large urban and industrial area, east-central Hubei sheng (province), central China. Located on the right bank of the Han River at its confluence with the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), opposite Hankou, it is the westernmost of the three former cities (also including Wuchang) now constituting the large Wuhan conurbation. Hanyang was named under the Sui dynasty (581–618 CE). In the early 1900s it became the site of China's first modern iron- and steelworks and was, in addition, a key arsenal city. Hanyang was occupied by the Japanese in 1938–45, and in 1949, after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, it was merged with Hankou and Wuchang to form Wuhan.