Hubei is a province in Central China . It has the seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland provinces. Its provincial capital at Wuhan serves as a major political, cultural, and economic hub for the region.
104-558: Feng Yuxiang ( simplified Chinese : 冯玉祥 ; traditional Chinese : 馮玉祥 ; pinyin : Féng Yùxiáng ; IPA: [fə́ŋ ỳɕi̯ɑ́ŋ] ; 6 November 1882 – 1 September 1948), courtesy name Huanzhang (焕章), was a Chinese warlord and later general in the National Revolutionary Army . He served as Vice Premier of the Republic of China from 1928 to 1930. At the start of the 1911 Revolution , Feng
208-577: A humid subtropical climate ( Cfa or Cwa under the Köppen climate classification ), with four distinct seasons. Winters are cool to cold, with average temperatures of 1 to 6 °C (34 to 43 °F) in January, while summers are hot and humid, with average temperatures of 24 to 30 °C (75 to 86 °F) in July; punishing temperatures of 40 °C (104 °F) or above are widely associated with Wuhan,
312-640: A "good warlord", and his remains were buried with honors in 1953 at the sacred Mount Tai in Shandong . His tomb is located immediately to the east of Tianwai Village square ( 36°12′25.86″N 117°6′7.95″E / 36.2071833°N 117.1022083°E / 36.2071833; 117.1022083 ). His widow Li Dequan served as Minister of Health of the People's Republic of China . Many of Feng Yuxiang's former subordinates joined or merged into Kuomintang National Revolutionary Army and fought with distinction in
416-443: A component—either a character or a sub-component called a radical —usually involves either a reduction in its total number of strokes , or an apparent streamlining of which strokes are chosen in what places—for example, the ⼓ ' WRAP ' radical used in the traditional character 沒 is simplified to ⼏ ' TABLE ' to form the simplified character 没 . By systematically simplifying radicals, large swaths of
520-434: A conversion table. While exercising such derivation, the following rules should be observed: Sample Derivations : The Series One List of Variant Characters reduces the number of total standard characters. First, amongst each set of variant characters sharing identical pronunciation and meaning, one character (usually the simplest in form) is elevated to the standard character set, and the rest are made obsolete. Then amongst
624-407: A few revised forms, and was implemented for official use by China's State Council on 5 June 2013. In Chinese, simplified characters are referred to by their official name 简化字 ; jiǎnhuàzì , or colloquially as 简体字 ; jiǎntǐzì . The latter term refers broadly to all character variants featuring simplifications of character form or structure, a practice which has always been present as
728-635: A group that also encompasses the Mandarin dialects of most of southwestern China. Perhaps the most celebrated element of Hubei cuisine is the Wuchang bream , a freshwater bream that is commonly steamed. Types of traditional Chinese opera popular in Hubei include Hanju and Chuju ( 楚剧 ; Chǔ Jù ). The Shennongjia area is the alleged home of the Yeren , a wild undiscovered hominid that lives in
832-558: A hub of higher education and research in China. Wuhan is the city that has the largest college student population in the world (1.3 million) studying in its 89 universities. Prior to the construction of China's national railway network, the Yangtze and Hanshui Rivers had been the main transportation arteries of Hubei for many centuries, and still continue to play an important transport role. Historically, Hubei's overland transport network
936-610: A newly coined phono-semantic compound : Removing radicals Only retaining single radicals Replacing with ancient forms or variants : Adopting ancient vulgar variants : Readopting abandoned phonetic-loan characters : Copying and modifying another traditional character : Based on 132 characters and 14 components listed in Chart 2 of the Complete List , the 1,753 derived characters found in Chart 3 can be created by systematically simplifying components using Chart 2 as
1040-573: A part of the Chinese writing system. The official name tends to refer to the specific, systematic set published by the Chinese government, which includes not only simplifications of individual characters, but also a substantial reduction in the total number of characters through the merger of formerly distinct forms. According to Chinese palaeographer Qiu Xigui , the broadest trend in the evolution of Chinese characters over their history has been simplification, both in graphical shape ( 字形 ; zìxíng ),
1144-599: A portion of it to help out other soldiers in need, especially those deputy soldiers (Fu Bing, 副兵), like he had once been, and so he was popular among his comrades-in-arms. Feng was hard-working and motivated, and in 1902 he was reassigned to Yuan Shikai 's newly established Beiyang Army . During the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 Feng joined the Luanzhou Uprising against the Qing Court and supported
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#17327798909261248-615: A welcome respite from Wuhan's and Yichang's summer heat, as well as skiing opportunities in winter. The tourist facilities in that area concentrate around Muyu in the southern part of Shennongjia , the gateway to Shennongjia National Nature Reserve ( 神农架国家自然保护区 ). Closer to the provincial capital, Wuhan, is the Mount Jiugong ( Jiugongshan ) national park, in Tongshan County near the border with Jiangxi . A particular important site of both natural and cultural significance
1352-440: Is actually more complex than eliminated ones. An example is the character 搾 which is eliminated in favor of the variant form 榨 . The 扌 'HAND' with three strokes on the left of the eliminated 搾 is now seen as more complex, appearing as the ⽊ 'TREE' radical 木 , with four strokes, in the chosen variant 榨 . Not all characters standardised in the simplified set consist of fewer strokes. For instance,
