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Shanxi

 

Major Cities:

• Taiyuan
• Datong
• Changzhi
• Yangquan

 

Tourism

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, a World Heritage Site in Datong, consist of 252 caves noted for their collection of 5th and 6th century Buddhist grotto sculptures and reliefs.

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.

Mount Hengshan (Heng Shan), in Hunyuan County, is one of the "Five Great Peaks" of China, and is also a major Taoist site.

Pagoda of Fugong 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.

Hukou Waterfall is located in the Yellow River on the Shanxi-Shaanxi border. At 50 meters high it is the second highest waterfall in China.

Dazhai is a village in Xiyang County. Situated in hilly, difficult terrain, it was a holy site during the Cultural Revolution, when it was set out to the entire nation as exemplary of the hardiness of the proletariat, especially peasants.

 

Shanxi cuisine is most well known for its extensive use of vinegar as a condiment and for its noodles.

 

Shanxi Opera (晉劇) is a popular form of Chinese opera in Shanxi. It was popularized during the late Qing Dynasty, with the help of the then-ubiquitous Shanxi merchants who were active across parts of China. Also called Zhonglu Bangzi (中路梆子), it is a type of bangzi opera (梆子), a group of operas generally distinguished by their use of wooden clappers for rhythm and by a more energetic singing style; Shanxi opera is also complemented by quzi (曲子), a blanket term for more melodic styles from further south.

 

Shanxi

Excerpts from Wikipedia.org

Shanxi (山西; Postal map spelling: Shansi) is a province in the northern part of the People's Republic of China. Its one-character abbreviation is Jin (晋), after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period.

The name Shanxi literally means "mountain's west", which refers to the province's location west of the Taihang Mountains. Shanxi borders Hebei to the east, Henan to the south, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the north. The capital of the province is Taiyuan.

 

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 at an altitude of 3058 m. The Great Wall of China forms most of the northern border of Shanxi with Inner Mongolia.

The Huang He (Yellow River) forms the western border of Shanxi with Shaanxi. The Fen and Qin rivers, tributaries of the Huang He, 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. 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.

 

Economy

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

Shanxi possesses 260 billion metric tons of known coal deposits, about one third of China's total. As a result, Shanxi is a leading producer of coal in China, with 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 one third of total Chinese bauxite reserves.

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 Province due to its geographic location and history when it is used to be the 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 Province with China's largest stockpile of nuclear missiles.

Shanxi is infamous 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.

 

Shanxi Culture

People in most regions of Shanxi speak dialects of Jin, a subdivision of spoken Chinese. However, dialects in the southwest, near the border with Henan and Shaanxi, are classified as part of the Zhongyuan Mandarin subdivision of the Mandarin group rather than Jin. In terms of characteristics, Jin dialects are generally distinguished by their retention of the entering tone from Middle Chinese. In this respect they are unique in all of northern China, as most of the surrounding Mandarin dialects (spoken over the remainder of northern China) have lost it. (In central and southern China, it is much more common for the entering tone to be kept.) Jin is also noted for extremely complex tone sandhi systems.

Shanxi merchants (晋商) constituted a historical phenomenon that lasted for centuries from the Song to the Qing Dynasty. Shanxi merchants ranged far and wide from Central Asia to the coast of eastern China; by the Qing Dynasty they were conducting trade across both sides of the Great Wall. During the late Qing Dynasty, a new development occurred: the creation of piaohao (票号), which were essentially banks that provided services like money transfers and transactions, deposits, and loans. After the establishment of the first piaohao in Pingyao, the bankers in Shanxi dominated China's financial market for centuries until the collapse of Qing Dynasty and the coming of British banks.

 

Demographics

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

Ethnic Groups in Shanxi, 2000 Census

Nationality	Population	Percentage
Han Chinese	32,368,083	99.68%
Hui	61,690	0.19%
Manchu	13,665	0.042%
Mongol	9,446	0.029%

 

 

Central Plain of China

Map showing the province of Henan and two definitions of the Central Plain or Zhongyuan (map by Exult)

The Central Plain of China (中原; Zhongyuan) refers to the area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River which formed the cradle of Chinese civilization. It forms part of the North China Plain.

In its narrowest sense, the Central Plain covers modern-day Henan, the southern part of Hebei, the southern part of Shanxi, and the western part of Shandong province. A broader interpretation of the Central Plain's extent would add the Guanzhong plain of Shaanxi, the northwestern part of Jiangsu, and parts of Anhui and northern Hebei.

In the pre-Qin era, present-day Luoyang and its nearby areas were considered the “Center of the World”, as the political seat of the Xia Dynasty was located around Songshan and the Yi-Luo river basin.

Inscriptions on some bronze objects from this era contain references to the 'Central States' (Zhongguo; 中國), 'Eastern States', or 'Southern States'. This indicates that the Central Plain, which was referred as the 'Central States' in these inscriptions, was considered to occupy the center of the world. 

 

 

North China

Northern China or North China (華北; literally "China's north") is a geographical region of China. The heartland of North China is the North China Plain.

It is defined by the Chinese government to include the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei and Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

 

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Hui

The Hui people (回) are a Chinese ethnic group, typically distinguished by their practice of Islam. Hui is the abbreviation of the full name Huihui "回回". They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They are concentrated in Northwestern China (Ningxia, Gansu, Shaanxi, Xinjiang), but communities exist across the country. Most Hui are similar in culture to Han Chinese with the exception that they practice Islam, and have some distinctive cultural characteristics as a result. For example, as Muslims, they follow Islamic dietary laws and reject the consumption of pork, the second most common meat consumed in Chinese culture (chicken being the most), and have also given rise to their variation of Chinese cuisine, Chinese Islamic cuisine and Muslim Chinese martial arts. Their mode of dress also differs only in that adult males wear white caps and females wear headscarves or (occasionally) veils, as is the case in most Islamic cultures.

The definition of Hui after 1949 does not include ethnic groups such as the Uyghur, who live in the Mainland China and practice Islam. The ancestors of some Hui People and all Uyghur people were Uyghurs who built the Uyghur Empire. After the fall of the Uyghur Empire, four groups fled to Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia and two groups fled to Southern Xinjiang who intermarried with local Tocharian people. Only the Uyghur People retain the Turkic language. Prior to 1949, the definition of Hui refered to Chinese Muslim with Turkic ancestry which later extended to non-Turkic Muslim such as Southern Chinese Muslim who were predominantly Malay and Arabic origins. Included among the Hui in Chinese census statistics (and not officially recognized as a separate ethnic group) are several thousand Utsuls in southern Hainan province, who speak an Austronesian language (Tsat) related to that of the Cham Muslim minority of Vietnam, and who are said to be descended from Chams who migrated to Hainan.

The Hui Chinese have diverse origins. Some in the southeast coast are descended from Arab and Persian Muslim traders who settled in China and gradually intermarried and assimilated into the surrounding population keeping only their distinctive religion. A totally different explanation is available for the Mandarin Chinese-speaking Yunnan and Northern Huis, whose ethnogenesis might be a result of the convergence of large number of Mongol, Turkic or other Central Asian settlers in these regions who formed the dominant stratum in the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. However, even Cantonese Muslims, of the southeastern coast, typically resemble northern Asians much more so than their typical Cantonese neighbours.

It was documented that a proportion of these nomad or military ethnic groups were originally Nestorian Christians many of whom later converted to Islam, while under the sinicizing pressures of the Ming and Qing states. In early modern times, villages in Northern Chinese Hui areas still bore labels like "Blue-cap Huihui," "Black-cap Huihui," and "White-cap Huihui," betraying their possible Christian, Judaic and Muslim origins, even though the religious practices among North China Hui by then were by and large Islamic. Hui is also used as a catch-all grouping for Islamic Chinese who are not classified under another ethnic group. A traditional Chinese term for Islam is 回教 (literally "the religion of the Hui"), though the most prevalent is the transliteration 伊斯蘭教 (literally "Islam religion").

