Wenzhou, formerly known as Yongjia, is a prefecture-level city in Zhejiang, China. Situated on the southeastern coast of China, the city sits at the lower reaches and estuary of the Ou River, bordered by the Zhejiang–Fujian Hills to the west and the East China Sea to the east. It governs four districts, three county-level cities and five counties, with the municipal office in Lucheng. Recognised both as one of the 27 core cities of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone and one of the five central cities of the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone, the city serves as the only junction between the two economic zones.
Archaeological evidence shows that human activity in the area dates back at least 5,000 years. The Ou people, also known as the Ouyue and part of the wider Yue people, established the polity of Dong'ou by at least the fourth century BC and voluntarily surrendered to the Han dynasty of China in 138 BC. The area was successively organised under different administrative names and ranks, including Yongning County from 138, Yongjia Commandery from 323, and Wenzhou Prefecture from 675, later being promoted to Rui'an Fu in 1265 and renamed Wenzhou Circuit in 1276. In the Ming and Qing periods, it was known as Wenzhou Fu, and in 1914 it was designated Ouhai Circuit. Despite repeated changes in administrative status and territorial extent, the seat of Wenzhou prefecture and Yongjia county has remained within the walled city first established in the 4th century, until 1958 when the county seat of Yongjia moved away.
A birthplace of China's private economy, the city was among the first in the country to experiment with market-oriented reforms after 1978, prompting extensive debate over what became known as the "[" of development. This model is often linked to the city's long-standing commercial culture and its history as a trading hub. Historically a major seaport in southeastern China, Wenzhou was authorised as a foreign trade port during the Song (960–1279) and Yuan (1271–1368) periods, was designated as a treaty port following the 1876 Chefoo Convention, and in 1984 was designated as one of China's first 14 open coastal cities. Wenzhou has been renowned for its developed handicraft industries, and is recognised as one of the places of origin of Chinese celadon. Noted during the Southern Song (1127–1279) for the Yongjia School, the city has long been associated with a pragmatic tradition and a strong pro-business culture.
The city is also known for its religious tradition and widespread overseas communities. Since the 1990s, large numbers of Wenzhou people have migrated to other parts of China and overseas, making Wenzhou a major hometown of overseas Chinese. By 2025, more than two million people of Wenzhou origin were living worldwide, including over 800,000 overseas Chinese across more than 100 countries, forming over 200 Wenzhou chambers of commerce and more than 300 overseas associations, together constituting a vast business network. With the highest proportion of religious believers among Chinese cities and Buddhism as the predominant religion, the city has also been referred to as "China's Jerusalem", as it has more Christians than any other Chinese city.
Etymology and terminology
Wenzhou was originally inhabited by the Ou people, also known as the Ouyue, who formed part of the wider Yue people. The Ou established their capital at Dong'ou, and the region was therefore also known as Ou or Dong'ou. The earliest textual reference appears in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, which describes the area as "Ou dwells in the midst of the sea".
In 323, the Jin dynasty established Yongjia Commandery, with its territory covered both banks of the Ou River, and the name "Yongjia" was taken to mean "long and beautiful waters". The old city was designed by the Jin dynasty scholar Guo Pu in accordance with feng shui principles. Observing that the surrounding mountains resembled the Northern Dipper, Guo based the city's layout on this configuration, giving rise to the alternative name Doucheng, or the "Dipper City". According to local legend, when the city was founded a white deer carrying flowers appeared, hence the names Lucheng or the "Deer City".
In 675, the Tang dynasty established Wen Zhou, or Wenzhou Prefecture. Its name, literally meaning "the warm prefecture", derived from the area's location west of Wenqiao Ridge, where slash-and-burn agriculture was widely practised and the land remained comparatively warm in winter, with severe cold being rare.
The prefectural seat of Wenzhou and the county seat of Yongjia were in the same walled city from 675 to 1958, making the two names often interchangeable in the history. In some early European sources, the city's name was transcribed as Ouen-tcheou-fou (Wenzhou Fu) or Wen-tcheou (Wenzhou). The postal romanisation of Wenzhou and Yongjia is Wenchow and Yungkia respectively, which were widely used until Pinyin was popularised in the 1980s.
History
The Ou people The Caowan Mountain site, excavated in 2002, shows that human activity in Wenzhou can be traced back to the Neolithic period around 5,000 years ago. Prehistoric communities survived in an environment shaped by repeated cycles of marine transgression and regression and by the interweaving of mountains and sea. Frequent migration gave rise to settlement patterns characterised by fishing and hunting, gathering, and supplementary early agriculture. The co-existence of dolmen-tomb sites, hanging-coffin burial sites, and earthen-mound tomb sites indicates that different ancient cultures interacted and influenced one another locally. This process formed a Neolithic cultural complex represented by the Haochuan culture and ultimately gave rise to the Ou people, or the Ouyue.
As documented in the Lost Book of Zhou, by no later than the Western Zhou (c. 1046–771 BC), the Ou people had developed tribal leaders and were already paying tribute to the Zhou dynasty of China. Strategies of the Warring States mentions that “those who wear their hair loose, tattoo their bodies, cross their arms, and fasten their garments to the left are the people of Ouyue”.
