Origin of Putian
莆田的起源

The inscription at Nanshan Guanghua Temple in Putian contains two important clues to the early history of Putian and the people who would later become known as the Hinghwa.

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The Hinghwa people have a long and rich history. As modern-day archaeologists have uncovered, our ancestors lived in the southern region for nearly as long as Chinese civilization has existed in the north. This remarkable discovery challenges the popular belief that the Hinghwa people were migrants from Henan Province.

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The archaeological evidence also shows that the region was already home to settled communities that had developed agriculture, fishing, hunting and distinctive cultural practices thousands of years ago.

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As Professor Chen states:

"兴化地区已发现的新石器古文化遗址表明，早在 5500-3500 多年前，先民们已在兴化湾南日岛、埭头后郑、仙游双桥以及莆城东岩山这些地域周围，从事原始农业和渔猎活动，繁衍生息。从出土的文物看，早在三千多年前，兴化先民已在常太山区繁衍生息和创造文明."

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“The Neolithic cultural sites discovered in the Hinghwa area show that as early as 5,500 to 3,500 years ago, the ancestors were already engaged in early agriculture, fishing and hunting, and established communities around Nanri Island (南日岛) in Hinghwa Bay, Houzheng in Daitou, Shuangqiao in Xianyou, and Yanshan in the eastern region of Pucheng. From the unearthed relics, it is evident that as early as 3,000 years ago, the ancestors of the Hinghwa people were living in the Changtai Mountain region and creating their own culture and civilization."

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During the Warring States period, there was significant movement of troops and people from the north to the south. The north, populated primarily by the Han people, experienced a southward migration, eventually leading to the integration of Han migrants with the Ou, Yue, and Min peoples of the south.

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Archaeological and textual evidence from the Minyue period (2nd century BCE) further confirms Putian's deep indigenous roots. The Yuewang Terrace (越王台) in present-day Baisha Town is recorded as the earliest beacon-fire platform in Fujian with written documentation, associated with the Minyue king Yu Shan's resistance against Han forces. Xinghua County Gazetteer has more literature on this.

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According to Professor Chen C.Y., “The unique merging of the Huaxia people and the southern peoples, as they continued to move south, eventually gave rise to a new ethnic and cultural identity known as the Putian people.”

​(华夏文明和百越文明的紧密结合, 孕育出独特的莆田文明).

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It is therefore not necessarily wrong to say that some of our ancestors came from Henan. After more than a thousand years of migration and integration, many of our forebears could indeed have originated in northern China.

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The key point, however, is that the people of ancient Putian did not begin as a population that already identified as Han Chinese. Over centuries of migration, intermarriage, cultural exchange and political integration, northern Huaxia traditions and the indigenous cultures of the south gradually merged, eventually contributing to the distinctive Puxian society and identity that emerged in Putian.

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This section will therefore attempt to trace the ancient history of Putian and the Hinghwa people, including their glorious period during the Tang and Song Dynasties.

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