Muslim Revolts: During the mid-nineteenth century, a series of civil wars broke out throughout China by various ethnic-lingual groups against the ruling Manchu-Mongol-Han Bannerman and Han Confucians elites. These include the Taiping Rebellion in Southern China ( whose leaders were Evengelical Christians of ethnic Hakka and Zhuang backgroud), the Muslims Rebellion in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia in Northwestern China and Yuannan, and the Miao people Revolt in Hunan and Guizhou. These revolts were supported by European Powers at the beginning but eventually put down by the Manchu government. The Dungan People were descendants of the Muslim rebels who fled to Russia after the rebellion were suppressed by the joint force of Hunan Army led by Zuo Zhongtang with support from local Hui elites.

The Dungan Revolt was a religious war. It also known as the Hui Minorities' War and the Muslim Rebellion. The term is sometimes used to refer to the Panthay Rebellion in Yunnan as well. It was an uprising by members of the Hui and other Muslim ethnic groups in China's Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningxia provinces, as well as in Xinjiang, between 1862 and 1877.

The purpose of this uprising was to develop a Muslim country in the western bank of Yellow River. Some people say it was directed against the Qing Dynasty, but there is no evidence at all showing that they intended to attack the capital of Beijing. The uprising was actively encouraged by the leaders of the Taiping Rebellion. When it failed, it instigated immigration of some of the Dungan people into Imperial Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Before the war, the population of Shaanxi province was about 13 million, at least 1,750,000 of whome were Dungan (Hui). After the war, the population dropped to 7 million; 150,000 fled, left to between 50,000, the rest are died in ten years. Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi province, was the Holy city of Dungan (Hui) in China before the revolt. But once-flourishing Chinese Muslim communities fell 93% in the revolt in Shaanxi province. Between 1648 and 1878, around twelve million Hui and Han Chinese were killed in ten unsuccessful uprisings.

Dungan People: Dungan (東干; Russian: Дунгане) is a term used in territories of the former Soviet Union to refer to a Muslim people of Chinese origin.

Turkic-speaking peoples in Xinjiang Province in China also refer to members of this ethnic group as Dungans. In both China and the former Soviet republics where they reside, however, members of this ethnic group call themselves Hui. In the censuses of Russia and the former Soviet Central Asia, the Hui are enumerated separately from Chinese, and are labelled as Dungans. In the former Soviet Union, a large population of Dungans can be found in Kazakhstan (36,900 according to the 1999 census), Kyrgyzstan (51,766 according to 1999 census), and Uzbekistan. Some also reside in Russia (801 according to 2002 census, mostly in Tatarstan.)

 

 

Manchu

The Manchu people (滿族) are a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (today's Northeastern China). During their rise in the seventeenth century, along with the help of Ming rebels (such as general Wu Sangui), they conquered the Ming Dynasty and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until its abolition in 1912 after the Xinhai Revolution, which established a republican government in its place.

The Manchu ethnicity has largely been assimilated with the Han Chinese. The Manchu language is almost extinct, now spoken only among a small number of elderly people in remote rural areas of northeastern China and a few scholars; there are around ten thousand speakers of Sibe (Xibo), a Manchu dialect spoken in the Ili region of Xinjiang. In recent years, however, there has been a resurgence of interest in Manchu culture among both ethnic Manchus and Han. The number of Chinese today with some Manchu ancestry is quite large, and the adoption of favorable policies towards ethnic minorities (such as preferential university admission, government employment opportunities and exemption from the one child policy) has encouraged some people with mixed Han and Manchu ancestry to re-identify themselves as Manchu.

Northeast China (東北) is a geographical region of China, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang. Some people in parts of Inner Mongolia (like Chifeng) still call themselves Northeasterners. It is generally coterminous with some definitions of the historical region of Manchuria and is commonly referred to in English as such. It is also sometimes referred to as Inner Manchuria in contrast with Outer Manchuria, provinces lost to the Russian Empire, during the Qing Dynasty.

 

 

Mongol

Sükhbaataryn Yanjmaa, a Mongolian politician.

The name Mongol specifies one or several ethnic groups, now mainly located in Mongolia, China, and Russia.

A narrow definition includes the Mongols proper, which can be roughly divided into eastern and western Mongols. In a wider sense, the Mongol people includes all people who speak a Mongolic language, such as the Kalmyks of eastern Europe.

The name "Mongol", appeared first in 8th century records of the Chinese Tang dynasty as a tribe of Shiwei, but then only resurfaced in the 11th century during the rule of the Khitan. After the fall of Liao Dynasty in 1125, the Mongols became a leading steppe tribe. However, their wars with the Jin Dynasty and Tatars weakened them severely. In the 13th century, it grew into an umbrella term for a large group of Mongolic and Turkic tribes united under the rule of Genghis Khan under a same identity (mostly cultural).

Based on Chinese historical texts the ancestry of the Mongol peoples can be traced back to the Donghu, a nomadic confederation occupying eastern Mongolia and Manchuria, who were defeated by Modu Shanyu of the Xiongnu after he became Emperor in 209 B.C. The identity of the Xiongnu is still debated today. Although some scholars maintain that they were proto-Mongols, the fact that Chinese histories trace certain Turkic tribes from the Xiongnu complicates the issue. The Donghu, however, can be much more easily labeled proto-Mongol since the Chinese histories exclusively trace all the subsequent Mongolic tribes and kingdoms (mainly Xianbei peoples) from them, although some historical texts claim a mixed Xiongnu-Donghu ancestry for some tribes (e.g. in the case of the proto-Mongolic Khitan).

Three prominent proto-Mongol groups split from the Xianbei, as recorded by the Chinese histories: the Rouran (claimed by some to be the Avars), the Khitan and the Shiwei (a sub-tribe called the "Shiwei Menggu" is held to be the origin of the Genghisid Mongols). Their culture was basically nomadic, their religion Shamanism or Buddhism and their military strength formidable.

Geographically the Tuoba Xianbei ruled Inner Mongolia and northern China, the Rouran (Yujiulu Shelun was the first to use the title Khagan in 402) ruled Outer Mongolia, the Khitan were concentrated in Southern Manchuria north of Korea and the Shiwei were located to the north of the Khitan.

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* Polymorphism of 17 Y-STR Loci in Shanxi Han Population and Genetic Relationship with 13 Populations by MS Shi, et al.

Abstract: To investigate the genetic polymorphisms of 17 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STR) loci in Shanxi Han population and to explore their forensic application values and genetic relationship with neighboring populations, 17 Y-STR in 222 unrelated healthy Shanxi Han individuals were amplified with Y-filerTM System, and the PCR products were detected with 3130 Genetic Aanalyzer. The allele frequencies and haplotype diversity were calculated. Y-STR data of another 13 populations were collected from publications. Cluster analysis and phylogenic trees were applied to show the genetic distance among the populations. As a result, a total of 219 haplotypes were identified, and the observed haplotypes diversity value was 0.9999. The gene diversity values (GD) for each locus ranged from 0.3894 (DYS391) to 0.9755 (DYS385a/b). Comparing with 13 populations, the genetic distance between Shanxi and Jihei Han populations was the smallest (0.0001), while the genetic distance between Shanxi and Taiwan population was the largest (0.0152). The phylogenetic tree was similar to the results of clustering analysis. Multiplex detection of the 17 Y-STR loci revealed a highly polymorphic genetic distribution, which would be very powerful for establishing a Y-STR database, for population genetics and forensic practice.

