Shanxi

Shanxi Province 山西省
Province
Name transcription(s)
• Chinese	山西省 (Shānxī Shěng)
• Abbreviation	SX / 晋 (pinyin: Jìn)
Map showing the location of Shanxi Province
Coordinates: 37°42′N 112°24′E / 37.7°N 112.4°E / 37.7; 112.4Coordinates: 37°42′N 112°24′E / 37.7°N 112.4°E / 37.7; 112.4
Named for	山 shān - mountain 西 xī - west "west of the Taihang Mountains"
Capital (and largest city)	Taiyuan
Divisions	11 prefectures, 119 counties, 1388 townships
Government
• Secretary	Luo Huining
• Governor	Lou Yangsheng (acting)
Area[1]
• Total	156,000 km2 (60,000 sq mi)
Area rank	19th
Highest elevation (Mount Wutai)	3,058 m (10,033 ft)
Population (2014)[2]
• Total	36,500,000
• Rank	18th
• Density	230/km2 (610/sq mi)
• Density rank	19th
Demographics
• Ethnic composition	Han - 99.7% Hui - 0.2%
• Languages and dialects	Jin, Zhongyuan Mandarin, Jilu Mandarin
ISO 3166 code	CN-SX
GDP (2017)	CNY 1.50 trillion USD221.77 billion[3] (24st)
• per capita	CNY 40,557 USD 6,007 (27th)
HDI (2014)	0.738[4] (medium) (16th)
Website	www.shanxigov.cn (Chinese)

Shanxi
"Shanxi" in Chinese characters
Chinese	山西
Postal	Shansi
Literal meaning	"West of the Mountains (Taihang)"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shānxī Bopomofo ㄕㄢ   ㄒㄧ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Shanshi Wade–Giles Shan1-hsi1 IPA [ʂánɕí] Wu Suzhounese Se-si Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sāan-sāi IPA [sáːn.sɐ́i] Jyutping Saan1-sai1 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Soaⁿ-sai Tâi-lô Suann-sai

Shanxi (Chinese: 山西; pinyin:  Shānxī; postal: Shansi) is a province of China, located in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" (pinyin: Jìn), after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn period.

The name Shanxi means "West of the Mountains", a reference to the province's location west of the Taihang Mountains.^[5] Shanxi borders Hebei to the east, Henan to the south, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the north and is made up mainly of a plateau bounded partly by mountain ranges. The capital of the province is Taiyuan.

History

Imperial China

The Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) ruled Shanxi as the province of Bingzhou (并州 Bīng Zhōu). During the invasion of northern nomads in the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304–439), several regimes including the Later Zhao, Former Yan, Former Qin, and Later Yan continuously controlled Shanxi. They were followed by Northern Wei (386–534), a Xianbei kingdom, which had one of its earlier capitals at present-day Datong in northern Shanxi, and which went on to rule nearly all of northern China.

The Tang Dynasty (618–907) originated in Taiyuan. During the Tang Dynasty and after, present day Shanxi was called Hédōng (河东), or "east of the (Yellow) river". Empress Wu Zetian, China's only female ruler, was born in Shanxi in 624.

During the first part of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960), Shanxi supplied rulers of three of the Five Dynasties, as well as being the only one of the Ten Kingdoms located in northern China. Shanxi was initially home to the jiedushi (commander) of Hedong, Li Cunxu, who overthrew the first of the Five Dynasties, Later Liang (907–923) to establish the second, Later Tang (923–936). Another jiedushi of Hedong, Shi Jingtang, overthrew Later Tang to establish the third of the Five Dynasties, Later Jin, and yet another jiedushi of Hedong, Liu Zhiyuan, established the fourth of the Five Dynasties (Later Han) after the Khitans destroyed Later Jin, the third. Finally, when the fifth of the Five Dynasties (Later Zhou) emerged, the jiedushi of Hedong at the time, Liu Chong, rebelled and established an independent state called Northern Han, one of the Ten Kingdoms, in what is now northern and central Shanxi.

