Taicang City, belonging to Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, is located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province, on the south bank of the Yangtze River estuary, across the Yangtze River from Chongming District of Shanghai in the east, Baoshan District and Jiading District of Shanghai in the south, Kunshan City in the west, and Changshu City in the north.
The territory of Taicang City, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, successively belonged to the State of Wu, the State of Yue, and the State of Chu, and was the land of Louyi of the State of Chu. In the 26th year of Qin Shi Huang (221 BC), Lou Yi was changed to Lou County, and the present county was under the jurisdiction of Lou County. In the sixth year of southern Liang Tianjian (507), It was divided into Zhiyi County, and in the second year of Datong (536), Xinyi County was divided into Kunshan County, and the present-day county was under the jurisdiction of Kunshan County.
At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the present-day county was still under the jurisdiction of Kunshan County; in the first year of Yuan Zhen (1295), Kunshan County was upgraded to Kunshan Prefecture, and the present-day county still belonged to it; in the first year of Yanyou (1314), Kunshan Prefecture was moved to rule present-day Taicang. In the second year of Ming Hongwu (1369), Kunshan Prefecture was demoted to Kunshan County, and the territory of the present county still belongs to it; in the tenth year of Hongzhi (1497), the three townships of Kunshan County, the 1st township of Changshu County, and the 2nd township of Jiading County were placed in Taicang Prefecture, and the prefecture administered Qiming County.
In the second year of Qing Yongzheng (1724), Taicang Prefecture was elevated to Zhili Prefecture, and Zhenyang County (Zhenyang County, which ruled present-day Fuqiao Town) was placed in the north of the prefecture, and Taicang Directly under the jurisdiction of Zhenyang, Chongming, Jiading, and Baoshan Counties. In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), Taicang Prefecture was changed to Taicang County, and Zhenyang County was abolished and merged into Taicang County.
After the founding of New China, Taicang County was successively subordinated to the Suzhou Administrative District Commissioner's Office in Southern Jiangsu, the Suzhou District Commissioner's Office of the People's Administrative Office of Southern Jiangsu Province, the Suzhou Commissioner's Office of Jiangsu Province, the Revolutionary Committee of Suzhou Prefecture, the Revolutionary Committee of Suzhou District, and the Suzhou District Administrative Office, and in 1983 it belonged to the prefecture-level Suzhou City.
On March 28, 1993, with the approval of the State Council, Taicang County was abolished and Taicang City (county-level) was established, which was directly administered by Jiangsu Province and Suzhou City.
The total area of Taicang City is 809.93 square kilometers, of which the land area is 665.96 square kilometers, under the jurisdiction of 1 subdistrict, 6 towns and Taicang Port Economic Development Zone, the city's registered population at the end of 2017 was 486,900 people, the permanent population of 715,800 people. As the closest city to Shanghai, Taicang Is the "Back Garden" of Shanghai.
Taicang has a long history, during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, it was an important seaport and commercial port, known as the "Six Kingdoms Wharf" in history, during the Yuan Dynasty, Liujiagang (located in the present-day Dongliuhe Town, Taicang City) was known as the "World's First Wharf". At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the famous navigator Zheng He sailed seven times to the West and set sail in LiujiaGang.
Historical celebrities of Taicang City: Wu Qian (Northern Song Dynasty hydraulic engineer), Wang Chen (Ming Dynasty Governor of Jiliao), Wang Shizhen (Ming Dynasty Writer and Historian), Wang Xijue (Ming Dynasty Cabinet Chief Assistant), Ling Yunyi (Ming Dynasty Liangguang Governor), Qiu Ying (Ming Dynasty Painting Master), Zhang Pu (Ming Dynasty Literary Scholar), Wang Zaijin (Ming Dynasty Bingbu Shangshu), Xu Shangying (Late Ming Dynasty Pianist), Wang Shimin (Late Ming and Early Qing Painter), Wang Jian (Late Ming and Early Qing Painter), Lu Shiyi (Famous Theologian and Writer of the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties), Wu Weiye (famous poet of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties), Wang Yuanqi (outstanding painter of the Qing Dynasty), Bi Yuan (Qing Dynasty Champion, scholar), Lu Zengxiang (late Qing Dynasty epigrapher) and so on.