1456-454: Is derived. Merging homophonous characters: Adapting cursive shapes ( 草書楷化 ): Replacing a component with a simple arbitrary symbol (such as 又 and 乂 ): Omitting entire components : Omitting components, then applying further alterations : Structural changes that preserve the basic shape Replacing the phonetic component of phono-semantic compounds : Replacing an uncommon phonetic component : Replacing entirely with
1560-724: Is divided into thirteen prefecture-level divisions (of which there are twelve prefecture-level cities (including a sub-provincial city ) and one autonomous prefecture ), as well as three directly administered county-level cities (all sub-prefecture-level cities ) and one directly administered county-level forestry area. At the end of 2017, the total population was 59.02 million. * – including Forestry district ** – Directly administered county-level divisions The thirteen Prefecture and four directly administered county-level divisions of Hubei are subdivided into 103 county-level divisions (39 districts , 24 county-level cities , 37 counties , 2 autonomous counties , 1 forestry district;
1664-672: Is modest compared to other Chinese provinces. Hubei is well known for its mines of fine turquoise and green faustite. Hubei was a major recipient of China's investment in industrial capacity during the Third Front campaign. Since completion in 2012, the Three Gorges Dam in western Hubei provides plentiful hydroelectricity , with an average annual power production of 95 Twh. Existing hydroelectric stations include Gezhouba , Danjiangkou , Geheyan , Hanjiang , Duhe , Huanglongtan , Bailianhe , Lushui and Fushui . Hubei
1768-813: Is now discouraged. A State Language Commission official cited "oversimplification" as the reason for restoring some characters. The language authority declared an open comment period until 31 August 2009, for feedback from the public. In 2013, the List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters was published as a revision of the 1988 lists; it included a total of 8105 characters. It included 45 newly recognized standard characters that were previously considered variant forms, as well as official approval of 226 characters that had been simplified by analogy and had seen wide use but were not explicitly given in previous lists or documents. Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification , eventually arriving at
1872-516: Is planned in Dafanzhen, Tongshan County, Xianning, to host at least four 1,250-megawatt (MW) AP1000 pressurized-water reactors. Work on the site began in 2010; plans envisaged that the first reactor would start construction in 2011 and go online in 2015. However, construction of the first phase had yet to start as of 2018 . On 1 December 2019, the first case of COVID-19 in the COVID-19 pandemic
1976-623: Is referred to as the " big seal script ". The traditional narrative, as also attested in the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary ( c. 100 AD ), is that the Qin small seal script that would later be imposed across China was originally derived from the Zhou big seal script with few modifications. However, the body of epigraphic evidence comparing the character forms used by scribes gives no indication of any real consolidation in character forms prior to
2080-532: Is the 7th-largest provincial economy of China, the second largest in the Central China region after Henan , the third largest in the South Central China region after Guangdong and Henan and the third largest among inland provinces after Henan and Sichuan . As of 2021 , Hubei's nominal GDP was US$ 787 billion (CNY 5 trillion). Its GDP (nominal) per capita exceeded US$ 13,000, making it
2184-547: Is used instead of 叠 in regions using traditional characters. The Chinese government stated that it wished to keep Chinese orthography stable. The Chart of Generally Utilized Characters of Modern Chinese was published in 1988 and included 7000 simplified and unsimplified characters. Of these, half were also included in the revised List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese , which specified 2500 common characters and 1000 less common characters. In 2009,
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#17327798909262288-751: The Central Plains War and was forced to retire, but in 1933 organized a new army which successfully drove the Japanese Army out of Chahar . In the 1930s, Feng held positions in the Nationalist government , including brief army commands at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. He spent his later years supporting the anti-Chiang Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang before his death in 1948. Feng
2392-715: The Central Plains War . Chiang then incited anti-Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang sentiments among the Chinese Muslims and Mongols, encouraging them to topple their rule. Stripped of his military power, Feng spent the early 1930s criticizing Chiang Kai-shek's failure to resist Japanese aggression. On 26 May 1933, Feng Yuxiang became commander-in-chief of the Chahar People's Anti-Japanese Army Alliance, with Ji Hongchang and Fang Zhenwu as frontline commanders. Ji Hongchang's army, numbering over 100,000 men according to Feng, pushed against Duolun , and by July 1933 drove
2496-591: The Fushui River in the southeast. Thousands of lakes dot the landscape of Hubei's Jianghan Plain, giving Hubei the name of "Province of Lakes"; the largest of these lakes are Liangzi Lake and Hong Lake . The numerous hydrodams have created a number of large reservoirs, the largest of which is the Danjiangkou Reservoir on the Han River, on the border between Hubei and Henan . Hubei has
