Heze

Heze (Chinese: 菏泽; pinyin: Hézé) is the westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong province, China. The Peony Capital of China, formerly known as Caozhou, the city borders Jining to the east, and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively. The total area is 12238.62 square kilometers and the population is 10.58 million. It governs Mudan District and Dingtao District, 2 districts and 7 counties including Caoxian, Chengwu, Shanxian, Juye, Yuncheng, Juancheng and Dongming.

Heze was originally a natural ancient Ze, where Ji River converged and He River flowed out, connecting the two major water systems of Gu Ji River and Sishui River. It was renamed Longchi in the Tang Dynasty and Xiayue Lake in the Qing Dynasty. In the 13th year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1735), Caozhou was promoted to a prefecture and a county was established under the jurisdiction of Guo. Due to the presence of "Heshan" in the south and "Leize" in the north, it was named Heze. Heze has a long history and enjoys the reputation of being "among the best in the world". The nine lakes of Heze, Leize, Dayezhe, and Mengzhuze in the "Yu Gong" are all located within its borders. The founder of humanities, Fuxi, the emperor of Dongyi, Shaohao, the wise monarch, Shun, the warlord and war god Chiyou, the reformer Wu Qi, the military strategist Sun Bin, the agricultural scientist Fan Shengzhi, the economist Liu Yan, and the literary scholar Wen Zisheng were all born here. Liu Bang ascended to the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, Cao Cao achieved hegemony, Huang Chaoqiyi, and Song Jiangjuyi all occurred in Heze.

Heze is a place where the ancestral culture of the Chinese nation blends together, and is one of the important birthplaces of Chinese civilization. Heze is the birthplace of Fuxi's mulberry trees, the hometown of Yao and Shun, and the center of Dayu's flood control. The capital of the Shang Dynasty, Beibo (now Cao County) and Bi (now north of Yuncheng), are located within its borders. Among the ten philosophers of Confucius, Ran Geng, Ran Yong, and Ran Qiu; Among the ten philosophers of Wumiao, Sun Bin, Wu Qi, and Li Qi were all born in Heze. Heze is closely related to the historical turning point of "Han Qi Tang Luo". In the early Han Dynasty, Peng Yue, Chen Pi, and Lv Ze were military generals from Heze who helped the Han Dynasty to conquer the land; Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang ascended the throne and declared himself emperor on the Yang of the Fanshui River in Dingtao, opening up the source of the Great Han Dynasty; Liu Bang's original wife from Heze, Lv Zhi, was the first empress of China and the only woman listed in the "Annals of the Grand Historian". Her ruling position in court and commanding the world was equivalent to that of an emperor. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the uprising of Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao from Heze accelerated the decline of the Tang Dynasty. The last emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai, died and was buried in Jiyin (now Heze), leading to the downfall of the Tang Dynasty.

There are more than 100 cultural relics and historic sites in the territory, 6 national-level cultural relics protection units, and 52 provincial-level cultural relics protection units. Places of interest include Caozhou Peony Garden, Yuncheng Water Margin, Sunbin Tourist City, Dingtao Han Tomb, Shanxian Archway, Jinshan Mountain, Fangshan Mountain, Fulong Lake, the scenery of the old Yellow River route, etc.