History of Chenhe Town

Tatsumi Terrace, a monument of the Three Kingdoms, is located in Chenhe Town. In the southwest corner of Yingcheng, Hubei, China, there is a place called Chenhe Town, which is known as "beautiful scenery and outstanding people". She has an ancient geographical name-Chenjiahe. In the west of Yingcheng, a small river flows slowly south and finally flows into Longsai Lake. Its upstream is called Roy River, and its downstream is called Chenjiahe River.

As early as the Neolithic Age, our ancestors lived on both sides of the Chenhe River. Now the Neolithic site in Tatsumi Terrace, not far from the south of Chenhe City, is the city where our ancestors lived. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the King of Chu expanded the country and even stationed troops in Chenhe River. Now Chu Wuwang's body is buried in three tombs: Wangjiawan, Zhengcun and Chenhehe.

We don't know where the ancestors who once lived here went later. It is recorded that after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the descendants of Jiangxi immigrants to Huanggang Macheng in the Yuan Dynasty immigrated to Michael Chen, also known as Jute, and Chen Youliang's subordinates and clansmen went to Michael Chen incognito. Later, some officials took a fancy to Michael Chen and didn't want to leave.

The place where Chenhe Town is now located was very remote in the Ming Dynasty. Many people on the south bank of the river must pass through here to reach the county by land. It's inconvenient to cross the river. A family named Liao built a small bridge here to facilitate people to cross the river. People call it Liao Bridge. At the end of the Ming dynasty, a village shop was formed here, and the scale was very small. Some people are Chen's family. His name is Chen Jiahe.

During the reign of Kanggan in Qing Dynasty, with the development of gypsum mining in Yingcheng from open pit to underground mining and the discovery of rock salt, most gypsum and salt mines moved to the west of Yingcheng, and Michael Chen gradually prospered. Gypsum and rock salt from mines in the west of Yingcheng are transported to Michael Chen by Tuofu, and then to all parts of the country by water from Michael Chen. The reeds needed for salt cooking are transported to Michael Chen from Longsai Lake, Santai Lake and Mangdang Lake, and then transported to the mine by Tuofu.

Michael Chen's commerce used to be mainly in North Street, and the wharf was also on the north shore. With the expansion of the wharf, the business is more prosperous, and Michael Chen's collection is also developing from north to south. It developed to the south bank of the river in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. People set up a small wooden bridge over the river, which is not big. People used to call it Sesame Bridge.