Suchow

(also Hsü-chou), a city in China, in the province of Kiangsu; situated on the Grand Canal, near Lake T’ai. Population, 633,000 (1957). Suchow is a river port and has a railroad station on the Nanking-Shanghai line. An important center of the silk industry and various handicraft industries, it also has enterprises of the chemical, paper, cotton, and food-processing industries. Educational institutions include aviation and pedagogical institutes.

Suchow was built by Wang Ho Liu (514–489 B.C.) as the capital of the principality of Wu. Initially called T’aich’eng, it acquired its present name under the Sui dynasty (A.D. 581–618). In later times it was called P’ingchiang and Wuhsien. During the Sung dynasty (960–1279) it became a provincial center, and under the Manchus (1644–1911), the chief city of Kiangsu Province. During the medieval period it was an important center of trade and of cotton and silk production.

Suchow has many old parks with man-made hills and lakes and with pavilions, galleries, and bridges and several country estates with landscaped gardens. Architectural monuments include a fortress wall (1360; restored 15th-18th centuries), the 13-tiered Juikuangt’a pagoda (third century; rebuilt 904), the seven-tiered Huch’iut’a pagoda (seventh century; rebuilt tenth century), and the seven-tiered twin pagodas of Shuangt’a (984).

(also Hsüchou), a city in East China, in Kiangsu Province. Population, approximately 700,000 (1970). Suchow is an important railroad junction at the intersection of the Tientsin-P’uk’ou and Lunghai railroads. The city’s metallurgical plants use iron ore from the Likuotse deposit and coal from the Chiawang mines. Other industries include food processing and the manufacture of cotton textiles and mining equipment. Handicrafts are also produced in Suchow.