14 个群体NJ 系统发生树

 

14 个群体聚类分析图

 

 

* Genetic Distances Between Chinese Populations Ccalculated on Gene Frequencies of 38 Loci by DU Ruofu, et al.

Phylogenic Tree of Han Subpopulations in 30 Provinces, Cities and Autonomous Regions

(Heilongiang, Jilin, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan)

 

 

* Genetic Polymorphisms of 15 STR Loci in Chinese Han Population Living in Xi'an City of Shaanxi Province by Wu YM, et al.

Abstract: Fifteen autosomal STRs loci were analyzed from a population sample of 446 unrelated healthy individuals of Chinese Han population residing in Xi'an city of Shaanxi Province using a multiplex PCR system. We report allele frequencies distribution and statistical parameters for all STR loci, D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA. The observed genotype frequencies and expected of genotype frequencies were evaluated by chi(2)-test and the Fisher exact tests. Chi-Square test showed all STR loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p<0.05). Our studied population data were compared with the previously published population data of other ethnics or areas. After comparing, significant differences were found between Chinese Han population in Xi'an and Korean, Tibetan, Uigur, Chinese Han population in Guangdong Province, Hui population, Chinese Salar, Dongxiang and Tu ethnic minority living in Qinghai Province of China at some loci. The forensic parameters from the data showed high values. The data in the present study can be used greatly for routine forensic application in the region of Xi'an city.

 

 

* Distributions of HLA Class I Alleles and Haplotypes in Northern Han Chinese by W. Hong, et al.

Abstract: Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I allelic genotypes were determined in 105 unrelated Han ethnic individuals inhabiting the northern China area. A total of 19 HLA-A alleles, 49 HLA-B alleles and 24 HLA-Cw alleles were detected. Through the analyses of two and three loci haplotypes of HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C loci, 11 HLA-A-B-Cw haplotypes, 19 HLA-A-B haplotypes, 18 HLA-A-Cw haplotypes, and 24 HLA-B-Cw haplotypes with the frequencies of higher than 0.01 were revealed. The Nei's genetic distance (GD) was estimated, and the NJ dendrogram showed that Northern Han had a higher GD to Southern Han (0.233) than those to the Korean (0.138) or other Northern ethnic groups, suggesting that Northern Han had more mixed blood with the ethnic groups originally in Northeast Asia. Our results provide useful information on the further study of evolution and relationships of Chinese ethnic groups and disease association in terms of HLA class I genes.

 

 

* Genetic Relationships among Japanese, Northern Han, Hui, Uygur, Kazakh, Greek, Saudi Arabian, and Italian Populations Based on Allelic Frequencies at Four VNTR (D1S80, D4S43, COL2A1, D17S5) and One STR (ACTBP2) Loci by Yoshihiko Katsuyamaa, et al.

Dendrogram Constructed by the Neighbor-joining Method

 

 

* Genetic Analyses on Mitochondrial DNA from Tuoba Xianbei by 周慧

Excerpt: Concerning the distribution of sharing sequences, Tuoba Xianbei sequences matched with the sequences distributed in Siberian (Northern Asia) and Northeast Asian populations, especially the populations of Oroqen, Ewenki and northern Mongolian, next in East Asian populations, including Northern Han, Korean and Japanese populations, which supported the conclusions obtained in skull study of Tuoba Xianbei. Population comparison indicated that Tuoba Xianbei presented a closer genetic affinity to Xiongnu among ancient populations, however the conclusion that Tuoba Xianbeis were the descendants of “Xianbei father and Hu mother”was not obtained. Tuoba Xianbei presented some similarities to Xiongnu in genetic diversity and genetic distance, but there were obvious differences in nucleotide diversity and haplogroup distribution frequencies between Tuoba Xianbei and Xiongnu....

The data information from Tuoba Xianbei mtDNA held the key to study the origin, evolution, and trace their gene contributions to modern relevant populations, and further understand the formation of pluralism and integration of the Chinese Nation.

 

 

* HLA Class I Polymorphism in Mongolian and Hui Ethnic Groups from Northern China by W. Hong, et al.

Abstract: HLA-A, -B, and -C alleles were genotyped by sequencing-based typing (SBT) in 102 unrelated ethnic Mongolian individuals living in Inner Mongolia and 110 Hui individuals inhabiting the Qihai plateau in Northern China. In all, 28 HLA-A, 49 HLA-B, and 27 HLA-C alleles in Mongolians and 29 HLA-A, 41 HLA-B, and 27 HLA-C alleles in Hui were detected in this study. A*24G1, A*110101/1121N and A*02G1 are the three most frequent HLA-A alleles both in Mongolians and Hui. At the HLA-B locus, only B*51G1 was found with a frequency of more than 10% in Hui. Cw*070201G1 is the most common HLA-C allele both in Mongolian and Hui. The most frequent HLA-A:C:B, HLA-A:C, and HLA-C:B haplotypes are A*330301-Cw*030201/030202-B*5801, A*330301-Cw*030201/030202, and Cw*030201/030202-B*5801 in Mongolian and A*0207/0215N-Cw*010201/010202-B*4601, A*02G1-Cw*070201G1, and Cw*010201/010202-B*4601 in Hui, respectively. The genetic distance (GD) estimated according to HLA-A, -B, and -C allele frequency indicates that Mongolian and Hui have the closest relationship, and both are closer to Northern Han rather than Southern Han, suggesting that the two ethnicities might have been subjected to intensive gene exchange with Northern Han in history. The dendrogram based on the GD measurements further demonstrates that Mongolian and Hui cluster as a branch with Northern Han Chinese and Northeast Asians. Our results may lead to better understanding of the origins and relationships of Chinese ethnic groups and provide the genetic background for disease association studies.

 

 

* Global Analysis of DNA Maps Human Migration: Studies detail how people left Africa and populated the world by Karen Kaplan

Excerpt: In the Far East, population geneticists had previously surmised that northern and southern Han Chinese were distinct populations and that the Japanese islands were populated by northern Han. "Now we have direct evidence that that's true," Li said.

 

* A Spatial Analysis of Genetic Structure of Human Populations in China Reveals Distinct Difference Between Maternal and Paternal Lineages by Fuzhong Xue, et al.

Abstract: Analyses of archeological, anatomical, linguistic, and genetic data suggested consistently the presence of a significant boundary between the populations of north and south in China. However, the exact location and the strength of this boundary have remained controversial. In this study, we systematically explored the spatial genetic structure and the boundary of north–south division of human populations using mtDNA data in 91 populations and Y-chromosome data in 143 populations. Our results highlight a distinct difference between spatial genetic structures of maternal and paternal lineages. A substantial genetic differentiation between northern and southern populations is the characteristic of maternal structure, with a significant uninterrupted genetic boundary extending approximately along the Huai River and Qin Mountains north to Yangtze River. On the paternal side, however, no obvious genetic differentiation between northern and southern populations is revealed.

 

 

* Genomic Dissection of Population Substructure of Han Chinese and Its Implication in Association Studies by Shuhua Xu, et al.

Abstract: To date, most genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and studies of fine-scale population structure have been conducted primarily on Europeans. Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in the world, composing 20% of the entire global human population, is largely underrepresented in such studies. A well-recognized challenge is the fact that population structure can cause spurious associations in GWAS. In this study, we examined population substructures in a diverse set of over 1700 Han Chinese samples collected from 26 regions across China, each genotyped at 160K single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Our results showed that the Han Chinese population is intricately substructured, with the main observed clusters corresponding roughly to northern Han, central Han, and southern Han. However, simulated case-control studies showed that genetic differentiation among these clusters, although very small (FST = 0.0002 0.0009), is sufficient to lead to an inflated rate of false-positive results even when the sample size is moderate. The top two SNPs with the greatest frequency differences between the northern Han and southern Han clusters (FST > 0.06) were found in the FADS2 gene, which associates with the fatty acid composition in phospholipids, and in the HLA complex P5 gene (HCP5), which associates with HIV infection, psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) showed that most differentiated genes among clusters are involved in cardiac arteriopathy (p < 10−101). These signals indicating significant differences among Han Chinese subpopulations should be carefully explained in case they are also detected in association studies, especially when sample sources are diverse.

