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{{Short description|Former Chinese town, now a part of Wuhan, Hubei Province}}
{{Distinguish|Hankø|Hanko, Finland}}

{{Infobox Former Subdivision
|conventional_long_name = Hankou
|native_name = {{nobold|汉口市}}
|common_name = Hankou
|subdivision = [[List of cities in China|City]]
|nation = [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]]
|coordinates = {{Coord|30.581179|114.272597|type:city_region: CN-HB-01|display=title,inline}}
|p1 = 
|flag_p1 = 
|s1 = Jiang'an District
|flag_s1 = 
|s2 = Jianghan District
|flag_s2 = 
|s3 = Qiaokou District
|flag_s3 = 
|image_flag = 
|image_coat = 
|image_map = Hankow 1915.jpg
|image_map_caption = The map of Hankou (top left, with the five foreign concessions), Hanyang, and Wuchang, as of 1915
|capital = 
|date_start = 3 July 
|year_start =  1921
|date_end = June
|year_end = 1954
|political_subdiv = 
|today = A part of [[Wuhan]] ([[Jiang'an District|Jiang'an]], [[Jianghan District|Jianghan]], & [[Qiaokou District|Qiaokou]])
}}

'''Hankou''', [[Chinese postal romanization|alternately romanized]] as '''Hankow'''<!-- ('''Hangkow''')--> ({{zh|t={{linktext|漢口}}|s={{linktext|汉口}}|p=Hànkǒu}}), was one of the three towns (the other two were [[Wuchang, Wuhan|Wuchang]] and [[Hanyang, Wuhan|Hanyang]]) merged to become modern-day [[Wuhan]] city, the capital of the [[Hubei]] province, [[China]]. It stands north of the [[Han River (Hanshui)|Han]] and [[Yangtze River]]s where the Han flows into the Yangtze. Hankou is connected by bridges to its triplet sister towns Hanyang (between Han and Yangtze) and Wuchang (on the southern side of the Yangtze).

Hankou is the main [[port]] of [[Hubei|Hubei Province]] and the single largest port in the middle reaches of [[Yangtze]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}}

==History==
[[File:Map of Hankou, 1950s.jpg|thumb|left|Map of Hankou (labeled as HAN-K'OU (HANKOW) {{lang|zh-hant|漢口}})]]
The city's name literally means "[[river mouth|Mouth]] of the Han", from its position at the confluence of the [[Han River (Shaanxi and Hubei)|Han]] with the [[Yangtze River]]. The name appears in a [[Tang dynasty]] poem by [[Liu Zhangqing]].  Other historical names for the city include '''Xiakou''' ({{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|夏口}}}}), '''Miankou''' ({{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|沔口}}}}), and '''Lukou''' ({{lang|zh-hant|{{linktext|魯口}}}}).<ref>''Zhongguo Gujin Diming Dacidian'' 中国古今地名大词典, 964.</ref>

Hankou, from the [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] to late [[Qing dynasty|Qing]], was under the administration of the local government in [[Hanyang District|Hanyang]], although it was already one of the four major national markets ([[:zh:四大名镇]]) in Ming dynasty. It was not until 1899 that [[Zhang Zhidong]] decided to separate Hankou from Hanyang. Hankou was then divided into four districts, which are Juren, Youyi, Xunli, and Dazhi ({{lang|zh-hant|居仁、由義、循禮、大智}}). Some of the names can still be found in modern-day Wuhan, where there are geographical names such as [[Xunlimen Station|Xunlimen]], Jurenmen, and Dazhimen.<ref name="历史沿革">{{cite web| url=http://jianghan.gov.cn/zoujinjianghan/lsyg/201202/t20120214_41133.html| title=历史沿革| access-date=March 21, 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625224752/http://www.jianghan.gov.cn/zoujinjianghan/lsyg/201202/t20120214_41133.html| archive-date=June 25, 2012}}</ref><ref name="江汉综述">{{cite web | url=http://www.whfz.gov.cn:8080/pub/dqwx/qnj/jhnj07/content.htm | title=江汉综述 | access-date=March 21, 2012 | archive-date=February 2, 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202181053/http://www.whfz.gov.cn:8080/pub/dqwx/qnj/jhnj07/content.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1900, this boom town on the Yangtze was referred to as "the Chicago of China" by the media back then.<ref name="Chicago">{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/05/13/chicago-is-all-over-the-place/ |title=Chicago is all over the place |author=Jacob, Mark |date=2012-05-13 |publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date=2012-05-22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511215253/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-13/news/ct-talk-nato-chicago-0513-20120513_1_violent-crime-chicago-connection-south-america-s-chicago |archive-date=2013-05-11}}</ref>

