Linqing () is a

county-level city A county-level city () is a County-level divisions of China, county-level administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judiciary, judicial but no legislature, legislative rights over their own local or ...

under the administration of the

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

of Liaocheng in western

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

Province, China.

Geography and climate

It is located north-northwest of Liaocheng. The city is situated at the confluence of the

Wei River The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization. In ancient times, such as in the Records ...

and the Grand Canal. It is from

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

on the Beijing–Kowloon railway line to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. Elevation within Linqing County ranges from above sea level. The area of the county is . The annual average temperature is , the highest recorded temperature , and the lowest recorded temperature . Annual mean precipitation is . There are 205 frost-free days per year on average and the average annual sunshine is 2661 hours.

History and economy

Linqing has played an important role in the history of China. In Ming and

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

times it was a great center for the distribution of textiles, grain and bricks and is also famous as the place where the tiles of the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection agains ...

and the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...

were produced. Today the city's flourishing economy is based on a number of light industrial enterprises. Aside from the Grand Canal, sights include a distinctive promontory, a

stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

(), a Ming-dynasty Hui mosques (Linqing Northern Mosque, , Linqing Eastern Mosque, ), and ruins of the old customs house (), Linqing City Museum (in a historical building ensemble known as the ). In particular, the Sheli Pagoda near the Grand Canal is a well-known local landmark.

Administrative divisions

As of 2012, this city is divided to four subdistricts, eight towns and three townships. ;Subdistricts ;Towns ;Townships *Jinhaozhuang Township () *Daiwan Township () *Shangdian Township ()

Population

Demographics

The city proper has about residents (January 2000), whereas Linqing as a whole had inhabitants in 1999. National Population Statistics Materials by County and City - 1999 Period, ''in'
China County & City Population 1999, Harvard China Historical GIS
/ref>

Ecclesiastical history

Once visited by the missionary and sinologist

Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci (; ; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610) was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He created the , a 1602 map of the world written in Chinese characters. In 2022, the Apostolic See decl ...

, Linqing has been the seat of a Latin Catholic Mission sui juris of Linqing / Lintsing since it was split off from the Apostolic Vicariate of Tsinanfu on 24 June 1927. It was promoted to

Apostolic prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Linqing / Lintsing / Lintsingen(sis) (Latin) (pre-diocesan jurisdiction, not entitled to a

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

) on 5 April 1931. It remains exempt, i.e. directly dependent on the Holy See and its missionary Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The see has been vacant, without

Apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

, since the third incumbent's death in 1981.http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/lint0.htm GCatholic

Ordinaries

(all Latin Rite) ;''Ecclesiastical Superior(s) none available ;''Apostolic Prefects'' (Chinese secular priests) * Father Gaspar Hu Xiu-shen () (1931.03.30 – retired 1940), died 1945 * Fr. Joseph Li Chao-gui () (1940.11.22 – death 1948) * Fr. Paul Li Ben-liang () (1949.11.18 – death 1981)

Notable natives

* Ming dynasty poet Xie Zhen * National Revolution Army general Zhang Zizhong * Indologist, linguist, paleographer, historian and writer

Ji Xianlin Ji Xianlin (; August 6, 1911 – July 11, 2009) was a Chinese Indologist, linguist, paleographer, historian and writer who has been honored by the governments of both India and China. Ji was proficient in many languages including Chinese, San ...

References

Sources and external links

Article on Linqing from China Today, no.78 (2005)

Official website of Linqing city government (in Chinese)

{{Authority control Cities in Shandong County-level divisions of Shandong Liaocheng