 

 

* Polymorphism of HLA-A,-B and DRB1 in Han Population of Shanxi Province by T. Lan, et al.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the polymorphism of HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 genes in Han population in Shanxi of China. METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP) technique was used to identify the polymorphism of HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 genes of 7440 healthy and unrelated individuals of Han population in Shanxi, and the gene frequency distribution of HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 genes in population was compared with the results from other populations. RESULTS: Eighteen HLA-A, forty HLA-B and thirteen HLA-DRB1 alleles were found. The frequencies of A*02, A*24, A*11, A*01, A*03, B*13, B*51, B*15, B*40, B*35, DRB1*15, DR*09, DR*12, DR*04, DR*07 alleles in Hans of Shanxi were significantly higher and displayed distinctive distribution profiles when compared with those of Caucasian and Afro-American. CONCLUSION: The HLA-A,-B,-DRB1 distribution in Shanxi Han population shares some genetic characteristics with other Han populations in northern part of China, but it exhibits its own characteristics.

 

 

* Polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 in Han Population in Yunnan and Comparison with 9 Han Populations by SB Xu, et al.

Abstract: 129 samples of Han population in Yunnan province were detected by polymerase chain reaction and microtitre plate hybridization (PCR-MPH). The samples of DR*15 subgroup being detected by PCR-MPH were further analyzed by Single-Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP). By first polymerase chain reaction and microtitre plate hybridization (PCR-MPH), all of the 129 samples were divided into the following subgroups, viz. DR*01, DR*03 ,DR*04, DR*0701, DR*08, DR*09012, DR*1001, DR*11, DR*12, DR*13, DR*14, DR*15, DR*1602 and DR*1604. The samples of DR*04, DR*08/12, DR*03/11/13/14 were further detected by second PCR-MPH and the ones of DR*15 by SSCP. 36 kinds of alleles on HLA-DRB1 were detected in these samples. Among them, DRB1*1501(0.1240), DRB1*09012(0.0969), DRB1*08032(0.0930), DRB1*1202(0.0891), DRB1*1201(0.0814), DRB1 *1401(0.0775), DRB1 *0701(0.0620),are the most frequent. The chi(2) test of HLA-DRB1 alleles was done between Yunnan Han and the other 9 Han populations. In detail, comparing with Yunnan Han on the chi(2) test, the chi(2) values of few alleles in the few Han populations was more than 10, they were Xian Han (DR8,chi(2)=13.9712), Shanghai Han (DR4,chi(2)=10.1632), Guangdong Han (DR9,chi(2)=12.6121) and Nanjing Han (DR4,chi(2)=10.5796). Comparing with 9 Han populations, the genetic distance between Yunnan Han and Liaoning Han was the nearest 0.0541), Guangdong Han was the farthest (0.1851). In the 9 Han populations, the genetic distance between Shanghai Han and Nanjing Han was the nearest (0.0122), and the one between Tianjin Han and Shanxi Han was also nearer (0.0219). Based on above analysis, the conclusion may be deduced that the resource of Yunnan Han may be close to Liaoning Han and it was not a typical southern Han population though Yunnan Han are resident in the South. Some gene flow may be exit between Yunnan Han and the local minorities and made Yunnan Han become a special population.

 

 

* Genetic Polymorphisms at HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 Loci in Han Population of Xi’an City in China by Chunmei Shen, et al.

Dendrogram Constructed by the Neighbor-joining Method Showing the Relationship Between Han Population with Other 15 Populations Based on the Allele Arequencies of HLA-DRB1 Locus

 

 

* The ADH1B Arg47His Polymorphism in East Asian Populations and Expansion of Rice Domestication in History by Yi Peng, et al.

The Distribution of the ADH1B*47His Allele and the Sites of Early Rice Relics

 

The Distribution of the ADH1B*47His Allele in the 38 East Asian Populations

 

 

* ADH1B Arg47His Polymorphism Is Associated with Esophageal Cancer Risk in High-Incidence Asian Population: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis by Guohong Zhang, et al.

Excerpt: Some alleles that increase the risk of complex diseases like cancers, are ancestral. Both historical records of migration and genetic fingerprints of East Asians and ancient population in Central China suggested there were some common ancestries in populations along the ‘‘Asian esophageal cancer belt’’. The ADH1B*47His allele is highly prevalent in Asian populations, particularly in northeast Asians (i.e., Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans). It was proposed the ADH1B*47His allele may serve better as an ancestral marker for understanding expansions and migrations of ancient Central China populations, and is related to disease susceptibility and natural selection as well. Except for in East Asia, a high frequency of the ADH1B*47His allele is also found in West Asian countries such as Iran and Turkey, where high-incidence regions of ESCC exist, too. Such a worldwide double-peak pattern of frequency distribution of the ADH1B* 47His allele was argued to be the result of independent increase of the derived allele in both western and eastern Asia after humans had spread across Eurasia. Based on these facts and findings, we propose that ADH1B*47Arg is a risk factor for ESCC in Asian populations that stems from recent common ancestralness of them.

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History of Shanxi

Shanxi was the territory of state of Jin during the Spring and Autumn Period (722 BC - 403 BC), which underwent a three-way split into the states of Han, Zhao and Wei in 403 BC, the traditional date taken as the start of the Warring States Period (403 BC - 221 BC). By 221 BC all of these states had fallen to the state of Qin, which established the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC).

The Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) ruled Shanxi as the province (zhou) of Bingzhou (幷州). During the invasion of northern nomads during the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304 - 439), what is now Shanxi was controlled contiguously by several regimes, including Later Zhao, Former Yan, Former Qin, and Later Yan. 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, Shanxi Province. Modern Chinese people are called Tang Ren globally due to the power and impact of the Tang Dynasty in history. During the Tang Dynasty and after, the area was called Hédōng (河東), or "east of the (Yellow) river".

During the first part of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907 - 960), Shanxi supplied three of the Five Dynasties, as well as the only one of the Ten Kingdoms to be 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 Dynasty (907 - 923) to establish the second, Later Tang Dynasty (923 - 936). Another jiedushi of Hedong, Shi Jingtang, overthrew Later Tang to establish the third of the Five Dynasties, Later Jin Dynasty, and yet another jiedushi of Hedong, Liu Zhiyuan, established the fourth of the Five Dynasties (Later Han Dynasty) after the Khitans destroyed Later Jin, the third. Finally, when the fifth of the Five Dynasties (Later Zhou Dynasty) 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 Dynasty, the third of the Five Dynasties, ceded a large slice 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 lies to the south of the Great Wall.

During the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1127), the sixteen ceded prefectures continued to be an area of contention between Song China and the Liao Dynasty. The Southern Song Dynasty that came after abandoned all of North China to the Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) in 1127, including Shanxi.

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 in the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644). During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), Shanxi extended northwards 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.

During most of the Republic of China's period of rule over mainland China (1912-1949), Shanxi was held by warlord Yen Hsi-shan, regardless of the frequent political upheavals that shook the rest of China. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan occupied much of the province after defeating China in 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.

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. Yen had incorporated thousands of former Japanese soldiers among his own forces, and these soldiers became part of his failed defense of Taiyuan against the People's Liberation Army in early 1949.

