Liuzhou History and Culture
Liuzhou, an old city with a history over two thousand years, has survived and thrived, and created a flourishing culture. From its long historic records, we know that Liuzhou has always been a city suitable for living and attracts lots of people.
Liuzhou is the birthplace of Liujiang people, ancient human beings in the south of China. According to archaeology, many cultural relics of ancient human beings had been found in Liuzhou. Bailian cave relic is in the period from the late of the Paleolithic Period to the middle and late of the Neolithic Period, about 30000-7000 years before present. Liyuzui relic is in the early-to-mid of the Neolithic Period, about 7000 years before present. Manwangcheng relic belongs to the period of patriarchal clan, about 4000 years before present. Except these, it still has other cultural relics.
It has more than two thousand years of city building recorded in Chinese history. Before the Qin Dynasty( 221BC -207BC), it was a part of Baiyue which was the general name of the living place of the ancient Yue people and that was in the south of China , and had the branches of Baiyue, Xi'ou and Luoyue. In 219 BC, an army of 500 thousand soldiers under the command of Tu Sui conquered Baiyue region and defeated Baiyue people. After the war, Liuzhou was officially a part of the territory of the Qin Dynasty, and ruled by the central government of Qin Dynasty. Liuzhou was subordinate to Guilin prefecture. After the downfall of the Qin Dynasty, Liuzhou became a part of Nanyue country under the ruling of Zhao Tuo. In 111 BC, Nanyue country was defeated by the army of the Han Dynasty, and the central government of the Han Dynasty established nine prefectures in Lingnan region which referred to Guangxi, Guangdong, Hainan and a part of Vietnam in nowadays. Tanzhong county was in Liuzhou, and subordinate to Yulin prefecture, which was the beginning of Liuzhou's city building.
In the period from 9 AD to 23 AD, Yulin prefecture was renamed as Yuping prefecture, and Tanzhong county was renamed as Zhongtan county, but in the period from 25 AD to 220 AD, of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the two places used their old names. In 274 AD, Guilin prefecture was branched off from Yulin prefecture, and Tanzhong county was under the jurisdiction of Guilin prefecture. In 540 AD, Tanzhong county belonged to Shi'an prefecture and then belonged to Maping prefecture. In 591, it was renamed to Maping county. In 634, its name was changed to Liuzhou due to Liujiang, a river in this region. In 742, Liuzhou was renamed to Longcheng prefecture, but it regained its name as Liuzhou in 758. From then on, the name, Liuzhou, has been used up to today. In the Song Dynasty(907AD-1279 AD), Liuzhou was subordinate to west lu of Guangnan. In 1279, Liuzhou was changed to Liuzhou lu. In the Ming Dynasty(1368 AD-1644 AD), Liuzhou was renamed as Liuzhou fu. In the Qing Dynasty(1644 AD-1912 AD), Liuzhou fu was subordinate to Guangxi province, and it had jurisdictions over ten counties. In 1949, People's government was established to govern Liuzhou region which became a city under the jurisdiction of Guangxi province.
In thousands of years' development, Liuzhou has been a junction of economic and cultural communication between the Han people and other indigenous ethnic groups in this region, and it forms a profound ethnic traditional culture. Those ethnic groups in Liuzhou are mainly the Han, Zhuang, Miao, Yao, Dong and Mulao, and their specialties make a colorful and rich ethnic culture, like songs of the Zhuang, buildings of the Dong, and festivals of the Miao. In Liuzhou, people speak mandarin, Liuzhou dialect, the Zhuang dialect, Kejia dialect and so on, and have religious beliefs in Taoism, Buddhism, Islam Catholicism, and Christianism, and have operas like Gu opera and Caidiao. Religious buildings like Confucious' temple and mosques are found in Liuzhou.
Liuzhou has preserved many intangible cultural heritages, like Gaosha gong and drum, the Dong opera and Liuzhou shan'ge. Gaosha gong and drum is a traditional music instrument, popular in Gaosha , and it is widely played in sacrifice, wedding, and festival. It has a history over three thousand years, and belongs to a Lin family. And a branch of this Lin family moved from Fujian province to Guangdong province, then to Gaosha. The Dong opera is an ethnic opera of the Dong people, and popular in Sanjiang region where the Dong people live. Liuzhou shan'ge is a singing performance of the Zhuang people in Liuzhou, which is performed in Zhuang dialect and Liuzhou dialect.
