Editing Hangzhou (section)

==History==
{{see also|Timeline of Hangzhou}}

===Early history===
[[File:Jade cong, Liangzhu Culture, 5200-2200 BC, Shanghai Museum.JPG|thumb|left|A ceremonial [[cong (jade)|jade ''cong'']] of the [[Liangzhu culture]].]]

The celebrated [[Chinese Neolithic|neolithic]] culture of [[Hemudu culture|Hemudu]] is known to have inhabited [[Yuyao]], {{convert|100|km|0|abbr=on}} south-east of Hangzhou, as far back as seven thousand years ago.<ref>Yan Wenming<!--sic-->. "The Beginning of Farming", p.&nbsp;36, in ''The Formation of Chinese Civilization: An Archaeological Perspective'', pp.&nbsp;27–42. Yale University Press ([[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]]), 2005. {{ISBN|978-0-300-09382-7}}.</ref> It was during this time that rice was first cultivated in southeast China.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Fuller | first1 = Dorian | display-authors = etal | year = 2009 | title = The Domestication Process and Domestication Rate in Rice: Spikelet bases from the Lower Yangtze | url = http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/108026/1/Fuller_2009%20Sci%20final%20ms%20%2526%20supp.pdf | journal = Science | volume = 323 | issue = 5921 | pages = 1607–1610 | doi = 10.1126/science.1166605 | pmid = 19299619 | bibcode = 2009Sci...323.1607F | s2cid = 21357179 | access-date = April 20, 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170922171819/http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/108026/1/Fuller_2009%20Sci%20final%20ms%20%2526%20supp.pdf | archive-date = September 22, 2017 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> Excavations have established that the [[Chinese jade|jade]]-carving [[Liangzhu culture]] (named for its [[type site]] just northwest of Hangzhou) inhabited the area immediately around the present city around five thousand years ago.<ref>Shanghai Qingpu Museum. "[museum.shqp.gov.cn/gb/content/2009-02/23/content_237435.htm Migration of the Tribe and Integration into the Han Chinese]". Accessed 24 July 2014.</ref> The first of Hangzhou's present neighborhoods to appear in written records was [[Yuhang]], which probably preserves an old [[Baiyue]] name.<ref>{{cite book |script-title=zh:中国历史地名大辞典 |location=Shanghai |publisher=[[Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House]] |page=1516}}</ref>

In 222 BC, [[Emperor Qin Shi Huang]] established Qiantang County, located in the area of Wulin Mountains and Wulin Lakes, Hangzhou's aliases '''Qiantang''' ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|錢唐}}}}) and '''Wulin''' ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|武林}}}}) began to appear during the Qin and Han dynasties.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hznews.hangzhou.com.cn/wghz/content/2019-01/25/content_7138860.htm|title=The earliest historical record of Hangzhou: Qiantang County magistrate Liu Daozhen's "Qiantang Records"|website=Hangzhou History}}</ref>

Hangzhou was made the seat of the [[zhou (Chinese province)|prefecture]] of Hang in {{nowrap|AD 589}}, entitling it to a [[Chinese city wall|city wall]] which was constructed two years later. By a longstanding convention also seen in other cities like [[Guangzhou]] and [[Fuzhou]], the city took on the name of the area it administered and became known as Hangzhou. Hangzhou was at the southern end of China's [[Grand Canal (China)|Grand Canal]] which extends to Beijing. The canal evolved over centuries but reached its full length by 609.<ref name="ebrey cambridge 114">Ebrey, ''Cambridge Illustrated History of China'', 114: "[...] the Grand Canal, dug between 605 and 609 by means of enormous levies of conscripted labour."</ref>

=== Tang dynasty ===
In the [[Tang dynasty]], [[Bai Juyi]], a renowned poet, was appointed governor of Hangzhou.<ref name="Waley 1941, 131">Waley (1941), 131</ref> He noticed that the farmland nearby depended on the water of [[West Lake]], but due to negligence the old [[dike (construction)|dyke]] had collapsed, and the lake so dried out that the local farmers were suffering from severe [[drought]]. He ordered the construction of a stronger and taller dyke, with a [[dam]] to control the flow of water, mitigating the drought problem. The livelihood of local people of Hangzhou improved over the following years. Bai Juyi used his leisure time to enjoy the West Lake, visiting it almost daily. He then had willows and other trees planted along the dyke, making it a landmark.

