Xiyan () is a rural town in

Chengbu Miao Autonomous County Chengbu Miao Autonomous County (; usually referred to as "Chengbu County", commonly abbreviated as "Chengbu", ) is an autonomous county of Miao people in the Province of Hunan, China, it is under the administration of Shaoyang City. Located on ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

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 ...

. As of the 2015 census it had a population of 54,200 and an area of . The town shares a border with Jinzi Township to the west, Weixi Township to the east, Dengyuantai Town to the north, and Maoping Town to the south.

Name

The name of "Xiyan" derives from Xiyan Temple (), a

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

located at the foot of Lion Rock ().

History

In March 2002,

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

s excavated a late

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

site in Chaoyuanli () of the town, unearthed pottery and stone tools, proving that human existence existed as early as 4000 years ago. In 1995, the five townships of Jinzi (), Ziyuan (), Sanshui (), Yongfeng () and Huaqiao () merged into Xiyan Town.

Administrative division

As of 2015, the town is divided into 2 communities: the 1st Community () and 2nd Community (), and 24 villages: Shilong (), Dengta (), Biyun (), Lianxin (), Jiangshi (), Liantang (), Chenshi (), Changgeng (), Xingsong (), Yongfeng (), Zijiang (), Zishui (), Sanshui (), Pingtang (), Jinsha (), Taitang (), Luoshui (), Lianhe (), Sanhe (), Huaqiao (), Yangtian (), Xiaoshi (), Yuanshui (), Yangjiashan ().

Geography

The town is located in the northeast of

. It has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The Wei River () flows through the town.

Climate

The town has a subtropical humid climate and exhibits four distinct seasons, with an average annual temperature of . Summer is cool and winter is warm.

Demographics

In December 2015, the town had an estimated population of 54,200 and a population density of 361 persons per km2.

Miao people The Miao are a group of linguistically-related peoples living in Southern China and Southeast Asia, who are recognized by the government of China as one of the 56 List of ethnic groups in China, official ethnic groups. The Miao live primarily in ...

is the dominant ethnic group in the town, accounting for 34,000, accounting for 64.19%. There are also 12 ethnic groups, such as Dong,

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 ...

, Yao and Li people. Among them, there are 11,500 Han people (21.40%) and 8,800 Dong, Yao, Hui and Li people (16.30%).

Economy

The region abounds with

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of industrial alloy use ...

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

and

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lea ...

Transportation

The town is connected to two highways: S86 Wugang-Jingzhou Expressway, which heads west to

Tongdao Dong Autonomous County Tongdao (the full name: "''Tongdao Dong Autonomous County''", ; usually referred to as "''Tongdao County''", ) is an autonomous county of Dong people in Hunan, Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of ...

and east to downtown Wugang city, and Provincial Highway S219, which heads south to Maoping Town, Jiangfang Township, Rulin Town, Dingping Township and east to downtown Wugang city.

Notable people

Yang Zaixing Yang Zaixing (, died 21 August 1140) was a Song dynasty general under Yue Fei, known for his ferocity in battles. He fought against the Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. His heroic death in the battle of Yancheng—where he led 300 cavalry to ...

(1081 - 1140), 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 ...

general under

Yue Fei Yue Fei ( zh, t=岳飛; March 24, 1103 – January 28, 1142), courtesy name Pengju (), was a Chinese military general who lived during the Song dynasty, Southern Song dynasty and a national hero of China, known for leading Southern Song force ...

, known for his ferocity in battles. * Gong Jichang (), a general in the late

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-speak ...

. * Duan Menghui (; 1907 - 1981), a journalist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xiyan Chengbu Miao Autonomous County