User:CaroleHenson/New River

New River (Chinese: 上新河镇; pinyin: (Shàng) Xīnhé Zhèn) is a town in the Jianye District of Nanjing located on the Jia River (夹江), a tributary of the Yangtze River. The former residence of Wang Hanzhou （王汉洲故居), Jianghan Hall (江汉会馆), Ancient Sun Palace (古太阳宫) and other ancient cultural sites are located within New River.

History

Ming dynasty

During the early Ming dynasty, the city created the infrastructure to ship timber up the Yangtze River. As a result, many New River timber merchants became wealthy. The Huizhou Hall was built, which was the site of the annual grand lantern event. Huizhou wood was shipped from Nanjing to places like Jiangxi, Hunan, and Hubei. The lively and prosperous port was the subject of scholars' works. New River novelist Ming Feng Meng was a successful Ming Dynasty novelist, with a widespread reputation for his foreboding stories.

Qing dynasty

The New River timber trade reached its peak in the Qing dynasty. Qing Imperial wood was sold in distant places up the Yangtze River, where it was used in cities and towns for making furniture, in construction, and for other uses. Merchants operated and shipped lumber from Hunan Dongting and Poyang Lake. New River wood suppliers had lucrative sales of Huizhou timber to Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and other places. It also shipped fir and bamboo from Nanjing. In White Next Suo Yan, Gan Hee (born 1798) described the annual grand lantern event at Huizhou Hall, where the lantern's lights glowed off of the Huizhou wood. The event was a scene of "peace and prosperity." In the late Qing dynasty there were up to 32 timber suppliers who shipped to Jiangxi, Hubei and Hunan, and Sichuan. As the business expanded, New River merchant's markets expanded into northern Jiangsu and Zhejiang. When the railroad was introduced, it became a more convenient means of transportation. As a result, there was a gradual decline of the New River economy.