长汀(Changting) - 汀江- "客家母親河"

Fujian Province, Longyan City(龙岩), 长汀(Changting)


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Longyan(龙岩)oversees one County-level city, Zhangping (漳平), and 5 Counties (县, xian):

* Liancheng (连城)
* Yongding (永定)
* Shanghang (上杭)
* Wuping (武平)
* Changting (长汀) - named for the former prefecture

Changting (长汀

Changting (长汀)also known as Tingzhou or Tingchow(汀州), is a county in western Fujian province, the People's Republic of China. With a population of 480,000 and an area of 3,099 square kilometers, Changting is the fifth largest county in Fujian province. The majority of the population belongs to the Hakka people (客家人) and speaks Hakka (客家话) dialect. It is also know as the capital of Hakka people. The county town is Tingzhou(汀州), which is the government administration town.

Changting (长汀)borders Liancheng County to the east, Wuping and Shanghang counties to the south (all in Longyan municipality), Sanming municipality's Ninghua County to the north, Ganzhou municipality's Ruijin City in Jiangxi province to the west. Located in the southern end of the Wuyi Mountains (武夷山脉), Changting belongs to subtropical zone. The region enjoys abundant precipitation as the warm maritime air meets the cool air in the mountains, generating a large amount of rainfall.

Administration

The county executive, legislature and judiciary are in Tingzhou Town (汀州), together with the CPC and PSB branches.

Towns (镇, zhen)

* Tingzhou (汀州) - the county seat
* Guanqian (馆前)
* Hetian (河田)
* Gucheng (古城)
* Tongfang (童坊)
* Xinqiao (新桥)
* Nanshan (南山)
* Zhuotian (濯田)
* Sidu (四都)
* Datong (大同)
* Tufang (涂坊)

Township (乡, xiang)

* Anjie (庵杰)
* Cewu (策武)
* Sanzhou (三洲)
* Tiechang (铁长)
* Yanggu (羊牯)
* Xuancheng (宣成)
* Hongshan (红山)

Ting River or Ting Jiang(汀江)

自古以來人類逐水而居，穿越汀州而過的汀江，不僅是閩西最大的河流，更被喻為"客家人的母親河"、"天下客家第一江"，從晉代開始，客家先民為了躲避戰亂、災荒，紛紛從中 原南遷，定居在汀江流域，流域兩岸土地肥沃、資源富饒，先民在這墾荒造田，世代相傳，汀江無疑成為閩 西客家的生命之源。

在中國福建省流傳著一句俗諺，「天下之水皆東流，唯我汀水獨南行。」，意思是絕大多數的河流都是東流入海，只有汀江是南流入海。擁有獨特流向的汀江是福建第二大江，不僅是福建長汀縣重要的經濟命脈，更保留了相當完整的客家文化，也由於過去許多客家先民都沿著汀江，往南遷徙至廣東、台灣以至於世界各地，因此汀江也被稱為「客家母親河」。15 年前，馬來西亞客籍企業家姚美良，在一次尋根之旅活動中主動發起祭祀母親河，後來成為素有「客家首府」之稱的福建長汀，重要的民俗活動，今年適逢15週年也擴大舉辦，現在 就透過鏡頭到福建長汀，認識這條客家母親河－汀江。

Map on Upstream of Ting Jiang(汀江)

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The Ting River (汀江) flows 300 km from Changting County in western Fujian south to the port and Special Economic Zone of Shantou, Guangdong.

The former prefecture of Tingzhou fu or T'ingchow-fu (汀州府) was administered from a centre on the upper river, now the town of Tingzhou(汀州) in Changting County(长汀); all these places are named after the river. As most inhabitants of Tingzhou-fu/Changting are Hakka, and as (Hakka-speaking) Meizhou (梅州) is next downstream, the Tingjiang is considered by some to be the mother river of all the Hakkas.

The Tingjiang(汀江) is unique among Fujianese rivers in that its lower watershed and debouchement are outside the Fujian province. The traffic in Tingzhou-fu/Changting then (before road and rail came very recently) was always primarily with eastern areas of Guangdong(广东省), namely Meizhou(梅州) and, further down, the Min-Nan-speaking Chao-Shan area(潮汕)-- Chaozhou (潮州) and Shantou (汕头). The river is then known as Han Chiang(韩江).

The river flow from Tingzhou, going through Shanghang (上杭),Yongding (永定)which is still in Fujian Province, and cross the border into Guangdong Province, going to Meizhou (梅州)Dapu(大埔), and joined with other two rivers , Mei River or Mei Chiang(梅江)from Ganzhou(赣州), Gannan(赣南) of Jiangxi Province(江西省) and Meitan River(梅潭河) from Eastern Guangdong(粤东), these three rivers at Sanhezhen(三河镇) or Sanhepa(三河坝), joined and form a single river known as Han Chiang(韩江). From Shanhepa, the river flow downstream to Chaozhou(潮州) and Shantou(汕头), the area called Chaoshan(潮汕) where the Chaozhou or Teochew people lived. Han Chiang is therefore called the mother river of Teochew or Chaozhou people(潮汕人). From Shantou, the river flow into South China Sea(南海 or 南中国海). Some people said Hakka and Teochew are one of the same family, as the Hakka and Teochew drink the water from the same river. Hakka from the upstream of Han Chiang and the Teochew from the downstream of Han Chiang.

Map of downstream of Ting Jiang(汀江)at Shanhepa(三河坝)

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Related articles:

1. http://www.changting.gov.cn/