Shanxi (; ;
formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of the
People's Republic 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 ...
and is part of the
North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is
Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are
Changzhi
Changzhi () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the northeast and east, respectively. Historically, the city was one of the 36 administrative areas (see Adminis ...
and
Datong. Its one-character abbreviation is "" (), after the
state of Jin that existed there during the
Spring and Autumn period.
The name ''Shanxi'' means "West of the Mountains", a reference to the province's location west of the
Taihang Mountains
The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of . The principal peak is ...
. Shanxi borders
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...
to the east,
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 ...
to the south,
Shaanxi
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), N ...
to the west and
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
to the north. Shanxi's terrain is characterised by a
plateau
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...
bounded partly by mountain ranges. Shanxi's culture is largely dominated by the ethnic
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
majority, who make up over 99% of its population.
Jin Chinese
Jin (; ) is a proposed group of varieties of Chinese spoken by roughly 63 million people in northern China, including most of Shanxi province, much of central Inner Mongolia, and adjoining areas in Hebei, Henan, and Shaanxi provinces. The status ...
is considered by some linguists to be a distinct language from Mandarin and its geographical range covers most of Shanxi. Both Jin and Mandarin are spoken in Shanxi.
Shanxi is a leading producer of
coal in China, possessing roughly a third of China's total coal deposits. Nevertheless, Shanxi's GDP per capita remains below the national average. The province hosts the
Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center
The Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) also known as ''Base 25'' (), is a People's Republic of China space and defense launch facility (spaceport). It is situated in Kelan County, Xinzhou, Shanxi Province and is the second of four laun ...
.
The province is also known for having by far the largest number of historic buildings among all Chinese provinces, by possessing over 70% of China's surviving buildings built during or predating the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
. Also notable are the
Yungang Grottoes
The Yungang Grottoes (), formerly the Wuzhoushan Grottoes (), are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous anc ...
, which date back over 1500 years.
History
Pre-Imperial China
In the
Spring and Autumn period (722–403 BC), the
state of Jin was located in what is now Shanxi Province. It underwent a three-way split into the states of
Han
Han may refer to:
Ethnic groups
* Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group.
** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...
,
Zhao and
Wei in 403 BC, the traditional date taken as the start of the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
(403–221 BC). By 221 BC, all of these states had fallen to the
state of Qin, which established the
Qin Dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...
(221–206 BC).
Imperial China
The
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
(206 BC – AD 220) ruled Shanxi as the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Bingzhou
Bingzhou, or Bing Province, was a location in ancient China. According to legend, when Yu the Great (c. 2200 BC-2100 BC) tamed the flood, he divided the land of China into the Nine Provinces. Historical texts such as the ''Rites of Zhou'', and "Tr ...
.
During the invasion of northern nomads in the
Sixteen Kingdoms period (304–439), several regimes including the
Later Zhao,
Former Yan,
Former Qin, and
Later Yan
Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409) was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people, located in modern-day northeast China, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms.
All rulers of the Later Yan declared them ...
continuously controlled Shanxi. They were followed by
Northern Wei (386–534), a
Xianbei
The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into th ...
kingdom, which had one of its earlier capitals at present-day
Datong in northern Shanxi, and which went on to rule nearly all of northern China.
The
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
(618–907) originated in Taiyuan. During the Tang Dynasty and after, present-day Shanxi was called ''
Hédōng'' (), or "east of the (Yellow) river".
Empress Wu Zetian
Wu Zetian (17 February 624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was the ''de facto'' ruler of the Tang dynasty from 665 to 705, ruling first through others and then (from 690) in her own right. From 665 to 690, she was first empres ...
, one of China's only female rulers, was born in Shanxi in 624.
During the first part of the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...
(907–960), Shanxi supplied rulers of three of the Five Dynasties. Among the Ten Kingdoms, it was the only one located in northern China. Shanxi was initially home to the ''
jiedushi
The ''jiedushi'' (), or jiedu, was a title for regional military governors in China which was established in the Tang dynasty and abolished in the Yuan dynasty. The post of ''jiedushi'' has been translated as "military commissioner", " legate" ...
'' (commander) of Hedong,
Li Cunxu
Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) and later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty (r. 923 ...
, who overthrew the first of the Five Dynasties,
Later Liang (907–923) to establish the second,
Later Tang
Tang, known in historiography as the Later Tang, was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China and the second of the Five Dynasties during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in Chinese history.
The first three of the Later Tang's four ...
(923–936). Another ''jiedushi'' of Hedong,
Shi Jingtang, overthrew Later Tang to establish the third of the Five Dynasties,
Later Jin, and yet another ''jiedushi'' of Hedong,
Liu Zhiyuan
Liu Zhiyuan () (March 4, 895 – March 10, 948), later changed to Liu Gao (), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Gaozu of Later Han (), was the founding emperor of the Shatuo-led Later Han dynasty, the fourth of the Five Dynasties du ...
, established the fourth of the Five Dynasties (
Later Han) after the
Khitans
The Khitan people (Khitan small script: ; ) were a historical nomadic people from Northeast Asia who, from the 4th century, inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East.
As a people desce ...
destroyed Later Jin, the third. Finally, when the fifth of the Five Dynasties (
Later Zhou
Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ( ...
) emerged, the ''jiedushi'' of Hedong at the time,
Liu Chong
Liu Min (劉旻) ( 895 – 954), named Liu Chong (劉崇) before 951,, also known Emperor Shizu of Northern Han by his temple name '' Shizu'' (世祖), was the founding emperor of the Northern Han state during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms ...
, rebelled and established an independent state called
Northern Han, one of the Ten Kingdoms, in what is now northern and central Shanxi.
Shi Jingtang, founder of the
Later Jin, the third of the Five Dynasties, ceded a piece of northern China to the
Khitans in return for military assistance. This territory, called the
Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, included a part of northern Shanxi. The ceded territory became a major problem for the Song dynasty's defence against the Khitans for the next 100 years because it lay south of the
Great Wall
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''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 various nomadic groups ...
.
The
later Zhou
Zhou, known as the Later Zhou (; ) in historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty and the last of the Five Dynasties that controlled most of northern China during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Founded by Guo Wei ( ...
, the last dynasty of the Five Dynasties period was founded by
Guo Wei
Guo Wei () (10 September 904 – 22 February 954According to Guo Wei's biography in "Old Histories of the Five Dynasties", he died between 9am and 11 am on the ''renchen'' day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the ''Xiande'' era of his reign ...
, a Han Chinese, who served as the Assistant Military Commissioner at the court of the Later Han which was ruled by
Shatuo Turks
The Shatuo, or the Shatuo Turks (; also transcribed as Sha-t'o, Sanskrit SartZuev Yu.A., ''"Horse Tamgas from Vassal Princedoms (Translation of Chinese composition "Tanghuyao" of 8-10th centuries)"'', Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences, Alma-Ata, I ...
. He founded his dynasty by launching a military coup against the Turkic
Later Han Emperor, however his newly established dynasty was short-lived and was conquered by the
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
in 960.
![The_Fugong_Temple_Wooden_Pagoda](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/The_Fugong_Temple_Wooden_Pagoda.jpg)
In the early years of the
Northern Song Dynasty
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
(960–1127), the sixteen ceded prefectures continued to be an area of contention between the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
and the
Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...
. Later the
Southern Song Dynasty abandoned all of
North China, including Shanxi, to the
Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in 1127 after the
Jingkang Incident of the
Jin-Song wars.
The
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
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 fift ...
administered China into provinces but did not establish Shanxi as a province. Shanxi only gained its present name and approximate borders during the
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
(1368–1644) which were of the same land area and borders as the previous Hedong Commandery of the Tang Dynasty.
During the
Qing Dynasty
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-spea ...
(1644–1911), Shanxi extended north beyond the Great Wall to include parts of
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
, including what is now the city of
Hohhot, and overlapped with the jurisdiction of the
Eight Banners
The Eight Banners (in Manchu: ''jakūn gūsa'', ) were administrative and military divisions under the Later Jin and Qing dynasties of China into which all Manchu households were placed. In war, the Eight Banners functioned as armies, but the ...
and the
Guihua Tümed banner
A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Als ...
in that area.