2600-600: The Gezhouba Dam on the Yangtze River near Yichang started in 1970 and completed in 1988; the construction of the Three Gorges Dam , further upstream, began in 1993. In the following years, authorities resettled millions of people from western Hubei to make way for the construction of the dam. A number of smaller dams have been constructed on the Yangtze's tributaries as well. The Xianning Nuclear Power Plant
2704-618: The Qin dynasty in 221 BC, the first unified dynasty in China . The Qin dynasty was succeeded in 206 BC by the Han dynasty , which established the province ( zhou ) of Jingzhou in today's Hubei and Hunan . The Qin and Han played an active role in the extension of farmland in Hubei, maintaining a system of river dikes to protect farms from summer floods. Towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty in
2808-772: The Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937 he briefly served as Commander-in-Chief of the 3rd War Area. In this capacity Feng led Chinese forces early in the defense of Shanghai , but he was quickly relieved in favor of Zhang Zhizhong and later Chiang himself. After World War II he traveled to the United States, where he was an outspoken critic of the Chiang regime and of the Truman administration's support for it. While there, he went to Gen. Joseph Stilwell 's house in California, as he admired Stilwell. Barbara Tuchman tells
2912-545: The Second Sino-Japanese War . They include Song Zheyuan , Tong Linge , Zhao Dengyu , Sun Lianzhong , Liu Ruming , Feng Zhi'an , Yang Hucheng , Ji Hongchang and Zhang Zizhong . Notable exceptions were Sun Liangcheng and Qin Dechun , who collaborated with the Japanese. Other generals, after serving a lengthy term in the warlord era, retired to live a life of pleasure. Sir Richard Evans , author of Deng Xiaoping and
3016-802: The Wu Mountains (in rough north-to-south order). The Dabie Mountains lie to the northeast of the Jianghan Plain, on the border with Henan and Anhui ; the Tongbai Mountains lie to the north on the border with Henan ; to the southeast, the Mufu Mountains form the border with Jiangxi . The highest peak in Hubei is Shennong Peak , found in the Daba Mountains of the forestry area of Shennongjia ; it has an altitude of 3105 m. The two major rivers of Hubei are
3120-682: The Wuchang Uprising took place in modern-day Wuhan. The uprising started the Xinhai Revolution , which overthrew the Qing dynasty and established the Republic of China . In 1927 Wuhan became the seat of a government established by left-wing elements of the Kuomintang , led by Wang Jingwei ; this government later merged into Chiang Kai-shek 's government in Nanjing . During World War II
3224-600: The Yangtze River and its left tributary, the Han River ; they lend their names to the Jianghan Plain – Jiang representing the Yangtze and han representing the Han River. The Yangtze River enters Hubei from the west via the Three Gorges ; the eastern half of the Three Gorges ( Xiling Gorge and part of Wu Gorge ) lie in western Hubei, while the western half is in neighbouring Chongqing . The Han River enters
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3328-513: The richest landlocked province , the richest province in the Central China region, and 2nd richest province in South Central China region after Guangdong . Han Chinese form the dominant ethnic group in Hubei. A considerable Miao and Tujia population live in the southwestern part of the province, especially in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture . On October 18, 2009, Chinese officials began to relocate 330,000 residents from
3432-480: The "Dot" stroke : The traditional components ⺥ and 爫 become ⺈ : The traditional component 奐 becomes 奂 : Hubei Hubei is associated with the historical state of E that existed during the Western Zhou dynasty ( c. 1045 – 771 BCE). Its name means 'north of the lake', referring to Dongting Lake . It borders Henan to the north, Anhui and Jiangxi to
3536-411: The "external appearances of individual graphs", and in graphical form ( 字体 ; 字體 ; zìtǐ ), "overall changes in the distinguishing features of graphic[al] shape and calligraphic style, [...] in most cases refer[ring] to rather obvious and rather substantial changes". The initiatives following the founding of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) to universalize the use of their small seal script across
3640-482: The 1986 General List of Simplified Chinese Characters , hereafter the General List . All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Chart 1 and Chart 2 in the 1986 Complete List . Characters in both charts are structurally simplified based on similar set of principles. They are separated into two charts to clearly mark those in Chart 2 as 'usable as simplified character components', based on which Chart 3
3744-520: The 1986 mainland China revisions. Unlike in mainland China, Singapore parents have the option of registering their children's names in traditional characters. Malaysia also promulgated a set of simplified characters in 1981, though completely identical to the mainland Chinese set. They are used in Chinese-language schools. All characters simplified this way are enumerated in Charts 1 and 2 of
3848-820: The Anti-Yuan National Protection Army, but secretly communicated with revolution leader Cai E . In April 1917 he was stripped of his military rank but still led his old troops in the campaign against Zhang Xun and was restored to his rank. In February 1918 he was ordered to suppress the Constitutional Protection Movement , but proclaimed his support for peace talks in Hubei and was stripped of titles but permitted to stay in command of his forces. The capture of Changde in June earned him back his titles. By August 1921 he
