Pu County (), also known by its Chinese name Puxian, is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the southwest of

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

province, China. It is 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 ...

Linfen Linfen () is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shanxi province, People's Republic of China, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west. Linfen City is located in the southern part of Shanxi Province, with the remaining branches of T ...

; bordering

county-level division The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since 1412, due to mainland China's large population and geographical area. In the People's Republic of China, the constitution provides for three levels of government. Ho ...

s are

Yaodu District Yaodu District () is a District of the People's Republic of China, district of the city of Linfen, Shanxi, Shanxi Province, China. Yaodu spans 1,307 square kilometers in area, and has a population of 944,050 as of 2010. The district serves at the a ...

(the urban area of Linfen) to the southeast, Ji County to the southwest, Daning County to the west, Xi County to the north, Fenxi County to the northeast, and Hongtong County to the east. Pu County spans an area of , and had a population of 107,339 according to the

2010 Chinese census The 2010 Chinese census, officially the Sixth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国第六次全国人口普查), was conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China wi ...

Toponymy

Pu County is named after the fabled Puzi Mountain () in the area.

History

Spring and Autumn period

During the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

Chinese history The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...

, the city of Pu and its hinterland were the

appendage An appendage (or outgrowth) is an external body part or natural prolongation that protrudes from an organism's body such as an arm or a leg. Protrusions from single-celled bacteria and archaea are known as cell-surface appendages or surface app ...

of the Jin prince Ji Chong'er before the Rong beauty Li Ji successfully schemed to drive him from the country in 655BC and to place her own son into succession for the

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

. Pu would have also been a home to the famous courtiers like

Jie Zhitui Jie Zhitui (centuryBC), also known as Jie Zitui, was an ancient aristocrat who served the Jin prince Chong'er during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. Chinese legend holds that when Chong'er finally ascended to power as the duke ...

who followed Ji Chong'er into his exile. Their court was later imposed on Jin by a Qin army in 636BC, with Ji Chong'er as the state's Wen Duke.

Northern Wei

During the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

, the ancient Pingchang County () was located close to present-day Pu County, which fell under the jurisdiction of . Later in the Northern Wei, the area would be reorganized as Shicheng County (), under the jurisdiction of .

Post-Northern Wei

In 579 CE, Shicheng County was renamed to Puzi County (), and was placed under the jurisdiction of . In 606 CE, Puzi County was renamed to Pu County (), and was placed under the jurisdiction of .

Republic of China

During the early years of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, Pu County was administered by , and then placed under provincial administration upon the abolition of circuits.

People's Republic of China

Upon the foundation of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1949, Pu County was placed under Linfen Prefecture, which was renamed in 1954. The county was abolished from 1958 to 1961. In 2000, it was placed under the jurisdiction of the

. On October 6, 2021, the county was afflicted by a

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

which killed four people in the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

of Jingpo () in the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of .

Geography

The county's highest point is Wulu Mountain (), which reaches in height. The county's lowest point is in height. The flows through Pu County, as does a number of its

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

Climate

Administrative divisions

Pu County administers four

towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and five townships.

Towns

The county's four towns are , , , and .

Townships

The county's five townships are , , , , and .

Demographics

According the

, the county had a population of 107,339, up from the 98,860 reported in the

2000 Chinese census The 2000 Chinese census, officially the Fifth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (), was conducted by the government of the People's Republic of China with 1 November 2000 as its zero hour. The total population was calcul ...

. The county had an estimated population of about 80,000 as of 1996.

References

{{Coord, 36, 24, 47, N, 111, 05, 55, E, region:CN-14_type:adm3rd_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title County-level divisions of Shanxi Linfen