For centuries Shanxi was the center of trade and banking, and the term "Shanxi Merchant" (晉商) was once synonymous with wealth. The well-preserved city of Pingyao in Shanxi also shows many signs of its former dominance as a center of trade and banking. Due to Shanxi's geographic location in the Great China and its natural environment, Shanxi was the richest province in Zhongyuan or Center China. In the Qing Dynasty, Pingyao was the centre of Chinese banking industry, a county in contemporary time famous for its UNESCO ancient city walls and ancient China's Wall Street for its financial importance in history. In modern times, the mining of coal is important in Shanxi's economy, but has also been the subject of severe criticism due to its deplorable conditions. Since 2004 the province has been plagued with labour safety issues, including a slave labour scandal involving children, causing significant civil unrest and national embarrassment.

 

 

Jin State

晉國

The State of Jin (晉國), formerly known as Tang (唐), was one of the states during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period, based in Shanxi, China. Jin was founded when King Cheng of Zhou gave the land called Tang to his younger brother, Tang Shuyu. In 403 BC, King Weilie of Zhou acknowledged Han Qian, Zhao Ji, Wei Si as marquis of Han, Zhao and Wei respectively, therefore Jin was split into three states: Han, Zhao and Wei. The Partition of Jin was the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period.

Jin founded a new city north of the capital at Quwo (曲沃) in 746 BC. Jin had multiple capitals. The initial capital of Jin was Tang (唐); the remains of Tang are at modern Qucun (曲村). The capital was later moved to E (鄂), then Jiang (絳), then Xintian (新田). The remains of Xintian are at modern Houma.

Early History: During the early years of the Zhou Dynasty, King Cheng of Zhou gave the land called Tang (唐), west of modern Yicheng County in Shanxi, to his younger brother, Tang Shuyu (唐叔虞). Therefore, Tang Shuyu became the ruler of the State of Tang with a rank of a marquis. His son and next successor, Marquis Xie of Jin (晉侯燮), changed the name of Tang to Jin.

During the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Marquis Wen of Jin (晉文侯), the eleventh marquis of Jin, supported King Ping of Zhou while establishing the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and moving the capital from Haojing to Luoyi. Marquis Wen of Jin also killed King Xie of Zhou (周攜王), someone who was put into throne by a Zhou official and opposed the rule of King Ping of Zhou. All these helped in the foundation of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, therefore Marquis Wen of Jin was heavily rewarded by King Ping of Zhou.

Splitting of Jin: In the early years of the Spring and Autumn Period, civil battles were fought between the royal Jin family and nobles seeking the throne. When Marquis Zhao of Jin (晉昭侯) ascended the throne in 745 BC, he gave the land of Quwo (曲沃), modern Quwo County in Shanxi, to his uncle named Ji Chengshi (姬成師). This is considered as when Jin split into two, the two being Jin and Quwo. Ji Chengshi was then called Uncle Huan of Quwo (曲沃桓叔) since he was the uncle of Marquis Zhao of Jin.

In 739 BC, the seventh year of the reign of Marquis Zhao of Jin, a Jin official named Panfu (潘父) murdered him, and welcomed Uncle Huan of Quwo to ascended the throne of Jin. He accepted Panfu's welcome and entered Jin. When he entered, the Jin people brought troops to stop him from entering. He lost and receded back to Quwo. Then, the Jin people asked the son of Marquis Zhao of Jin to ascend the throne and he became the next marquis: Marquis Xiao of Jin (晉孝侯).

In 678 BC, the 28th year of the reign of Marquis Min of Jin (晉侯緡), Duke Wu of Quwo (曲沃武公), the third ruler of Quwo, attacked Jin and killed Marquis Min. Then, Duke Wu offered gifts to King Xi of Zhou (周釐王), who in turn made Duke Wu the next ruler of Jin and gave him the title of Duke Wu of Jin (晉武公).

The Rise of Jin: After Duke Wu of Jin ascended the throne, Jin rose in power. In 676 BC, Duke Xian of Jin (晉獻公) ascended the throne. In 672 BC, he attacked the Lirong tribe (驪戎) and obtained two women from the tribe: Li Ji (驪姬) and her younger sister, Shao Ji (少姬). Both women were favored greatly by Duke Xian of Jin. He also vastly expanded the territory of Jin, conquering small states like Geng(耿), Huo (霍),old Wei (魏),Yu (虞) and Guo (虢).

During the early years of the Spring and Autumn Period, Uncle Huan of Quwo continuously tried to expand his own power, therefore Quwo annexed Jin in the end. Duke Xian of Jin applied this event in history by slaughtering the royal family members of Jin having the same surname as the duke and some he sent to exile, resulting in a situation wherein the clan of the duke having no control over the politics of Jin.

Afterwards Jin suffered a small civil disorder due to the Li Ji Rebellion. In 636 BC, Duke Wen of Jin (晉文公) ascended the throne of Jin and rose to hegemony, therefore becoming one of the Five Hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period. In the Battle of Chengpu in 632 BC, probably the greatest battles during the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin confirmed its hegemony over the states of the Spring and Autumn Period by defeating Chu, therefore stopping Chu from rising to hegemony. After hearing of Jin's victory, King Xiang of Zhou (周襄王) met him in Jitu (踐土), southwest of modern Yuanyang County in Henan, as he was going back to Jin after the Battle of Chengpu. King Xiang of Zhou then granted him the title of a hegemon.

Duke Wen of Jin advocated the strategy coined by the first hegemon of the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Huan of Qi - "Uphold the King, repel the barbarians" (尊王攘夷), with the king being the King of Zhou. He was also famous for his chivalry - after a massive war with his erstwhile ally and friend, the King of Qin, he ordered relations between the two kingdoms to return to normal, and constructed monuments honouring both the sacrifice of the Jin and Qin troops. The Chinese proverb "The Friendship of Qin and Jin", meaning an unbreakable bond, originates from this period.

States like Qin and Qi had no sufficient strength in fighting with Jin for the power of hegemony and only the state of Chu had the strength to fight for it. So continuous victories and defeats on Jin and Chu resulted in an exchanging hold over the power of hegemony in the Central Plains of China.

Decline and Fall: In 607 BC, Zhao Dun (趙盾) ordered his nephew, Zhao Chuan (趙穿), to kill Duke Ling of Jin and invited Prince Heitun to ascended the throne of Jin and he became Duke Cheng of Jin. This the the beginning of the gradual increase of the power of the court officials of Jin and gradual decrease of the power of the dukes of Jin.

Duke Li of Jin, the grandson of Duke Cheng of Jin, made an attempt to increase his power over the state by using the conflicts between officials to annihilate clans of officials that control power over Jin. In 573 BC, he was finally killed himself by the Luan clan (欒氏) and the Zhonghang clan (中行氏). During the time of Duke Dao of Jin, there was an increase in the power of the duke but he failed to return the power of Jin to the dukes. After the reign of Duke Zhao of Jin, the state of Jin was controlled by six clans: Han clan (韓氏), Zhao clan (趙氏), Wei clan (魏氏), Fan clan (范氏), Zhonghang clan (中行氏) and the Zhi clan (智氏). From then on, the power of Jin never returned to the duke of Jin, the duke themselves serving only as a figurehead.

The clans themselves began to battle for power. During the time of Duke Ding of Jin, the Fan and Zhonghang clan were annihilated. In 453 BC, the 24th year of the reign of Duke Chu of Jin, the Han, Zhao and Wei clan united and annihilated the Zhi clan and divided the clan's land to themselves. During this time, the three clans left have already divided the land of Jin into three. In 434 BC, Duke Ai of Jin died and Duke You of Jin ascended the throne. Han, Zhao and Wei have already divided the remainder of the land of Jin, leaving the lands of Jiang, modern Jiang County in Shanxi, and Quwo, to Duke You of Jin. From then on, the three clans were known as the "Three Jins" (三晉).

