Shuyang County

Shuyang County
沭阳县
County

Location of Shuyang (yellow) in Jiangsu
Coordinates: 34°06′52″N 118°46′08″E / 34.11444°N 118.76889°E / 34.11444; 118.76889Coordinates: 34°06′52″N 118°46′08″E / 34.11444°N 118.76889°E / 34.11444; 118.76889
Country People's Republic of China
Province Jiangsu
Prefecture-level city Suqian
Established 582 BC
Government
 • Type Province Managing County
 • Mayor Hu Jianjun (胡建军)
Area
 • County 2,299 km2 (888 sq mi)
Population (2015) 1,930,000
 • Density 840/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
 • Urban 650,000
 • Metro 650,000
Time zone UTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code 223600
Area code(s) 527
GDP ¥63.01billion (2015)
Major Nationalities Han
Township-level divisions 34
License Plate 苏N
Website www.shuyang.gov.cn
Shuyang County
Traditional Chinese 沭陽
Simplified Chinese 沭阳
Alternative Chinese name
Traditional Chinese

1. 中城
2. 郯
3. 厚邱
4. 陰平
5. 懷文
6. 建陵

7. 潼陽
Simplified Chinese

1. 中城
2. 郯
3. 厚邱
4. 阴平
5. 怀文
6. 建陵

7. 潼阳

Shuyang (simplified Chinese: 沭阳县; traditional Chinese: 沭陽縣; pinyin: Shùyáng Xiàn) is a county in northern Jiangsu province. The county had a population of about 1.83 million, which ranks second among counties in mainland China, next to Linquan county of Anhui, at the 2010 census.[1] Shuyang sits on the Northern Jiangsu Plains and borders the city of Xuzhou, Lianyungang, Huai'an, and Suqian to the north, east, south, and west.

Shuyang is a pilot administrative division for "provinces governing county level units directly" in Jiangsu, along with Kunshan and Taixing.

Etymology

The name of “Shuyang” was first officially used in 549 AD during Eastern Wei.

The two Chinese characters in the county’s name are “沭” and “阳”, together meaning “in the north of Shuhe River”. As the government and commercial center, the county seat was chosen to be constructed in the north of Shuhe River in 549 AD in order to control the land around the river basin.[2]

History

The City Wall in 1803

Prior to its proclamation as Zhou Dynasty in 1111 BC, the area around northern of Jiangsu was inhabited by the Dongyi, an ancient ethnic established numerous city-states. The area around Shuyang belonged to one of Dongyi states called ‘Tan (郯)’.[3]

In the late period of Zhou Dynasty, that is Spring and Autumn period, the State of Lu began to expand its power to the south. Part of the region was officially proclaimed as the territory of the State of Lu in 582 BC after the fortress, ‘Zhongcheng (中城)’, was built on the northwest. This is also the first city in this place in accordance with ‘The Spring and Autumn Annals’ which compiled by Confucius. In the Warring States period, the Chu conquered and controlled the land of this area.

After Qin's wars of unification, the Qin Dynasty was established by Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. ‘Houqiu County (厚丘县)’ was founded for administrating the region and the governments of later dynasties generally follow this pattern.

In 549 AD, the imperial government of Eastern Wei abandoned the old castle and city wall and moved the local government into a new county seat near the north of Shuhe River. In the meantime, the county was changed to the present name, Shuyang County (沭阳县). In later 1400 years, the location of the county seat keep constant.[4]

On the Shuhe Riverside

As the main natural disaster in the northern Jiangsu, rain storms and floods are the principle threat to the county in old days. The castle and city wall of Shuyang was totally destroyed up to the middle of the 15th century. The government rebuilt the city wall until 1512 and was ruined by the floods subsequently. In 1594, the local government started to rebuild a substantial one with a plenty of bricks and stones and finished in 1616.

In early modern period, the life in this region are recognised as peaceful and stable for most of the time. However, the life in modern years was full of challenges and crises. The biggest crisis was the Japanese invasion in 1937. The city wall and many ancient architecture were devastated at the beginning of the war.

Geography

Shuyang is on the North China Plain, approximately 260 kilometers to Nanjing, and 450 kilometers to the center of Shanghai. The county stretches 60 kilometers from east to west, and 55 kilometers from north to south.

Shuyang is located in a low-lying plain with an average elevation of merely 4.5 to 7 meters above sea level. Hanshan Hill is east of the county in Hanshan Town at an elevation of 70 meters above sea level. It is the tallest point of the whole region.

Climate

Shuyang has a distinct four-seasons, monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers, and generally mild, dry winters (Köppen climate classification Cfa).

Winters are generally mild and dry, however, cold northwesterly winds from Mongolia-Siberia can cause temperatures to drop below freezing in the night, although there is an occasional snowfall in winters in recently years. Summers are hot and humid, southeasterly winds during the summer can push temperatures above 35 °C. In midsummer, occasional downpours, or thunderstorms can be expected.