3952-470: The Chinese government published a major revision to the list which included a total of 8300 characters. No new simplifications were introduced. In addition, slight modifications to the orthography of 44 characters to fit traditional calligraphic rules were initially proposed, but were not implemented due to negative public response. Also, the practice of unrestricted simplification of rare and archaic characters by analogy using simplified radicals or components
4056-577: The Hubei and Henan provinces that will be affected by the Danjiangkou Reservoir on the Han river . The reservoir is part of the larger South-North Water Transfer Project . Religion in Hubei The predominant religions in Hubei are Chinese folk religions , Taoist traditions and Chinese Buddhism . According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 6.5% of the population believes and is involved in cults of ancestors , while 0.58% of
4160-765: The Japanese and Manchukuoan troops out of Chahar Province . By late July Feng and Ji Hongchang established, at Zhangjiakou , the "Committee for Recovering the Four Provinces of the Northeast". Chiang Kai-shek, fearing that Communists had taken control of the Anti-Japanese Allied Army, launched a concerted siege of the army with 60,000 men. Surrounded by Chiang Kai-shek and the Japanese, Feng Yuxiang resigned his post and retired to Tai'an in Shandong. Between 1935 and 1945 Feng Yuxiang supported
4264-545: The Japanese to death if he ever became a soldier. Every year on the anniversary of Japan's 21 Demands in 1915 he and his officers wore belts on which was written "In Memory of the National Humiliation of May 7th". By early 1929 Feng grew dissatisfied with Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government in Nanjing. He joined Yan Xishan and Li Zongren to challenge Chiang's supremacy, but was defeated by Chiang in
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4368-658: The KMT and held various positions in the Nationalist army and government. In October 1935 Chiang invited him to Nanjing to serve as the vice-president of the Military Affairs Commission . He held the nominal position until 1938 and remained a member of the council until 1945. During the Xi'an Incident , when Chiang Kai-Shek was held prisoner by rebellious warlords, Feng immediately called for Chiang's release. After
4472-646: The Making of Modern China , described Feng as "an honest man" in his book. Peter R. Moody wrote in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science "Many of Feng's allies might dispute this, since he betrayed every one of them." Simplified Chinese characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language , with
4576-515: The Mongols in 1368. Their version of Huguang province was smaller, and corresponded almost entirely to the modern provinces of Hubei and Hunan combined. Hubei lay geographically outside the centers of the Ming power. During the last years of the Ming, today's Hubei was ravaged several times by the rebel armies of Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng . The Manchu Qing dynasty which took control of much of
4680-753: The Northwest Army. In April 1926 Sun Yat-sen's successor, Chiang Kai-shek , launched the Northern Expedition from Guangzhou against the northern warlords. Feng threw his support behind the Nationalists in the Northern Expedition and merged his Guominjun with the National Revolutionary Army . The Nationalists vanquished the Zhili faction in the south and Feng asserted control over much of north-central China. Zhang Zuolin
4784-513: The Republican government and reunify the country. Despite being severely ill already, Sun came to Beijing and died there in April 1925. Feng renamed his army the Guominjun or the National People's Army. To counter pressure from the Zhili and Fengtian factions, he invited Duan Qirui to take on the presidency. Nevertheless, Feng was defeated by a Zhili–Fengtian alliance in the Anti-Fengtian War in January 1926. He lost control of Beijing and retreated to Zhangjiakou , where his army became known as
4888-423: The Zhili out of power, and re-organised his troops as the Guominjun . He brought Sun Yat-sen to Beijing for negotiations on re-unification, but this was not realized. In 1926, Feng was defeated by the Zhili and Fengtian cliques in the Anti-Fengtian War , and he retreated to the northwest. In 1926, Feng joined the Kuomintang 's successful Northern Expedition . He later resisted Chiang's consolidation of power in
4992-444: The adjacent Chongqing municipality) is the scenic area of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze. Located in the far west of the province, the gorges can be conveniently visited by one of the numerous tourist boats (or regular passenger boats) that travel up the Yangtze from Yichang through the Three Gorges and into the neighboring Chongqing municipality. The mountains of western Hubei , in particular in Shennongjia District, offer
5096-582: The beginning of the 3rd century, Jingzhou was ruled by regional warlord Liu Biao . After his death in 208, Liu Biao's realm was surrendered by his successors to Cao Cao , a powerful warlord who had conquered nearly all of north China; but in the Battle of Red Cliffs (208 or 209), warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan drove Cao Cao out of Jingzhou. Liu Bei then took control of Jingzhou and appointed Guan Yu as administrator of Xiangyang (in modern Xiangyang, Hubei ) to guard Jing province; he went on to conquer Yizhou (the Sichuan Basin), but lost Jingzhou to Sun Quan; for
5200-452: The capital in the Beijing Coup on 23 October 1924. This turnabout prompted Shandong warlord Zhang Zongchang to join the Fengtian and led to a decisive defeat of the Zhili forces. Hence, Feng's coup brought far-reaching political changes in China. Feng imprisoned Zhili-leader and president Cao Kun, installed the more liberal Huang Fu , evicted the last Emperor Puyi from the Forbidden City and invited Sun Yat-sen to Beijing to resurrect