Kingdom of Dong'ou The Ou people were originally part of the state of Yue. After Chu conquered Yue, Yue aristocrats crossed the Qiantang River and moved south, establishing new polities; however, the precise date of Chu’s conquest is disputed, with estimates centring on either 333 BC or around 306 BC. Dong’ou was among the kingdoms founded by descendants of King Goujian of Yue. From the reign after King Wujiang to that of the last king of Dong’ou, Anzhu, the deeds of the Dong’ou kings are largely unrecorded. In 222 BC, Dong’ou was abolished by the Qin dynasty who conquered the Yue people. The Dong’ou king was demoted to a local chieftain under Minzhong Commandery.
In 209 BC, Xiang Yu rose in rebellion against the Qin, and was joined by the Dong’ou chieftain Yao, or Zou Yao, where Zou means chieftain. After the Qin dynasty was defeated, the uprising evolved into a contest between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. Yao led his Dong’ou troops to defect to Liu Bang, resentful that Xiang Yu had not granted him a kingship. In 201 BC, Liu Bang enfeoffed Yao as Marquis of Haiyang Qixin; in 192 BC, Emperor Hui of Han posthumously elevated him to King of Donghai, recognising Dong’ou as a vassal kingdom under the Han empire.
In 154 BC, at the persuasion of a Han envoy, the people of Dong’ou killed Liu Pi, who had fled to Dong’ou after his defeat in the Rebellion of the Seven States. Liu Pi’s sons escaped to Minyue and urged Minyue to attack Ouyue. In 138 BC, Minyue besieged Ouyue, prompting Ouyue to seek assistance from Han. Emperor Wu dispatched forces by sea to rescue Dong’ou. Soon afterwards, the Han court permitted the people of Dong’ou to relocate inland to Lujiang Commandery in Jianghuai, and the king of Donghai surrendered his royal title. From then, the kingdom of Dong’ou ceased to exist.
Sinicisation
Pacifying Shanyue In 111 BC, the Han dynasty conquered Minyue and relocated its population inland in its entirety, leaving much of southern Zhejiang almost uninhabited. A small number of Yue people who refused to migrate, together with Han Chinese who fled into the mountains to evade conscription and taxation, gradually formed the group known as the Shanyue, or the Mountain Yue. In 85, the Han government established Dongye and Huipu counties to administer Yue people who had re-emerged from the mountain. In 87, Huipu County was renamed Zhang’an County. In 138, Yongning County was created from the Dong’ou Township of Zhang’an. The county seat was located on the northern bank of the Ou River, marking the first county-level administration in Wenzhou.
Following his conquests in Jiangdong in 199, Sun Ce founded the Wu regime, which launched continuous military campaigns against the Shanyue until 237, when resistance was largely suppressed. To consolidate control south of the Ou River, the Wu regime established Luoyang County from Yongning County in 239. In Luoyang, the government set up the Hengyu naval garrison as a penal colony. In 257, the Wu regime reorganised the Eastern Commandantcy of Kuaiji into Linhai Commandery; Yongning became one of its subordinate counties, and Luoyang was renamed Anyang. In 280, after Jin conquered Wu, Anyang was renamed Angu, Hengyang County was created, and Yongning, Zhang’an, Angu, and Hengyang were all placed under Linhai Commandery.
In-migration
In 323, the Jin dynasty carved out Yongjia Commandery from five counties (Yongning, Angu, Hengyang, Songyang, and Luojiang of Jin’an) located south of Wenqiao Mountain in Linhai. The new commandery was placed under Yangzhou, with Yongning designated as the commandery seat, marking the first prefectural administration in Wenzhou.
Ongoing warfare in northern China in the 4th century prompted large-scale southward migration of officials and commoners alike. This influx accelerated local economic development in Wenzhou, expanded the cultivation of coastal plains, and gradually replaced traditional fishing and hunting with settled agriculture. Northern literati active in Wenzhou fostered the development of landscape poetry, further enhancing the national reputation of Wenzhou’s natural scenery. Ou ware celadon gained renown across the empire and for a time exerted greater influence than Yue wares.
Nevertheless, tensions between northern aristocratic families and the local population escalated into the rebellions of Sun En and Lu Xun (399–411). The tensions between aristocratic families and lower-status families accumulated and escalated in the next two centuries. From the late Jin period to the early Tang, the region endured successive upheavals and warfare, including the rebellion of Hou Jing (548–552), the separatist regime of Liu Yi (556-562), the revolt of Zhang Dabao (585), leading to severe population decline.
Trading port
The chaos and turmoils eventually enabled the Sui dynasty from northern China to conquer the south in 589; however, its rule met with widespread resistance and revolts in areas including Wenzhou, largely provoked by unpopular policies of forced cultural assimilation. After a series of administrative changes between 621 and 627, following the Tang dynasty’s takeover, Yongjia Commandery was dissolved, leaving Yongjia County as its sole remaining administrative unit. Still, Yongjia emerged as a major trading port, of which marine trade with Japan started in 659.