In 403 BC, the 13th year of the reign of Duke Lie of Jin, King Weilie of Zhou acknowledged Han Qian, Zhao Ji, Wei Si as marquis of Han, Zhao and Wei respectively, therefore, in an act known as the Partition of Jin, the Jin state was split into three states: Han, Zhao and Wei. In 349 BC, the second year of the reign of Duke Jing of Jin, Zhao and Wei killed Duke Jing of Jin and divided his land, therefore ending more than 700 years of Jin reign.

 

 

Taiyuan

Taiyuan (太原; lit. "Great Plains") is the capital of Shanxi province, China.

Pre-1911 History: Taiyuan was an ancient capital, constructed by Zhaojianzi (趙簡子) in ca. 500 BC, named Jinyang (晉陽). It was renamed Taiyuan in the Qin Dynasty. Several Emperors came from this city, the most famous emperor is Li Shimin and his father Li Yuan, Emperor Gaozu, during the Tang Dynasty. Many ancient Chinese poets were also from Taiyuan. During the Tang Dynasty, Taiyuan was a secondary capital of China and a cultural center. The oldest existing building in the city is the Temple of Goddess (聖母殿) inside the Jin Ci Complex; it was originally built in 1023 AD and reconstructed in AD 1102. The city had been deliberately flooded several times in 453 BC, AD 969, and was also destroyed by war in AD 1125.

The city was originally the site of Jinyang, a strategic center for the ancient state of Zhao. After the Qin conquest of Zhao in 221 BC, it became the seat of the commandery (district under the control of a commander) of Taiyuan, which continued during the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) and after. In the Later Han period, it became the capital of the province (zhou) of Bing.

For a time in the 6th century, the city was a secondary capital of Eastern Wei and Northern Qi states, growing into a fairly large city and also becoming a center of Buddhism. A new city was built in AD 562, which was later linked to the old city during the Tang Dynasty in AD 733. From that time until the middle of the Tang dynasty (618–907), the construction of the cave temples at Tianlong Mountain just southwest of the city, continued. The dynastic founder of the Tang began his conquest of the empire with Taiyuan as a base and using the support of its local aristocracy. It was periodically designated as the Tang's northern capital and grew into a heavily fortified military base.

The old city was at Taiyuanzhen, a few miles east of the modern city. After the Song conquest in 960, Emperor Taizong of Song ordered to destroy it, and a new city was set up on the banks of the Fen River in 982. The city became a superior prefecture in 1059 and administrative capital of Hedong (northern Shanxi) in 1107. It retained this function, with various changes in its name and status, down to the end of the Mongol period (1368). At the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), it was renamed Taiyuan Fu (府, fu, meaning "chief town") and retained this name until 1912. During Ming Dynasty, the city wall was reconstructed in AD 1568. Under the Ming dynasty and in the Qing period (1644–1911), it was capital of Shanxi. Under the republic (established in 1911), its name was changed to Yangqu, a name it retained until 1947.

In 1900, during the Boxer Rebellion, seventy-seven unarmed Western missionaries were executed in front of the provincial governor. This incident became known as the Taiyuan Massacre.

In 1907 the importance of Taiyuan was increased by the construction of a rail link to Shijiazhuang, in Hebei, on the Beijing to Wuhan trunk line. Soon thereafter Taiyuan suffered a serious economic crisis. In the 19th century the merchants and local banks of Shanxi had been of national importance, but the r

ise of modern banks led to the rapid decline of this system — with disastrous effects upon Shanxi and its capital.

 

 

* Evidence of Ancient DNA Reveals the First European Lineage in Iron Age Central China by C.Z Xie, et al.

Abstract: Various studies on ancient DNA have attempted to reconstruct population movement in Asia, with much interest focused on determining the arrival of European lineages in ancient East Asia. Here, we discuss our analysis of the mitochondrial DNA of human remains excavated from the Yu Hong tomb in Taiyuan, China, dated 1400 years ago. The burial style of this tomb is characteristic of Central Asia at that time. Our analysis shows that Yu Hong belonged to the haplogroup U5, one of the oldest western Eurasian-specific haplogroups, while his wife can be classified as haplogroup G, the type prevalent in East Asia. Our findings show that this man with European lineage arrived in Taiyuan approximately 1400 years ago, and most probably married a local woman. Haplogroup U5 was the first west Eurasian-specific lineage to be found in the central part of ancient China, and Taiyuan may be the easternmost location of the discovered remains of European lineage in ancient China.

 

 

Pingyao

Pingyao (平遥) is a Chinese city and county in central Shanxi province, China. It lies about 715 km from Beijing and 80 km from the provincial capital, Taiyuan. During the Qing Dynasty, Pingyao was a financial center of China. It is now renowned for its well-preserved ancient city wall, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Historical Importance: Pingyao still retains its city layout from the Ming and Qing dynasties, conforming to a typical bagua pattern. More than 300 sites in or near the city have ancient ruins. Preserved Ming- and Qing-style residences number close to 4,000. The streets and storefronts still largely retain their historical appearance.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, the county belonged to the kingdom of Jin. It was part of the kingdom of Zhao in the Warring States Period. In the Qin Dynasty, it was known as Pingtao. During the Han Dynasty, it was known as Zhongdu county. In 1986, the People's Republic of China designated Pingyao as one of the Chinese Historic and Cultural Cities. It became a World Heritage Site in 1997, included also the outlying Zhenguo Temple and Shuanglin Temple.

City Walls: The city walls of Pingyao were constructed in the 3rd year of the Hongwu Emperor (1370). The walls have six barbican gates. The north and south sides have one gate each. The east and west sides have two gates each. This pattern is similar to that of a turtle (the head, tail, and four legs), earning Pingyao the moniker "Turtle City." The walls measure about 12 meters high, with a perimeter of 6,000 meters. A 4-meter wide, 4-meter deep moat can be found just outside the walls. Aside from the four structured towers at the four corners, there are also 72 watchtowers and more than 3,000 battlements. In 2004, part of the southern walls collapsed but were reconstructed. However, the rest of the city walls are still largely intact and are considered among the best-preserved ancient city walls on this scale. This makes the city walls the centerpiece of the Heritage Site.

Finance: Pingyao was the financial center of China in the late Qing Dynasty. During those times, there were as many as 20 financial institutions within the city, comprising more than half of total in the whole country. Among these is "Rishengchang," considered the first bank in China.

Geography and Economy: Pingyao is located on the eastern banks of the Fen River, and is in the southwestern edge of the Taiyuan basin. It is adjacent to another Chinese Historic and Cultural City Qi County. Pingyao's economy is largely agricultural and the region is famed for its beef. Other products from the region include grains, cotton, and lacquerware.

Miscellaneous: The 1992 movie Raise the Red Lantern was shot in the Qiao's Compound at about 30 km from Pingyao.

 

 

Yellow River

The Yellow River or Huang He / Hwang Ho (黃河; Mongolian: Hatan Gol, Queen river) is the second-longest river in China (after the Yangtze River) and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of 5,464 kilometers (3,395 mi). Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through through Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and empties into the Bohai Sea. The mouth of the Yellow River is located at Dongying, Shandong.

The provinces of Hebei and Henan derive their names from the Huang He. Their names mean respectively "north of the (Yellow) River" and "south of the (Yellow) River".

Major cities located along the Yellow River include, starting from the source, Lanzhou, Wuhai, Baotou, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, and Jinan.

The Yellow River is called "the cradle of Chinese civilization", as its basin is the birthplace of the northern Chinese civilizations and was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history. But frequent devastating flooding largely due to the elevated river bed in its lower course, has also earned it the unenviable name "China's Sorrow".

