For the people of Shandong, see Shandong people
( ) is a
coastal province of
eastern People's Republic of China
. Its abbreviation is
Lǔ,
after the
state of Lu that existed here
during the
Spring and Autumn
Period.
The name
Shandong literally means "mountain's east", which refers
to the province's location east of the Taihang Mountains
. The province is located in the lower reaches
of the Huang
He
(Yellow River) and extends out to sea in the form
of the Shandong
Peninsula
. Shandong borders the Bohai Sea to the north, Hebei
to the
northwest, Henan
to the west,
Jiangsu
to the south, and the Yellow Sea
to the southeast; it also shares a very short
border with Anhui
, between
Henan and Jiangsu.
A common nickname for Shandong is
Qílǔ (齐鲁/齊魯), after the
state of Lu and
state of Qi that existed here during the
Spring and Autumn
Period.
History
Shandong is located on the eastern edge of the
North China Plain, and felt the influence
of Chinese civilization since remote antiquity. The earliest
dynasties (the
Shang dynasty and
Zhou dynasty) exerted varying degrees
of control over western Shandong, while eastern Shandong was
inhabited by the
Laiyi peoples who were
considered as the "barbarians". Over subsequent centuries, the
Laiyi were eventually
sinicized.
During the
Spring and Autumn
Period (春秋时期) and the
Warring
States Period (战国时期), regional states became increasingly
powerful.
At this time, Shandong was home to two
powerful states: the state of Qi (齐国) at
Linzi and the state of
Lu (鲁国) at Qufu
. Lu
is noted for being the home of
Confucius.
The state was, however, comparatively small, and eventually
succumbed to the powerful
state of Chu
from the south. The
state of Qi was, on
the other hand, a major power throughout this entire period.
Cities it
ruled included Linzi, Jimo
(north of modern Qingdao
) and
Ju
.
The
Qin Dynasty destroyed Qi and founded
the first centralized Chinese state in 221 BC. The
Han Dynasty that followed created two
zhou
("provinces") in what is now modern Shandong:
Qingzhou Province in the north and
Yanzhou Province in the south.
During the division of the
Three
Kingdoms Shandong belonged to the
Kingdom of Wei, which ruled over northern
China.
After the Three Kingdoms period, a brief period of unity under the
Western Jin Dynasty gave way to
invasions by nomadic peoples from the north. Northern China,
including Shandong, was overrun. Over the next century or so
Shandong changed hands several times, falling to the
Later Zhao, then
Former
Yan, then
Former Qin, then
Later Yan, then
Southern
Yan, then the
Liu Song Dynasty,
and finally the
Northern Wei
Dynasty, the first of the Northern Dynasties during the
Northern and Southern
Dynasties Period. Shandong stayed with the Northern Dynasties
for the rest of this period.
In 412,
the Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian landed at Laoshan, on
the southern edge of the Shandong peninsula, and proceeded to
Qingzhou
to edit and translate the scriptures he had brought
back from India
.
The
Sui Dynasty reestablished unity in
589, and the
Tang Dynasty (618-907)
presided over the next golden age of China. For the earlier part of
this period Shandong was ruled as part of
Henan Circuit, one of the
circuits (a political
division). Later on China splintered into warlord factions,
resulting in the
Five
Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Shandong was part of the
Five Dynasties, all based in the north.
The
Song Dynasty reunified China in the
late tenth century. In 1996, the discovery of over two hundred
buried Buddhist statues at Qingzhou was hailed as a major
archaeological find. The statues included early
examples of painted figures, and are thought to have been buried
due to
Emperor
Huizong's
Song Dynasty
repression of
Buddhism (he favoured
Taoism).
The Song Dynasty was forced to cede northern China to the
Jurchen Jin Dynasty in
1142. Shandong was administered by the Jin Dynasty as
Shandong East Circuit and
Shandong West Circuit — the first use
of its current name.
The modern
province of Shandong was created by the Ming Dynasty
. It also included much of modern-day Liaoning
(in south Manchuria) at
the time. However, the
Manchus
increasingly asserted independence, and managed to conquer all of
China in 1644.
Under the Qing Dynasty
, which they founded, Shandong acquired (more or
less) its current borders.