It is listed as one of the [[Historical capitals of China|Seven Ancient Capitals of China]]. It was first the capital of the [[Wuyue Kingdom]] from 907 to 978<ref name=":04" />{{Rp|page=86}} during the [[Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period]]. Named '''Xifu''' ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|西府}}}}) at the time,<ref>{{cite book |last = Zhou |first = Feng ({{lang|zh|周峰}}) |year = 1997 |script-title = zh:吴越首府杭州: 及北宋东南第一州 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=E3CxAAAAIAAJ&q=%E8%A5%BF%E5%BA%9C%E6%9D%AD%E5%B7%9E |location = University of California |publisher={{lang|zh-Hans|浙江人民出版社}} [Zhejiang People's Press] |page=32 |isbn= 9787213015052 |access-date = 22 July 2014 |language=zh-Hans |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160429132749/https://books.google.com/books?id=E3CxAAAAIAAJ&q=%E8%A5%BF%E5%BA%9C%E6%9D%AD%E5%B7%9E&dq=%E8%A5%BF%E5%BA%9C%E6%9D%AD%E5%B7%9E&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wRXOU-hWjoHyBZmTgogM&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAA |archive-date=April 29, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> it was one of the three great bastions of culture in [[Northern and southern China|southern China]] during the tenth century{{According to whom|date=January 2023}}, along with [[Nanjing]] and [[Chengdu]].<ref name="Worthy 1983 19">{{Harvnb|Worthy|1983|p=19}}.</ref> Leaders of Wuyue were noted patrons of the arts, particularly of [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] temple architecture and artwork. The dyke built to protect the city by King{{nbsp}}[[Qian Liu]] gave the [[Qiantang River|Qiantang]] its modern name.<ref>{{citation |contribution-url = http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/glossary.php?searchterm=029_chao.inc&issue=029 |last=Barmé |first=Germeie R. |contribution=Glossary: Tides ''Chao'' 潮 |title=China Heritage Quarterly |url = http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org |date=2012 |volume=29 |publisher=Australian National University College of Asia & the Pacific |access-date=January 13, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232026/http://www.chinaheritagequarterly.org/ |archive-date=January 13, 2019 |url-status=live }}.</ref> Hangzhou also became a cosmopolitan center, drawing scholars from throughout China and conducting diplomacy with neighboring Chinese states, and also with [[Japan]], [[Goryeo]], and the [[Khitan people|Khitan]] [[Liao dynasty]].

=== Song dynasty ===
In 1089, another renowned poet governor [[Su Shi]] (Su Dongpo) used 200,000 workers to construct a {{convert|2.8|km|1|abbr=on}} long [[causeway]] across West Lake made of mud dredged from the lake bottom. The lake is surrounded by hills on the northern and western sides. The [[Baochu Pagoda]] sits on the Baoshi Hill to the north of the lake.

Hangzhou was chosen as the new capital of the [[Southern Song dynasty]] in 1132,<ref>{{cite journal|first=Weldon South|last=Coblin|title=Migration History and Dialect Development in the Lower Yangtze Watershed|journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies|year=2002|volume=65|issue=3|page=533|doi=10.1017/s0041977x02000320|doi-broken-date=December 16, 2024 }}</ref> when most of [[northern China]] had been conquered by the Jurchens in the [[Jin–Song wars]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Holcombe|title=A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century|year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-51595-5|page=129}}</ref> The surviving [[House of Zhao|imperial family]] had retreated south from its original capital in [[Kaifeng]] after it was captured by the [[Jurchen people|Jurchens]] in the [[Jingkang Incident]] of 1127.<ref name="moteb">{{cite book|first=Frederick W.|last=Mote|title=Imperial China: 900–1800|year=2003|publisher=Harvard University Press|pages=292–3|isbn=978-0-674-01212-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Herbert|last=Franke|editor1=Denis C. Twitchett|editor2=Herbert Franke|editor3=John King Fairbank|title=The Cambridge History of China: Volume 6, Alien Regimes and Border States, 710–1368|year=1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=229|isbn=978-0-521-24331-5}}</ref> [[Emperor Gaozong of Song|Emperor Gaozong]] moved to Nanjing, then to modern [[Shangqiu]], then to [[Yangzhou]] in 1128, and finally to Hangzhou in 1129.<ref name="moteb" /><ref name="mote" />

