Shaannan () or Southern Shaanxi refers to the portion of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
's
Shaanxi province
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ningx ...
south of the
Qinling Mountains
The Qinling () or Qin Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan ("Southern Mountains"), are a major east–west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, China. The mountains mark the divide between the drainage basins of the Yangtze and Yellow ...
. Its name derives from the province's abbreviation "Shaan" () combined with the word "Nan" (, lit. "south"), its geographical location within the province.
In the
Yuan Dynasty
The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
, the area began to be merged with what is the
Guanzhong Plain
Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ...
to form Shaanxi province. The Qinling Mountains, as a geographic barrier, has also created major differences in climate, cultural traditions and
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
s between Shaannan and the other parts of Shaanxi, and thus there is some similarity between Shaannan and Sichuan.
Geography
![Hanzhong baoheriver](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Hanzhong_baoheriver.jpg)
The region is mountainous, and was historically part of the
Ba shu region. It is geographically considered part of the
Sichuan Basin
The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributa ...
's northern fringe and the three
prefectural cities in the Shaannan region are mainly based along the
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
s and
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
s of the
Han River's
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...
, all part of the
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
river system
In geomorphology, drainage systems, also known as river systems, are the patterns formed by the streams, rivers, and lakes in a particular drainage basin. They are governed by the topography of land, whether a particular region is dominated by h ...
. The only exception is the
Luonan County
Luonan County (, ''alternatively'' ) is a county under the administration of Shangluo city, in the east of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Henan province to the east. It has an area of and a population of 450,000 as of 2004. Luonan is at the s ...
in northern
Shangluo
Shangluo () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northeast and Hubei to the southeast. Part of the Shannan region of the province, it is located in the eastern part of the ...
, which is based around the upper
Luo River and is part of the
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Standard Beijing Mandarin, Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system in the world at th ...
system.
Cities
*
Hanzhong
Hanzhong (; abbreviation: Han) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shaanxi province, China, bordering the provinces of Sichuan to the south and Gansu to the west.
The founder of the Han dynasty, Liu Bang, was once enfeoffed as the ...
*
Ankang
Ankang () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shaanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hubei province to the east, Chongqing municipality to the south, and Sichuan province to the southwest.
History
The settl ...
*
Shangluo
Shangluo () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northeast and Hubei to the southeast. Part of the Shannan region of the province, it is located in the eastern part of the ...
Culture
The Shaannan dialects belongs to the
Northern Chinese group, and forms a transition between the
Southwestern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
and
Central Plains dialects. For the most part, the native dialects of Shaannan are divided into the Qinlong and
Guanzhong
Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ce ...
groups of the Central Plains dialect. The
Sichuanese group of the Southwestern dialect are mostly "guest dialects" brought in by large influx of migrants from
Hubei
Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
,
Hunan
Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...
and northern
Guangdong
Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
during the early
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 early
Qing dynasties
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 ...
.
Transportation
National Roads:
*
G108
*
G210
*
G312
China National Highway 312 (312国道), also referred to as Route 312 or The Mother Road, is a key east-west route beginning in Shanghai and ending at Khorgas, Xinjiang in the Ili River valley, on the border with Kazakhstan. In total it spans , p ...
*
G316
China National Highway 316 (G316) runs from Fuzhou in Fujian to Lanzhou in Gansu, via Nanchang (in Jiangxi) and Wuhan (in Hubei). It is 2915 kilometres in length. The highway crosses the provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Fujian.
...
Expressways:
*
Xihan Expressway
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
(Xi'an—Hanzhong)
*
Xikang Expressway (Xi'an—Ankang)
Railways:
*
Xi'an–Ankang Railway
The Xi'an–Ankang railway or Xikang railway (), is a single-track, electrified railway line in Shaanxi Province of China between Xi'an, the provincial capital, and Ankang. The line is long and was built from 1995 to 2001. As of June 2009, a sec ...
*
Yangpingguan–Ankang Railway
The Yangpingguan–Ankang railway or Yang'an railway (), is a single-track, electrified railroad in China between Yangpingguan and Ankang in southern Shaanxi Province. The line, in length, follows the upper reaches of the Han River and was b ...
*
Xiangyang–Chongqing Railway
The Xiangyang–Chongqing railway or Xiangyu railway (襄渝铁路), also known as the Xiangfan-Chongqing railway and Xiangyu line (襄渝线), is a single-track electrified railroad in central China between the cities of Xiangyang, formerly known ...
See also
*
Shaanbei
Shaanbei () or Northern Shaanxi is the portion of China's Shaanxi province north of the Huanglong Mountain and the Meridian Ridge (the so-called "Guanzhong north mountains"), and is both a geographic as well as a cultural area.
It makes up the so ...
*
Guanzhong
Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ce ...
Regions of China
Geography of Shaanxi
{{Shaanxi-geo-stub