Dezhou, Shandong
During the nineteenth century, China became increasingly exposed to
Western influence, and Shandong, a coastal province, was especially
affected.
Qingdao was leased to Germany
in 1897 and Weihai to
Britain
in 1898. The rest of Shandong was generally
considered to be part of the German
sphere of influence.
In addition, the
Qing
Dynasty opened Manchuria to
Han Chinese immigration during the 19th
century; Shandong was the main source of the ensuing tide of
migrants.
Shandong was one of the first places in which the
Boxer Rebellion started and became one of
the centers of the uprising. In 1899, the Qing-Dynasty general
Yuan Shikai was appointed as governor of
the province to suppress the uprising. He held the post for 3
years.
After the
Republic of
China
was founded in 1911, Qingdao reverted to Chinese control in 1922, Weihai followed in 1930.
In April 1925, the warlord
Zhang
Zongchang, nicknamed the "Dogmeat General", became military
governor of Shandong Province.
Time dubbed him China's
"basest warlord". He ruled over the province until 1928, when he
was ousted in the wake of the
Northern
Expedition.He was succeeded by
Han
Fuju, who was loyal to the warlord
Feng
Yuxiang but later switched his allegiance to the Nanjing
government headed by
Chiang
Kai-Shek. Han Fuju also ousted the warlord
Liu Zhennian, nicknamed the "King of Shandong
East", who ruled eastern Shandong Province, hence unifying the
province under his rule.
In 1937
Japan
began its invasion of China proper in the Second Sino-Japanese War, which
would eventually become part of the Pacific theatre of the Second World War. Han Fuju was made
Deputy Commander in Chief of the 5th War Area and put in charge
defending the lower Yellow River valley. However, he abandoned his
base in Jinan when the Japanese crossed the Yellow River. He was
executed for not following orders shortly thereafter.
Shandong was occupied in its entirety by Japan, with resistance in
the countryside, and was one of the provinces where
operation sankō was implemented by general
Yasuji Okamura. This lasted until the
surrender of Japan in 1945.
By 1945,
communist forces
already held some parts of Shandong.
Over the next four
years of the Chinese Civil War,
they expanded their holdings, eventually driving the Kuomintang (government of the Republic of
China) entirely out of Shandong by June 1949.
The
People's
Republic of China was founded in October of the same
year.
Under the new government, parts of western Shandong was initially
given to the short-lived
Pingyuan
Province, but this did not last.
Shandong also
acquired the Xuzhou
and Lianyungang
areas from Jiangsu province,
but this did not last either. For the most part Shandong has
kept the same borders that it has today.
In recent years Shandong, especially eastern Shandong, has enjoyed
significant economic development, becoming one of the richest
provinces of the People's Republic of China.
Zhucheng, which is located in Shandong, is known as "dinosaur city"
as it has been the scene of many dinosaur finds in the past. On
December 31, 2008, it was announced that 7,600 dinosaur bones were
uncovered. This is believed to be the largest collection ever
found. These bones include
tyrannosaurus and
ankylosaurus.
Geography
Shandong is mostly flat in terrain. The northwestern, western, and
southwestern parts of the province are all part of the vast
North China Plain.
The center of the
province is more mountainous, with the Taishan Mountains
, Lushan Mountains,
and Mengshan Mountains being the
most prominent. The east of the province is the hilly
Shandong
Peninsula extending into the sea; it separates Bohai Sea in the northwest from the Yellow Sea to the east and south. The highest peak of
Shandong is the highest peak in the Taishan area:
Jade Emperor Peak, with a height of
1545 m.
The
Yellow
River
passes through Shandong's western areas, entering
the sea along Shandong's northern coast; in its traversal of
Shandong it flows on a levee, higher than the
surrounding land, and dividing western Shandong into the Hai He
watershed in
the north and the Huai He watershed in the
south. The
Grand Canal of
China enters Shandong from the northwest and leaves on the
southwest.
Lake Weishan is the largest
lake of the province. Shandong's coastline is 3000 km long.