For centuries, Shanxi served as a center for trade and banking. The "
Shanxi merchants" were once synonymous with wealth. The well-preserved city and UNESCO
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
Pingyao shows many signs of its economic importance during the Qing dynasty.
Early Republic of China (1912–1937)
![Yan_Xishan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Yan_Xishan.jpg)
With the
collapse of the Qing dynasty, Shanxi became part of the newly established
Republic of China. From 1911 to 1949, during the period of the Republic of China's period of rule over
Mainland China
"Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
, Shanxi was mostly dominated by the warlord
Yan Xishan
Yan Xishan (; 8 October 1883 – 22 July 1960, ) was a Chinese warlord who served in the government of the Republic of China. He effectively controlled the province of Shanxi from the 1911 Xinhai Revolution to the 1949 Communist victory in ...
until the
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil ...
took full control in 1949; Communists had already set up secret bases in 1936, but did not completely overturn Yan and the
Nationalist government until 1949. Early in Yan's rule he decided that, unless he was able to modernize and revive the economy of his small, poor, remote province, he would be unable to protect Shanxi from rival warlords. Yan devoted himself to modernizing Shanxi and developing its resources during his reign over the province. He has been viewed by Western biographers as a transitional figure who advocated using Western technology to protect Chinese traditions, while at the same time reforming older political, social and economic conditions in a way that paved the way for the radical changes that would occur after his rule.
[Gillin, Donald G]
"Portrait of a Warlord: Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi Province, 1911–1930."
''The Journal of Asian Studies''. Vol. 19, No. 3, May, 1960. Retrieved February 23, 2011. p.289
In 1918 there was an outbreak of
bubonic plague in northern Shanxi that lasted for two months and killed 2,664 people. Yan's interactions with the Western medical personnel he met with to discuss how to suppress the epidemic inspired him to modernize and improve Shanxi's medical infrastructure which he began by funding the Research Society for the Advancement of Chinese Medicine, based in Taiyuan, in 1921. Highly unusual in China at the time, the school had a four-year curriculum and included courses in both Chinese and Western Medicine. The main skills that Yan hoped physicians trained at the school would learn were: a standardized system of diagnosis; sanitary science, including
bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the identification, classificat ...
; surgical skills, including
obstetrics; and, the use of diagnostic instruments. Yan hoped that his support of the school would eventually lead to increased revenues in the domestic and international trade of Chinese drugs, improved
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...
, and improved
public education. Yan's promotion of a modern curriculum and infrastructure of Chinese medicine achieved limited success, but much of the teaching and publication that this school of medicine produced was limited to the area around Taiyuan: by 1949 three of the seven government-run hospitals were in the city. In 1934 the province produced a ten-year-plan that envisaged employing a hygiene worker in every village, but the
Japanese invasion in 1937 and the subsequent
civil war
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
made it impossible to carry these plans out. Yan's generous support for the Research Association for the Improvement of Chinese Medicine generated a body of teaching and publication in modern Chinese medicine that became one of the foundations of the national institution of modern traditional Chinese medicine that was adopted in the 1950s.
Yan invested in Shanxi's industrial infrastructure, and by 1949 the area around Taiyuan was a major national producer of coal, iron, chemicals, and munitions. Yan was able to protect the province from his rivals for the period of his rule partially due to his building of an arsenal in Taiyuan that, for the entire period of his administration, remained the only center in China capable of producing field artillery. Yan's army was successful in eradicating banditry in Shanxi, allowing him to maintain a relatively high level of public order and security.
[Gillin, Donald G]
"Portrait of a Warlord: Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi Province, 1911–1930."
''The Journal of Asian Studies''. Vol. 19, No. 3, May, 1960. Retrieved February 23, 2011. p.295
Yan went to great lengths to eradicate social traditions which he considered antiquated. He insisted that all men in Shanxi abandon their Qing-era queues, giving police instructions to clip off the queues of anyone still wearing them. In one instance, Yan lured people into theatres in order to have his police systematically cut the hair of the audience.
He attempted to combat widespread female illiteracy by creating in each district at least one vocational school in which peasant girls could be given a primary-school education and taught domestic skills. After
National Revolutionary Army military victories in the 1925 generated great interest in Shanxi for the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
's ideology, including
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, Yan allowed girls to enroll in middle school and college, where they promptly formed a women's association.
Yan attempted to eradicate the custom of
foot binding
Foot binding, or footbinding, was the Chinese custom of breaking and tightly binding the feet of young girls in order to change their shape and size. Feet altered by footbinding were known as lotus feet, and the shoes made for these feet were kno ...
, threatening to sentence men who married women with bound feet, and mothers who bound their daughters' feet, to hard labor in state-run factories. He discouraged the use of the traditional
lunar calendar
A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases ( synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, t ...
and encouraged the development of local
boy scout organizations. Like the Communists who later succeeded Yan, he punished habitual lawbreakers to "redemption through labour" in state-run factories.
After the failed attempt by the
Chinese Red Army
The Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army or Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, commonly known as the Chinese Red Army or simply the Red Army, are the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party. It was formed when Communis ...
to establish bases in southern Shanxi in early 1936 Yan became convinced that the Communists were lesser threats to his rule than either the Nationalists or the Japanese. He then negotiated a secret anti-Japanese "
United Front
A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...
" with the Communists in October 1936 and invited them to establish operations in Shanxi. Yan, under the slogan "resistance against the enemy and defense of the soil", attempted to recruit young, patriotic intellectuals to his government in order to organize a local resistance to the threat of Japanese invasion. By the end of 1936 Taiyuan had become a gathering point for anti-Japanese intellectuals from all over China.
War with Japan and the Chinese Civil War (1937–1949)
The
Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 1937 led the
Imperial Japanese Armed Forces
The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF) were the combined military forces of the Japanese Empire. Formed during the Meiji Restoration in 1868,"One can date the 'restoration' of imperial rule from the edict of 3 January 1868." p. 334. they ...
to invade China, and Shanxi was one of the first areas the Japanese attacked. When it became clear to Yan that his forces might not be successful in repelling the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
, he invited Communist military forces to re-enter Shanxi.
Zhu De
Zhu De (; ; also Chu Teh; 1 December 1886 – 6 July 1976) was a Chinese general, military strategist, politician and revolutionary in the Chinese Communist Party. Born into poverty in 1886 in Sichuan, he was adopted by a wealthy uncle at ...
became the commander of the
Eighth Route Army active in Shanxi and was named the vice-commander of the Second War Zone, under Yan himself. Yan initially responded warmly to the re-entry of the arrival of Communist forces, and they were greeted with enthusiasm by Yan's officials and officers. Communist forces arrived in Shanxi just in time to help defeat a decisively more powerful Japanese force attempting to move through the strategic
Pingxing Pass. The
Battle of Pingxingguan
The Battle of Pingxingguan (), commonly called the Great Victory of Pingxingguan in Mainland China, was an engagement fought on 25 September 1937, at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, between the Eighth Route Army of the Chinese Co ...
was the largest battle won by the Communists against the Japanese.
[Gillin, Donald G. ''Warlord: Yen Hsi-shan in Shansi Province 1911–1949''. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 1967. pp. 263–264]
After the Japanese responded to this defeat by outflanking the defenders and moving towards
Taiyuan, the Communists avoided decisive battles and mostly attempted to harass Japanese forces and sabotage Japanese lines of supply and communication. The Japanese suffered, but mostly ignored the Eighth Route Army and continued to advance towards Yan's capital. The lack of attention directed at their forces gave the Communists time to recruit and propagandize among the local peasant populations (who generally welcomed Communist forces enthusiastically) and to organize a network of militia units, local guerrilla bands and popular mass organizations.
Genuine Communist efforts to resist the Japanese gave them the authority to carry out sweeping and radical social and economic reforms, mostly related to land and wealth redistribution, which they defended by labeling those who resisted as ''
hanjian''. Communist efforts to resist the Japanese also won over Shanxi's small population of patriotic intellectuals, and conservative fears of resisting them effectively gave the Communists unlimited access to the rural population. Subsequent atrocities committed by the Japanese in the effort to rid Shanxi of Communist guerrillas aroused the hatred of millions in the Shanxi countryside, causing the rural population to turn to the Communists for leadership against the Japanese. All of these factors explain how, within a year of re-entering Shanxi, the Communists were able to take control of most of Shanxi not firmly held by the Japanese.