Shi Jingtang, founder of the Later Jin, the third of the Five Dynasties, ceded a piece of northern China to the Khitans in return for military assistance. This territory, called The Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, included a part of northern Shanxi. The ceded territory became a major problem for China's defense against the Khitans for the next 100 years, because it lay south of the Great Wall.

The later Zhou, the last dynasty of the Five Dynasties period was founded by Guo Wei, a Han Chinese, who served as the Assistant Military Commissioner at the court of the Later Han which was ruled by Shatuo Turks. He founded his dynasty by launching a military coup against the Turkic Later Han Emperor, however his newly established dynasty was short lived and was conquered by the Song Dynasty in 960.

Pagoda of Fogong Temple built in 1056

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127), the sixteen ceded prefectures continued to be an area of contention between Song China and the Liao Dynasty. Later the Southern Song Dynasty abandoned all of North China, including Shanxi, to the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in 1127 after the Jingkang Incident of the Jin-Song wars.

The Mongol Yuan Dynasty divided China into provinces but did not establish Shanxi as a province. Shanxi only gained its present name and approximate borders during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) which were of the same landarea and borders as the previous Hedong Commandery that existed during the Tang Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), Shanxi extended north beyond the Great Wall to include parts of Inner Mongolia, including what is now the city of Hohhot, and overlapped with the jurisdiction of the Eight Banners and the Guihua Tümed banner in that area.

Modern China

Yan Xishan, warlord of Shanxi during the Republic of China.

With the collapse of the Qing dynasty, Shanxi became part of the newly established Republic of China. During most of the Republic of China's period of rule over mainland China (1912–1949), the warlord Yan Xishan controlled Shanxi. Yan Xishan devoted himself to modernizing Shanxi and developing its resources during his reign over the province. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan occupied much of the province after winning the Battle of Taiyuan. Shanxi was also a major battlefield between the Japanese and the Chinese communist guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army during the war. The soldiers of Shanxi province under Yan Xishan viciously fought against the invading Japanese, which impressed the Japanese to say that nowhere in China did people fight so heroically and bravely.

Right after the defeat of Japan, much of the Shanxi countryside became important bases for the communist People's Liberation Army in the ensuing Chinese Civil War. Yan had incorporated thousands of former Japanese soldiers into his own forces to fight against the communists, and these soldiers became part of his failed defense of Taiyuan against the People's Liberation Army in early 1949. Shanxi was eventually conquered by the communists, resulting in the warlord Yan Xishan's retreat to Taiwan Island. In September, Shanxi Provincial People's Government was established.

For centuries, Shanxi served as a center for trade and banking; the "Shanxi merchants" (晋商 jìnshāng) were once synonymous with wealth. The well-preserved city and UNESCO World Heritage site Pingyao shows many signs of its economic importance during the Qing dynasty. During modern times, coal mining is important to Shanxi's economy, however critics have complained of deplorable mine conditions.

Since 2004 the province have been plagued with labour safety issues, including a slave labour scandal involving children, causing significant civil unrest and national embarrassment, leading to reforms by the communist government.

Geography

Shanxi is located on a plateau made up of higher ground to the east (Taihang Mountains) and the west (Lüliang Mountains) and a series of valleys in the center through which the Fen River runs. The highest peak is Mount Wutai (Wutai Shan) in northeastern Shanxi with an altitude of 3,058 m. The Great Wall of China forms most of the northern border with Inner Mongolia. The Zhongtiao Mountains run along part of the southern border and separate Shanxi from the east-west part of the Yellow River. Mount Hua is to the southwest.

The Yellow River forms the western border of Shanxi with Shaanxi. The Fen and Qin rivers, tributaries of the Yellow River, run north-to-south through the province, and drain much of its area. The north of the province is drained by tributaries of the Hai River, such as Sanggan and Hutuo rivers. The largest natural lake in Shanxi is Xiechi Lake, a salt lake near Yuncheng in southwestern Shanxi.

