, it is famous at home and abroad as "Chicago of the East".
In ancient times, Hankou belonged to Hanyang County under Hanyang Prefecture. It was one of the "four famous towns" in China and one of the "four gathering places in the world" ("Shi Jing in the north, Foshan in the south, Suzhou in the east and Hankou in the west." Liu Xianting Yang Guang Miscellaneous Notes). In modern times, Hankou established a concession on 186 1, and 1923 was briefly established as the first municipality directly under the central government in China.
Hankou once got rid of the jurisdiction of the ancient Hanyang government, and Wuchang City and Hankou City were opposite, representing the three towns respectively. During the Republic of China, Hankou was highly prosperous, and Hanyang's population once reached one million, so it was known as "Chicago of the East", which made the comprehensive strength of the three towns of Wuhan once ranked first in Asia after Shanghai in China.
After the founding of New China, Hankou, Wuchang and Hanyang merged into Wuhan again, and the municipal government was located in Jiang 'an District of Hankou. Hankou now refers to the part of the main urban area of Wuhan located in the north of the Yangtze River and Hanjiang River (mainly including three municipal districts of Jiang 'an, Jianghan and Qiaokou), facing Wuchang across the river in the southeast, and Hanyang across the river in the southwest, and being called "the three towns of Wuhan" with Wuchang and Hanyang.
Today's Hankou, originally connected with Hanyang, is called Hankou Town, which belongs to Hanyang County under Hanyang Prefecture. Even after the diversion of the Han River in Chenghua period of Ming Dynasty and the boundary between the two places was the river, Hankou was always under the jurisdiction of Hanyang Prefecture. By 1899 (the 25th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty), Xiakou Hall was established, and Hankou was separated from Hanyang. So Hankou has never been surrounded by ancient city walls like Hanyang and Wuchang.
In fact, Hankou is not a district of Wuhan, but an area composed of three main districts. According to the textual research of Pan Xinzao's "Evolution of Wuhan Organizational System", there were five fortresses in Hankou: Yangkou Fort, Baiyang Fort, Niuhu Fort and two Hankou Fort. After 1949, "Hankou" is no longer a formal administrative division name. In this respect, Hankou is different from Wuchang and Hanyang.
Wuchang and Hanyang are still the names of district-level administrative divisions, and Hankou is divided into Jiang 'an District, Jianghan District and Qiaokou District. In fact, Dongxihu District is located outside Zhang Gongdi and does not belong to Hankou City in the Republic of China. Originally from Hanyang County, it was built in 1964. At the same time, Hankou is also the seat of the municipal government departments such as Wuhan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government.