Prehistory The
Neolithic era began in the
Pearl River Delta () 7,000 years before present (BP), with the early period from around 7000 to 5000 BP (c. 5050–3050 BC), and the late period from about 5000 to 3500 BP (c. 3050–1550 BC). In coastal Guangdong, the Neolithic was likely introduced from the middle Yangtze River area (Jiao 2013). In inland Guangdong, the Neolithic appeared in Guangdong 4,600 years before present (BP). The Neolithic in northern inland Guangdong is represented by the Shixia culture (), which occurred from 4600 to 4200 BP (c. 2650–2250 BC).
Imperial Originally inhabited by a mixture of
tribal groups known to the Chinese as the
Baiyue ("Hundred Yue"), the region first became part of China during the
Qin dynasty. Under the Qin Dynasty, Chinese administration began and along with it, reliable historical records about the region. After establishing the first
unified Chinese empire, the Qin expanded southwards and set up
Nanhai Commandery at
Panyu, near what is now part of Guangzhou. The region was later controlled by an independent kingdom known as
Nanyue between the fall of Qin and the reign of
Emperor Wu of Han. The
Han dynasty administered Guangdong, Guangxi, and northern Vietnam as
Jiaozhi Province; southernmost Jiaozhi Province was used as a gateway for traders from the west—as far away as the Roman Empire. Under the
Wu Kingdom of the
Three Kingdoms period, Guangdong was made its own province, the Guang Province, in 226 CE. The port's importance declined after it was raided by Arabs and Persians in 758 and the foreign residents were at times troubled by the corrupt local officials, sometimes responding violently. During one incident in 684, for example, a merchant vessel's captain murdered a corrupt governor who had used his position to steal from the merchant. As time passed, the demographics of what is now Guangdong gradually shifted to (
Han) Chinese dominance as the populations intermingled due to commerce along the great canals. From the fall of the Han dynasty onwards, it shifted more abruptly through massive migration from
the north during periods of political turmoil and nomadic incursions. For example, internal strife in northern China following
the rebellion of
An Lushan resulted in a 75% increase in the population of Guangzhou prefecture between the 740s–750s and 800s–810s. As more migrants arrived, the local population was gradually
assimilated to Han Chinese culture or displaced. As
Mongols from the north engaged in their
conquest of China in the 13th century, the
Southern Song court fled southwards from its capital in
Hangzhou. The defeat of the Southern Song court by Mongol naval forces in The
Battle of Yamen 1279 in Guangdong marked the end of the Southern Song dynasty (960–1279). During the Mongol
Yuan dynasty, large parts of current Guangdong belonged to
Jiangxi. Its present name, "Guangdong" was given in early
Ming dynasty. Since the 16th century, Guangdong has had extensive trade links with the rest of the world. European
merchants coming northwards via the
Straits of Malacca and the
South China Sea, particularly the
Portuguese and
British, traded extensively through Guangzhou.
Macau, on the southern coast of Guangdong, was the first European settlement in 1557. In the 19th century, the
opium traded through Guangzhou triggered the
First Opium War, opening an era of Western
imperialists' incursion and intervention in China. In addition to
Macau, which was then a
Portuguese colony, Hong Kong was ceded to the British, and
Kouang-Tchéou-Wan (modern day area of
Zhanjiang) to the
French. Due to the large number of people that emigrated out of the Guangdong, and in particular the ease of immigration from Hong Kong to other parts of the
British Empire (later
British Commonwealth), many overseas Chinese communities have their origins in Guangdong and/or Cantonese culture. In particular, the
Cantonese,
Hakka,
Teochew dialects have proportionately more speakers among overseas Chinese people than Mandarin-speaking Chinese. Additionally, many Taishanese-speaking Chinese
emigrated to Western countries, with the results that many Western versions of Chinese words were derived from the Cantonese dialects rather than through the mainstream Mandarin language, such as "
dim sum". Some Mandarin Chinese words originally of foreign origin also came from the original foreign language by way of Cantonese. For example, the Mandarin word '
(), meaning "Lemon", came from Cantonese, in which the characters are pronounced as '. The new
Chinese Communist Party administration issued harsh taxes, requisitioning between 22 and 60 percent of grain annually. However, the local party boss Fang Fang tried to moderate
Chinese land reform policy in order to protect successful businesses in the
Pearl River Delta, landholdings by
overseas Chinese seeking to eventually return to the country, and commercial relations with
British Hong Kong. In response
Mao Zedong purged Fang and thousands of cadres from the province in 1952, sending
Tao Zhu to implement a much harsher program under the slogan "Every Village Bleeds, Every Household Fights." During
Reform and Opening Up, Guangdong was supported by the central government to be "one step ahead" of the rest of the country. Most major cities in Guangdong underwent liberalizing economic reforms in the mid-1980s. Since Reform and Opening Up, the province has seen extremely rapid economic growth, aided in part by its close trading links with
Hong Kong, which borders it. It is now the province with the highest gross domestic product in China. In 1952, a small section of Guangdong's coastline (
Qinzhou, Lianzhou (now
Hepu County),
Fangchenggang and
Beihai) was given to Guangxi, giving it access to the sea. This was reversed in 1955, and then restored in 1965.
Hainan Island was originally part of Guangdong, but it was separated into its own province in 1988. == Geography ==