Prehistoric Fujian Recent archaeological discoveries in 2011 demonstrate that Fujian had entered the
Neolithic Age by the middle of the 6th millennium BC. From the Keqiutou site (7450–5590 BP), an early Neolithic site in
Pingtan Island located about southeast of Fuzhou, numerous tools made of stones,
shells,
bones,
jades, and
ceramics (including wheel-made ceramics) have been unearthed, together with
spinning wheels, which is definitive evidence of
weaving. The Tanshishan () site (5500–4000 BP) in suburban Fuzhou spans the Neolithic and
Chalcolithic Age where semi-underground circular buildings were found in the lower level. The Huangtulun () site (), also in suburban Fuzhou, was of the
Bronze Age in character. Tianlong Jiao (2013) notes that the
Neolithic appeared on the coast of Fujian around 6,000 B.P. During the Neolithic, the coast of Fujian had a low population density, with the population depending on mostly on fishing and hunting, along with limited agriculture. There were four major Neolithic cultures in coastal Fujian, with the earliest Neolithic cultures originating from the north in coastal
Zhejiang.
Han dynasty In the aftermath of the Qin dynasty's fall,
civil war broke out between two warlords,
Xiang Yu and
Liu Bang. The Minyue king Wuzhu sent his troops to fight with Liu and his gamble paid off. Liu was victorious and founded the
Han dynasty. In 202 BC, he restored Minyue's status as a
tributary independent kingdom. Thus Wuzhu was allowed to construct his fortified city in Fuzhou as well as a few locations in the
Wuyi Mountains, which have been excavated in recent years. His kingdom extended beyond the borders of contemporary Fujian into eastern Guangdong, eastern
Jiangxi, and southern
Zhejiang. After Wuzhu's death, Minyue maintained its militant tradition and launched several expeditions against its neighboring kingdoms in
Guangdong,
Jiangxi, and
Zhejiang, primarily in the 2nd century BC. This was stopped by the
Han dynasty as it
expanded southward. The Han emperor eventually decided to get rid of the potential threat by launching a
military campaign against Minyue. Large forces approached Minyue simultaneously from four directions via land and sea in 111 BC. The rulers in Fuzhou surrendered to avoid a futile fight and destruction and the first kingdom in Fujian history came to an abrupt end. Fujian was part of the much larger
Yang Province (Yangzhou), whose provincial capital was designated in Liyang (歷陽; present-day
He County, Anhui). The
Han dynasty collapsed at the end of the 2nd century AD, paving the way for the
Three Kingdoms era.
Sun Quan, the founder of the
Kingdom of Wu, spent nearly 20 years subduing the Shan Yue people, the branch of the Yue living in mountains.
Jin era The first wave of
immigration of the noble class arrived in the province in the early 4th century when the
Western Jin dynasty collapsed and the north was torn apart by
civil wars and
rebellions by tribal peoples from the north and west. These immigrants were primarily from eight families in
central China: Nevertheless, isolation from nearby areas owing to rugged terrain contributed to Fujian's relatively undeveloped economy and level of development, despite major population boosts from northern China during the "barbarian" rebellions. The population density in Fujian remained low compared to the rest of China. Only two
commanderies and sixteen counties were established by the Western Jin dynasty. Like other southern provinces such as
Guangdong,
Guangxi,
Guizhou, and
Yunnan, Fujian often served as a destination for exiled prisoners and dissidents at that time. During the
Southern and Northern Dynasties era, the
Southern Dynasties (
Liu Song,
Southern Qi,
Liang (
Western Liang), and
Chen) reigned south of the
Yangtze River, including Fujian.
Sui and Tang dynasties During the
Sui and
Tang eras a large influx of migrants settled in Fujian. Parts of northern Fujian were conquered by the
Wuyue Kingdom to the north as well, including the Min capital Fuzhou.
Quanzhou city was blooming into a seaport under the reign of the
Min Kingdom.
Qingyuan Jiedushi was a military/governance office created in 949 by
Southern Tang's second emperor
Li Jing for the warlord
Liu Congxiao, who nominally submitted to him but controlled Quan (, in modern
Quanzhou, Fujian) and Zhang (, in modern
Zhangzhou, Fujian) Prefectures in
de facto independence from the Southern Tang state. (Zhang Prefecture was, at times during the circuit's existence, also known as Nan Prefecture ().) Starting in 960, in addition to being nominally submissive to Southern Tang, Qingyuan Circuit was also nominally submissive to
Song, which had itself become Southern Tang's nominal overlord. After Liu's death, the circuit was briefly ruled by his biological nephew/adoptive son
Liu Shaozi, who was then overthrown by the officers
Zhang Hansi and
Chen Hongjin. Zhang then ruled the circuit briefly, before Chen deposed him and took over.