In 1926, Hankou was officially established as a city, where its municipal government was built in [[Jianghan district]]. In the same year, the [[Northern Expedition]] reached Hankou, and merged Hankou with adjacent Wuchang and Hanyang to make it the seat of the national capital, Wuhan.<ref name="历史沿革" /><ref name="江汉综述" /><ref name="武汉的由来">{{cite web | url=http://www.whdaj.gov.cn/jcfm/zg-01.htm | title="武汉"的由来 | access-date=March 31, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425210116/http://www.whdaj.gov.cn/jcfm/zg-01.htm | archive-date=April 25, 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref> But in 1927, when [[Nanjing]] succeeded in the fight to be the national capital, Wuhan was returned to its original form, with Hankou being again a city by itself. This time Hankou was established as a "Special Municipality," which resembles a [[direct-controlled municipality]] in present day. Before 1949, Hankou has shifted between being a special municipality and a provincial city. In 1949, Hankou was finally merged with Hanyang and Wuchang to become Wuhan, when the communists arrived in Hankou on May 16.<ref name="武汉近代建市及其历史意义">{{cite web| url=http://www.cnhan.com/GB/content/2007-04/19/content_786610.htm| title=武汉近代建市及其历史意义| access-date=March 31, 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202121631/http://www4.cnhan.com/GB/content/2007-04/19/content_786610.htm| archive-date=February 2, 2014}}</ref>

=== Revolutionary periods ===

Hankou was the destination on the escape route of groups of missionaries fleeing the [[Boxer Rebellion|Boxers]] in the Northern provinces around 1900. The flight of some missionaries from the [[Taiyuan Massacre|T'ai-yüan massacre]] in [[Shanxi|Shan-si]] is recorded in the work ''A Thousand Miles of Miracle in China'',<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/thousandmilesofm00glovuoft |title=A Thousand Miles of Miracle in China: A personal record of God's delivering power from the hands of the Imperial Boxers of Shan-si |last=Glover |first=Archibald E. |edition=Eleventh |publisher=Pickering & Inglis |location=London |year=1919}}</ref> by Reverend A E Glover, one of the fleeing missionaries.

[[File:Hankou Chinese Revolution 1911.jpg|thumb|left|Troops sent to recapture Hankou]]
[[File:Bomardment of Hankow.jpg|thumb|Bombardment of Hankow (1911)]]
[[File:HMS Thistle, 1st Class Gunboat at the China Station 1910 - 1912 Q114761.jpg|thumb|right|Hankow city in flames after the Republican defeat.]]
On 10 October 1911, [[1911 Revolution|a revolution]] to establish the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] and replace the [[Qing dynasty]] led to the involvement of Hankou in the struggle between Hubei revolutionary forces and the Qing army, led by [[Yuan Shikai]].  Although the revolution began in [[Wuchang District|Wuchang]] with a revolt started by members of the [[New Army]], revolutionaries quickly captured major strategic cities and towns throughout the province, including Hankou on October 12. The Qing dynasty army recaptured Hankou later, but as the revolution spread throughout China, eventually the town and the province came under control of the Republic of China.

=== Foreign concessions period ===

[[File:Hankow Bund c. 1900.jpg|thumb|Foreign concessions along the Bund, circa 1900]]

Hankou used to have five foreign [[Concession (territory)|concessions]] belonging to the United Kingdom ({{Convert | 115 | acre}}, est. 1862), France ({{Convert | 60 | acre}}, est. 1886), Russia ({{Convert | 60 | acre}}, est. 1886), Germany ({{Convert | 100 | acre}}, est. 1895) and Japan ({{Convert | 32 | acre}}, est. 1898). The German and Russian concessions ended in 1917 and 1920 respectively and those areas were administered by the Chinese government as the First and the Second Special Area.

In 1862, Russian tea merchants arrived in the British concession of Hankou. Russians in Hankou established four factories using assembly lines and machinery to produce brick tea, and became the city's richest industrialists in what would become the Russian concession.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The British Concession and the First Years of the Treaty Port · Hankou to Wuhan: Histories from China's Crossroads · Hankou to Wuhan |url=https://hankoutowuhan.org/s/hankou/page/the-british-concession-and-the-opening-of-hankou |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220820185850/https://hankoutowuhan.org/s/hankou/page/the-british-concession-and-the-opening-of-hankou |url-status=usurped |archive-date=August 20, 2022 |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=hankoutowuhan.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lee |first=Chinyun |date=2014 |title=From Kiachta to Vladivostok: Russian Merchants and the Tea Trade |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43737542 |journal=Region |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=195–218 |jstor=43737542 |issn=2166-4307}}</ref>

[[File:Hankou. Bastille Day ceremonies in the French Concession, 1932.jpg|thumb|Bastille Day celebrations, 1932]]

Early in 1927, the [[Hankow British Concession|British concession]] was occupied in the course of the revolutionary troubles that accompanied the [[Northern Expedition]] when the Chinese [[Kuomintang]] forces occupied the concession and showed no intention of withdrawing. The Chen-O'Malley Agreement of February 1927 provided for a combined British-Chinese administration of the concession and in 1929 the British concession formally came to an end. From then on it was administered by the Chinese authorities as the Third Special Area.

[[File:Countermand concession.jpg|thumb|Chinese [[Kuomintang]] soldiers marching into the British concession during the Northern Expedition]]

In the 1920s and 30s, Hankou was one of the Yangtze River ports patrolled by the US Navy to maintain US interests in the area ([[Yangtze Patrol]]).

