Why is it called Guangzhou instead of Guangzhou?

State stands for county, state and government.

Guangzhou was the administrative center of counties, states and governments in ancient times. At the end of Qin Dynasty, the beginning of Han Dynasty and the end of Tang Dynasty, Guangzhou was divided into small countries twice.

Qin dynasty:

After Qin Shihuang unified Lingnan, Nanhai County was established in Guangzhou. The administrative jurisdiction extends to Guanpingshi in the north, near Zhangpu in Fujian in the east and Zhanjiang in the west, and Zhao Tuo is the county magistrate of Nanhai.

In order to consolidate its rule in Lingnan, the Qin Dynasty moved 500,000 residents from the Central Plains to Lingnan. After three high tides of Central Plains migration in Jin Dynasty, Song Dynasty and late Ming Dynasty, three ethnic groups, namely Guangfu, Hakka and Fulao, gradually formed, forming a unique Lingnan culture.

At the end of Qin Dynasty and the beginning of Han Dynasty, Zhao Tuo became the emperor of South Vietnam, and his jurisdiction extended to Leizhou Peninsula, Guangxi, Guilin and northern Vietnam. (This is the first time to divide a small country)

During the Han Dynasty:

After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty pacified South Vietnam in11BC, the former Zhao Tuo separatist region was divided into nine counties (later reduced to seven counties), while Guangzhou was still called Nanhai County, which belonged to the toe-crossing department and was later called Jiaozhou, and the administrative scope of Nanhai County was reduced. Jiaozhou Prefecture moved to Wuzhou, Guangxi, and Guangzhou City once declined.

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Guangzhou belonged to the State of Wu (now Taiwan Province Province was also under the jurisdiction of the State of Wu at that time). In 2 16, bu zhi, the secretariat of the state of Wu, moved the rule of Jiaozhou from Wuzhou to Guangzhou, and changed it to Guangzhou in 226, hence the name of Guangzhou began.