Jining () is a

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' ...

in southwestern

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. It borders

Heze Heze, formerly known as Caozhou, is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively. History Caozhou was at the center ...

to the southwest,

Zaozhuang Zaozhuang () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Since January 2019 (after the Laiwu prefecture got incorporated into Jinan prefecture), the smallest prefecture-level city in the province, it b ...

to the southeast,

Tai'an Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to ...

to the northeast, and the provinces of

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

and

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

to the northwest and south respectively. Jining, which is located directly to the north of Lake Nanyang (), is today the northernmost city reachable by navigation on the

Grand Canal of China The Grand Canal, known to the Chinese as the Jing–Hang Grand Canal (, or more commonly, as the「大运河」("Grand Canal")), a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the longest canal or artificial river in the world. Starting in Beijing, it passes ...

making it an important

inland port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...

. Its population was 8,081,905 at the 2010 census, of whom 1,518,000 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') area made up of Rencheng urban district on , Yanzhou district not being totally conurbated yet.

History

The name Jining was first given to the region in the year 1271 during the Song dynasty, although the exact area and type of administrative district it refers to have varied over the centuries. Jining has several distinctive associations in Chinese history and culture, as in antiquity it was the birthplace and home of

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

, along with many of his more famous disciples, including

Mencius Mencius ( ); born Mèng Kē (); or Mèngzǐ (; 372–289 BC) was a Chinese Confucianism, Confucian Chinese philosophy, philosopher who has often been described as the "second Sage", that is, second to Confucius himself. He is part of Confuc ...

. Temples to a number of these philosophers still exist in various parts of the prefecture. Liangshan, a county of Jining, is also famous as the principal setting of the Chinese literary classic, ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is s ...

''.

COVID-19 outbreak

In 2020, the

government reported that a prison guard at Rencheng jail in Jining had shown COVID-19 symptoms in early February and that subsequently more than 2,000 inmates and staff were tested, with 200 prisoners and seven officers coming back positive. The provincial government said Xie Weijun, party secretary for Shandong's department of justice, and seven prison officials had been fired for mismanagement of the outbreak.

Administration

The

of Jining administers 11 county-level divisions, including two

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, two

county-level cities A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...

and seven

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. *

Rencheng District Rencheng () is one of two districts and the seat of the city of Jining Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the pro ...

() *

Yanzhou District Yanzhou ( postal: Yenchow; ) is a district in the prefecture-level city of Jining, in the southwest of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It was also the name of one of the Nine Provinces in ancient China, where Yu combated floods ...

() *

Qufu Qufu ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, and a total population of ...

City () *

Zoucheng Zoucheng () is a county-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. Before it became a city, it was known as Zou County or Zouxian. Zoucheng is located about 20 km south of the city of Qufu, and like Qufu, is administratively under ...

City () * Weishan County () *

Yutai County Yutai County is a county in the southwest of Shandong province, China. It is under the administration of Jining City and borders the Jiangsu counties of Feng and Pei to the south, Weishan County (and Weishan Lake) to the east, Rencheng Distric ...

() - originally in Huxi

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

Jinxiang County Jinxiang County () is a county of southwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangsu province to the southeast. It is under the administration of Jining Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong ...

() - originally in Huxi *

Jiaxiang County Jiaxiang County () is a county in the southwest of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Jining City. The population was in 2011. The cultural heritage site of the Carved Stones in the Tombs of the W ...

() - originally in Huxi *

Wenshang County Wenshang County () is a county of southwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Jining Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, ...

() *

Sishui County Sishui County () is a county of southwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is the easternmost county-level division of Jining City. It takes its name from the Si River The Si River is a river in Shandong Province, China. It ...

() *

Liangshan County Liangshan County () is a county situated in the southwest of Shandong province, China. It is administered by the prefecture-level city of Jining. Geography Liangshan County is situated north west of Jining in the south west of Shandong prov ...

()

Climate

Economy

Jining is situated in a

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

area in the southwest of

. An industrial city, Jining has a coal-fired power station, the Jining Power Plant. The city is served by

Jining Qufu Airport Jining Qufu Airport is an airport serving the cities of Jining and Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, in Shandong Province, China. The airport is located 25 kilometers west of downtown Jining. Airlines and destinations See also *List of airp ...

Notable people

(551 – 479 BC), central Chinese thinker, founder of

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

(main

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

and tomb in

) *

Zengzi Zeng Shen (505–435 BC), better known as Zengzi (Master Zeng), courtesy name Ziyu (), was a Chinese philosopher and disciple of Confucius. He later taught Zisi (Kong Ji), the grandson of Confucius, who was in turn the teacher of Mencius, thus be ...

(505 BC - 436 BC), Chinese philosopher and author, principal lineage protector and promoter of Confucianism *

(372 – 289 BC), Chinese thinker, a principal interpreter of Confucianism (main temple in

) *

Yan Hui Yan Hui (–481 BC) was a Chinese philosopher. He was the favorite disciple of Confucius and one of the most revered figures of Confucianism. He is venerated in Confucian temples as one of the Four Sages. Names Yan Hui is also known by his cou ...

(521 BC - 490 BC), one of the famous disciples of Confucius (

in Qufu) * Lu Ban (507–440 BC), Chinese engineer, philosopher, inventor, military thinker *

Zuo Qiuming Zuo Qiuming, Zuoqiu Ming or Qiu Ming (556–451 BCEZhou, Jixu (May 2011"Confucius and Lao Zi" Their Differing Social Foundations and Cultures ''Sino-Platonic Papers'' 211. p. 2 or 502 – 422 BCE) was a Chinese historian who was a contempo ...

(5th century BC), Chinese court writer of the State of Lu, and contemporary of Confucius during the Spring and Autumn period. *

Kong Shangren Kong Shangren (; 1648 – 1718) was a Qing dynasty dramatist and poet best known for his '' chuanqi'' play ''The Peach Blossom Fan''"Frommer's China", Simon Foster et al., 2010, p. 383, about the last days of the Ming dynasty. Born in Qufu, Kon ...

(1648–1718), a Chinese Qing Dynasty dramatist and poet best known for his ''chuanqi'' play The Peach-Blossom Fan * Qiao Yu (1927–), a famous Chinese modern songwriter and play writer. * Pan Xiaoting (1982–), the first professional pool player from China to play full-time on the

WPBA Tour The Women's Professional Billiard Association Tour (known as the WPBA Tour) is a series of professional women's pool tournaments first held in 1992. Events on the tour are operated by the Women's Professional Billiard Association The Women's Pro ...

. * Xiong Jingnan (1988–), the first ever Chinese World Champion in mixed martial arts history.

Sister cities

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, Japan ''(1984)'' *

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, United States ''(1995)'' *

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, France ''(1996)'' *

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, Japan ''(2008)'' *

Taganrog Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: History of Taganrog The ...

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, Russia ''(2009)'' *

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, Brazil ''(2010)'' *

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, United States ''(2012)'' * Angra do Heroísmo,

Açores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

, Portugal (2015) *

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, United States ''(2019)''

References

External links

Government website of Jining
(available in Chinese and English) * {{Authority control Cities in Shandong Prefecture-level divisions of Shandong Port cities and towns in China sr:Jining