Shanxi has a continental monsoon climate, and is rather arid. Average January temperatures are below 0 °C, while average July temperatures are around 21–26 °C. Winters are long, dry, and cold, while summer is warm and humid. Spring is extremely dry and prone to dust storms. Shanxi is one of the sunniest parts of China; early summer heat waves are common. Annual precipitation averages around 350 to 700 millimetres (14 to 28 in), with 60% of it concentrated between June and August.

Major cities:

• Taiyuan
• Datong
• Changzhi
• Yangquan

The outline of Shanxi's territory is a parallelogram that runs from southwest to northeast. It is a typical mountain plateau widely covered by loess. The terrain is high in the northeast and low in the southwest. The interior of the plateau is undulating, the valleys are vertical and horizontal, and the types of landforms are complex and diverse. There are mountains, hills, terraces, plains, and rivers. The area of mountains and hills accounts for 80.1% of the total area of the province, and the area of Pingchuan and river valleys accounts for 19.9% of the total area. Most of the province's altitude is above 1,500 meters, and the highest point is the Yedoufeng, the main peak of Wutai Mountain, with an altitude of 3061.1 meters, which is the highest peak in northern China.

Administrative divisions

Shanxi is divided into eleven prefecture-level divisions: all prefecture-level cities:

Administrative divisions of Shanxi
Prefecture-level city district areas      County-level cities
№	Division code[7]	Division	Area in km2[8]	Population 2010[9]	Seat	Divisions[10]
						Districts	Counties	CL cities
	140000	Shanxi Province	156,000.00	35,712,111	Taiyuan city	25	81	11
1	140100	Taiyuan city	6,909.96	4,201,591	Xinghualing District	6	3	1
3	140200	Datong city	14,102.01	3,318,057	Pingcheng District	4	6
10	140300	Yangquan city	4,569.91	1,368,502	Cheng District	3	2
2	140400	Changzhi city	13,957.84	3,334,564	Luzhou District	4	8
4	140500	Jincheng city	9,420.43	2,279,151	Cheng District	1	4	1
8	140600	Shuozhou city	10,624.35	1,714,857	Shuocheng District	2	3	1
5	140700	Jinzhong city	16,386.34	3,249,425	Yuci District	1	9	1
11	140800	Yuncheng city	14,106.66	5,134,794	Yanhu District	1	10	2
9	140900	Xinzhou city	25,150.69	3,067,501	Xinfu District	1	12	1
6	141000	Linfen city	20,589.11	4,316,612	Yaodu District	1	14	2
7	141100	Lüliang city	21,143.71	3,727,057	Lishi District	1	10	2

The 11 prefecture-level divisions of Shanxi are subdivided into 118 county-level divisions (23 districts, 11 county-level cities, and 84 counties). Those are in turn divided into 1388 township-level divisions (561 towns, 634 townships, and 193 subdistricts).

Politics

The Governor of Shanxi is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Shanxi. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor is subordinate to the provincial Communist Party Secretary (中共山西省委书记), colloquially termed the "Shanxi Party Committee Secretary". As is the case in almost all Chinese provinces, the provincial party secretary and Governor are not natives of Shanxi; rather, they are outsiders who are, in practice, appointed by the central party and government authorities.

The province went through significant political instability since 2004, due largely to the number of scandals that have hit the province on labour safety, the environment, and the interconnected nature between the provincial political establishment and big coal companies. Yu Youjun was sent by the central government in 2005 to become Governor but resigned in the wake of the Shanxi slave labour scandal in 2007. He was succeeded by Meng Xuenong, who had been previously sacked as Mayor of Beijing in the aftermath of the SARS outbreak. Meng himself was removed from office in 2008 after only a few months on the job due to the political fallout from the 2008 Shanxi mudslide. In 2008, provincial Political Consultative Conference Chair, one of the highest-ranked provincial officials, Jin Yinhuan, died in a car accident.