Climate data for Shuyang (1971−2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 4.4
(39.9)		 7.3
(45.1)		 13.8
(56.8)		 19.7
(67.5)		 25.3
(77.5)		 29.3
(84.7)		 29.8
(85.6)		 29.5
(85.1)		 25.5
(77.9)		 21
(70)		 13.2
(55.8)		 7.0
(44.6)		 19.0
(66.2)
Average low °C (°F) −3.7
(25.3)		 −2.2
(28)		 2.5
(36.5)		 9.1
(48.4)		 14.5
(58.1)		 19.5
(67.1)		 23.4
(74.1)		 22.5
(72.5)		 17.0
(62.6)		 11.1
(52)		 4.1
(39.4)		 −2.1
(28.2)		 9.5
(49.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 19.9
(0.783)		 25.4
(1)		 36.5
(1.437)		 58.0
(2.283)		 76.9
(3.028)		 104.1
(4.098)		 239.6
(9.433)		 163.8
(6.449)		 89.8
(3.535)		 42.1
(1.657)		 28.3
(1.114)		 16.8
(0.661)		 901.2
(35.478)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 4.8 5.6 7.3 7.9 9.1 10 15.1 12.1 9.1 7.1 6.0 4.1 98.2
Average relative humidity (%) 69.1 68.5 68.3 68.1 71.2 78.3 85.5 85.4 79.1 74.5 72.5 69.7 74.2
Mean monthly sunshine hours 144.0 149.3 181.0 190.0 210.0 194.0 184.0 201.0 182.0 191.0 164.8 163.0 2,154.1
Source: China Meteorological Administration[5]

Administrative divisions

Subdistricts

The metropolitan area is divided between 6 subdistricts, including Shucheng (沭城街道), Mengxi （梦溪街道）, Nanhu （南湖街道）, Zhangji（章集街道）, Qixiong（七雄街道）, and Shizi（十字街道）.

Towns and Townships

There are 25 towns, 8 townships, and 1 state farm (a special form of township in China) in Shuyang.

Demography

Shuyang is the most populated county in Jiangsu with a population of 1.93 million. It is also considered to be one of the most populated counties in China. Shuyang had a metropolitan population of more than 560,000 refer to 2010 census, making it a midsize city. Major areas of population growth in recent years were in suburbs like Nanhu and Mengxi where now a part of the metropolitan area. In 2015, the urban area will have a population of approximately 800,000. Some 30% of the population of the whole region are residents of the metropolitan area, making Shuyang a thriving city in the north of Jiangsu.

Economy

In the period of Republic of China, the economy in Shuyang had collapsed due to the Japanese invasion and frequent floods. In the 1950s, the economy developed rapidly benefit from the recovery and further development of agriculture and industry in the region. However, Shuyang formed decreasingly important in the economy of the Jiangsu Province from the time of Cultural Revolution. Compared with the cities in the southern part of Jiangsu, the local governments held a conservative and pedantic opinion on the economy. In 1997, the Qiu He Government began its ambitious reformations. The economic portion of the reform mainly focused on the industrialization and privatization and it works. There is a dramatically development in the industrial sector as it attracts a plenty of investment. The economic success makes Shuyang top 100 the most developed counties in China .

Culture

Dialect

There are over 1.7 million people in Shuyang speak a subdialect of Lower Yangtze Mandarin, called Haisi Dialect.[6] Like most of Lower Yangtze Mandarin, Haisi dialect has five tones due to the preservation of the entering tone (rù sheng 入声) of Middle Chinese, more than four toned Standard Chinese which lost the entering tone .[7] The dialect of Haisi has largely lost initial n, replacing it with l, and the retention of entering tone set it apart from other mandarin dialects.

The speaker of the dialect could easily understand other mandarins, not vice versa. As the Standard Chinese (Putonghua) forms increasingly powerful in social life, it has largely impacted on the dialect in words, pronunciation, and grammar.

Religions

Freedom of religion makes people of all religions live in harmony. However, approximately 95% of the population expressed no religious affiliation in accordance with 2010 Census although Shuyang attaches a wide variety of holy turf.

Buddhism

It has been unverified when the Buddhism was firstly introduced to Shuyang. It might be introduced to this region around the 2nd century to the 3rd century by sea. The oldest temple in Shuyang is the Qingliang Temple which was built before 9th century refer to records.

Christianity

In 1921, Presbyterian Church in the United States started their missionary work in Shuyang. The current church was built on 1993 in the north of the urban area. The second church will be opened in 2014.

Intangible Cultural Heritage

National level

Infrastructure

Transport

Road

Expressways

G2 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway

National Highway

China National Highway 205

Railway

The Xinyi-Changxing Railway, a significant transport service provider in Shuyang, connects the city with other places on the national railway network. The railway is the bridge connects the Longhai and Jiaoxins in the north and with the Nanjing-Nantong, Beijing-Shanghai, Xuancheng-Hangzhou Railways in the south. Shuyang Railway Station, near the metropolitan area, is a third class station on the Xinyi-Changxing Railway.

Water transport

The Lianyungang-Suqian Canal connects the Lianyungang Port and the Grand Canal is under construction

Sister Cities

Domestic

References

  1. ↑ http://www.jssb.gov.cn/2011nj/nj20.htm
  2. ↑ （清）唐仲冕修、汪梅鼎等撰，《嘉庆海州直隶州志》，江苏古籍出版社，2008年.
  3. ↑ （民国）戴仁、张景衡、吴鹏等监修，《民国重修沭阳县志》，江苏古籍出版社，2008年.
  4. ↑ （明）郑复亨修、裴天祐校，《隆庆海州志》，江苏古籍出版社，2000年
  5. ↑ 中国地面国际交换站气候标准值月值数据集（1971－2000年） (in Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  6. ↑ 侍建国，“沭阳音系及其历史演变”，《语言研究》，1992（2）.
  7. ↑ John H. McWhorter (2007). Language interrupted: signs of non-native acquisition in standard language grammars (illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 129. ISBN 0-19-530980-4. Retrieved 23 September 2011. For example, many Mandarin dialects have more than four tones. Hangzhou has no fewer than seven, such that it was previously classified as a Wu dialect ( Simmons 1992; Baxter 2000, 106–8). In the Jiang-Huai region five-tone dialects are not uncommon, with six-tone ones reported on the Northern/Central boundary (Norman 1988, 194). These represent a retention of one of the original four tones of Middle Chinese (the rù tone), as distinguished from the more common Mandarin trait of having lost this tone while collapsing the two-way register distinction between the three others into a four-tone contrast not contingent upon register

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