Zhengding County

Coordinates: 38°08′46″N 114°34′16″E / 38.146°N 114.571°E / 38.146; 114.571
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the town and county seat, see Zhengding Town.
Zhengding County
正定县
China Standard)
Websitewww.zd.gov.cn

Zhengding (

Longxing Monastery, where the historical building ensemble has been preserved almost intact. Furthermore, four famous pagodas
, each with its own architectural style, are still standing.

History

Jesuit missionaries
.
The southern gate of Zhengding

Archeological finds indicate that the area of Zhengding County has been settled since the early

Qing Dynasty
, in 1723. In 1949, the county was subordinated to Shijiazhuang Prefecture and in 1986, it came under the jurisdiction of the City of Shijiazhuang.

The current Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary and Chinese president Xi Jinping was in charge of Secretary of the county Party Committee between 1983 and 1985.[3] As a princeling, son of Xi Zhongxun, he was assigned to this rural area on his own request. He is credited with having a Qing dynasty style mansion constructed in the area for the filming of Dream of Red Mansions.[4]

Geography and climate

Zhengding County ranges from 57.6 to 105.2 metres (189 to 345 ft) in elevation. It has a continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. The year-round averages are 13.6 °C (56.5 °F) for the temperature, 62% for the humidity, 474.4 millimetres (18.68 in) for the precipitation, and 2,736 hours for the sunshine time. The frost-free period exceeds 200 days per year.

Climate data for Zhengding (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 17.8
(64.0) 		24.4
(75.9) 		31.7
(89.1) 		35.0
(95.0) 		38.9
(102.0) 		42.4
(108.3) 		42.8
(109.0) 		39.3
(102.7) 		39.1
(102.4) 		33.4
(92.1) 		26.7
(80.1) 		21.2
(70.2) 		42.8
(109.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 3.5
(38.3) 		7.7
(45.9) 		14.8
(58.6) 		22.0
(71.6) 		27.9
(82.2) 		32.5
(90.5) 		32.7
(90.9) 		30.9
(87.6) 		27.2
(81.0) 		20.8
(69.4) 		11.6
(52.9) 		5.0
(41.0) 		19.7
(67.5)
Daily mean °C (°F) −1.5
(29.3) 		2.1
(35.8) 		8.9
(48.0) 		15.9
(60.6) 		22.0
(71.6) 		26.5
(79.7) 		27.8
(82.0) 		26.2
(79.2) 		21.7
(71.1) 		15.1
(59.2) 		6.5
(43.7) 		0.3
(32.5) 		14.3
(57.7)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −5.5
(22.1) 		−2.2
(28.0) 		3.8
(38.8) 		10.5
(50.9) 		16.4
(61.5) 		21.2
(70.2) 		23.6
(74.5) 		22.3
(72.1) 		17.4
(63.3) 		10.6
(51.1) 		2.6
(36.7) 		−3.3
(26.1) 		9.8
(49.6)
Record low °C (°F) −16.3
(2.7) 		−19.8
(−3.6) 		−7.7
(18.1) 		−1.1
(30.0) 		4.9
(40.8) 		10.9
(51.6) 		15.5
(59.9) 		14.1
(57.4) 		5.8
(42.4) 		−3.2
(26.2) 		−9.8
(14.4) 		−21.5
(−6.7) 		−21.5
(−6.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 2.8
(0.11) 		4.9
(0.19) 		9.5
(0.37) 		24.7
(0.97) 		36.8
(1.45) 		62.8
(2.47) 		131.3
(5.17) 		126.6
(4.98) 		53.8
(2.12) 		23.8
(0.94) 		15.7
(0.62) 		3.1
(0.12) 		495.8
(19.51)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 2.1 2.5 2.7 5.0 6.0 8.5 11.9 10.7 7.2 5.3 3.8 2.3 68
Average snowy days 2.4 2.5 1.1 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.3 2.5 10
Average
relative humidity
(%) 		53 50 46 51 54 56 70 74 67 62 61 57 58
Mean monthly sunshine hours 152.8 163.0 211.1 237.8 264.8 232.7 196.4 194.2 194.9 185.0 159.9 146.2 2,338.8
Percent possible sunshine 50 53 57 60 60 53 44 47 53 54 53 50 53
Source: China Meteorological Administration[5][6]

Administrative Divisions

As of 2020, Zhengding County administers 2 subdistricts, 4 towns and 3 townships, which in turn control 174 villages and 186 natural villages.[7]

Subdistrict:

  • Zhufutun (诸福屯街道), Sanlitun (三里屯街道)

Towns:

Townships:

