Early history () used the area as a base of operations for the
Chen State before he was subdued by the
Sui general
Yang Su in the AD590s. Quanzhou proper was established under the
Tang in 718
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period In the early period of the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Quanzhou was a part of
Min state. After Min was destroyed by the
Southern Tang, the
Qingyuan Circuit rose up in the original southern territory of Min. The Qingyuan Circuit was a
de facto independent entity that lasted 29 years (949–978) with 4 rulers with its territory including present-day
southern Fujian and
Putian, with Quanzhou as its capital. Its founder,
Liu Congxiao, the Prince of Jinjiang and
Jiedushi (military governor) of Qingyuan Circuit, vigorously expanded overseas trade and city development.
Erythrina trees were planted throughout Quanzhou city, so Quanzhou was called Erythrina City. In 964, the circuit was renamed the Pinghai Circuit. In 978,
Chen Hongjin, the
Jiedushi of Pinghai Circuit, was forced to surrender to the
Northern Song to avoid war and ravage.
Song dynasty Already connected to inland
Fujian by
roads and
canals, Quanzhou grew to international importance in the first century of the
Northern Song. It received an office of the maritime trade bureau (shibosi, 市舶司) in 1079 or 1087 and
Guangzhou. A 1095 inscription records
two convoys, each of twenty ships, arriving from the Southern Seas each year.
Frankincense was such a coveted import that promotions for the trade superintendents at Guangzhou and Quanzhou were tied to the amount they were able to bring in during their terms in office. During this period it was one of the world's largest and most cosmopolitan seaports. By 1120, its
prefecture claimed a population of around 500,000. Its
Luoyang Bridge was formerly the most celebrated bridge in China and the 12th century
Anping Bridge is also well known. during Quanzhou's heyday.Quanzhou initially continued to thrive under the
Southern Song. A 1206 report listed merchants from
Arabia,
Iran, the
Indian subcontinent,
Sumatra,
Cambodia,
Brunei,
Java,
Champa,
Burma,
Anatolia,
Korea,
Japan and the
kingdoms of
the Philippines. and constructed
Hindu temples in Quanzhou. Nevertheless, by 1225, Quanzhou endured intermittent raids by
Visayans who came from the
Visayas and raided Quanzhou from their base in
Eastern Taiwan. Over the course of the 13th century, however, Quanzhou's prosperity declined due to instability among its trading partners The increasing importance of
Japan to China's foreign trade also benefited
Ningbonese merchants at Quanzhou's expense, given their extensive contacts with Japan's major ports on
Hakata Bay on
Kyushu. The superintendent
Pu Shougeng was
Muslim and used his contacts to restore the city's trade under its new rulers.
Ibn Battuta simply called it the greatest port in the world. Polo noted
its tattoo artists were famed throughout Southeast Asia. It was the point of departure for Marco Polo's 1292 return expedition, escorting the 17-year-old
Mongolian princess
Kököchin to her fiancé in the
Persian
Ilkhanate; a few decades later, it was the point of arrival and departure for Ibn Battuta. and
Java sailed primarily from its port. The Islamic geographer
Abulfeda noted, in , that
its city walls remained ruined from its conquest by the Mongols. In the mid-1320s
Friar Odoric noted the town's two
Franciscan friaries, but admitted the
Buddhist monasteries were much larger, with over 3000 monks in one. Sayf ad-Din and Amir ad-Din fought for Fuzhou and Xinghua for five years. They both were murdered by another Muslim called Nawuna in 1362 so he then took control of Quanzhou and the Ispah garrison for five more years until his defeat by the Yuan authorities. '' Nawuna was killed in turn by
Chen Youding. Chen began a campaign of persecution against the city's Sunni community—including massacres and grave desecration—that eventually became a three-days anti-foreign massacre. Emigrants fleeing the persecution rose to prominent positions throughout Southeast Asia, spurring the development of Islam on
Java and elsewhere.
Ming and early Qing dynasties during the early 17th century, with Quanzhou as its trade route epicenter The
Ming discouraged foreign commerce other than formal
tributary missions. By 1473 trade had declined to the point that Quanzhou was no longer the headquarters of the imperial customs service for Fujian. During the
Qing dynasty the
Sea Ban did not help the city's traders or fishermen. They were forced to abandon their access to the sea for years at a time and coastal farmers forced to relocate miles inland to inner counties like Yongchun and Anxi. Violent large scale clan fights with the thousands of non-native families from
Guangdong who were deported to Quanzhou city by the Qing immediately occurred.
19th century to present day In the 19th century, the
city walls still protected a circuit of but embraced much vacant ground. The bay began to attract
Jardines' and
Dents' opium ships from 1832. Following the
First Opium War,
Governor Henry Pottinger proposed using Quanzhou as an official opium depot to keep the trade out of
Hong Kong and the other
treaty ports but the rents sought by the imperial commissioner
Qiying were too high. When Chinese pirates overran the receiving ships in
Shenhu Bay to capture their stockpiles of
silver bullion in 1847, however, the traders moved to Quanzhou Bay regardless. Around 1862, a
Protestant mission was set up in Quanzhou. As late as the middle of the century, large
Chinese junks could still access the town easily, trading in
tea,
sugar,
tobacco,
porcelain, and
nankeens, but
sand bars created by the rivers around the town had generally incapacitated its harbor by the
First World War. It remained a large and prosperous city, but conducted its maritime trade through
Anhai. After the
Chinese Civil War,
Kinmen became disconnected from Quanzhou with the
Nationalists successfully defended Kinmen in battle from a
Communist takeover attempt. ==Administrative divisions==