Zoucheng () is a

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

in the south of

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

province, China. Before it became a city, it was known as Zou County or Zouxian. Zoucheng is located about 20 km south of the city of

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

, and like Qufu, is administratively under the

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

Jining Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to the northwest and south respectively. Jining ...

. Its population was 1,116,692 at the 2010 census even though its built-up (''or metro'') area is much smaller.

Administrative divisions

Three subdistricts: * Gangshan Subdistrict (), Qianquan Subdistrict (), Fushan Subdistrict () Thirteen towns: * Xiangcheng (),

Chengqian Chengqian () is a town in Zoucheng, Jining, in southwestern Shandong province, China. References

Township-level divisions of Shandong {{Shandong-geo-stub ...

(), Dashu (), Beisu (),

Zhongxindian Zhongxindian () is a town in Zoucheng, Jining, in southwestern Shandong province, 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, ...

(), Tangcun (),

Taiping __NOTOC__ Taiping, Tai-p’ing, or Tai Ping most often refers to: Chinese history * Princess Taiping (died 713), Tang dynasty princess * Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), civil war in southern China ** Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864), the re ...

(),

Shiqiang Shiqiang () is a town in Zoucheng, Jining Jining () is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province. It borders Heze to the southwest, Zaozhuang to the southeast, Tai'an to the northeast, and the provinces of Henan and Jiangsu to ...

(), Yishan (), Kanzhuang (), Zhangzhuang (), Tianhuang (), Guoli ()

Historical sites

The philosopher

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

was born in Zoucheng, then within the feudal

State of Zou Zou (), originally Zhu () or Zhulou (), was a minor state that existed during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. p. 144 History King Wu of Zhou granted Cao Xie (曹挾) control of the small state of Zhu as a vassal ruler under the State of Lu wi ...

. His descendants lived in Zoucheng all the way to the present. Some of them migrated to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War. In the present day, there are four major sites in the city relating to Mencius: the Mencius Temple (), the Mencius Family Mansion (), the Mencius Forest (, ), and Mencius' Mother's Forest (, ). The Mencius Temple, which covers an area of more than on the south side of town, has five courtyards and sixty-four halls and rooms. Its history dates back to the year 1037 in 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 ra ...

. The Mencius Mansion, where his descendants lived, is adjacent to the temple, and has 116 halls and rooms. According to the management of the Mencius Temple, the temple grounds house over 270 stone

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

s and sculptures, some of which dating from as early as 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 ...

. Among them are some

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

stelae with inscriptions in 'Phags-pa script. Immediately to the north of Zoucheng lies the tomb of the King of Lu of the

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

(). It is the tomb of Zhu Tan (1370-1389), the tenth son of the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...

of the Ming dynasty. There is also a royal tomb from 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 ...

().

Climate

Transportation

* Zoucheng Railway Station on the Beijing-Shanghai Railway * Frequent bus service to the nearby

and

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

Monorail

A , 12 station monorail to connect

and Zoucheng began construction in the first half of 2017, however construction was halted. A section was due to be completed in January 2018 to allow for testing to commence. The complete line was originally due to open in 2018. As of July 2021 the local government hopes to complete the line.

References

External links

Zoucheng municipal website
{{Authority control Cities in Shandong Jining County-level divisions of Shandong