Early history Changchun was initially established on imperial decree as a small trading post and frontier village during the reign of the
Jiaqing Emperor in the
Qing dynasty. Trading activities mainly involved furs and other natural products during this period. In 1800, the Jiaqing Emperor selected a small village on the east bank of the
Yitong River and named it "Changchun Ting". At the end of the 18th century peasants from overpopulated provinces such as
Shandong and
Hebei began to settle in the region. In 1889, the village was promoted into a city known as "Changchun Fu".
Railway era In May 1898, Changchun got its first railway station, located in
Kuancheng, part of the railway from
Harbin to
Lüshun (the southern branch of the
Chinese Eastern Railway), constructed by the
Russian Empire. After Russia's loss of the southernmost section of this branch as a result of the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905, the Kuancheng station (Kuanchengtze, in contemporary spelling) became the last Russian station on this branch. which then owned all the tracks running farther south, to
Lüshun, which they re-gauged to the
standard gauge (after a brief period of using the narrow Japanese gauge during the war). A special Russo-Japanese agreement of 1907 provided that
Russian gauge tracks would continue from the "Russian" Kuancheng Station to the "Japanese" Changchun Station, and vice versa, tracks on the "gauge adapted by the South Manchuria Railway" (i.e. the standard gauge) would continue from Changchun Station to Kuancheng Station. It was the worst-ever recorded outbreak of pneumonic plague which was spread through the Trans-Manchurian railway from the border trade port of
Manzhouli. This turned out to be the beginning of the large pneumonic plague pandemic of Manchuria and Mongolia which ultimately claimed 60,000 victims.
City planning and development: 1906 to 1931 The
Treaty of Portsmouth formally ended the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 and saw the transfer and assignment to the
Empire of Japan in 1906 the railway between Changchun and Port Arthur, and all its branches. Having realized the strategic importance of Changchun's location with respect to Japan, China and Russia, the Japanese Government sent a group of planners and engineers to Changchun to determine the best site for a new railway station. Without the consent of the Chinese Government, Japan purchased or seized from local farmers the land on which the Changchun Railway Station was to be constructed as the centre of the South Manchuria Railway Affiliated Areas (SMRAA). In order to turn Changchun into the centre for extracting the agricultural and mineral resources of Manchuria, Japan developed a blueprint for Changchun and invested heavily in the construction of the city. At the beginning of 1907, as the prelude to, and preparation for, the invasion and occupation of China, Japan initiated the planning programme of the SMRAA, which embodied distinctive colonial characteristics. The guiding ideology of the overall design was to build a high standard colonial city with sophisticated facilities, multiple functions and a large scale. Accordingly, nearly ¥7 million on average was allocated on a year-by-year basis for urban planning and construction during the period 1907 to 1931. The comprehensive plan was to ensure the comfort required by Japanese employees on Manchurian Railways, build up Changchun into a base for Japanese control of the whole Manchuria in order to provide an effective counterweight to Russia in this area of China. The city's role as a rail hub was underlined in its planning and construction, the main design concepts of which read as follows: under conventional grid pattern terms, two geoplagiotropic boulevards were newly carved eastward and westward from the grand square of the new railway station. The two helped form two intersections with the gridded prototypes, which led to two circles of South and West. The two sub-civic centres served as axes on which eight radial roads were blazed that took the shape of a sectoral structure. At that time, the radial circles and the design concept of urban roads were quite advanced and scientific. It activated to great extent the serious urban landscapes as well as clearly identifying the traditional gridded pattern. With the new Changchun railway station as its centre, the urban plan divided the SMRAA into various specified areas: residential quarters 15%, commerce 33%, grain depot 19%, factories 12%, public entertainment 9%, and administrative organs (including a Japanese garrison) 12%.
Manchukuo and World War II On 10 March 1932 the capital of
Manchukuo, a Japan-controlled puppet state in
Manchuria, was established in Changchun. The city was then renamed
Hsinking (;
Japanese: ; literally "New Capital") on 13 March. The Emperor
Puyi resided in the Imperial Palace () which is now the
Museum of the Manchu State Imperial Palace. During the Manchukuo period, the region experienced harsh suppression, brutal warfare on the civilian population, forced conscription and labor and other Japanese sponsored government brutalities; at the same time a rapid industrialisation and militarisation took place. Hsinking was a well-planned city with broad avenues and modern public works. The city underwent rapid expansion in both its economy and infrastructure. Many of buildings built during the Japanese colonial era still stand today, including those of the
Eight Major Bureaus of Manchukuo () as well as the Headquarters of the Japanese
Kwantung Army.