Early Chinese literature refers to the Yellow River simply as He (河), the word that has come to mean simply "river" in modern language. The first appearance of the name "Yellow River" (黃河) is in the Book of Han (漢書) written in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 9). The name "Yellow River" describes the perennial ochre-yellow colour of the muddy water in the lower course of the river. The yellow color comes from loess suspended in the water.

Sometimes the Yellow River is poetically called the "Muddy Flow" (濁流). The Chinese idiom "when the Yellow River flows clear" is used to refer to an event that will never happen and is similar to the English expression "when pigs fly".

In Qinghai, its Tibetan name is "river of the peacock"

 

 

Loess Plateau

The Loess Plateau (黃土高原), also known as the Huangtu Plateau, is a plateau that covers an area of some 640,000 km² in the upper and middle of China's Yellow River and China proper . Loess is the name for the silty sediment that has been deposited by wind storms on the plateau over the ages. Loess is a highly erosion-prone soil that is susceptible to the forces of wind and water; in fact, the soil of this region has been called the "most highly erodible soil on earth". The Loess Plateau and its dusty soil cover almost all of Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces, the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and parts of others.

History of the Loess Plateau: In ancient times, some of the earliest recorded mention of this area is from travel along the Northern Silk Road. In the last part of the first millennium BC, after the explorer Zhang Qian's return to China, the Han Dynasty pushed the Xiongnu back and trade and cultural exchange flourished along the Northern Silk Road through the southern Loess Plateau. Goods moving by caravan to the west included gold, rubies, jade, textiles, coral, ivory and art works. In the opposite direction moved bronze weapons, furs, ceramics and cinnamon bark.

Historically the Loess Plateau has provided simple yet insulated shelter from the cold winter and hot summer in the region, as homes called yaodong (窰洞) were often carved into the loess soil; in medieval times of china people stayed here to grow rice; some families still live in this kind of shelter in modern times. During the Shaanxi Earthquake, nearly a million people were killed as a result of collapsing loess caves. The yaodongs that are best-known to the world are perhaps those in Yan'an where the Communist Party led by Mao Zedong headquartered in 1930s. When Edgar Snow, the author of Red Star Over China, visited Mao and his party, he lived in a yaodong which is warm in winter and cool in summer.

 

 

晉商

晉商，是「山西商人」的簡稱。「晉」是山西的簡稱。

晉商在堯舜時代開始出現，先秦時「日中為市，致天下之民，贊天下之貨，交易而退，各得其所」的商業交易活動情景。在明清時期達到鼎盛，富可敵國，曾經一度壟斷中國票號匯兌業，事實上，山西省在清朝大部分時間，都是最富裕的省份。

明朝: 明朝時，晉商通過經營邊防軍需物資起家，通過運輸軍糧獲得「鹽引」。由於山西南部有鹽池，賣鹽、取鹽都非常方便，因此累積大量資本，形成了晉商，故有「平陽、澤、潞富豪甲天下，非數十萬不稱富」。明代中期，鹽業製度由「開中製」改為「折色制」。「折色制」是指將鹽業經營權給了另一批商人，商人在內地就可以拿錢買鹽，然後運到各地去賣。徽商就是這個時期興起，漸漸超越了晉商，晉商的鹽業經營遇到了困難。由於王崇古和張四維的努力，允許明朝百姓和蒙古、女真等其他部落、國家與地區做貿易。晉商的事業轉向對外貿易。

清朝: 明末，後金崛起，戰事不斷，晉商沒有受到損失，反而大發國難財。努爾哈赤曾得到王登庫、靳良玉、范永斗、王大寧、梁嘉賓、田生蘭、翟堂、黃雲發等八大商人的支助。清朝在統一全國的入關戰爭中，大多得到晉商的財力支持。康熙南巡時曾經談到：「夙聞東南鉅賈大賈，號稱輻輳，今朕行歷吳越州郡，察其市肆貿遷，多系晉省之人，而土著者蓋寡，良由晉風多儉，積累易饒，南人習俗奢靡，家無儲蓄。」劉大鵬記錄了太谷當地的富庶繁華：「太谷為晉川第一富區也，大商大賈多基本於此間。城鎮村莊，亦多富室，放風俗奢侈為諸邑最。」

咸豐初年，管理戶部事務祁雋藻奏稱：「自咸豐二年二月起，截止三年正月止，紳商士民捐輸銀數，則山西、陝西、四川三省最多。山西共計捐銀一百五十九萬九千三百餘兩」。咸豐六年（1856年），又捐輸白銀201萬兩。幾年下來，先後共捐輸白銀「數逾千萬」。同治三年（1864年），朝廷用兵新疆，籌餉銀，山陝商人在新疆提供大量軍餉。徐繼畲說：「晉省前後捐輸五六次，數逾千萬。」。光緒二十年（1894年），財政拮据，分別向京都、漢口、廣東的山西票號借銀124萬兩。八國聯軍後簽定的《辛丑條約》，清政府交付各國戰爭賠款四億五千萬兩，也主要由山西票號匯解，由票號把這筆錢匯到英國的滙豐銀行，再由滙豐銀行交給各國政府。票號發展進入了鼎盛時期。

學者余英時在《中國近世宗教倫理與商人精神》一文中指出：「明代揚州商籍有山西而無安徽，這便是政府優待山西商人而歧視徽商的明證。甚至在清代早期，山西商人在政治方面所取得的優勢也依然沒有動搖」。

沒落: 中國自古以農立國，歷代皆行抑商政策，商人社會地位低下，往往被人瞧不起，因此與官府關係越緊密。晉商雖然在中國近代金融界輝煌一時，但其興盛並非依靠自由經濟體系的競爭，而是依賴與朝廷的特殊關係。所謂「官商經濟」（或稱官商勾結的壟斷經營），晉商的後代往往走向科舉之路，最後在朝廷內閣任官，例如明朝萬曆時期的蒲州張四維家族。一榮俱榮，一損俱損，「一旦官僚消滅，票莊無所憑依，自然不能存在」。入清後，晉商被緊緊地綁在清王朝的戰車上，成了清王朝利用的工具，只能與清王朝的命運休戚與共。大量捐納加速了清王朝的沒落，同時造成了晉商本身生存發展的危機。同治元年（1862年），俄人因《中俄陸路通商章程》而享有特權，可節省大筆費用，所以俄商販茶業務扶搖直上，使得晉商壟斷兩湖的茶葉販運事業久不復見。同治七年（1868年），恰克圖的晉幫商號由原來的一百二十家下降到四家。光緒三十四年（1908年），山西蔚豐厚票號北京分莊經理李宏齡建議改組票號為銀行，卻遭到蔚泰厚總經理毛鴻翰的反對。

辛亥革命後，山西票號毫無準備，放出之款無法收回，日升昌票號在四川、陝西各省的損失，「總計損失白銀300萬兩以上」，天成亨票號被土匪搶劫現銀100多萬兩，蔚泰厚票號總經理毛鴻翰轉而支持票號改革，山西票號向奧商華利銀行借款 200萬磅，不久國務總理熊希齡倒台，貸款之事成為泡影。最後晉商迅速退出歷史舞臺。

文化: 《白銀谷》，為一部描寫晉商的小説

晉商與武術: 由於晉商經商在外，經常會遇到盜賊的襲擊，因此晉人歷來重視武術。故山西境內，鏢局林立，名師眾多。光緒三十年（1904年），李復禎為太谷縣王莊富商保鏢，從北京路經十八盤時，與黑老鴉交手，黑老鴉被擊退，身患重傷。清末仍有不少鏢局，如山西榆次人安晉元在張家口開辦三合鏢局，王福元在蒙古三岔河開辦興元鏢局。

重要人物

• 張四維
• 范世逵
• 喬致庸
• 閻錫山
• 孔祥熙
• 郭台銘

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Terry Gou

Terry Tai-Ming Gou, sometimes written as Terry Guo, (郭台銘) (born October 8, 1950) is a Taiwanese tycoon who leads Hon Hai Precision, a company that manufactures electronics on contract for other companies. It is now the largest such electronics manufacturing services company in the world, with factories in several countries but mainly in China, where it employs 450,000 people and is China's largest exporter.