![Chinese troops marching in Xinkou](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/Chinese_troops_marching_in_Xinkou.jpg)
During the
Battle of Xinkou
The Battle of Xinkou () was a decisive engagement of the Taiyuan Campaign, the second of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Prelude
After battles at Na ...
, the Chinese defenders resisted the efforts of Japan's elite
Itakagi Division for over a month, despite Japanese advantages in artillery and air support. By the end of October 1937, Japan's losses were four times greater than those suffered at Pingxingguan, and the Itakagi Division was close to defeat. Contemporary Communist accounts called the battle "the most fierce in North China", while Japanese accounts called the battle a "stalemate". In an effort to save their forces at Xinkou, Japanese forces began an effort to occupy Shanxi from a second direction, in the east. After a week of fighting, Japanese forces captured the strategic
Niangzi Pass, opening the way to capturing Taiyuan. Communist guerrilla tactics were ineffective in slowing down the Japanese advance. The defenders at Xinkou, realizing that they were in danger of being outflanked, withdrew southward, past Taiyuan, leaving a small force of 6,000 men to hold off the entire Japanese army. A representative of the Japanese Army, speaking of
the final defense of Taiyuan, said that "nowhere in China have the Chinese fought so obstinately".
The Japanese suffered 30,000 dead and an equal number wounded in their effort to take northern Shanxi. A Japanese study found that the battles of Pingxingguan, Xinkou, and Taiyuan were responsible for over half of all the casualties suffered by the Japanese army in North China. Yan himself was forced to withdraw after having 90% of his army destroyed, including a large force of reinforcements sent into Shanxi by the central government. Throughout 1937, numerous high-ranking Communist leaders, including
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
, lavished praise on Yan for waging an uncompromising campaign of resistance against the Japanese. Possibly because of the severity of his losses in northern Shanxi, Yan abandoned a plan of defense based on positional warfare, and began to reform his army as a force capable of waging guerrilla warfare. After 1938 most of Yan's followers came to refer to his regime as a "guerrilla administration".
After the
surrender of Japan and the end of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Yan Xishan was notable for his ability to recruit thousands of Japanese soldiers stationed in northwest Shanxi in 1945, including their commanding officers, into his army. By recruiting the Japanese into his service in the manner that he did, he retained both the extensive industrial complex around Taiyuan and virtually all of the managerial and technical personnel employed by the Japanese to run it. Yan was so successful in convincing surrendered Japanese to work for him that, as word spread to other areas of north China, Japanese soldiers from those areas began to converge on Taiyuan to serve his government and army. At its greatest strength the Japanese "special forces" under Yan totaled 15,000 troops, plus an officer corps that was distributed throughout Yan's army. These numbers were reduced to 10,000 after serious American efforts to repatriate the Japanese were partially successful. Yan's Japanese army was instrumental in helping him to retain control of most of northern Shanxi during much of the subsequent
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
, but by 1949 casualties had reduced the number of Japanese soldiers under Yan's command to 3,000. The leader of the Japanese under Yan's command, Hosaku Imamura, committed suicide on the day that Taiyuan fell to Communist forces.
Yan Xishan himself (along with most of the provincial treasury) was airlifted out of Taiyuan in March 1949. Shortly afterwards
Republic of China Air Force
The Republic of China Air Force, retroactively known by its historical name the Chinese Air Force and unofficially referred to as the Taiwanese Air Force, is the military aviation branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces, currently based ...
planes stopped dropping food and supplies for the defenders due to fears of being shot down by the advancing Communists. The
People's Liberation Army, depending largely on their reinforcements of artillery, launched a major assault on April 20, 1949, and succeeded in taking all positions surrounding Taiyuan by April 22. A subsequent appeal to the defenders to surrender was refused. On the morning of April 22, 1949, the PLA bombarded Taiyuan with 1,300 pieces of artillery and breached the city's walls, initiating bloody street-to-street fighting for control of the city. At 10:00 am, April 22, the
Taiyuan Campaign ended with the Communists in complete control of Shanxi. Total Nationalist casualties amounted to all 145,000 defenders, many of whom were taken as POWs. The Communists lost 45,000 men and an unknown number of civilian laborers they had drafted, all of whom were either killed or injured.
[ Spence, Jonathan D. '']The Search for Modern China
''The Search for Modern China'' is a 1990 non-fiction book by Jonathan Spence, published by Century Hutchinson and W. W. Norton & Company.
It covers the period 1600 to 1989. According to Spence, the goal was to explain how Modern China was creat ...
'', W.W. Norton and Company. 1999. p.488
The fall of Taiyuan was one of the few examples in the Chinese Civil War in which Nationalist forces echoed the defeated
Ming loyalists who had, in the 17th century, brought entire cities to ruins resisting the invading Manchus. Many Nationalist officers were reported to have committed suicide when the city fell. The dead included Yan's nephew-in-law, who was serving as governor, and his cousin, who ran his household.
Liang Huazhi, the head of Yan's "Patriotic Sacrifice League", had fought for years against the Communists in Shanxi until he was finally trapped in the massively fortified city of Taiyuan. For six months Liang put up a fierce resistance, leading both Yan's remaining
Republic of China Army
The Republic of China Army (ROCA), previously known as the Chinese Nationalist Army or Nationalist Revolutionary Army and unofficially as the Taiwanese Army, is the largest branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces. An estimated 80% of th ...
forces and his thousands of Japanese mercenaries. When Communist troops finally broke into the city and began to occupy large sections of it, Liang barricaded himself inside a large, fortified prison complex filled with Communist prisoners. In a final act of desperation, Liang set fire to the prison and committed suicide as the entire compound burned to the ground.
People's Republic of China (1949–present)
Soon after the
Chinese Communist Revolution
The Chinese Communist Revolution, officially known as the Chinese People's War of Liberation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and also known as the National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion in the Republic of China (ROC ...
,
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
assigned
Kang Sheng
Kang Sheng (; 4 November 1898 – 16 December 1975) was a Chinese Communist politician best known for having overseen the CCP's internal security and intelligence apparatus during the early 1940s and again at the height of the Cultural Revolu ...
to carry out
land reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
in Shanxi. Kang encouraged the populace to have numerous farmers from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds denounced as "landlords," beaten, arrested, and executed. In some areas of the province as many as one in five residents were denounced as landlords, and his program was copied throughout the rest of the new
People's Republic 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 ...
. Shanxi became the site of Mao's "model brigade" of
Dazhai: a utopian communist scheme in
Xiyang County
Xiyang County () is a county in the east of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi province to the east. It is the easternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Jinzhong.
Climate
See also
* Chen Yonggui
Chen Yonggui ...
that was supposed to be the model for all other peasants in China to emulate. If the people of Dazhai were especially suited for such an experiment, it is possible that decades of Yan's socialist indoctrination may have prepared the people of Shanxi for Communist rule. After the death of Mao, the experiment was discontinued, and most peasants reverted to private farming under
post-Maoist economic reforms.
Geography
Shanxi is located on a plateau made up of higher ground to the east (
Taihang Mountains
The Taihang Mountains () are a Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi, Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over from north to south and has an average elevation of . The principal peak is ...
) and the west (
Lüliang Mountains
The Lüliang Mountains are a mountain range in central China, dividing Shanxi's Fen River valley from the Yellow River. The range forces the Yellow River southwards on the eastern side of the Ordos Loop but tapers off to the south, where the Fen t ...
) and a series of valleys in the center through which the
Fen River
The Fen River drains the center of Shanxi Province, China. It originates in the Guancen Mountains of Ningwu County in northeast Shanxi, flows southeast into the basin of Taiyuan, and then south through the central valley of Shanxi before turni ...
runs. The highest peak is
Mount Wutai (Wutai Shan) in northeastern Shanxi with an altitude of 3,058 m. The
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''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 various nomadic gro ...
forms most of the northern border with
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
. The
Zhongtiao Mountains
The Zhongtiao Mountains () are a major mountain range located in the south of China’s Shanxi Province.