5304-428: The character set are altered. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms that embody graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms. In addition, variant characters with identical pronunciation and meaning were reduced to a single standardized character, usually the simplest among all variants in form. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification and are thus identical between
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#17327798909265408-407: The chosen variants, those that appear in the "Complete List of Simplified Characters" are also simplified in character structure accordingly. Some examples follow: Sample reduction of equivalent variants : Ancient variants with simple structure are preferred : Simpler vulgar forms are also chosen : The chosen variant was already simplified in Chart 1 : In some instances, the chosen variant
5512-436: The collapse of the Yuan Shikai government in 1916. Feng, however, distinguished himself from other regional militarists by governing his domains with a mixture of paternalistic Christian socialism and military discipline. He forbade prostitution, gambling and the sale of opium and morphia. From 1919 he was known as the "Christian General". In 1923 British Protestant Christian missionary Marshall B. Broomhall said of him: He
5616-406: The country's writing system as a serious impediment to its modernization. In 1916, a multi-part English-language article entitled "The Problem of the Chinese Language" co-authored by the Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982) and poet Hu Shih (1891–1962) has been identified as a turning point in the history of the Chinese script—as it was one of the first clear calls for China to move away from
5720-912: The directly administered county-level divisions are included here). Those are in turn divided into 1234 township-level divisions (737 towns , 215 townships , nine ethnic townships , and 273 subdistricts ). Secretaries of the Chinese Communist Party Hubei Committee: Governors of Hubei: Hubei is often called the "Land of Fish and Rice" ( 鱼米之乡 ). Important agricultural products in Hubei include cotton , rice , wheat , and tea , while industries include automobiles , metallurgy, machinery, power generation, textiles, foodstuffs and high-tech commodities. Mineral resources that can be found in Hubei in significant quantities include borax , hongshiite , wollastonite , garnet , marlstone , iron , phosphorus , copper , gypsum , rutile , rock salt , gold amalgam, manganese and vanadium . The province's recoverable reserves of coal stand at 548 million tons, which
5824-451: The early 10th century, Hubei came under the control of several regional regimes: Jingnan in the center, Yang Wu and its successor Southern Tang to the east, the Five Dynasties to the north and Shu to Shizhou (施州, in modern Enshi , Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture ). The Song dynasty reunified the region in 982 and placed most of Hubei into Jinghubei Circuit , a longer version of Hubei's current name. Mongols conquered
5928-405: The early 1920s Feng rose to prominence in the Zhili clique of warlords, named so because their base of power was centred around Zhili Province . This Zhili clique defeated the Fengtian clique , headed by Zhang Zuolin , father of Zhang Xueliang , in the First Zhili–Fengtian War in 1922. It was at this time that Feng also began to move closer to the Soviet Union . Within the Zhili clique Feng
6032-426: The early 20th century. In 1909, the educator and linguist Lufei Kui formally proposed the use of simplified characters in education for the first time. Over the following years—marked by the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty , followed by growing social and political discontent that further erupted into the 1919 May Fourth Movement —many anti-imperialist intellectuals throughout China began to see
6136-411: The east, Hunan to the south, and Chongqing and Shaanxi to the west. The high-profile Three Gorges Dam is located at Yichang in the west of the province. The Hubei region was home to sophisticated Neolithic cultures. By the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC), the territory of today's Hubei formed part of the powerful State of Chu . Chu, nominally a tributary state of the Zhou dynasty ,
6240-410: The eastern parts of Hubei were conquered and occupied by Japan , while the western parts remained under Chinese control. During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s, Wuhan saw fighting between rival Red Guard factions. In July 1967, civil strife struck the city in the Wuhan Incident ("July 20th Incident"), an armed conflict between two hostile groups who were fighting for control over the city at
6344-490: The first official list of simplified forms was published, consisting of 324 characters collated by Peking University professor Qian Xuantong . However, fierce opposition within the KMT resulted in the list being rescinded in 1936. Work throughout the 1950s resulted in the 1956 promulgation of the Chinese Character Simplification Scheme , a draft of 515 simplified characters and 54 simplified components, whose simplifications would be present in most compound characters. Over
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#17327798909266448-463: The first round—but was massively unpopular and never saw consistent use. The second round of simplifications was ultimately retracted officially in 1986, well after they had largely ceased to be used due to their unpopularity and the confusion they caused. In August 2009, China began collecting public comments for a revised list of simplified characters; the resulting List of Commonly Used Standard Chinese Characters lists 8,105 characters, including