Song dynasty The area was reorganized into the
Fujian Circuit in 985, which was the first time the name "Fujian" was used for an administrative region.
Vietnam Many Chinese migrated from Fujian's major ports to Vietnam's
Red River Delta. The settlers then created Trần port and
Vân Đồn. Fujian and Guangdong Chinese moved to the Vân Đồn coastal port to engage in commerce. During the
Lý and
Trần dynasties, many Chinese ethnic groups with the surname Trần (陳) migrated to Vietnam from what is now Fujian or Guangxi. They settled along the coast of Vietnam and the capital's southeastern area. The Vietnamese Trần clan traces their ancestry to Trần Tự Minh (227 BC). He was a Qin General during the Warring state period who belonged to the indigenous Mân, a Baiyue ethnic group of Southern China and Northern Vietnam. Tự Minh also served under King
An Dương Vương of
Âu Lạc kingdom in resisting
Qin's conquest of Âu Lạc. Their genealogy also included Trần Tự Viễn (582 – 637) of Giao Châu and Trần Tự An (1010 – 1077) of Đại Việt. Near the end of the 11th century the descendants of a fisherman named Trần Kinh, whose hometown was in Tức Mạc village in Đại Việt (Modern day Vietnam), would marry the royal Lý clan, which was then founded the Vietnam Tran dynasty in 1225. In Vietnam, the Trần served as officials. The surnames are found in the Trần and Lý dynasty Imperial exam records. Chinese ethnic groups are recorded in Trần and Lý dynasty records of officials. Clothing, food, and languages were fused with the local Vietnamese in
Vân Đồn district where the Chinese ethnic groups had moved after leaving their home province of what is now Fujian, Guangxi, and Guangdong. In 1172, Fujian was attacked by
Pi-she-ye pirates from
Taiwan or the
Visayas, Philippines.
Yuan dynasty After the establishment of the
Yuan dynasty, Fujian became part of
Jiangzhe province, whose capital was at
Hangzhou. From 1357 to 1366 Muslims in
Quanzhou participated in the
Ispah Rebellion, advancing northward and even capturing Putian and Fuzhou before the rebellion was crushed by the Yuan. Afterward, Quanzhou city lost foreign interest in trading and its formerly welcoming international image as the foreigners were all massacred or deported. Yuan dynasty General
Chen Youding, who had put down the Ispah Rebellion, continued to rule over the Fujian area even after the outbreak of the
Red Turban Rebellion. Forces loyal to the eventual Ming dynasty founder
Zhu Yuanzhang (Hongwu Emperor) defeated Chen in 1367.
Ming dynasty After the establishment of the
Ming dynasty, Fujian became a province, with its capital at Fuzhou. In the early Ming era, Fuzhou Changle was the staging area and supply depot of
Zheng He's
naval expeditions. Further development was severely hampered by the
sea trade ban, and the area was superseded by nearby ports of
Guangzhou,
Hangzhou,
Ningbo and
Shanghai despite the lifting of the ban in 1550. Large-scale piracy by
Wokou was eventually wiped out by the Chinese military. An account of the Ming dynasty Fujian was written by No In (Lu Ren ). The
Pisheya appear in Quanzhou Ming era records.
Qing dynasty The late Ming and early
Qing dynasty symbolized an era of a large influx of refugees and another 20 years of sea trade ban under the
Kangxi Emperor, a measure intended to counter the
refuge Ming government of
Koxinga in the
island of Taiwan. The sea ban implemented by the Qing forced many people to evacuate the coast to deprive Koxinga's Ming loyalists of resources. This has led to the myth that it was because Manchus were "afraid of water". Incoming refugees did not translate into a major labor force, owing to their re-migration into prosperous regions of
Guangdong. In 1683, the Qing dynasty conquered Taiwan in the
Battle of Penghu and annexed it into Fujian, as the
Taiwan Prefecture. Many more
Han Chinese then settled in Taiwan. Today, most Taiwanese are descendants of
Hokkien people from Southern Fujian. Fujian and Taiwan were originally treated as one province (
Fujian-Taiwan-Province), but starting in 1885, they split into two separate provinces. In the 1890s, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan via the
Treaty of Shimonoseki after the
First Sino-Japanese War. In 1905–1907 Japan made overtures to enlarge its sphere of influence to include Fujian. Japan was trying to obtain French loans and also avoid the
Open Door Policy. Paris provided loans on condition that Japan respected the Open Door principles and didn't violate China's territorial integrity.
Republic of China The
Xinhai revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty and brought the province into the rule of the
Republic of China. The
anarchist Constitution Protection Region of Southern Fujian was established by
Chen Jiongming from 1918 to 1920. Fujian briefly established the independent
Fujian People's Government in 1933. It was re-controlled by the
Republic of China in 1934. Fujian came under a Japanese sea blockade during
World War II. == People's Republic of China ==