Running from north east to south west the range connects with the Taihang Mountains to the east, overlooks the Yellow River to the south and f ...
run along part of the southern border and separate Shanxi from the east–west part of the Yellow River.
Mount Hua
Mount Hua () is a mountain located near the city of Huayin in Shaanxi Province, about east of Xi'an. It is the "Western Mountain" of the Five Great Mountains of China and has a long history of religious significance. Originally classified as ...
is to the southwest.
The
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...
forms the western border of Shanxi with
Shaanxi
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), N ...
. The
Fen
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich Groundwater, ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetlands along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as ...
and Qin rivers, tributaries of the Yellow River, run north-to-south through the province, and
drain
Drain may refer to:
Objects and processes
* Drain (plumbing), a fixture that provides an exit-point for waste water or for water that is to be re-circulated on the side of a road
* Drain (surgery), a tube used to remove pus or other fluids from ...
much of its area. The north of the province is drained by tributaries of the
Hai River
The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea.
The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the ...
, such as
Sanggan and
Hutuo rivers. The largest natural lake in Shanxi is
Xiechi Lake, a salt lake near
Yuncheng
Yuncheng is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and Shaan ...
in southwestern Shanxi.
Shanxi has a
continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...
climate, and is rather arid. Average January temperatures are below 0 °C, while average July temperatures are around 21–26 °C. Winters are long, dry, and cold, while summer is warm and humid. Spring is extremely dry and prone to dust storms. Shanxi is one of the sunniest parts of China; early summer heat waves are common. Annual precipitation averages around , with 60% of it concentrated between June and August.
Major cities:
*
Taiyuan
*
Datong
*
Changzhi
Changzhi () is a prefecture-level city in the southeast of Shanxi Province, China, bordering the provinces of Hebei and Henan to the northeast and east, respectively. Historically, the city was one of the 36 administrative areas (see Adminis ...
*
Yangquan
Yangquan ( ) is a prefecture-level city in the east of Shanxi province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei province to the east. Situated at the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau and the west side of the Taihang Mountains, known as "Rip ...
The outline of Shanxi's territory is a parallelogram that runs from southwest to northeast. It is a typical mountain plateau widely covered by
loess. The terrain is high in the northeast and low in the southwest. The interior of the plateau is undulating, the valleys are vertical and horizontal, and the types of landforms are complex and diverse. There are mountains, hills, terraces, plains, and rivers. The area of mountains and hills accounts for 80.1% of the total area of the province, and the area of Pingchuan and river valleys accounts for 19.9% of the total area. Most of the province's altitude is above 1,500 meters, and the highest point is the Yedoufeng, the main peak of
Wutai Mountain, with an altitude of 3061.1 meters, which is the highest peak in northern China.
Climate
Shanxi is located in the inland of the mid-latitude zone and belongs to the temperate continental monsoon climate in terms of climate type. Due to the influence of solar radiation, monsoon circulation and geographical factors, Shanxi's climate has four distinct seasons, synchronous rain and heat, sufficient sunshine, significant climate difference between north and south, wide temperature difference between winter and summer, and large temperature difference between day and night. The annual average temperature in Shanxi Province is between 4.2 and 14.2 °C. The overall distribution trend is from north to south and from basin to high mountain. The annual precipitation in the whole province is between 358 and 621 mm, and the seasonal distribution is uneven. In June–August, the precipitation is relatively concentrated, accounting for about 60% of the annual precipitation, and the precipitation distribution in the province is greatly affected by the terrain.
Area
The province has a length of and a width of from east to west, with a total area of , accounting for 1.6% of the country's total area.
Administrative divisions
Shanxi is divided into eleven
prefecture-level division
The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there a ...
s: all
prefecture-level cities
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' ...
:
The 11 prefecture-level cities of Shanxi are subdivided into 118
county-level divisions (23
district
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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...
s, 11
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 84
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 ...
). Those are in turn divided into 1388
township-level divisions
The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there ...
(561
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
s, 634
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
s, and 193
subdistricts). At the end of 2017, the total population of Shanxi is 37.02 million.
Urban areas
Politics
The
Governor of Shanxi is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Shanxi. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor is subordinate to the provincial Communist
Party Committee Secretary
A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...
(), colloquially termed the "Shanxi
Party Committee Secretary
A Party Committee Secretary () is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organization in a province, city, village, or other administrative unit. In most cases, it is the ''de facto'' highest political office of its area of jurisdictio ...
". As is the case in almost all Chinese provinces, the provincial party secretary and Governor are not natives of Shanxi; rather, they are outsiders who are, in practice, appointed by the central party and government authorities.
The province went through significant political instability since 2004, due largely to the number of scandals that have hit the province on labour safety, the environment, and the interconnected nature between the provincial political establishment and big coal companies.
Yu Youjun was sent by the central government in 2005 to become Governor but resigned in the wake of the
Shanxi slave labour scandal in 2007. He was succeeded by
Meng Xuenong
Meng Xuenong (; born August 1949) is a Chinese politician. Meng worked as a factory worker in Beijing before getting involved in politics through the local Communist Youth League organization. He was the Vice Mayor of Beijing between 1993 and 200 ...
, who had been previously sacked as Mayor of Beijing in the aftermath of the SARS outbreak. Meng himself was removed from office in 2008 after only a few months on the job due to the political fallout from the
2008 Shanxi mudslide
The 2008 Shanxi mudslide was caused by the collapse of an unlicensed mine landfill in Xiangfen county, Linfen, Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China which caused 277 dead, 4 missing and 33 injured. Around 8:00 a.m. on September 8, 2008 ...
. In 2008, provincial Political Consultative Conference Chair, one of the highest-ranked provincial officials,
Jin Yinhuan, died in a car accident.
Since
Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, ...
's ascendancy to
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party
The general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party () is the head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Since 1989, the CCP general secretary has been the paramount leader ...
at the
18th Party Congress, numerous highly ranked officials in Shanxi have been placed under investigation for corruption-related offenses, including four incumbent members
Bai Yun
Bai Yun (; born September 7, 1991) was the first female giant panda who was born at the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in China. From September 1996 she lived at the San Diego Zoo for more than 20 years, until being returned to China in May ...
,
Chen Chuanping,
Du Shanxue
Du Shanxue (; born February 1956) is a former Chinese politician from Shanxi province. He successively served as the Mayor and Chinese Communist Party Secretary of Changzhi, Party Secretary of Lüliang, and Secretary General of the Shanxi Provi ...
,
Nie Chunyu
Nie Chunyu (; born July 1955) is a former Chinese politician from Shanxi province. He served on the province's party Standing Committee, and as the Secretary-General of the Party Committee, a position responsible for the coordination and executio ...
of the province's highest ruling council, the provincial Communist Party Standing Committee. They were all removed from office around August 2014. The following were also removed from office:
*
Ling Zhengce
Ling Zhengce (; born May 1952) is a former Chinese politician from Shanxi province. From 2008 to 2014 Ling served as the vice-chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and prior to th ...
, the provincial Political Consultative Conference vice-chair and the older brother of
Ling Jihua
Ling Jihua (; born 22 October 1956) is a former Chinese politician and one of the principal political advisers of former leader Hu Jintao. Ling was best known for his tenure as chief of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party between ...
;
*
Ling Jihua
Ling Jihua (; born 22 October 1956) is a former Chinese politician and one of the principal political advisers of former leader Hu Jintao. Ling was best known for his tenure as chief of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party between ...
, the province's Vice Governor
Ren Runhou
Ren Runhou (October 1957 – September 30, 2014) was a Chinese business executive and politician from Shanxi Province. He was the chief executive of Lu'an Group, a state-owned coal production company based in Shanxi, for over ten years begin ...
;
*
Shen Weichen, former Taiyuan party secretary;
*
Liu Suiji, Taiyuan police secretary;
*
Jin Daoming
Jin Daoming (; born December 1953) is a former Chinese politician who spent his career in Beijing and Shanxi province. Of Manchu people, Manchu descent, Jin worked for China's top Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, anti-corruption body ...