Construction of Hsinking Hsinking was the only
Direct-controlled municipality () in Manchukuo after
Harbin was incorporated into the jurisdiction of
Binjiang Province. In March 1932, the Inspection Division of South Manchuria Railway started to draw up the Metropolitan Plan of Great Hsinking (). The Bureau of capital construction () which was directly under the control of State Council of Manchukuo was established to take complete responsibility of the formulation and the implementation of the plan. In accordance with the Metropolitan Plan of Great Hsinking, the area of publicly shared land (including the Imperial Palace, government offices, roads, parks and athletic grounds) in Hsinking was , whilst the area of residential, commercial and industrial developments was planned to be . However, Hsinking's population exceeded the prediction of 500,000 by 1940. In 1941, the Capital Construction Bureau modified the original plan, which expanded the urban area to . The new plan also focused on the construction of satellite towns around the city with a planning of land per capita. Because the effects of war, the Metropolitan Plan of Great Hsinking remained unfinished. By 1944, the built up urban area of Hsinking reached , while the area used for greening reached . As Hsinking's city orientation was the administrative center and military commanding center, land for military use exceeded the originally planned figure of 9 percent, while only light manufacturing including packing industry, cigarette industry and paper-making had been developed during this period. Japanese force also controlled Hsinking's police system, instead of Manchukuo government. Major officers of Hsinking police were all ethnic Japanese. The population of Hsinking also experienced rapid growth after being established as the capital of Manchukuo. According to the census in 1934 taken by the police agency, the city's municipal area had 141,712 inhabitants. By 1944 the city's population had risen to 863,607, with 153,614
Japanese settlers. This population made Hsinking the third largest metropolitan city in Manchukuo after Mukden and Harbin, as the metropolitan mainly focused on military and political function.
Japanese chemical warfare agents In 1936, the
Imperial Japanese Army established
Unit 100 to develop plague
biological weapons, although the declared purpose of Unit 100 was to conduct research about
diseases originating from animals. During the
Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and
World War II the headquarters of
Unit 100 ("Wakamatsu Unit") was located in downtown Hsinking, under command of
veterinarian Yujiro Wakamatsu. This facility was involved in research of animal
vaccines to protect Japanese resources, and, especially, biological-warfare. Diseases were tested for use against Soviet and Chinese horses and other
livestock. In addition to these tests, Unit 100 ran a bacteria factory to produce the pathogens needed by other units. Biological sabotage testing was also handled at this facility: everything from poisons to chemical crop destruction.
Siege of Changchun On 20 August 1945 the city was captured by the
Soviet Red Army and renamed Changchun. The Russians maintained a presence in the city during the
Soviet occupation of Manchuria until 1946.
National Revolutionary Army forces under
Zheng Dongguo occupied the city in 1946, but were unable to hold the countryside against
Lin Biao's
People's Liberation Army forces during the
Chinese Civil War. The city fell to the
Chinese Communist Party in 1948 after the five-month
Siege of Changchun, and the communist victory was a turning point which allowed an offensive to capture the remainder of
Mainland China. Between 10 and 30 percent of the civilian population starved to death under the siege; estimates range from 150,000 to 330,000. the PRC government avoids all mention of the siege.
People's Republic Renamed Changchun by the
People's Republic of China government, it became the capital of
Jilin in 1954. The
Changchun Film Studio is also one of the remaining film studios of the era. Changchun Film Festival has become a unique gala for film industries since 1992. and production of the Jiefang CA-10 truck, based on the
Soviet ZIS-150 started in 1956. The
Soviet Union lent assistance during these early years, providing technical support, tooling, and production machinery. During the era of
Xiagang (下岗: step down from the post), due to its heavy reliance on large
state-owned enterprises (SOEs), especially in auto manufacturing (FAW) and traditional heavy industries, Changchun had, since the 1990s, grappled with issues of massive layoffs from enterprises that were financially struggling. Despite efforts by the central government to restructure such enterprises and integrate workers, the widespread unemployment as a result of Xiagang had nevertheless caused substantial decline in Changchun's economy, which fell behind other major Northeastern cities, and especially the booming coastal cities in
Southern China. In 2002, the local television broadcast was hijacked by a small group of
Falun Gong practitioners. These events were depicted in the documentary
Eternal Spring. Changchun hosted the
2007 Winter Asian Games. ==Geography==