Gou founded Hon Hai in Taiwan in 1974 with ten workers to make plastic parts for television sets. In 1988 he opened his first factory in China, in Shenzhen, where his largest factory remains today. He now owns 30% of the public company and was ranked 142nd on Forbes magazine's 2007 list of the world's richest people, with a net worth of US$5.5 billion. A charismatic man with an autocratic leadership style, he tries to avoid publicity.

Gou's parents lived in mainland China's Shanxi Province before they fled to Taiwan in 1949, where Gou was born. Gou and his first wife, Serena Lin (林淑如), have a son (born 1976) who works in the film industry and a daughter (born 1978) who works in the financial sector. He founded an educational charity organization with Lin in 2000 and intends to eventually give away one third of his wealth to charity.

In 2005 Lin died of breast cancer at age 55. Gou's brother died in 2007 of leukemia in Beijing. Gou married his second wife, choreographer Delia Tseng (曾馨瑩) on July 26, 2008..

In 2002 he bought a Roztěž castle near Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic for $30 million.

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連戰

連戰（1936年8月27日－），字永平，臺灣臺南市人，出生於中國大陸西安市。臺灣本省籍政治人物、中國國民黨榮譽黨主席。

曾受任為中華民國駐薩爾瓦多大使、交通部部長、外交部部長、台灣省政府主席、行政院院長、第九任中華民國副總統、第三任中國國民黨主席、臺北市大安區仁愛里19鄰鄰長（2003年卸任）等職。

家庭背景與早年生活: 連戰出生於陝西西安市，籍貫台灣台南市。連戰為家中獨生子。祖父連橫，著作為《台灣通史》。其父連震東是國民黨要員、中華民國政府官員，1931年從日本回到中國後就進入國民政府工作，1932年隨國民黨元老張繼赴西安參與西京籌備委員會工作。1946年代表國民政府前往台灣接受日本投降，後曾任內政部部長、國民黨中央委員會常務委員、總統府國策顧問、首任臺北縣縣長等職。而連戰之母趙蘭坤出身瀋陽名門，北平市燕京大學畢業。

籍貫及家族問題: 連戰在選舉公報上將自己的籍貫寫作西安市曾遭來很多批評，一般人認為係向外省族群示好的考量。另一方面，連戰在其祖籍地－臺南市的得票率亦敗給對手陳水扁，一般也認為連戰一家已甚少在臺南活動有關。在2004年中華民國總統大選中，連宋於台南市之得票率為42.23%、陳呂57.77%，雙方約有一成五、六萬七千餘票差距。

但值得注意的是，連家除其祖父連橫外，尚有連橫之兄－連城璧的後代連平原（連戰之堂兄）一脈至今仍居臺南市。連平原在連戰1996年、2000年競選副總統、總統時，皆籌組連氏宗親後援會支持連戰。但在2000年陳水扁宣布核四停工、國民黨提起總統罷免案後，連平原出面批評連戰，遂讓連家早年家族不睦之事為外界所知（宗親指稱連橫輕恩義）。而連平原也對於連戰表姊林文月多次宣稱連戰為「連家三代單傳」，展開批評。目前兩人已形同陌路。

2006年4月連戰到福建尋根祭祖。連氏祖先是山西省上黨人，馬崎社的開基始祖連佛保於十五世紀初來馬崎。清康熙年間，連佛保的十世孫連興位從馬崎社渡過臺灣海峽赴臺灣，定居臺南馬兵營，連戰就是連興位的第九世孫，連佛保的第十八世孫。

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張安樂

張安樂（1948年－）。淡江大學歷史系學士、歐研所肄業，台灣黑社會組織竹聯幫大老，曾擔任總護法。

張除了黑社會資歷較廣為人知人外，其留學的學歷也很讓人印象深刻；據傳，張曾就讀過以下學校：美國內華達大學拉斯維加分校會計學士、資訊管理學士，美國聖馬利學院心理學學士、社會學學士... 張的商業組織頭腦與想法，在台灣社會中，是位備受爭議的人物,1996年離開台灣前往大陸經商後遭台北地方法院檢察署以「違反組織犯罪防制條例」通輯

生平: 張安樂綽號「白狼」，出生於台北市一個書香門第，父親是大學教授，母親則在北一女中擔任老師，自小一直是名列前茅的資優生，但在就讀初中時卻接觸黑社會圈子，傳聞當時既加入名為南海路幫的團體。

1964年，張安樂加入剛成立不久的竹聯幫（竹林聯盟），而後依幫內所排之「班輩」，被取名為「白狼」。往後幾年張安樂參與竹聯幫各事務與戰役，慢慢建立起自己的名聲，奠定在竹聯幫的地位。這段時間，張也多次轉學就讀的高中。

1966年，張安樂錄取淡江歷史系，並在淡水一帶成立竹聯幫的分支（淡竹）。

1970年，陳仁事件引起軒然大波，被視為幕後指使者的陳啟禮與多位大哥也在1972年相繼被逮捕入獄，在群龍無首的情況下，由多位大哥推薦張安樂來重整竹聯幫。1975年間，竹聯幫內部新舊派系惡鬥，使得張安樂感到失望，並離開台灣遠赴美國發展。※詳見竹聯幫。

1979年，張安樂在美國和朋友經營餐廳生意，也進入美國的內華達大學與史丹福大學就讀。

1984年，老友陳啟禮與吳敦來到美國，在美國停留了一個月。等到將返台時，張安樂才知道他們此行是受情報局長汪希苓中將之託，奉某高層人士之命，暗殺劉宜良（1984年10月15日，江南案）。而當時陳啟禮與吳敦留下了一卷錄音帶自白於張安樂處，以免政府翻臉不認人。

返台後不久的陳啟禮與吳敦，因「一清專案」被捕，並且被控以殺害劉宜良的罪名。張安樂為瞭解救好友公佈此一錄音帶，一時美國輿論譁然，美台雙方政府都十分難堪。

而掀起這場風暴的張安樂不久就被美國警方逮捕，以「販毒」罪名判處了十五年有期徒刑（張安樂強調：他這輩子在道上絕不碰毒品生意；而當初指控他販毒的檢方證人也於去年公開宣稱：當初是在聯邦檢察官的壓力與利誘下才作了偽證，日後重審時願意回國為張作證）。張安樂在美國坐足了十年牢，這期間他除了又取得兩個學士頭銜之外，也不定期投稿於《聯合報》等國內報刊上，介紹美國監獄內不為一般讀者所知的情形。

1990年間，當時台灣正值經濟蓬勃發展，竹聯幫陸續創立企業集團以暗中進行圍標、綁標工程；短短數年便賺取暴利，並運用充裕資金再次拓展勢力版圖。而張安樂運用竹聯幫直系團體信堂的勢力創設韜略集團，該集團下轄29家子公司，成立後總共承包了500多項工程業務。

1996年前往大陸經商，離台期間遭台北地方法院檢察署以「違反組織犯罪防制條例」通緝，至今未返回仍在深圳經商。

 

* 张安乐 by baidu.com

张安乐，又名“白狼”，1948年出生。祖籍山西。

 

 

Formosa Betrayed, the Movie
(video)

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