CHANGSHA HISTORY |
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The earliest settlement was probably founded in the first millennium BC. By
202 BC it was already a fortified city. During Han Dynasty it was also the
capital of kingdom Changsha.
The celebrated Ma-Wang-Dui Tombs of Han Dynasty was constructed between 186
and 165 BC. The earliest tomb (no. 2), as it was excavated in the 1970s, had
preseved the corp of Lady Xin-Zhui in a surprisingly good conditions. Also
founded in the tomb were earliest versions of Dao-De-Jing written by Lao Zi,
and many other historical documents.
During Sui Dynasty, Changsha was a county. |
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Yuelu Academy was founded in AD 976 (Song Dynasty), destroyed by war in
1127, and rebuilt in 1165 (Southern Song Dynasty). The celebrated
philosopher Zhu Xi taught in this school in 1165. The school was
destroyed by the Mongols but restored again in the late 15th century (Ming
Dynasty). In 1903 it became Hunan High School. The existing architectures
owe themselves to the restoration of 1981–1986, presumably according to the
Song design.
The 1903 Treaty of Shanghai between China and Japan opened the city to
foreign trade. Consequently, factories, churches and schools were built
including a college built by Yale University which later became a medical
centre.
Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China began his political
career in Changsha. He was a student at the Hunan Number 1 Teachers'
Training School from 1913 to 1918. He later returned as a teacher and
principal from 1920 to 1922. The school was destroyed during the civil war
but has since been restored. The Former Office of the Hunan Communist Party
Central Committee where Mao Zedong once lived is now a museum that includes
Mao's living quarters, photographs and other historical items from the
1920s. |
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