Origin of name 山 shān - mountain
东 dōng - east
"east of the Taihang Mountains"
Administration type Province
Capital
(and largest city) Jinan
Area 156,700 km² (20th)
Population (2004)
- Density 91,800,000 (2nd)
586/km² (5th)
GDP (2004)
- per capita CNY 1.55 trillion (2nd)
CNY 16,900 (8th)
HDI (2005) 0.776 (medium) (11th)
Major nationalities Han - 99.3%, Hui - 0.6%
Shandong (Simplified Chinese: 山东; Traditional Chinese: 山東; Pinyin: Shāndōng; Wade-Giles: Shan-tung) is a coastal province of eastern Peoples Republic of China. Its abbreviation is Lu, after the state of Lu that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period.
Shandongs name literally means "mountains east", which refers to the provinces 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 Bay 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..jpg)
History
Shandong is located on the eastern edge of the North China Plain, and felt the influence of Chinese civilization since its very beginnings. 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 to be barbarians. Over subsequent centuries, the Laiyi were eventually sinicized.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, regional states became increasingly powerful. Shandong was at this time home to two powerful states: the state of Qi at Linzi and the state of Lu 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 Huizongs 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.
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.
After the Republic of China was founded in 1911, Qingdao reverted to Chinese control in 1922, Weihai followed in 1930. 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. Shandong was occupied in its entirety by Japan, with resistance in the countryside. 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 Peoples 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 raced ahead in economic development, becoming one of the richest provinces of China.