6552-399: The following decade, the Script Reform Committee deliberated on characters in the 1956 scheme, collecting public input regarding the recognizability of variants, and often approving forms in small batches. Parallel to simplification, there were also initiatives aimed at eliminating the use of characters entirely and replacing them with pinyin as an official Chinese alphabet, but this possibility
6656-411: The forested hills. The people of Hubei are given the uncomplimentary nickname " Nine-headed Birds " by other Chinese, from a mythological creature said to be very aggressive and hard to kill. "In the sky live nine-headed birds. On the earth live Hubei people." ( 天上九头鸟，地上湖北佬 ; Tiānshàng jiǔ tóu niǎo, dìshàng Húběi lǎo ) Wuhan is one of the major culture centers in China. Hubei is thought to be
6760-406: The founding of the Qin. The Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) that inherited the Qin administration coincided with the perfection of clerical script through the process of libian . Eastward spread of Western learning Though most closely associated with the People's Republic, the idea of a mass simplification of character forms first gained traction in China during
6864-412: The height of the Cultural Revolution. As the fears of a nuclear war increased during the time of Sino-Soviet border conflicts in the late 1960s, the Xianning prefecture of Hubei was chosen as the site of Project 131 , an underground military-command headquarters. The province—and Wuhan in particular—suffered severely from the 1954 Yangtze River Floods . Large-scale dam construction followed, with
6968-466: The increased usage of 朙 was followed by proliferation of a third variant: 眀 , with 目 'eye' on the left—likely derived as a contraction of 朙 . Ultimately, 明 became the character's standard form. The Book of Han (111 AD) describes an earlier attempt made by King Xuan of Zhou ( d. 782 BC ) to unify character forms across the states of ancient China , with his chief chronicler having "[written] fifteen chapters describing" what
7072-407: The left, with the 月 'Moon' component on the right. Li Si ( d. 208 BC ), the Chancellor of Qin, attempted to universalize the Qin small seal script across China following the wars that had politically unified the country for the first time. Li prescribed the 朙 form of the word for 'bright', but some scribes ignored this and continued to write the character as 明 . However,
7176-485: The major adversary of the upstart State of Qin to the northwest (in present-day Guanzhong , Shaanxi province), which began to assert itself by outward expansionism. As wars between Qin and Chu ensued, Chu lost more and more land: first its dominance over the Sichuan Basin , then (in 278 BC) its heartland, which correspond to modern Hubei. In 223 BC Qin chased down the remnants of the Chu regime, which had fled eastwards during Qin's wars of uniting China . Qin founded
7280-402: The most prominent Chinese authors of the 20th century, stated that "if Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die" ( 漢字不滅，中國必亡 ). During the 1930s and 1940s, discussions regarding simplification took place within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party. Many members of the Chinese intelligentsia maintained that simplification would increase literacy rates throughout the country. In 1935,
7384-404: The next few decades Jingzhou was controlled by the Wu Kingdom , ruled by Sun Quan and his successors. The incursion of northern nomadic peoples into the region at the beginning of the 4th century ( Five Barbarians' rebellion and Disaster of Yongjia ( 永嘉之乱 )) began nearly three centuries of division into a nomad-ruled (but increasingly Sinicized) north and a Han Chinese -ruled south. Hubei, to
7488-604: The original Wuhan-Guangzhou line, opened in late 2009, it was subsequently extended to the north, to Beijing becoming the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed railway . An east-west high-speed corridor connecting major cities along the Yangtze, the Shanghai–Wuhan–Chengdu passenger railway was gradually opened between 2008 and 2012, the Wuhan–Yichang railway section of it opening in 2012. The Wuhan–Xiaogan intercity railway
7592-587: The other being traditional characters . Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to promote literacy, and their use in ordinary circumstances on the mainland has been encouraged by the Chinese government since the 1950s. They are the official forms used in mainland China and Singapore , while traditional characters are officially used in Hong Kong , Macau , and Taiwan . Simplification of
7696-405: The population identifies as Christian, declining from 0.83% in 2004. The reports did not give figures for other types of religion; 92.92% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in worship of nature deities , Buddhism, Confucianism , Taoism, folk religious sects . People in Hubei speak Mandarin dialects; most of these dialects are classified as Southwestern Mandarin dialects,
7800-641: The province from the northwest. After crossing most of the province, the two great rivers meet at the center of Wuhan, the provincial capital. Among the notable tributaries of the Yangtze within the province are the Shen Nong Stream (a small northern tributary, severely affected by the Three Gorges Dam project); the Qing , a major waterway of southwestern Hubei; the Huangbo near Yichang ; and
7904-467: The province that originated the card game of dou dizhu . As of 2022, Hubei hosts 130 institutions of higher education, ranking sixth together with Hunan (130) among all Chinese provinces after Jiangsu (168), Guangdong (160), Henan (156), Shandong (153), and Sichuan (134). The Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan University and many other institutions in Wuhan make it
