曲江位处粤北,当北江之上游,滇武二水,匯于城南。粤北虽为崇峻之山区,然山势至此,则已大减,水陆交通,均极方便,现城市人口约五万余,(注一)俨为粤北政治文化之中心。且自昔划即为南北交通必经之道,举凡岭北与百越之战征争伐,文化交流,商贾往还,均莫不由此。五代之世,中州士女,避难南来,率皆经此而散于粤北粤东。

I. Location and Historical Development Chukiang or "the winding river" was a castle-like town which was originally surrounded by a wal1.(Fig. 2)it is situated on the upper part of the Peikiang at the junction of the Tcheng and Wu Rivers, and is on the cro.}srozd both by land and wet0r (Fig. 1).The city was developed as early as Tang Dynasty when Meiling lass was first built. During Manchu Dynasty it stood on the so called "Ambassador Road" through which the foreign ambassadors went to Nanking from Canton. In recent decades, with the completion of railway and highways the city has become not only the Center of Northern Kwantung but also a linking point between Southern Kiangse and Southern Hunan. During war time, the Kwantung Provincial Government temporarily moved there thus accelerating the material construction of the city. Though the Provincial Government has moved back to canton after the war, the city is still and `vill be the most impor-tent one}in Northern Kwantung, The "land neck" between two rivers is the main part of the city (Fig, 3), Since the completion of the Canton Hankow Railway new settlements were developed around the railway station, along the left bank of the Tcheng River.