Pagodas

Overview of Pagodas in Zhengding
Name Construction Height Number of storeys Floor plan First built Present form dates from
Chengling Pagoda brick 33 m 9 octagon Eastern Wei dynasty (540)
Jin Dynasty
(1161–1189)
Lingxiao Pagoda wood and brick 41 m 9 octagon
Tang Dynasty
, (762-779) 		Song dynasty (1045)
Xumi Pagoda stone and brick 48 m 13 outside, 2 inside
square
Tang Dynasty
, (636)
Tang Dynasty
Hua Pagoda brick 40 m 4 octagon, circle
Tang Dynasty
Jin Dynasty

Chengling Pagoda

Chengling Pagoda (background) and the Linji Temple (foreground)

The Chengling Pagoda (Chengling Ta) is built from gray bricks, it is also known as the Grey Pagoda. It is located in the Village of Linji to the south of Zhengding and was formerly part of the Linji Temple. The Linji Temple was built during the times of the

Mount Sumeru and has an octagonal cross-section. It has nine multi-eared storeys and a total height of 33 meters. Its pedestal is richly decorated. Because it is seen as one of the birthplaces of Zen
Buddhism, the Chengling Pagoda is favorite site for pilgrims and tourists from Japan.

Lingxiao Pagoda

Main article: Lingxiao Pagoda
Lingxiao Pagoda

The Lingxiao Pagoda, also known as the Wooden Pagoda, is a wood-and-brick construction, which was formerly part of Tianning Monastery, located to the west of Longxing Monastery. It was recorded to have been first built in 860 during the Tang Dynasty, it has undergone many repairs and rebuildings since then. The architectural style of the present-day pagoda was created during the

Song Dynasty in 1045 and was left unchanged during later repairs. The pagoda has an octagonal floor plan, nine storeys, and a total height of 41 meters. The four lowest storeys are made from bricks decorated with wooden eaves. From the fifth storey upwards, the pagoda construction is entirely made of wood, constructed around a central pillar. While storey height continuously decreases from the bottom to the top of the pagoda, this decrease is particularly steep in the five upper wooden storeys. The pagoda carries a cast iron spire at its top as well. It is at the foot of this pagoda, that Dutch bishop Mgr. Frans Schraven (1873-1937) and his companions suffered their martyrdom in 1937, at the hands of the Japanese army, because of their refusal to hand over to the soldiers the Chinese women and girls whom had taken refuge in his compound.[8]

Xumi Pagoda

Main article: Xumi Pagoda
Xumi Pagoda

The Xumi Pagoda, named for the mythical

Tang Dynasty in 636. Apart from a wooden ceiling over the first storey (of which no floorboards remain), the inside of the pagoda is hollow and there is no staircase either. Among the rather plain decorations on the outside are thirteen tiers of eaves as well as stone carvings of the Heavenly Kings at the corners of the stone platform. The pagoda is one of originally four fiducial buildings on the grounds of the Kaiyuan Monastery: Tianwang Hall in the front and Fachuan Hall (now in ruins) in the back, a bell tower (built in 540 during the Eastern Wei
dynasty, renovated in 898 during the Tang Dynasty) in the east and the pagoda in the west. Today, the Monastery is largely destroyed and the Xumi pagoda stands surrounded by trees.

Hua Pagoda

Hua Pagoda

The Hua Pagoda (Hua Ta, lit.: Flower Pagoda, part of Guanghui Temple (

Jin Dynasty
.

Other historical monuments

In June 2000, a gigantic

bixi turtle was unearthed in Zhengding's Fuqian Street (府前街). The stone turtle, which originally must have supported a similarly giant stone tablet, is 8.4 m long, 3.2 m wide, and 2.6 m tall, and weighs 107 tons. It is estimated to be around 1200 years old. It has since been moved to Kaiyuan Temple.[9]

Transportation

Zhengding has several important railway and road connections, namely the Beijing–Guangzhou, Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan, and Shijiazhuang–Dezhou railways (石德铁路), and the Beijing–Hong Kong and Macau and Qingdao–Yinchuan Expressways.

Line 1 of Shijiazhuang Metro have 4 stations in Zhengding County.

Beijing–Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong High-Speed Railway
is nearby.

References

Citations

  1. ISBN 978-1-4422-7616-1
    .
  2. ^ Hung (2011), p. 202.
  3. ^ Miller, Alice, "Who does Xi Jinping Know and How Does He Know Them?," China Leadership Monitor, Spring 2010 http://media.hoover.org/documents/CLM32AM.pdf
  4. ^ Ian Johnson (September 29, 2012). "Elite and Deft, Xi Aimed High Early in China". The New York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  5. ^ 中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  6. ^ 中国气象数据网 (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  7. ^ "2021国家统计局行政区划用代码". National Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  8. ^ https://www.lazaristen.com/images/downloads/genesis-of-the-vincentian-future-in-the-netherlands.pdf, pp. 27-37
  9. ^ 正定开元寺 (Zhengding's Kaiyuan Temple), 2014-12-22

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zhengding.
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