Since Xi Jinping's ascendancy to General Secretary of the Communist Party of China at the 18th Party Congress, numerous highly ranked officials in Shanxi have been placed under investigation for corruption-related offenses, including four incumbent members of the province's highest ruling council, the provincial Communist Party Standing Committee. These were Chen Chuanping, Nie Chunyu, Du Shanxue, and Bai Yun. They were all removed from office around August 2014. Ling Zhengce, the provincial Political Consultative Conference vice-chair and the older brother of Ling Jihua, the province's Vice Governor Ren Runhou, former Taiyuan party secretary Shen Weichen, Taiyuan police secretary Liu Suiji, vice-chair of the provincial People's Congress Jin Daoming, Yuncheng party secretary Wang Maoshe, and Datong party secretary Feng Lixiang, also fell from grace. Shanxi was therefore the 'hardest hit' province during the anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping. Targeted corruption investigations on such a massive scale was unprecedented; it amounted to a wholesale 'cleansing' of Shanxi's political establishment. In the aftermath of the 'political earthquake', party secretary Yuan Chunqing was removed from his post in September 2014, with Wang Rulin 'helicoptered' into the provincial Party Secretary office.

Economy

The GDP per capita of Shanxi is below the national average. Compared to the provinces in east China, Shanxi is less developed for many reasons. Its geographic location limits its participation in international trade, which involves mostly eastern coastal provinces. Important crops in Shanxi include wheat, maize, millet, legumes, and potatoes. The local climate and dwindling water resources limit agriculture in Shanxi.^[12]

Shanxi possesses 260 billion metric tons of known coal deposits, about a third of China's total. As a result, Shanxi is a leading producer of coal in China and has more coal companies than any other province,^[13] with an annual production exceeding 300 million metric tonnes. The Datong (大同), Ningwu (宁武), Xishan (西山), Hedong (河东), Qinshui (沁水), and Huoxi (霍西) coalfields are some of the most important in Shanxi. Shanxi also contains about 500 million tonnes of bauxite deposits, about a third of total Chinese bauxite reserves.^[14] Industry in Shanxi is centered around heavy industries such as coal and chemical production, power generation, and metal refining. There are countless military-related industries in Shanxi due to its geographic location and history as the former base of the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army. Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre, one of China's three satellite launch centers, is located in the middle of Shanxi with China's largest stockpile of nuclear missiles.

Many private corporations, in joint ventures with the state-owned mining corporations, have invested billions of dollars in the mining industry of Shanxi . Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing made one of his largest investments ever in China in exploiting coal gas in Shanxi. Foreign investors include mining companies from Canada, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.

The mining-related companies include Daqin Railway Co. Ltd., which runs one of the busiest and most technologically advanced railways in China, connecting Datong and Qinhuangdao exclusively for coal shipping. The revenue of Daqin Railway Co. Ltd. is among the highest among Shanxi companies due to its export of coal to Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.

Shanxi's nominal GDP in 2011 was 1110.0 billion yuan (US$176.2 billion), ranked 21st in China. Its per-capita GDP was 21,544 yuan (US$3,154).^[15]

Shanxi has received criticism for bad working conditions in coal mining and other heavy industries. Thousands of workers have died every year in those industries. Cases of child labour abuse were discovered recently.^[16][17]

In contrast with the poverty, Shanxi is known for its wealthy mine owners in China. Consortiums of mine owners from Shanxi have influences in Beijing's real estate market because of their speculation. The only other wealth group in China having the same influence is the entrepreneurs from Wenzhou, Zhejiang, which is the centre of light industry of China and the world.

Transportation

The transport infrastructure in Shanxi is very developed. There are many important national highways and railways that connect the province with neighboring provinces.^[20]

Demographics

The population is mostly Han Chinese with minorities of Mongol, Manchu, and the Hui.

Source: Department of Population, Social, Science and Technology Statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics of China (国家统计局人口和社会科技统计司) and Department of Economic Development of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission of China (国家民族事务委员会经济发展司), eds. Tabulation on Nationalities of 2000 Population Census of China (《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》). 2 vols. Beijing: Nationalities Publishing House (民族出版社), 2003. ( ISBN 7-105-05425-5)

In 2004, the birth rate was 12.36 births/1,000 population, while the death rate was 6.11 deaths/1,000 population. The sex ratio was 105.5 males/100 females.^[23]

Health

In the 2000s, the province was considered to be one of the most polluted areas in China.^[13] The pollution, caused in part by heavy coal mining, has caused significant public health challenges.^[26]

Culture

The Shanxi Museum located on the west bank of Fen River in downtown Taiyuan.

