Jieshou 界首市

Setting and landscape

Jieshou lies in the northwest of the Huaibei Plain (淮北平原). Linquan County (临泉县) and Yingquan District (颍泉区) of Fuyang adjoin it to the south, Taihe County (太和县) to the east, and Shenqiu (沈丘) and Dancheng (郸城) counties of Henan to the northwest.

History

The name comes from the Southern Song, when general Liu Qi (刘琦) fought the Jin commander Wuzhu (兀术) at Shunchang (顺昌府) and dug a ditch here as a boundary: the place became Jiegou (界沟镇, 'boundary ditch'), and in the late Ming, as the first market on the edge of Yingzhou (颍州), Jieshou Market (界首集). Liu Futong (刘福通), who launched the Red Turban rising against the Yuan in 1351, was from Jieshou.

After the Yellow River dikes at Huayuankou (花园口) were breached in June 1938, Jieshou sat in the middle of the flood zone and became the only passage between Nationalist-held territory and occupied areas. Its population surged, merchants crowded in and it was nicknamed 'Little Shanghai' (小上海); after victory in 1945 the traders went home and the town declined. It was liberated in October 1947, became a county in September 1953 and regained city status in 1989.

What to see

The Jieshou City History and Culture Exhibition Hall (界首市历史文化展馆), in the grounds of the city's cultural activity centre, is one of three themed halls of the Jieshou Museum (界首市博物馆) and tells the 'Little Shanghai' story. Guangwu (光武镇), a town in the north of the city, is tied by legend to the wars between Wang Mang (王莽) and Liu Xiu (刘秀), Emperor Guangwu of Han, and takes its name from a temple built to him.

Jieshou painted pottery (界首彩陶) follows the Tang three-colour tradition. The body is coated with two layers of slip and carved to show ochre against yellow or white, with flowers, birds, fish and insects and especially opera scenes; Lu Shanyi's (卢山义) 'sword and horse figures' (刀马人) series is its representative work. Pieces are bisque-fired at 700–800°C, then glazed and fired in saggars at 1,000–1,050°C for two days and nights, giving white designs on a red ground. The craft belonged to thirteen kiln-named villages on the south bank of the Ying River (颍河), the 'Thirteen Kilns' (十三窑), now in Tianying town (田营镇).

Getting oriented

The Zhengzhou–Fuyang high-speed railway stops at Jieshou South Station (界首南站). The Luohe–Fuyang Railway and the Nanjing–Luoyang Expressway cross the middle of the city, and the Ying River is navigable all year.

Highlights

• Jieshou painted pottery 界首彩陶: Slip-carved pottery with a lead glaze and opera scenes; its firing technique has been on the national intangible-heritage list since 2006.
• Jieshou City History and Culture Exhibition Hall 界首市历史文化展馆: Museum hall on the town's past and its wartime 'Little Shanghai' years.
• Guangwu 光武镇: Northern town named after a temple to Emperor Guangwu of Han, linked by legend to his wars with Wang Mang.