Once the prospect of retaking northern China had diminished, buildings in Hangzhou were extended and renovated to become a permanent imperial capital. The imperial palace in Hangzhou, modest in size, was expanded in 1133 with new roofed alleyways, and in 1148 with an extension of the palace walls.<ref>{{cite book|first=Jacques|last=Gernet|title=Daily Life in China, on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion, 1250–1276|year=1962|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-0720-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinchina00gern/page/25 25]|url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinchina00gern/page/25}}</ref> The city walls were built with [[tamped earth]] and stone and was 30 feet high and 10 feet thick at its base. There were 13 gates and several towers on the walls. The walls covered the city by four miles north to south and only one mile east to west.<ref name=":0" /> According to the Italian explorer [[Odoric of Pordenone]], Hangzhou was the greatest city in the world. It was heavily populated and filled with large family estates. It had 12,000 bridges. Bread, pork, rice, and wine were abundant despite the large population.{{sfn|Yule|2002|p=128}} Arab merchants lived in Hangzhou during the [[Song dynasty]], due to the fact that the oceangoing trade passages took precedence over land trade during this time.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=drGGEsi1fFEC&q=mosque+ningbo&pg=PA210|title=Beyond the Great Wall: urban form and transformation on the Chinese frontiers|year=1996|author=Piper Rae Gaubatz|publisher=Stanford University Press|edition=illustrated|isbn=0-8047-2399-0|page=210|access-date=17 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527074939/http://books.google.com/books?id=drGGEsi1fFEC&pg=PA210&dq=mosque+ningbo&hl=en&ei=dAbcTebnL8bx0gH3w-zqDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=mosque%20ningbo&f=false|archive-date=May 27, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Phoenix Mosque]] was constructed by a Persian settler in Hangzhou at this time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lane |first=George |url=https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/P/bo25077174.html |title=The Phoenix Mosque and the Persians of Medieval Hangzhou |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2018 |language=en}}</ref>

From 1132 until the [[Mongol Empire|Mongol]] invasion of 1276, Hangzhou remained the capital of the Southern Song dynasty and was known as '''Lin'an''' ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|臨安}}}}). It served as the seat of the imperial government, a center of trade and entertainment, and the nexus of the main branches of the [[civil service]]. During that time the city was a gravitational center of Chinese civilization as what used to be considered "central China" in the north was taken by the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin]], an ethnic minority dynasty ruled by [[Jurchen people|Jurchens]].

Numerous philosophers, politicians, and men of literature, including some of the most celebrated poets in Chinese history such as [[Su Shi]], [[Lu You]], and [[Xin Qiji]] came here to live and die. Hangzhou is also the birthplace and final resting place of the scientist [[Shen Kuo]] (1031–1095 AD), his tomb being located in the [[Yuhang]] district.<ref name="Yuhang">Yuhang Cultural Network (October 2003). [http://www.yhwt.com/newsshow.aspx?artid=3169 Shen Kuo's Tomb] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502074744/http://www.yhwt.com/newsshow.aspx?artid=3169 |date=May 2, 2014 }} The Yuhang District of Hangzhou Cultural Broadcasting Press and Publications Bureau. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.</ref>

During the Southern Song dynasty, commercial expansion, an influx of refugees from the conquered north, and the growth of the official and military establishments, led to a corresponding population increase and the city developed well outside its 9th-century ramparts. According to the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', Hangzhou had a population of over 2 million at that time, while historian [[Jacques Gernet]] has estimated that the population of Hangzhou numbered well over one million by 1276. (Official Chinese census figures from the year 1270 listed some 186,330 families in residence and probably failed to count non-residents and soldiers.) It is believed that Hangzhou was the largest city in the world from 1180 to 1315 and from 1348 to 1358.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm|title=Largest Cities Through History|website=Geography.about.com|date=2011-03-02|access-date=2011-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010218202126/http://geography.about.com/science/geography/library/weekly/aa011201a.htm|archive-date=February 18, 2001|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>Janet L. Abu-Lughod, ''Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250–1350'', "All the Silks of China" (Oxford University Press US) 1991, p. 337</ref>