, vice-chair of the provincial People's Congress;
*
Wang Maoshe
Wang Maoshe (; born August 1957) is a former Chinese politician who served as the Communist Party Secretary of Yuncheng, a city in Shanxi province, between 2013 and 2014, and prior to that, party chief of Shuozhou. He was investigated for corrupt ...
,
Yuncheng
Yuncheng is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and Shaan ...
party secretary; and
*
Feng Lixiang,
Datong party secretary
Shanxi was therefore the "hardest hit" province during the
anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping
A far-reaching anti-corruption campaign began in China following the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012. The campaign, carried out under the aegis of Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese ...
. Targeted corruption investigations on such a massive scale were unprecedented; it amounted to a wholesale 'cleansing' of Shanxi's political establishment. In the aftermath of the 'political earthquake', party secretary
Yuan Chunqing was removed from his post in September 2014, with
Wang Rulin
Wang Rulin (; born April 1953) is a Chinese politician and senior regional official. He is serving as Vice-Chairperson of the National People's Congress Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. From 2014 to 2016, Wang was the Communist Party S ...
'helicoptered' into the provincial Party Secretary office.
Economy
The GDP per capita of Shanxi is below the national average. Compared to the provinces in east China, Shanxi is less developed for many reasons. Its geographic location limits its participation in international trade, which involves mostly eastern coastal provinces. Important crops in Shanxi include
wheat
Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
,
millet,
legumes, and
potato
The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae.
Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
es. The local climate and dwindling water resources limit agriculture in Shanxi.
Shanxi possesses 260 billion metric tons of known coal deposits, about a third of China's total. As a result, Shanxi is a leading producer of
coal in China and has more coal companies than any other province,
with an annual production exceeding 300 million metric tonnes. The Datong (), Ningwu (), Xishan (), Hedong (), Qinshui (), and Huoxi () coalfields are some of the most important in Shanxi. Shanxi also contains about 500 million tonnes of
bauxite
Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO ...
deposits, about a third of total Chinese bauxite reserves. Industry in Shanxi is centered around heavy industries such as coal and chemical production, power generation, and metal
refining. There are countless military-related industries in Shanxi due to its geographic location and history as the former base of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army. Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, one of China's three satellite launch centers, is located in the middle of Shanxi with China's largest stockpile of nuclear missiles.
Many private corporations, in joint ventures with the state-owned mining corporations, have invested billions of dollars in the mining industry of Shanxi . Hong Kong billionaire
Li Ka-shing made one of his largest investments ever in China in exploiting
coal gas in Shanxi. Foreign investors include mining companies from Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.
The mining-related companies include Daqin Railway Co. Ltd., which runs one of the busiest and most technologically advanced railways in China, connecting
Datong and
Qinhuangdao
Qinhuangdao (; ) is a port city on the coast of China in northern Hebei. It is administratively a prefecture-level city, about east of Beijing, on the Bohai Sea, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea. Its population during the 2020 national ...
exclusively for coal shipping. The revenue of Daqin Railway Co. Ltd. is among the highest among Shanxi companies due to its export of coal to Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.
Shanxi's nominal GDP in 2011 was 1110.0 billion yuan (US$176.2 billion), ranked 21st in China. Its per-capita GDP was 21,544 yuan (US$3,154).
Shanxi is affected by cases of bad working conditions in coal mining and other heavy industries. Thousands of workers have died every year in those industries. Cases of child labour abuse were discovered in 2011. The central government has responded by increasing oversight, including the suspension of four coal mines in August 2021, as well as ongoing investigations in Shanxi and neighboring Shaanxi.
Industrial zones
Taiyuan Economic and Technology Development Zone
Taiyuan Economic and Technology Development Zone is a state-level development zone approved by the State Council in 2001, with a planned area of . It is only from Taiyuan Airport and from the railway station. National Highways 208 and 307 pass through the zone. So far, it has formed a "four industrial base, a professional industry park" development pattern.
Taiyuan Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
Established in 1991, Taiyuan Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone is the only state-level high-tech development zone in Shanxi, with total area of . It is close to Taiyuan Wusu Airport and Highway G208. The nearest port is Tianjin.
Transportation
The transport infrastructure in Shanxi is highly developed. There are many important national highways and railways that connect the province with neighboring provinces.
Road
Shanxi's road hub is in the capital, Taiyuan. The major highways in province form a road network connecting all the counties. Examples of major highways are:
*
Datong–Yuncheng Expressway
*
Taiyuan-Jiuguan Expressway
*
Beijing–Hong Kong and Macau Expressway
*
Beijing–Tianjin–Tanggu Expressway
Rail
Shanxi has extensive rail infrastructure to neighboring provinces. The rail network connects to major cities Taiyuan, Shijiazhuang, Beijing, Yuanping, Baotou, Datong, Menyuan and Jiaozuo. The province also have extensive rail network to coastal cities such as Qinhuangdao, Qingdao, Yantai and Lianyungang.
The province has a rail network called the Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway. It will service Shenchi county in Shanxi with Huanghua port in Hebei. It will become the second largest railway for coal transport from west to east in China.
Aviation
Shanxi's main aviation transport hub is
Taiyuan Wusu Airport . The airport has routes connecting Shanxi to 28 domestic cities including Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu and Chongqing. There are international routes to Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Russia. There is also another airport in
Datong, which has domestic routes to other mainland cities.
Demographics
The population is mostly
Han Chinese
The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctiv ...
with
minorities of
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member ...
,
Manchu, and the
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 ...
.
In 2004, the
birth rate
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
was 12.36 births/1,000 population, while the
death rate
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...
was 6.11 deaths/1,000 population. The
sex ratio
The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species d ...
was 105.5 males/100 females.
Religion
The predominant religions in Shanxi are
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion, also known as Chinese popular religion comprehends a range of traditional religious practices of Han Chinese, including the Chinese diaspora. Vivienne Wee described it as "an empty bowl, which can variously be filled ...
s,
Taoist traditions and
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...
. According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 15.61% of the population believes and is involved in
cults of ancestors, while 2.17% of the population identifies as Christian.
The reports didn't give figures for other types of religion; 82.22% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in
worship of nature deities, Buddhism,
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 a ...
, Taoism,
folk religious sects, and small minorities of
Muslims.
Military police demolished a large Christian church known as Jindengtai ("Golden Lampstand") in
Linfen
Linfen is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west. It is situated along the banks of the Fen River. It has an area of and according to the 2020 Census, a population of 3,976, ...
, Shanxi, in early January 2018.
As of 2010, there were 59,709
Muslims
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
in Shanxi.
File:Datong Guandi Miao 2013.08.29 10-44-56.jpg, Temple of Guandi
Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...
in Datong.
File:Pingyao Chenghuang Miao 2013.08.25 09-41-29.jpg, Chenghuangshen
The Chenghuangshen (), is a tutelary deity or deities in Chinese folk religion who is believed to protect the people and the affairs of the particular village, town or city of great dimension, and the corresponding afterlife location.
Beginning ...
(City God) Temple of Pingyao.
File:Western gate of the Temple of Heshen (the River God) in Hequ, Xinzhou, Shanxi.jpg, Western gate of a Temple of Heshen (River God) in Hequ, Xinzhou
Xinzhou, ancient name Xiurong (秀荣), is a prefecture-level city occupying the north-central section of Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei to the east, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the northwest ...
.
Health
In the 2000s, the province was considered to be one of the most polluted areas in China.
The pollution, caused in part by heavy coal mining, has caused significant public health challenges.
Culture
Language
The dialects spoken in Shanxi have traditionally been included in the Northern or
Mandarin
Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to:
Language
* Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country
** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China
** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
group. Since 1985, some linguists have argued that the dialects spoken in most of the province should be treated as a top-level division called
Jin, based on its preservation of the Middle Chinese
entering tone (stop-final) category, unlike other dialects in northern China. These dialects are also noted for extremely complex
tone sandhi
Tone sandhi is a phonological change occurring in tonal languages, in which the tones assigned to individual words or morphemes change based on the pronunciation of adjacent words or morphemes.
