Fúzhōu

The Fuzhou are Han Chinese of the lower Min River in eastern Fujian, speaking the Fuzhou dialect, prestige form of Eastern Min, across the old Ten Counties. Their land was once Minyue, a Baiyue kingdom whose ruler Wuzhu built Ye in 202 BC, the traditional founding of Fuzhou; after Han conquest of Minyue in 110 BC much of the population was deported to the Yangtze-Huai region, and a county followed in 85 BC.

Northern refugees arrived from 308, larger waves following the Tang-era rebellions and giving Min dialects their Han Chinese base. The city took the name Fuzhou in 725, was sacked by Huang Chao in 879 and in 909 became capital of the Min kingdom under Wang Shenzhi.

Under the Southern Song Fuzhou drew scholars such as Zhu Xi; under Ming, the fleets of Zheng He sailed from Changle between 1405 and 1433, and the Ryukyu embassy was fixed at Fuzhou from 1472, making the city Fujian's maritime trade window.