The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Changzhou
or Changchow (both: chäng´j´) (KEY) , city (1994 est. pop. 683,300), S Jiangsu prov., E central China, on the Grand Canal. It is an agricultural, food, and textile center connected by rail with Shanghai and Nanjing. Other manufactures include diesel engines, generators, locomotives, fertilizer, machine tools, and motor vehicles. Tianning Temple, which dates to the Tang dynasty and is one of Chinas largest Zen Buddhist temples, is there; its pagoda (constructed 20027) is the worlds tallest. An economic center of S China since the Southern Sung dynasty (11291279), Changzhou became industrialized in the late 19th cent. It was called Wutsin prior to 1949 and the name sometimes appears as Chang-chou.