It usually simplifies a bidirectional tone into a ...
systems. The dialects spoken in some areas in southwestern Shanxi near the borders with Henan and Shaanxi are classified in the
Zhongyuan Mandarin
Central Plains Mandarin, or ''Zhongyuan'' Mandarin (), is a variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in the central and southern parts of Shaanxi, Henan, southwestern part of Shanxi, southern part of Gansu, far southern part of Hebei, northern Anhui, n ...
subdivision of the Mandarin group.
Cuisine
Shanxi cuisine
Shanxi cuisine, or Jin cuisine, is derived from the native cooking styles of Shanxi Province in China. It is famous for noodles, fried flatbread (''da bing'') and sour tastes. The cuisine is also famed for using its locally produced vinegar, jus ...
is most well known for its extensive use of
vinegar
Vinegar is an aqueous solution of acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains 5–8% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting simple sugars to eth ...
as a condiment, as well as for a huge variety of
noodle
Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures (for example, Chinese noodles, Filipino noodles, In ...
dishes, particularly
knife-cut noodles
Knife-cut noodles ( zh, c=刀削麵, p=dāoxiāomiàn), also known as knife-sliced noodles or knife-shaved noodles in English, are a type of noodle in Chinese cuisine often associated with Shanxi province. As the name implies, unlike pulled noo ...
or ''daoxiao mian'' (), which are served with a range of sauces. A dish originating from
Taiyuan, the provincial capital, is
Taiyuan Tounao (). It is a
breakfast dish; a porridge-like stew made with mutton,
Chinese yam
''Dioscorea polystachya'' or Chinese yam ( zh, s=山药, t=山藥), also called cinnamon-vine, is a species of flowering plant in the yam family. It is sometimes called Chinese potato or by its Korean name ''ma''.
It is a perennial climbing vin ...
(), lotus roots, ''
astragalus
''Astragalus'' is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to tempe ...
membranaceus'' (), tuber onions, and yellow cooking
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
for additional aroma. It can be enjoyed by dipping pieces of unleavened flatbread into the soup, and is reputed to have medicinal properties.
Pingyao is famous for its unique
salt beef
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
, while the areas around
Wutai Shan
Mount Wutai, also known by its Chinese name Wutaishan and as is a sacred Buddhist site at the headwaters of the Qingshui in Shanxi Province, China. Its central area is surrounded by a cluster of flat-topped peaks roughly corresponding to the ...
are known for wild
mushrooms
A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans.
The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...
. The most popular local spirit is
fenjiu, a "light fragrance" variety of
baijiu
''Baijiu'' (), also known as ''shaojiu'' (/), is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Each type of baijiu uses its own type of ''qū'' for fermentation to create a distinct and charact ...
that is generally sweeter than other northern Chinese spirits.
Music
Shanxi Opera ( ''Jinju'') is the local form of
Chinese opera. It was popularized during the late Qing Dynasty, with the help of the then-ubiquitous Shanxi merchants who were active across parts of China. Also called ''Zhonglu Bangzi'' (), it is a type of ''bangzi'' opera (), a group of operas generally distinguished by their use of wooden clappers for rhythm and by a more energetic singing style; Shanxi opera is also complemented by ''quzi'' (), a blanket term for more melodic styles from further south.
Puzhou Opera
Pu opera, also known as Puzhou clapper opera, is a variety of Chinese opera from southern Shanxi, China. It is closely related to ''qinqiang
Qinqiang (秦腔, pinyin: Qín qiāng, literally "Qin's tune") is a genre of folk Chinese opera orig ...
( ''Puju''), from southern Shanxi, is a more ancient type of ''bangzi'' that makes use of very wide linear
intervals.
Ancient commerce
Shanxi merchants ( ''Jinshang'') constituted a historical phenomenon that lasted for centuries from the Song to the Qing Dynasty. Shanxi merchants ranged far and wide from Central Asia to the coast of eastern China; by the Qing Dynasty they were conducting trade across both sides of the Great Wall. During the late Qing Dynasty, a new development occurred: the creation of ''piaohao'' (), which were essentially
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
s that provided services like money transfers and transactions, deposits, and loans. After the establishment of the first ''piaohao'' in
Pingyao, the bankers in Shanxi dominated China's financial market for centuries until the
collapse of Qing Dynasty and the coming of British banks.
Tourism
Shanxi is known for its abundance of heritage sites. There are 3
World Cultural Heritage
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
sites in the province, namely
Pingyao,
Yungang Grottoes
The Yungang Grottoes (), formerly the Wuzhoushan Grottoes (), are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous anc ...
and
Mount Wutai, 6 places "National Key Scenic Spots" (国家重点风景名胜区), 6 "National historic and cultural cities" (国家历史文化名城), 7 "National historic and cultural towns" (国家历史文化名镇) and 23 "National historic and cultural villages" (国家历史文化名村). It also possesses 452
, a number that is by far the greatest among all Chinese provinces. Some of the more notable sites are listed below.
*
Jinci
The Jinci or Jin Temple (晉祠) is the most prominent temple complex in Shanxi, China. It is located 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Taiyuan at the foot of Xuanweng Mountain at the Jin Springs. It was founded about 1,400 years ago and expanded ...
, a royal temple in Taiyuan, dating back to the
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
, noted for its temples, Song Dynasty paintings and architecture.
* The Ancient City of
Pingyao is a county town noted for its noted for its state of preservation; It boasts a variety of
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
and
Qing Dynasties.
* The
Yungang Grottoes
The Yungang Grottoes (), formerly the Wuzhoushan Grottoes (), are ancient Chinese Buddhist temple grottoes near the city of Datong in the province of Shanxi. They are excellent examples of rock-cut architecture and one of the three most famous anc ...
, its literal translation being the Cloud Ridge Caves, is a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
near
Datong. The site consists of 252 shallow caves containing over 50,000 carved statues and reliefs of Buddhas and Boddhisatvas, dating from the 5th and 6th centuries, and ranging from 4 centimeters to 7 meters tall.
*
Mount Wutai (Wutai Shan) is the highest point in the province. It is known as the residence of the
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
Manjusri
Mañjuśrī (Sanskrit: मञ्जुश्री) is a ''bodhisattva'' associated with '' prajñā'' (wisdom) in Mahāyāna Buddhism. His name means "Gentle Glory" in Sanskrit. Mañjuśrī is also known by the fuller name of Mañjuśrīkumāra ...
, and as a result is also a major
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
pilgrimage destination, with many temples and natural sights. Points of interest include
Tang Dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...
(618–907) era timber halls located at
Nanchan Temple and
Foguang Temple
Foguang Temple () is a Buddhist temple located five kilometres from Doucun, Wutai County, Shanxi Province of China. The major hall of the temple is the Great East Hall, built in 857 AD, during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). According to archit ...
, as well as a
giant white stupa at Tayuan Temple built during the
Ming Dynasty
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...
(1368–1644).
*
Mount Hengshan (Heng Shan), in
Hunyuan
Hunyuan County is a county under the administration of Datong City, in the northeast of Shanxi province, China.
History
During the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history, present-day Hunyuan County formed part of the Baidi state of D ...
County, is one of the "Five Great Peaks" of China, and is also a major
Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Tao ...
site. Not far from Hengshan, the
Hanging Temple
The Hanging Temple, also Hengshan Hanging Temple, Hanging Monastery or Xuankong Temple () is a temple built into a cliff ( above the ground) near Mount Heng in Hunyuan County, Datong City, Shanxi Province, China. The closest city is Datong, to ...
is located on the side of a cliff and has survived for 1,400 years despite earthquakes in the area.
*
Pagoda of Fogong Temple
The Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple () of Ying County, Shanxi province, China, is a wooden Chinese pagoda built in 1056, during the Khitan-led Liao dynasty. The pagoda was built by Emperor Daozong of Liao (Hongji) at the site of his grandmoth ...
, in
Ying County
Ying County or Yingxian () is a county in the north of Shanxi province, China. It is the easternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Shuozhou.