Because of the large population and densely crowded (often multi-story) wooden buildings, Hangzhou was particularly vulnerable to fires. Major conflagrations destroyed large sections of the city in 1208, 1229, 1237, and 1275. The 1237 fire alone destroyed 30,000 dwellings. However, the worst was the 1208 fire which burned for 4 days in a 3-mile diameter and burnt 58,097 houses as well as killing 59 people. To combat this threat, the city constructed storage buildings that were rented out to merchants where watchmen patrolled by night and was enclosed by water on all sides.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Gernet |first=Jacques |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5xpXOYxxEEC |title=Daily life in China, on the eve of the Mongol invasion, 1250-1276 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1959 |isbn=9780804707206 |location=Stanford, California |pages=26, 37}}</ref> Besides this, the government established an elaborate system for fighting fires, erected watchtowers, devised a system of lantern and flag signals to identify the source of the flames and direct the response, and charged more than 3,000 soldiers with the task of putting out fire.

=== Yuan dynasty ===
Hangzhou was besieged and captured by the advancing [[Mongol]] armies of [[Kublai Khan]] in 1276, three years before the final collapse of the Southern Song.<ref name="gernet 15">Gernet, 15.</ref> Historian [[Patricia Buckley Ebrey]] noted that the Mongol [[Yuan dynasty]] killed the Jurchen Wanyan royal family by the hundreds in the [[Siege of Kaifeng (1232)]], while sparing the city of Hangzhou including the Chinese Zhao royal family of the [[Song dynasty|Southern Song]]. The Mongols rehired Southern Song government officials and had Han Chinese artisans in [[Shangdu]] marry the palace women.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ebrey |first1=Patricia Buckley |editor1-last=Ebrey |editor1-first=Patricia Buckley |editor2-last=Smith |editor2-first=Paul Jakov |title=State Power in China, 900-1325 |date=2016 |publisher=University of Washington Press |isbn=978-0295998480 |pages=325, 326 |edition=illustrated |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9SpADAAAQBAJ&q=The+Mongols+executed+the+Xi+Xia+ruler+when+he+surrendered+in+1227.89+With+the+fall+of+Jin%2C+the+Mongols+marched+out+more+than+500+members+of+the+Wanyan+imperial+clan%2C+then+killed+them+all.90+After+the+fall+of+Jin%2C+the+Mongols+attacked+Song+territory+in+Sichuan%2C+but+did+not+wage+all-out+war+to+subjugate+Song+until+the+1250s+because+they+were+busy+elsewhere.+In+1259%2C+after+capturing+a+city+in+Sichuan%2C+more+than+80%2C000+captives+were+taken%2C+and+an+attack+in+Hunan+resulted+in+20%2C000+captives+taken+north.91+In+contrast+to+how+the+Mongols+treated+the+royal+families+of+the+Xia+and+Jin+upon+subjugation%2C+a+half+century+later+they+treated+the+surrendered+Song+empresses+and+the+boy+emperor+relatively+decently.+In+1276+the+Song+surrender+had+been+nearly+unconditional%3A+the+empress+dowager+asked+that&pg=PA325 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220315101938/https://books.google.com/books?id=9SpADAAAQBAJ&q=The+Mongols+executed+the+Xi+Xia+ruler+when+he+surrendered+in+1227.89+With+the+fall+of+Jin,+the+Mongols+marched+out+more+than+500+members+of+the+Wanyan+imperial+clan,+then+killed+them+all.90+After+the+fall+of+Jin,+the+Mongols+attacked+Song+territory+in+Sichuan,+but+did+not+wage+all-out+war+to+subjugate+Song+until+the+1250s+because+they+were+busy+elsewhere.+In+1259,+after+capturing+a+city+in+Sichuan,+more+than+80,000+captives+were+taken,+and+an+attack+in+Hunan+resulted+in+20,000+captives+taken+north.91+In+contrast+to+how+the+Mongols+treated+the+royal+families+of+the+Xia+and+Jin+upon+subjugation,+a+half+century+later+they+treated+the+surrendered+Song+empresses+and+the+boy+emperor+relatively+decently.+In+1276+the+Song+surrender+had+been+nearly+unconditional:+the+empress+dowager+asked+that&pg=PA325 |archive-date=March 15, 2022 |chapter=9 State-Forced Relocations in China, 900-1300 THE MONGOLS AND THE STATE OF YUAN |access-date=March 15, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> The capital of the new [[Yuan dynasty]] was established in the city of [[Khanbaliq|Dadu]] ([[Beijing]]), but Hangzhou remained an important commercial and administrative center for their southern territory.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Hangzhou pic 10.jpg|[[Leifeng Pagoda]]
File:Leifeng Pagoda in the Southern Song Dynasty by Li Song.jpg|''Xi Hu Landscape'' by [[Li Song (painter)|Li Song (1190–1264)]], showing the Leifeng Pagoda in the Southern Song Dynasty
File:西湖平湖秋月.JPG|"Moon over the Peaceful Lake in Autumn", one of the [[West Lake#Ten Scenes of West Lake|Ten Scenes]] of the [[West Lake|Xi Hu]]
Image:Hupao.jpg|[[Dreaming of the Tiger Spring]], the burial place of monk [[Jigong]]
</gallery>