8008-518: The provincial capital. The mountainous districts of western Hubei, in particular Shennongjia , with their cooler summers, attract numerous visitors from Wuhan and other lowland cities. Besides the capital Wuhan , other important cities are Jingmen ; Shiyan , a center of automotive industry and the gateway to the Wudang Mountains ; Yichang , the main base for the gigantic hydroelectric projects of southwestern Hubei; and Shashi . Hubei
8112-430: The public and quickly fell out of official use. It was ultimately formally rescinded in 1986. The second-round simplifications were unpopular in large part because most of the forms were completely new, in contrast to the familiar variants comprising the majority of the first round. With the rescission of the second round, work toward further character simplification largely came to an end. In 1986, authorities retracted
8216-465: The recently conquered parts of the empire is generally seen as being the first real attempt at script reform in Chinese history. Before the 20th century, variation in character shape on the part of scribes, which would continue with the later invention of woodblock printing , was ubiquitous. For example, prior to the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) the character meaning 'bright' was written as either 明 or 朙 —with either 日 'Sun' or 囧 'window' on
8320-587: The region in 1279, and under their rule the province of Huguang was established, covering Hubei, Hunan, and parts of Guangdong and Guangxi . During the Mongol rule, in 1331, Hubei was devastated by an outbreak of the Black Death , which reached England , Belgium , and Italy by June 1348, and which, according to Chinese sources, spread during the following three centuries to decimate populations throughout Eurasia. The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) drove out
8424-473: The region in 1644, soon split Huguang into the modern provinces of Hubei and Hunan. The Qing dynasty, however, continued to maintain a Viceroy of Huguang , one of the most well-known viceroys being Zhang Zhidong (in office between 1889 and 1907), whose modernizing reforms made Hubei (especially Wuhan ) into a prosperous center of commerce and industry. The Huangshi / Daye area, south-east of Wuhan, became an important center of mining and metallurgy. In 1911,
8528-742: The revolutionaries in the South. The uprising was suppressed by the Beiyang Army and Feng was imprisoned by Yuan Shikai . In 1914 he regained military rank and spent the next four years defending Yuan's regime. In July 1914, as a brigade commander, he participated in the suppression of the Bailang Peasant Uprising in Henan and Shaanxi . During the National Protection War of 1915–16 he was sent to Sichuan to fight
8632-481: The same set of simplified characters as mainland China. The first round was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969, consisting of 498 simplified characters derived from 502 traditional characters. A second round of 2287 simplified characters was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the mainland China system; these were removed in the final round in 1976. In 1993, Singapore adopted
8736-467: The second round completely, though they had been largely fallen out of use within a year of their initial introduction. That year, the authorities also promulgated a final version of the General List of Simplified Chinese Characters . It was identical to the 1964 list save for 6 changes—including the restoration of 3 characters that had been simplified in the first round: 叠 , 覆 , 像 ; the form 疊
8840-565: The south, remained under southern rule for this entire period, until the unification of China by the Sui dynasty in 589. In 617 the Tang dynasty replaced Sui, and later on the Tang dynasty placed present-day Hubei under the jurisdiction of several circuits : Jiangnanxi Circuit in the south; Shannandong Circuit (山南东道) in the west, and Huainan Circuit in the east. After the Tang dynasty disintegrated in
8944-652: The story: "a few days after her husband's death, Mrs. Stilwell was upstairs at her home in Carmel, California when a visitor was announced with some confusion as 'the Christian.' Mystified, she went down to find in the hall the huge figure and cannonball head of [Feng Yuxiang], who said, 'I have come to mourn with you for Shih Ti-wei , my friend. ' " Feng Yuxiang also visited and lived for several months in Berkeley, California, during his stay as visiting scholar. Although he
9048-497: The traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. The Chinese government has never officially announced the completion of the simplification process after the bulk of characters were introduced by the 1960s. In the wake of the Cultural Revolution , a second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977—largely composed of entirely new variants intended to artificially lower the stroke count, in contrast to
9152-833: The traditional character 強 , with 11 strokes is standardised as 强 , with 12 strokes, which is a variant character. Such characters do not constitute simplified characters. The new standardized character forms shown in the Characters for Publishing and revised through the Common Modern Characters list tend to adopt vulgar variant character forms. Since the new forms take vulgar variants, many characters now appear slightly simpler compared to old forms, and as such are often mistaken as structurally simplified characters. Some examples follow: The traditional component 釆 becomes 米 : The traditional component 囚 becomes 日 : The traditional "Break" stroke becomes
9256-522: The use of characters entirely. Instead, Chao proposed that the language be written with an alphabet, which he saw as more logical and efficient. The alphabetization and simplification campaigns would exist alongside one another among the Republican intelligentsia for the next several decades. Recent commentators have echoed some contemporary claims that Chinese characters were blamed for the economic problems in China during that time. Lu Xun , one of