Ying County is best known for the Pagoda of Fogong Temple, which is built in 1056 ...
, is a pagoda built in 1056 during the
Liao Dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan language, Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that exi ...
. It is octagonal with nine levels (five are visible from outside), and at 67 m (220 ft) in height, it is currently the tallest wooden pagoda in the world. It is also the oldest fully wooden pagoda in China, although many no-longer-existing wooden pagodas have preceded it, and many existing stone and brick pagodas predate it by centuries.
*
Yongle Gong
Yongle Gong is a historic Taoist temple complex (Despite misleadingly referred to as Yongle Palace due to literal translation) in Ruicheng, Shanxi Province, notable for its Yuan dynasty murals. Built over a period of 128 years between 1240 and 1 ...
, a
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
Taoist temple complex noted for the wall paintings inside its three main halls.
*
Hukou Waterfall
The Hukou Waterfall (), is the largest waterfall on the Yellow River, the second largest waterfall in China (after the Huangguoshu Waterfall in Guizhou), and the world's largest yellow waterfall. It is located at the intersection of the province ...
is located in the
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He (Chinese: , Mandarin: ''Huáng hé'' ) is the second-longest river in China, after the Yangtze River, and the sixth-longest river system in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Ha ...
on the Shanxi-
Shaanxi
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), N ...
border. At 50 meters, it is the second highest waterfall in China.
*
Zuoquan County
Zuoquan County () is a county in the east of Shanxi Province of China, bordering Hebei Province to the east. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Jinzhong.
After Communist general Zuo Quan was killed in action during Worl ...
, known for its Chinese Communist Party battlefield sites.
*
Dazhai is a village in
Xiyang County
Xiyang County () is a county in the east of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi province to the east. It is the easternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Jinzhong.
Climate
See also
* Chen Yonggui
Chen Yonggui ...
. Situated in hilly, difficult terrain, it was revered during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
as exemplary of the hardiness of the
proletariat, especially
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasant ...
s.
*
Niangziguan Township is located in northeast
Pingding County
Pingding County () is a county in the east of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei to the east. It is under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Yangquan, occupying its southeast corner.
Climate
Transporta ...
which is at the junction of Shanxi and Heibei Province. It is an old village noted for the
Niangzi Pass.
* Susan Prison is an ancient prison located in Hongtong, the middle of Shanxi. The prison is built during the Ming Dynasty (1369) and is the only well-preserved ancient prison in China.
[原化周. (1996). 一座完整的明代监狱——苏三监狱. ''上海集邮 / Shanghai Philately'', ''6'', 11.http://lib.cqvip.com/qk/80553X/199606/4001179067.html]
Notable individuals
*
Boyi and Shuqi
Boyi (, ) and Shuqi (, ) were two Dongyi brothers from Guzhu, a Dongyi state (諸侯國) under Shang Dynasty. According to tradition, they lived at the time of the transition between the Shang dynasty and the Zhou dynasty (approximately 1046 BCE). ...
(just after 1046 BCE), starved themselves in self-imposed exile
*
King Wuling of Zhao
King Wuling of Zhao () (died 295 BCE, reigned 325 BCE – 299 BCE) reigned in the State of Zhao during the Warring States period of Chinese history. His reign was famous for one important event: the reforms consisting of "Wearing the Hu (styled) A ...
(325 BCE-299 BCE), ruler of State of Zhao during the Warring States period
*
Wei Qing
Wei Qing (died 106 BC), courtesy name Zhongqing, born Zheng Qing in Linfen, Shanxi, was a Chinese military general and politician of the Western Han dynasty who was acclaimed for his campaigns against the Xiongnu, and his rags to riches life ...
(?–106 BC), military general of the Western Han dynasty whose campaigns against the Xiongnu earned him great acclaim
*
Huo Qubing
Huo Qubing (140 BC – 117 BC) was a Chinese military general and politician of the Western Han dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. He was the nephew of the general Wei Qing and Empress Wei Zifu (Emperor Wu's wife), and the half-bro ...
(140 BC–117 BC), military general of the Western Han dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han
*
Huo Guang
Huo Guang (; died 68 BC), courtesy name Zimeng (子孟), was a Chinese military general and politician who served as the dominant state official of the Western Han dynasty from 87 BCE until his death in 68 BCE. The younger half-brother of the re ...
(?–106 BC), powerful official of the Western Han dynasty
*
Guan Yu
Guan Yu (; ), courtesy name Yunchang, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Along with Zhang Fei, he shared a brotherly relationship with Liu Bei and accompanied him on ...
(?-220), general serving under Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han dynasty who was known for his superior martial prowess on the battlefield
*
Zhang Liao
Zhang Liao () (169–222), courtesy name Wenyuan, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He served briefly in the state of Cao Wei, founded by Cao Cao's successor Cao Pi, in the ...
(169–222), general serving under Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty who was known for his superior martial prowess on the battlefield
*
Xu Huang
Xu Huang () (died 227), courtesy name Gongming, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He later served in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period under the first ...
(?–227), general serving under Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han dynasty
*
Hao Zhao
Hao Zhao ( 220–229), courtesy name Bodao, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He is best known for his victory at the siege of Chencang in 229 when he led a successful defence of Chencang ...
(220–229), general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China
*
Guo Huai
Guo Huai (died 23 February 255), courtesy name Boji, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei (or Wei) during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He started his career towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty under the warlord Cao Cao ...
(?–255), general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China
*
Guanqiu Jian
Guanqiu Jian (died 16 March 255), courtesy name Zhonggong, was a Chinese military general and politician of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Life
Guanqiu Jian was from Wenxi County (), Hedong Commandery, which i ...
(?–255), general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China
*
Qin Lang
Qin Lang ( 227–238), courtesy name Yuanming, was a military general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Family background
Qin Lang was born in the late Eastern Han dynasty and his ancestral home was in Xinxing ...
(227–238), general of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China
*
Jia Chong (217–282), official who lived during the late Three Kingdoms period and early Jin dynasty of China
*
Liu Yuan (?–310), the founding emperor of the Xiongnu state Han Zhao in 308
*
Liu Cong (?–318), emperor of the Xiongnu state Han Zhao
*
Liu Yao (?–329), the final emperor of the Xiongnu state Han Zhao
*
Shi Le
Shi Le (274–17 August 333), courtesy name Shilong, formally Emperor Ming of (Later) Zhao, was the founding emperor of the Jie-led Later Zhao dynasty of China. At a young age he was sold as a slave by Jin officials, but he later helped start a ...
(274–333), the founding emperor of the Jie state Later Zhao
*
Shi Hu
Shi Hu (; 295–349), courtesy name Jilong (季龍), formally Emperor Wu of (Later) Zhao ((後)趙武帝), was an emperor of the Jie-led Chinese Later Zhao dynasty. He was the founding emperor Shi Le's distant nephew, who took power in a coup ...
(295–349), emperor of the Jie state Later Zhao, he was the founding emperor Shi Le's distant nephew
*
Murong Yong
Murong Yong (; died 394), courtesy name Shuming (叔明), was the last emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Western Yan dynasty. He was the grandson of Murong Yun (慕容運), the uncle of Former Yan's founder Murong Huang. As a member of Former ...
(?–394), the last emperor of the Xianbei state Western Yan
*
Wang Sengbian
Wang Sengbian (王僧辯) (5th century-555), courtesy name Juncai (君才), was a general of the Chinese dynasty Liang Dynasty. He came to prominence as the leading general under Emperor Yuan (Xiao Yi)'s campaigns against the rebel general Hou ...
(?–394), general of the Liang Dynasty
*
Tuoba Gui
Emperor Daowu of Northern Wei () (4 August 371 – 6 November 409''wuchen'' day of the 10th month of the 6th year of the ''Tian'ci'' era, per Emperor Daowu's biography in ''Book of Wei''), personal name Tuoba Gui (), né Tuoba Shegui (), was the fo ...
(371–409), founding emperor of the Xianbei state Northern Wei
*
Tuoba Tao (408–452), an emperor of Xianbei state Northern Wei
*
Erzhu Rong
Erzhu Rong (爾朱榮) (493 – November 1, 530), courtesy name Tianbao (天寶), formally Prince Wu of Jin (晉武王), was a general of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. He was of Xiongnu ancestry, and after Emperor Xiaoming was ki ...
