Linqing () is a

county-level city A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a Administrative divisions of China#County level (3rd), county-level administrative divi ...

under the administration of the

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China' ...

Liaocheng Liaocheng (), is a prefecture-level city in western Shandong province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the southeast, Dezhou to the northeast, Tai'an to the south, and the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the west. The Grand ...

in western

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

Province, China.

Geography and climate

It is located north-northwest of Liaocheng. The city is situated at the confluence of the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. The source of the Wei River is close to ...

and the Grand Canal. It is from

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on the

Beijing–Kowloon railway The Beijing–Kowloon railway, also known as the Jingjiu railway () is a railway connecting Beijing West railway station in Beijing to Shenzhen railway station in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. It is connected with Hong Kong's East Rail across th ...

line to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. Elevation within Linqing County ranges from above sea level. The area of the county is . The annual average temperature is , the highest recorded temperature , and the lowest recorded temperature . Annual mean precipitation is . There are 205 frost-free days per year on average and the average annual sunshine is 2661 hours.

History and economy

Linqing has played an important role in the history of China. In

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

times it was a great center for the distribution of textiles, grain and bricks and is also famous as the place where the tiles of the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against Eurasian noma ...

and the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is a Chinese palace, palace complex in Dongcheng District, Beijing, China, at the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City of Beijing. It is surrounded by numerous opulent imperial gardens and temples includ ...

were produced. Today the city's flourishing economy is based on a number of light industrial enterprises. Aside from the Grand Canal, sights include a distinctive promontory, a

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as ''śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumamb ...

(), a Ming-dynasty

Hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...

mosques (Linqing Northern Mosque, , Linqing Eastern Mosque, ), and ruins of the old customs house (), Linqing City Museum (in a historical building ensemble known as the ). In particular, the Sheli Pagoda near the Grand Canal is a well-known local landmark.

Administrative divisions

As 2012, this city is divided to four subdistricts, eight towns and three townships. ;Subdistricts ;Towns ;Townships *Jinhaozhuang Township () *Daiwan Township () *Shangdian Township ()

Population

Demographics

The city proper has about residents (January 2000), whereas Linqing as a whole had inhabitants in 1999. National Population Statistics Materials by County and City - 1999 Period, ''in'
China County & City Population 1999, Harvard China Historical GIS
/ref>

Ecclesiastical history

Once visited by the missionary and sinologist

Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italians, Italian Society of Jesus, Jesuit Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He create ...

, Linqing has been the seat of a Latin Catholic

Mission sui juris A mission ''sui iuris'', or in Latin ''missio sui iuris'' (plural ''missions sui iuris''); also spelled mission(s) sui juris), also known as an independent mission, is a rare type of Roman Catholic missionary pseudo-diocesan jurisdiction, rankin ...

of Linqing / Lintsing since it was split off from the

Apostolic Vicariate of Tsinanfu The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jinan ( la, Zinanen(sis), ) is an archdiocese located in the city of Jinan ( Shandong) in China. History * September 3, 1839: Established as Apostolic Vicariate of Shantung from the Diocese of Beijing * Dece ...

on 24 June 1927. It was promoted to

Apostolic prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Linqing / Lintsing / Lintsingen(sis) (Latin) (pre-diocesan jurisdiction, not entitled to a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

) on 5 April 1931. It remains exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See and its missionary

Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

. The see has been vacant, without

Apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

, since the third incumbent's death in 1981.http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/lint0.htm GCatholic

Ordinaries

(all

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

) ;''Ecclesiastical Superior(s) none available ;''Apostolic Prefects'' (Chinese secular priests) * Father Gaspar Hu Xiu-shen () (1931.03.30 – retired 1940), died 1945 * Fr. Joseph Li Chao-gui () (1940.11.22 – death 1948) * Fr. Paul Li Ben-liang () (1949.11.18 – death 1981)

Notable natives

* Ming dynasty poet Xie Zhen * National Revolution Army general

Zhang Zizhong Zhang Zizhong (; August 11, 1891 – May 16, 1940) was a general of the Chinese National Revolutionary Army (NRA) during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Born in Linqing, Shandong, he was the highest- ranked officer and the only Army group comm ...

* Indologist, linguist, paleographer, historian and writer

Ji Xianlin Ji Xianlin (; August 6, 1911 – July 11, 2009) was a Chinese Indologist, linguist, paleographer, historian and writer who has been honored by the governments of both India and China. Ji was proficient in many languages including Chinese, Sanskr ...

References

Sources and external links

Article on Linqing from China Today, no.78 (2005)

Official website of Linqing city government (in Chinese)

{{Authority control Cities in Shandong County-level divisions of Shandong Liaocheng