==== Foreign descriptions ====
Yuan China was very open to foreign visitors, and several returned west describing Hangzhou—under the names '''Khinzai''',<ref>[[Wassaf]], ''The Allocation of Cities''. {{in lang|fa}}</ref> '''Campsay''',<ref>[[Odoric of Pordenone]], ''Travels''. {{in lang|la}}</ref> etc.{{NoteTag|For a discussion of the many sources and variant spellings of the names, see [[Arthur Christopher Moule|Moule]].<ref>{{citation |last=Moule |first=Arthur Christopher |author-link = Arthur Christopher Moule |title=Quinsai |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UYIoAAAAQBAJ |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=[[Cambridge]], England |year=1957 |pages=2–4 |isbn=9781107621909 }}.</ref> The ultimate Chinese source of these names has been variously given as ''Jīngshī'' ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|京師}}}}, "the Capital"); ''Xingzai'', an abbreviated form of ''Xíngzàisuǒ'' ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|行在|所}}}}, "the Place of Temporary Residence"), which had formerly been a byname for the Song capital from the hope that the court would eventually return north to [[Kaifeng]]; and ''Hangtsei'', the [[Hangzhounese]] pronunciation of the town's name.{{sfnp|Moule|1957|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=UYIoAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4 4]}}}}{{mdash}}as one of the foremost cities in the world. The [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] merchant [[Marco Polo]] supposedly visited Hangzhou in the late 13th century. In [[The Travels of Marco Polo|his book]], he records that the city was "greater than any in the world"<ref name=mote>{{cite book |first=Frederick W. |last=Mote |title=Imperial China: 900–1800 |year=2003|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=461|isbn=978-0-674-01212-7}}</ref> and that "the number and wealth of the merchants, and the amount of goods that passed through their hands, was so enormous that no man could form a just estimate thereof". Polo's account greatly exaggerates the city's size, although it has been argued that the "hundred miles" of walls would be plausible if [[li (unit)|Chinese miles]] were intended instead of [[Italian mile|Italian ones]]<ref>{{citation |chapter-url = https://archive.org/stream/marcopolo00polouoft#page/290/mode/2up |first = J.M. |last = Dent |title = The travels of Marco Polo the Venetian |chapter=Chapter LXVIII: On the Noble and Magnificent City of Kin-Sai |year=1908 |pages=290–310 |access-date=October 16, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160402140626/http://archive.org/stream/marcopolo00polouoft#page/290/mode/2up |archive-date=April 2, 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> and that the "12,000 stone bridges" might have been a copyist error born from the city's 12 gates.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=o1KXAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |title= Marco Polo's Journey to China |first = Diana |last = Childress |date= January 2013 |publisher= Twenty-First Century Books |isbn = 9781467703796 |access-date = October 16, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181216144808/https://books.google.com/books?id=o1KXAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |archive-date= December 16, 2018 |url-status= live }}</ref> In the 14th century, the [[Morocco|Moroccan]] traveler [[Ibn Battuta]] arrived; his later account concurred that '''al-Khansā''' was "the biggest city I have ever seen on the face of the earth."<ref>{{Cite book| last = Dunn| first = Ross E.| author-link=Ross E. Dunn| title = The Adventures of Ibn Battuta| publisher = University of California Press| year = 2005| isbn=978-0-520-24385-9| page = 260}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Elliott|first=Michael |url = http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2084273_2084272_2084481,00.html |title=The Enduring Message of Hangzhou |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=2011-07-21|access-date=2011-11-05|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120117180753/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2084273_2084272_2084481,00.html |archive-date=January 17, 2012|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=Ibn>{{cite book |last=Battutah |first=Ibn |title=The Travels of Ibn Battutah |year=2002|publisher=Picador |location=London|isbn=9780330418799 |pages=268, 323 }}</ref> He visited Hangzhou in 1345 and noted its charm and described how the city [[West Lake|sat on a beautiful lake]] and was surrounded by gentle green hills.<ref>{{cite web |last=Elliott |first=Michael |date=July 21, 2011 |title=Summer Journey 2011 |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2084273_2084272_2084481,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117180753/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2084273_2084272_2084481,00.html |archive-date=January 17, 2012 |access-date=October 28, 2011 |via=www.time.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref> He was particularly impressed by the large number of well-crafted and well-painted Chinese wooden ships with colored sails and silk awnings in the canals. He attended a banquet held by Qurtai, the [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan]] Mongol administrator of the city, who according to Ibn Battuta, was fond of the skills of local Chinese [[Evocation|conjurer]]s.<ref>The Travels of Ibn Battuta Volume 4 pp. 904, 967 (The Hakluyt Society 1994, British Library)</ref>

