Changzhou or Changchow [key], city, S Jiangsu prov., E central China, on the Grand Canal. It is an agricultural, food, and textile center connected by rail with Shanghai and Nanjing. Other manufactures include diesel engines, generators, locomotives, fertilizer, machine tools, and motor vehicles. Tianning Temple, which dates to the T'ang dynasty and is one of China's largest Zen Buddhist temples, is there; its pagoda (constructed 2002–7) is the world's tallest. An economic center of S China since the Southern Sung dynasty (1129–1279), Changzhou became industrialized in the late 19th cent. It was called Wutsin prior to 1949 and the name sometimes appears as Ch'ang-chou.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
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