Fugou County 扶沟县

History

Fugou was first set up as a county in 196 BC under the Western Han. Under the Ming it belonged to Kaifeng prefecture (开封府), and in 1653 it was moved under Chenzhou prefecture (陈州府). In 1945 troops of the Hebei–Shandong–Henan Military Region (冀鲁豫军区) opened the Shuixi (水西) base against the Japanese on the border between Yanling (鄢陵) and Fugou. The county has been part of prefecture-level Zhoukou since the city was created in 2000.

The anti-Japanese general Ji Hongchang (吉鸿昌, 1895–1934) was a native of Fugou. The Zhoukou city government recounts his recapture of Duolun (多伦) in 1933 and his execution in November 1934; in 1984 a bronze statue of him was put up in front of his exhibition hall at the county martyrs' cemetery.

What to see

Cheng Hao came from Luoyang (洛阳) to serve as magistrate in 1075 and founded an academy in the county town, lecturing himself and inviting his brother Cheng Yi (程颐) to teach. Scholars who studied there included Lü Dalin (吕大临), Xie Liangzuo (谢良佐), Yang Shi (杨时) and You Zuo (游酢), later called the four great disciples of the Cheng school. The surviving buildings of the Dacheng Academy date from the Qing and are a national key cultural relic site; the academy now houses the Fugou County Museum, and Shuyuan Street (书院街) takes its name from it. A stele of 1885 in its stone-carving hall records townspeople donating money and land to the school.

In a 2024 Guangming Daily report, the chairman of the county's political consultative conference named the Ji Hongchang Memorial Hall (吉鸿昌将军纪念馆) and the general's former residence (吉鸿昌故居) among the revolutionary sites the county wants to use for tourism.

Food and local products

The Zhoukou city government describes Fugou as a "China vegetable hometown" (中国蔬菜之乡), and Fugou watermelon and Fugou chilli carry national agricultural geographical-indication status. In winter, stretches of low-growing "padi" spinach (趴地菠菜) fill the fields of Baotun (包屯镇); a local online seller of the crop says frost makes it soft and sweet. The county's tenth heritage list (2024) adds wheat-straw pictures (麦秆画), the Xiaogang waist drum (小岗腰鼓), Zhao family suona music (赵家唢呐) and the Yan family's liquor-distilling craft (闫家烧酒酿造制作工艺).

Getting oriented

The Zhengzhou–Fuyang high-speed railway (郑阜高速铁路) crosses the county and stops at Fugou South station (扶沟南站), opened on 1 December 2019. The Daguang (大广), Yanluo (盐洛) and Anluo (安罗) expressways meet within the county.

Highlights

• Dacheng Academy 大程书院: Founded by Cheng Hao after he became magistrate in 1075; Qing buildings, national key site, home of the county museum.
• Ji Hongchang Memorial Hall and Former Residence 吉鸿昌将军纪念馆、吉鸿昌故居: Sites for the anti-Japanese general Ji Hongchang, a Fugou native.
• Padi spinach 趴地菠菜: Low-growing winter spinach from Baotun; a local seller says frost makes it soft and sweet.
• Wheat-straw pictures 麦秆画: On the county's tenth intangible-heritage list, 2024.