The Pagoda of Fogong Temple, Ying County, built in 1056.

Tourism

A Pingyao street.

• Jinci, a temple in Taiyuan, dating back to the Zhou Dynasty, noted for its temples, Song Dynasty paintings and architecture.
• Zuoquan County, known for its Chinese Communist Party battlefield sites.
• The Ancient City of Pingyao is a World Heritage Site near Taiyuan. Once a great financial center of China, it is noted for its preservation of many features of northern Han Chinese culture, architecture, and way of life during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
• The Yungang Grottoes, its literal translation being the Cloud Ridge Caves, is a World Heritage Site near Datong. The site consists of 252 shallow caves containing over 50,000 carved statues and reliefs of Buddhas and Boddhisatvas, dating from the 5th and 6th centuries, and ranging from 4 centimeters to 7 meters tall.
• Mount Wutai (Wutai Shan) is the highest point in the province. It is known as the residence of the bodhisattva Manjusri, and as a result is also a major Buddhist pilgrimage destination, with many temples and natural sights. Points of interest include Tang Dynasty (618−907) era timber halls located at Nanchan Temple and Foguang Temple, as well as a giant white stupa at Tayuan Temple built during the Ming Dynasty (1368−1644).
• Mount Hengshan (Heng Shan), in Hunyuan County, is one of the "Five Great Peaks" of China, and is also a major Taoist site. Not far from Heng Shan, the Hanging Temple is located on the side of a cliff and has survived for 1400 years despite earthquakes in the area.
• Pagoda of Fogong Temple, in Ying County, is a pagoda built in 1056 during the Liao Dynasty. It is octagonal with nine levels (five are visible from outside), and at 67 m (220 ft) in height, it is currently the tallest wooden pagoda in the world. It is also the oldest fully wooden pagoda in China, although many no-longer-existing wooden pagodas have preceded it, and many existing stone and brick pagodas predate it by centuries.
• Hukou Waterfall is located in the Yellow River on the Shanxi-Shaanxi border. At 50 meters, it is the second highest waterfall in China.
• Dazhai is a village in Xiyang County. Situated in hilly, difficult terrain, it was revered during the Cultural Revolution as exemplary of the hardiness of the proletariat, especially peasants.
• Niangziguan Township is located in the north-east of Pingding County which is at the junction of Shanxi and Heibei Province. It is an old village noted for the Niangzi Pass.

Education

Major post-secondary institutes in Shanxi include:

• North University of China (中北大学)
• Communication University of Shanxi (山西传媒大学)
• North University of China, Shuozhou (中北大学朔州分校)
• Changzhi Medical College (长治医学院)
• Datong University (山西大同大学)
• Jinzhong College (晋中学院)
• Lüliang Higher College
• Shanxi Agricultural University (山西农业大学)
• Shanxi College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (山西中医学院)
• Shanxi Medical University (山西医科大学)
• Shanxi Teachers University also called Shanxi Normal University (山西师范大学)
• Shanxi University (山西大学)
• Shanxi University of Finance and Economics (山西财经大学)
• Changzhi College (长治学院)
• Taiyuan Normal University (太原师范学院)
• Taiyuan University of Science and Technology (太原科技大学)
• Taiyuan University of Technology (太原理工大学)
• Xinzhou Teachers University (忻州师范学院)
• Yuncheng University (运城学院)

See also

• Major national historical and cultural sites in Shanxi

Notes

References

• Wilkinson, Endymion (2012). Chinese History: A New Manual. Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series 84. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 978-0-674-06715-8.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Shanxi.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Shanxi.

• Official website (in Chinese)
• Economic profile for Shanxi at HKTDC
• Shanxi Community of Canada website (in Chinese)
• "Geographic Surveys by Imperial Order", from 1707-1708, is considered one of the first atlases of the Qing dynasty to document the Shanxi area.