Shandong
Peninsula has a rocky coastline with cliffs, bays, and
islands; the large Laizhou Bay, the
southernmost of the three bays of Bohai
Sea, is found to the north, between Dongying and Penglai
; Jiaozhou Bay, which is
much smaller, is found to the south, next to Qingdao. The
Miaodao
Islands extend northwards from the northern coast of the
peninsula.
Shandong has a
temperate climate,
with moist summers and dry, cold winters. Average temperatures are
-5 to 1
°C in January and 24 to 28°C in July.
Annual precipitation is 550 to 950 mm.
With
Jinan
serving as the province's economic and cultural
centre, the province's economic prowess has led to the development
of modern coastal cities located at Qingdao, Weihai, and Yantai. In addition, Weifang
and Zaozhuang are also
upstart cities.
Politics
The politics of Shandong is structured in a dual party-government
system like all other governing institutions in mainland
China.
The
Governor of Shandong is the
highest ranking official in the People's Government of Shandong.
However, in the province's dual party-government governing system,
the Governor has less power than the Shandong
Communist Party of China Provincial
Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Shandong
CPC Party Chief".
Economy
Shandong ranks first among the provinces in the production of a
variety of products, including
cotton and
wheat as well as precious metals such as
gold and
diamonds. It
also has one of the biggest sapphire deposits in the world. Other
importants crop include
sorghum and
maize.
Shandong has extensive petroleum deposits as well, especially in the
Dongying area in the Yellow River delta, where the Shengli Oilfield (lit. Victory
Oilfield) is one of the major oilfields of China. Shandong also
produces
bromine from underground wells and
salt from sea water.
Shandong is one of the richer provinces of China, and its economic
development focuses on large enterprises with well-known brand
names. Shandong is the biggest industrial producer and one of the
top manufacturing provinces in China.
Shandong has also
benefited from South
Korean
and Japanese investment, due to its geographical proximity to
those countries. The richest part of the province is the
Shandong
Peninsula, where the city of Qingdao is home to two of the most well-known brand names
of China: Tsingtao Beer and Haier. In
addition,
Dongying's oil fields and
petroleum industries form an important component of Shandong's
economy.
In 2008,
the nominal GDP for Shandong was 3.11 trillion yuan (US$446 billion), ranking second in the country
(behind Guangdong
and ahead of Jiangsu).
It's GDP per capita was 33,083 yuan (US$4,749), ranking
seventh.
Shandong Coastal Vineyards
The production of wine is the second largest industry in the
Shandong Province, second only to agriculture.
Geographically, the southern hills average an
elevation of 200 meters, while the
coastal areas remain relatively flat. Most of the
soil is loose, well-ventilated, and rich in minerals and
organic matter that enable full development
of the
root systems.
Presently, there are more than 140 wineries in the region, mainly
distributed in the Nanwang Grape Valley and along the Yan-Peng
Sightseeing Highway. The region produced more than 40% of China's
grape wine production. Main varieties such as
Cabernet Sauvignon,
Cabernet Gernischt,
Merlot,
Riesling and
Chardonnay are all at 20 years of age, considered
to be the golden stage for these grapes. Most of them maintain an
average saccharinity of above 20%.
Major Producers
- Jinan Export
Processing Zone
- Jinan New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
- Qingdao Economic and Technical Development Zone
- Qingdao Export Processing Zone
- Qingdao Free Trade Zone
- Qingdao New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
- Qingdao Shi Laoren Tourist Holiday Resort
- Weifang Hi-Tech Industry Development Zone
- Weihai Economic and Technical Development
Zone
- Weihai Export Processing Zone
- Weihai Torch Hi-Tech Science Park
- Yantai Economic Development Area
- Yantai Export Processing Zone
- Yantai New & Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
- Zibo
National New
& Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
Demographics
Shandong
is the second most populous province of China, after Henan, with a
population of almost 92 million. Over 99% of Shandong's
population is
Han Chinese. Minority
groups include the
Hui and the
Manchus. Shandong citizens are also known to have the
highest average height of any Chinese province.
Administrative divisions
Shandong is divided into seventeen
prefecture-level
divisions, all of them
prefecture-level cities:
The seventeen
prefecture-level
divisions of Shandong are subdivided into 140
county-level
divisions (49
district, 31
county-level cities, and 60
counties). Those are in turn divided
into 1941
township-level
divisions (1223
town, 293
township, two
ethnic townships, and 423
subdistricts).