(493–530), general of the Chinese/Xianbei dynasty Northern Wei, He was of Xiongnu ancestry
*
Erzhu Zhao
Erzhu Zhao (爾朱兆) (died 533), courtesy name Wanren (萬仁), Xianbei name Tumo'er (吐沒兒), was a general of the Xianbei-led Northern Wei dynasty of China. He was ethnically Xiongnu and a nephew of the paramount general Erzhu Rong. After ...
(493–530), general of the Northern Wei, He was ethnically Xiongnu and a nephew of the paramount general Erzhu Rong
*
Hulü Guang Hulü Guang () (515–572), courtesy name Mingyue (明月), was an ethnic Tiele general of the Chinese Northern Qi dynasty. During the late years of the dynasty—the reigns of Emperor Wucheng and Gao Wei, traditionally viewed as a period of corru ...
(515–572), general of the Chinese dynasty Northern Qi
*
Dugu Xin
Dugu Xin ( Chinese: 獨孤信; 503 – 24 April 557), Xianbei name Qimitou (期彌頭), known as Dugu Ruyuan (獨孤如願) before 540, was a prominent general and official during the chaotic Northern and Southern dynasties period of imperial Chi ...
(503–557), a paramount general of the state Western Wei
*
Yuchi Jiong
Yuchi Jiong (尉遲迥) (died 11 September 580''gengwu'' day of the 8th month of the 2nd year of the ''Daxiang'' era, per Emperor Jing's biography in ''Book of Zhou''), courtesy name Bojuluo (薄居羅), was a general of the Xianbei-led Western ...
(?–580), a paramount general of the states Western Wei and Northern Zhou
*
Yuchi Jingde
Yuchi Gong (尉遲恭) or Yuchi Rong (尉遲融) (585 – 25 December 658), courtesy name Jingde (敬德), also known by his posthumous name Duke Zhongwu of E, was a prominent general who lived in the early Tang dynasty. Yuchi Jingde and another ...
(585–658), general who lived in the early Tang dynasty and is worshipped as door god in Chinese folk religion
*
Wang Tong (587–618), Confucian philosopher and writer
*
Xue Ju
Xue Ju () (died 618), formally Emperor Wu (武皇帝, "Martial"), was the founding emperor of a short-lived state of Qin at the end of the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty, whose state was eventually destroyed by the Tang Dynasty. He rose against Su ...
(?–618), the founding emperor of a short-lived state of Qin at the end of the Chinese dynasty Sui Dynasty
*
Pei Xingyan (?–619), general in Sui dynasty who was known for his superior fighting skills on the battlefield
*
Xue Rengui
Xue Rengui (; 614 – 24 March 683), formal name Xue Li (薛礼) but went by the courtesy name of Rengui, was a Chinese military general during the early Tang Dynasty. He is one of the most well-known military generals of his time due to his hum ...
(614–683), general in Tang dynasty who was known for his superior martial prowess on the battlefield
*
Pei Xingjian
PEI or Pei may refer to:
Places
*Matecaña International Airport, Pereira, Colombia, IATA code PEI
*Pei County (沛县), Jiangsu, China
*Pei Commandery (沛郡), a commandery in Chinese history
*Prince Edward Island, a province of Canada
*Pei, T ...
(619–682), a Tang dynasty general who was best known for his victory over the Khan of Western Turkic Khaganate Ashina Duzhi
*
Xue Ne
Xue Ne (, 649–720, courtesy name 慎言 ''Shènyán'', formally Duke Zhaoding of Pingyang 平陽昭定公), was a Chinese military general and politician of the Tang dynasty and of Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as a chancellor and major ge ...
(649–720), a general and official of the Tang dynasty
*
Feng Changqing
Feng Changqing ( (died January 24, 756) was a general of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. Feng was described as ugly in his appearance, and when he first met Gao Xianzhi and asked to be a guard for Gao, Gao initially rejected him, but eventually agreed t ...
(?-756), a general of the Tang dynasty
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Xue Song
Xue Song () (died 773), formally the Prince of Pingyang (), was a general of the Chinese rebel state Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, from which Yan had rebelled. As was in the case of several other Yan general ...
(?-773), grandson of Xue Rengui, a general of the rebel state Yan
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Li Keyong
Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...
(856–908), a Shatuo military governor (Jiedushi) during the late Tang Dynasty
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Li Cunxiao Li Cunxiao () (d. 894), né An Jingsi (), was an adoptive son of the late-Tang Dynasty warlord Li Keyong who contributed much to Li Keyong's campaigns, but who later rebelled against his adoptive father. He subsequently was defeated by Li Keyong a ...
(?-894), an adoptive son of Li Keyong and considered one of the strongest warriors in ancient China history
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Li Cunxu
Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang (), personal name Li Cunxu (), nickname Yazi (), stage name Li Tianxia (), was the ruling prince of the Former Jin dynasty (r. 908–923) and later became the founding emperor of the Later Tang dynasty (r. 923 ...
(885-926), the Prince of Jin (908–923) and later became Emperor of Later Tang (923–926)
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Li Siyuan
Li Siyuan (李嗣源, later changed to Li Dan (李亶)) (10 October 867 – 15 December 933), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang (後唐明宗), was the second emperor of the Later Tang dynasty of China, reigni ...
(867–933), the second emperor of imperial China's short-lived Later Tang during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
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Shi Jingtang (892–942), the founding emperor of imperial China's short-lived Later Jin during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period
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Huyan Zan
Huyan Zan (呼延贊) (died 1000) was a Chinese military general in the early years of the Northern Song dynasty. He participated in the Northern Song's conquest of the Later Shu in 964-965 and the Northern Han in 979. Later he helped defend Song ...
(?-1000), a military general in the early years of imperial China's Song Dynasty
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Di Qing
Di Qing (1008–1057), formerly romanized as Ti Ch'ing, was a Chinese military general of the Northern Song dynasty.
Biography
Di Qing was born to a poor family in Xihe, Fenzhou (汾州西河; present-day Fenyang, Shanxi). He sported tattoos ...
(1008–1057), a military general of the Northern Song dynasty
Education
Major tertiary educational institutions in Shanxi include:
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North University of China ()
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Communication University of Shanxi
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
()
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Changzhi Medical College ()
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Datong University ()
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Jinzhong College ()
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Lüliang Higher College
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Shanxi Agricultural University
Shanxi Agricultural University (山西农业大学) is a university in Shanxi, China under the authority of the provincial government.
It is in the city of Taigu (太谷), a rural area with a population of about 40,000 people.
History
The sch ...
()
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Shanxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine ()
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Shanxi Medical University ()
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Shanxi Normal University ()
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Shanxi University
Shanxi University (, SXU) is a public university located in the city of Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China. The university was selected into the Double First Class University Plan in February 2022.
History
Early 1900
The Shansi Imperial Univers ...
()
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Shanxi University of Finance and Economics ()
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Changzhi College ()
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Taiyuan Normal University
Taiyuan Normal University () is a university in Shanxi, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, w ...
()
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Taiyuan University of Science and Technology ()
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Taiyuan University of Technology
Taiyuan University of Technology () (abbreviation: TYUT or TUT) is a university in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China, under the authority of the provincial government. In 2012, it celebrated its 110th anniversary.
It has been included in major national i ...
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Xinzhou Teachers University Xinzhou Teachers University (Xīnzhōu shīfàn xuéyuàn) is a university in Shanxi, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by populatio ...
()
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Yuncheng University ()
See also
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Major national historical and cultural sites in Shanxi
Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
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External links
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Economic profile for Shanxiat
HKTDC
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is a statutory body established in 1966 as the international marketing dedicated to creating opportunities for Hong Kong's businesses. The organisation has 50 offices around the world, includin ...
Shanxi Community of Canada website"Geographic Surveys by Imperial Order" from 1707 to 1708, is considered one of the first atlases of the Qing dynasty to document the Shanxi area.
{{Authority control
Provinces of the People's Republic of China