Hankou (redirected from Han-kou)

Hankou (hän`kō`) or Hankow (hăng`kou`), former city, since 1950 part of the Wuhan conurbation, E Hubei prov., China. Built on an alluvial plain on the left banks of both the Han and Chang rivers, it is the largest city in the conurbation and contains its port, a major facility handling oceangoing vessels. The city has many industries. Hankou owes much of its development to the Beijing-Guangzhou RR, which crosses the Chang at Hankou. The city was opened as a treaty port in 1862, held (1938–45) by the Japanese, and in 1949 passed to the Chinese Communists. It is linked by bridges with Hanyang and Wuchang.

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Hank’ou 

a former city in China, in Hupeh Province; since 1956, part of the city of Wuhan. The city was called Hsiak’ou in ancient times and was later known by other names. It was renamed Hank’ou during the rule of the Ch’ing dynasty. In 1858, Hank’ou was opened to foreign trade. In 1861 a concession was granted to Great Britain, and later concessions were granted to France, Japan, Germany, and tsarist Russia.

In the autumn of 1911, during the Hsin-hai revolution, fierce battles were fought near Hank’ou between revolutionaries and government troops. Chinese Communists led the Peking-Hank’ou strike of 1923 from Hank’ou. During the revolution of 1925–27, the revolutionary government was located in the city from December 1926 to July 1927. From December 1937 to October 1938, Hank’ou was the provisional capital of the Chinese Republic. From October 1938 through August 1945 it was occupied by Japanese troops. Hank’ou was liberated from the Kuomintang by the People’s Liberation Army of China in May 1949.

E. A. BELOV