See
List of
administrative divisions of Shandong for a complete
list of
county-level
divisions.
Culture
Mandarin dialects are spoken in
Shandong.
Linguists classify these dialects into three
broad categories: Ji Lu Mandarin
spoken in the northwest (as well as in neighbouring Hebei), such as
the Jinan dialect; Zhongyuan Mandarin spoken in the
southwest (as well as in neighbouring Henan); and
Jiao Liao Mandarin spoken in the
Shandong
Peninsula (as well as the Liaodong Peninsula
across the sea), such as the Qingdao dialect. When people speak of
the "Shandong dialect" (山東話), it is generally the first or the
second that is meant; the Jiao Liao dialects of Shandong are
commonly called the "Jiaodong dialect" (膠東話).
Shandong cuisine (鲁菜) is one of the
eight great traditions of
Chinese
cuisine. It can be more finely divided into inland Shandong
cuisine (e.g.
Jinan cuisine); the
seafood-centered
Jiaodong cuisine in the peninsula; and
Confucius's Mansion
cuisine, an elaborate tradition originally intended for
imperial and other important feasts.
Shandong Bangzi and
Lüju are popular types of
Chinese opera in Shandong; both originated
from southwestern Shandong.
Transport
The
Jingjiu Railway (Beijing-Kowloon
) and Jinghu Railway
(Beijing-Shanghai)
are both major arterial railways that pass through the western part
of Shandong. The Jingjiu passes through Liaocheng
and Heze; the Jinghu passes
through Dezhou, Jinan, Tai'an, Qufu. and
Tengzhou
. The Jiaoji
Railway is an important railway of Shandong, linking its two
largest cities of Qingdao and Jinan, with the
longest history of all.
Shandong has one of the densest and highest quality
expressway networks among all Chinese
provinces. At over 3000 km, the total length of Shandong's
expressways is the highest among the provinces.
The Jiqing Expressway (Jinan-Qingdao) and Jingfu
Expressway (Beijing-Fuzhou
, passing
through Shandong) are all important arterial
expressways.
The
Shandong
Peninsula, with its bays and harbours, has many important
ports, including Qingdao, Yantai, Weihai, Rizhao, and Longkou. Many of these ports have historical
significance as well, as the sites of former foreign naval bases or
historical battles.
Ferries link the cities on the north coast
of the peninsula with the Liaodong Peninsula, further north across the sea.
Important
airports include Jinan Yaoqiang Airport
and Qingdao
Liuting International Airport
.
Tourism
Tourist attractions in Shandong include:
- Penglai
, a town on the north of the Shandong peninsula
famed in Taoism.
- Qingdao, beach resort city on the south of the peninsula
famous for its Tsingtao beer
- Ba Da Guan, made up of eight streets
named after the eight great military forts of the ancient
times.
- Zhan Qiao, a long strip pier stretches
into the sea and was the first wharf at Qingdao.
- Laoshan, a scenic area and Daoist centre to the east of Qingdao.
- Qingzhou, an ancient trading and administrative centre with
some famous archaeological discoveries.
- Weihai, a former British port city
important in the second
Sino-Japanese War.
- World Heritage Sites:
Education
Colleges and universities
Senior High Schools
Sports
Professional sports teams based in Shandong include:
See also
Notes
External links
since Ming dynasty
, renowned for its 72
Famous Springs.
, a culturally significant artesian karst spring,
declared as "Number One Spring under the Heaven" (天下第一泉) by the
Qing
Dynasty
, the largest lake in Jinan, whose water is from the
springs of the area. Marco Polo
described its beauty in his works.
, renowned for its numerous Buddha images which have
been carved out of the hill's rock faces or free-standing
structures erect since the times of the Sui
Dynasty and its Xingguochan Temple.
, one of the 4 most famous temples(四大名刹) in Tang dynasty, in which there are 11th century
Pizhi Pagoda and the Thousand Buddha
Hall which houses a Ming
Dynasty
, the oldest existing Great Wall in China, which is
built in 685 BCE and stretches from Jinan
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