[[File:Hangzhou (15730606661).jpg|thumb|center|800px|[[West Lake]]|alt=]]

===Modern history===
[[File:Hangzhou CBD (Cropped).jpg|thumb|Hangzhou CBD]]

The city remained an important port until the middle of the [[Ming dynasty]] era, when its harbor slowly [[silt]]ed up. Under the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]], it was the site of an [[Qing Army|imperial army]] garrison.<ref>{{citation |last=Cassel |first=Pär |contribution=Excavating Extraterritoriality: The "Judicial Sub-Prefect" as a Prototype for the Mixed Court in Shanghai |title=Late Imperial China |volume=24 |date=2003 |issue=2 |pages=156–182 }}.</ref>

In 1856 and 1860, the [[Taiping Heavenly Kingdom]] occupied Hangzhou. The city was heavily damaged during its conquest, occupation, and eventual reconquest by the Qing army.

Hangzhou was ruled by the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] government under the [[Kuomintang]] from 1927 to 1937. From 1937 to 1945, the city was occupied by [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Japan]]. The Kuomintang returned in 1945, and governed until 1949. On May 3, 1949, the [[People's Liberation Army]] entered Hangzhou and the city came under [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP) control. After [[Deng Xiaoping]]'s reformist policies began in the end of 1978, Hangzhou took advantage of being situated in the [[Yangtze Delta]] to bolster its development. It is now one of China's most prosperous major cities.

During the [[Cultural Revolution]], Hangzhou was stage to a series of labor unrest and factional fighting known as the [[Hangzhou incident (1975)|Hangzhou incident]].

Hangzhou was the third city in China to host the [[2022 Asian Games|Asian Games]] after [[1990 Asian Games|Beijing 1990]] and [[2010 Asian Games|Guangzhou 2010]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-09/16/c_134629438.htm|title=Hangzhou of China selected to host 2022 Asian Games|date=2015-09-16|publisher=Xinhua|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125223857/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-09/16/c_134629438.htm|archive-date=November 25, 2015|access-date=2015-09-16|df=mdy-all}}</ref> It also hosted the [[2016 G20 Hangzhou summit|eleventh G20 summit]] in 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.china.org.cn/world/2015-11/17/content_37080816.htm|title=China to host 2016 G20 summit in Hangzhou|year=2015|publisher=PRC Central Government Official Website|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118181746/http://www.china.org.cn/world/2015-11/17/content_37080816.htm|archive-date=November 18, 2015|access-date=2015-12-20|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In February 2020, the city was under curfew measures due to the [[2019-20 coronavirus outbreak|outbreak of coronavirus beginning in Wuhan]] that [[Timeline of the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak|spread across China]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/video/china/3049363/china-locks-down-hangzhou-mega-city-far-epicentre-coronavirus-outbreak|title=China locks down Hangzhou, mega-city far from epicentre of coronavirus outbreak|date=6 February 2020|publisher=South China Morning Post|access-date=7 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-more-china-cities-shut-hangzhou-zhejiang-hubei-12395706|title=More Chinese cities shut down as novel coronavirus death toll rises|date=5 February 2020|work=CNA|access-date=7 February 2020|archive-date=August 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801191712/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/wuhan-coronavirus-more-china-cities-shut-hangzhou-zhejiang-hubei-12395706|url-status=dead}}</ref>