Guanzhong

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the geographic region. For the Qi chancellor, see Guan Zhong.
Guanzhong
Hanyu Pinyin
Guānzhōng
Wade–GilesKuan1-chung1

Guanzhong (

tributaries and thus also called the Wei River Plain. The region is part of the Jin-Shaan Basin Belt, and is separated from its geological sibling — the Yuncheng Basin to its northeast — by the Yellow River section southwest of the Lüliang Mountains and north of the river's bend at the tri-provincial junction among Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan
.

The name Guanzhong means "within the passes", referring to the four major

crownland
established in the Guanzhong region.

Geography

The Guanzhong Plain traditionally includes the central part of modern

Northwest China, is located at the center of the region, mostly south of the Wei River. Other major prefectural cities in the Guanzhong region include (from west to east) Baoji, Xianyang, Tongchuan and Weinan
.

The four major historic fortifications that enclose Guanzhong region are:

Two more passes were later added, namely:

Historically the most important fortress of the above passes was the Hangu Pass, which commanded the

Qin state to defeat numerous anti-Qin alliances formed by its eastern enemy states during the Warring States period
.

Climate

The average annual temperature is around 13 °C (55 °F), and the annual rainfall ranges from 400 to 900 mm (16 to 35 in), averaging around 600 mm. Because some years have low precipitation and evaporation rates are high, the region's natural vegetation is a mix between forests and steppes. Before human settlements converted the plains for agriculture, it was home to a diverse range of wildlife.[1]

History

China during the warring states period. Guanzhong (Qin) is the southeast corner of the rectangle formed by the Yellow and Wei rivers.

The Guanzhong region became the heartland of the

Gugong Danfu relocated his people south from Bin (modern day Binzhou, Shaanxi) to evade the violent raidings by Xunyu, Xianyun and Di nomads. It is from Guanzhong region that the Zhou state prospered and eventually conquered the Shang dynasty to establish the Zhou dynasty
in 1046 BC.

After the

Yanliang District of Xi'an, Shaanxi), and eventually to Xianyang northeast across the Wei River from the ruined old Zhou capital of Fenghao
. Four passes were then built to defend this new heartland against hostile attacks from both the east and the west.

During the

irrigation systems such as Zhengguo Canal, the already fertile Guanzhong region became extremely productive, allowing Qin state to become the preeminent power, repeatedly defeating and seizing more territory from its rivals to the east, and eventually unified China and established the Qin dynasty in 221 BC
.

After

subsequent civil war. After establishing the Han dynasty, Liu Bang created a new capital named Chang'an
, which is just across the Wei River from the ruined Qin capital Xianyang.

Since the Western Zhou dynasty, the area was the capital region of China for a total of 12 dynasties including the Qin,

Western Han, Sui, and Tang. By the Tang dynasty the economic center of China had shifted south to the Yangtze basin and Guanzhong became increasingly dependent on supplies transported via the Grand Canal. After the destruction of Chang'an in the last years of the Tang, Guanzhong became less significant politically as well as economically in later dynasties.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Lander, Brian (2020). "Birds and Beasts Were Many: the Ecology and Climate of The Guanzhong Basin in the Pre-Imperial Period". Early China. 43: 207-245.
  2. ^ 冀朝鼎著，朱詩鰲譯《中國歷史上的基本經濟區與水利事業的發展》(北京: 中國社會科學出版社, 1981) pp. 75-76.

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