[[File:1926 Hankow USS Palos.jpg|thumb|1926, Hankow, American sailors from the USS Palos (docked behind)]]

Hankou was flooded in the [[1931 China floods]].
[[File:Japanese child's blanket 1938 includes name Hankow.jpg|thumb|Japanese child's blanket 1938 includes name Hankow. [[Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, Stockholm|Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities]], Stockholm. The culture of war.]]
Hankou was captured by the Japanese invaders in 1938 ([[Battle of Wuhan]]).

An important logistical center, the city was heavily bombed in December 1944 by the US aircraft based in the [[Chengdu]] area (part of [[Operation Matterhorn]]).

On 19 August 1945, a group of enraged Chinese civilians and soldiers massacred 26 Japanese soldiers in the [[Hankou reprisal massacre]].

The government of Vichy France relinquished the French concession in 1943, and the restored French Republic relinquished it formally in 1946.

The Japanese concession came to an end with the surrender of Japan in 1945.

Before the Communist Revolution, Hankou was the seat of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hankou]], covering the province of Hubei. The dioceses in [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Wuchang|Wuchang]], [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Hanyang|Hanyang]] and elsewhere in the province were subordinated to it.

In the 1930s, the airports served in Hankow were [[Hankow Airfield|Wuhan Wangjiadun Airport]] and Wuhan Nanhu. Wangjiadun served as a civil and military base until 2007 while Nanhu, on the other hand, shut down while Tianhe Airport opened in 1995.

[[File:Hankou-Orthodox-Church-0259.jpg|thumb|Former Hankou Orthodox Church]]

==Modern status==
[[File:Hankou-Hanjiang-Lu-0247.jpg|thumb|Jianghan Road in central Hankou]]
[[File:Administrative Division Wuhan.png|thumb|Modern [[Jiang'an District]], [[Jianghan District]], and [[Qiaokou District]] are in blue, pink, and green ]]

"Hankou" remains a commonly used name for the part of Wuhan urban area north of the Yangtze and Han Rivers. The name was long preserved in the name of the old Hankou Railway Station (also known as [[Dazhimen Station]]), the original terminal of the [[Jinghan Railway]]. After the old Dazhimen station closed in 1991, the Hankou name was transferred to the new [[Hankou Railway Station]], which opened in 1991 at a new location, farther away from central city. Railway passengers traveling to Wuhan need to purchase tickets to a particular station: the Hankou Railway Station, the [[Wuchang Railway Station]] (near central Wuchang, on the right bank of the Yangtze), or the new [[Wuhan Railway Station]] (which opened in 2009, also on the right bank, but a long distance from the historical Wuchang).

Nonetheless, Hankou is no longer the name of an administrative unit (e.g., a [[District (China)|district]]), because its area now falls mostly within [[Jiang'an District]], [[Jianghan District]], and [[Qiaokou District]]. That contrasts with [[Wuchang District|Wuchang]] and [[Hanyang District|Hanyang]], the names of which have been retained in the eponymous administrative districts within the City of Wuhan.

==Media==
Hankou once had an English-language newspaper, ''[[The Hankow Daily News]]'', which was published by a German individual.<ref>Walravens, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=0F6U82kZXjsC&dq=%22Hankou+also+had+a+German+paper%22&pg=PA91 91].</ref>

== Education ==
*[[David Hill memorial school]] (1883)

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Walravens |first=Hartmut |chapter = German Influence on the Press in China  |title = Newspapers in International Librarianship: Papers Presented by the Newspaper Section at IFLA General Conferences |publisher = [[Walter de Gruyter]] |date=January 1, 2003 |isbn=3110962799 |url = http://ifla.queenslibrary.org/IV/ifla62/62-walh.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030617073505/http://ifla.queenslibrary.org/IV/ifla62/62-walh.htm |archive-date = June 17, 2003 }}
** Also available in Walravens, Hartmut and Edmund King. ''Newspapers in international librarianship: papers presented by the newspapers section at IFLA General Conferences''. [[K.G. Saur]], 2003. {{ISBN|3598218370}}, 9783598218378.
* {{cite web |url = http://histclo.com/essay/war/ww2/camp/pac/china/inv/ji-hang38.html |title = Japanese Invasion of China: Hangkou / Hanhkow (1937-38) |website = Historical Boys' Clothing |date = September 19, 2011 }}
* {{cite book |title = Hankow: Commerce and Society in a Chinese City, 1796-1889 |publisher = Stanford University Press |first = William T. |last = Rowe |author-link = William T. Rowe |year=1984 }}
* {{cite book |title = Hankow: Conflict and Community in a Chinese City, 1796-1895 |publisher = Stanford University Press |first = William T. |last = Rowe |year = 1992 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|China}}
{{commons category|Hankou}}
{{Wiktionary|Hankou|Hankow|Han-k'ou}}
{{EB1922 Poster|Hankow}}
*[http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/china_city_plans/txu-oclc-6566099.jpg Historic US Army map of Hankou, 1945]

{{Suspended ROC provinces}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Former administrative divisions of China]]
[[Category:Cities in Hubei]]
[[Category:History of Wuhan]]
[[Category:Jianghan District]]