9360-653: The world, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 a pandemic in March 2020. However, after more than eight weeks, the lockdown on most cities in the province was lifted. The Jianghan Plain takes up most of central and southern Hubei, while the west and the peripheries are more mountainous , with ranges such as the Wudang Mountains , the Jing Mountains , the Daba Mountains , and
9464-464: Was abandoned, confirmed by a speech given by Zhou Enlai in 1958. In 1965, the PRC published the List of Commonly Used Characters for Printing [ zh ] (hereafter Characters for Printing ), which included standard printed forms for 6196 characters, including all of the forms from the 1956 scheme. A second round of simplified characters was promulgated in 1977, but was poorly received by
9568-641: Was an officer in the ranks of Yuan Shikai 's Beiyang Army . He initially joined forces with the revolutionaries, but came to support Yuan's regime . In 1914, he converted to Christianity, earning him the nickname the "Christian General". He became a warlord in Northwest China, based in Shaanxi , and rose to a high rank within the Zhili clique . In 1924, Feng launched the Beijing Coup , which knocked
9672-627: Was born in Chaohu , Anhui . As the son of an officer in the Qing Imperial Army , Feng spent his youth immersed in military life. He joined the Huai Army when he was 11 as a deputy soldier (Fu Bing, 副兵), the lowest rank in the army, he received a uniform and food, but no salary, unlike regular soldiers. By the age of 16 he had proved himself and became a regular. Unlike other soldiers who gambled away their pay, Feng saved his salary and used
9776-582: Was demoted by Wu Peifu and sent to guard the southern suburbs of Beijing. In 1923 Feng was inspired by Sun Yat-sen and secretly plotted with Hu Jingyi and Xue Yue to overthrow Wu Peifu and Cao Kun , who controlled the Beiyang government . When the Second Zhili–Fengtian War began in 1924, Feng was in charge of defending Rehe against the Fengtian clique. However, he switched sides and seized
9880-708: Was forced to withdraw the Fengtian forces back to Manchuria. In August Feng went to the Soviet Union and returned in September. In October 1928 Feng Yuxiang was appointed as Vice President of the Executive Yuan and War Minister of the Republic of China by President Chiang Kai-shek. Feng's patriotism was a basic motivation. Because of atrocities he saw Japanese soldiers commit during the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, Feng promised that he would fight
9984-670: Was hampered by the lack of bridges across the Yangtze River , which divides the province into northern and southern regions. The first bridge across the Yangtze in Hubei, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge was completed in 1957, followed by the Zhicheng Bridge in 1971. As of October 2014 , Hubei had 23 bridges and tunnels across the Yangtze River, including nine bridges and three tunnels in Wuhan. The railway from Beijing reached Wuhan in 1905, and
10088-511: Was identified in the city of Wuhan . In January 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was officially identified, leading local and federal governments to implement massive quarantine zones across Hubei province, especially in the capital Wuhan (the epicenter of the outbreak). Authorities partially or fully locked down 15 cities, directly affecting 57 million people. Following severe outbreaks in numerous other countries, including in different areas of
10192-548: Was itself an extension of the Chinese civilization that had emerged some centuries before in the north; but Chu also represented a culturally unique blend of northern and southern culture, and it developed into a powerful state that controlled much of the middle and lower Yangtze River , with its power extending northwards into the North China Plain . During the Warring States period (475–221 BC) Chu became
10296-508: Was later extended to Guangzhou, becoming the first north-to-south railway mainline to cross China. A number of other lines crossed the province later on, including the Jiaozuo–Liuzhou railway and Beijing–Kowloon railway , respectively, in the western and eastern part of the province. The first decade of the 21st century has seen a large amount of new railway construction in Hubei. The Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway , roughly parallel to
10400-410: Was murdered; others deny it. The same descendants also learned from their father that many believed Feng was murdered by political adversaries. Allegedly, those who knew details of the shipboard fire and its circumstances had reported that Feng and his daughter perished in the middle of night, with their cabin door(s) locked from the outside. The Chinese Communists under Mao Zedong classified Feng as
10504-523: Was never a Communist himself, he was close to them in his final years. According to descendants whose father was raised by Feng Yuxiang in his household, he was inspired by the elder Feng's example of service to country and countrymen to serve in the military. He died in a shipboard fire on the Black Sea while en route to the Soviet Union in 1948, along with one of his daughters. Some believe he
10608-718: Was opened in December 2016 and it was extended when the Wuhan–Shiyan high-speed railway opened in November 2019. Hubei's main airport is Wuhan Tianhe International Airport . Yichang Sanxia Airport serves the Three Gorges region. There are also passenger airports in Xiangyang , Enshi , and Jingzhou ( Shashi Airport , named after the city's Shashi District ). The province's best-known natural attraction (shared with
10712-555: Was promoted to command a division and was based in Shaanxi. Feng, like many young officers, was involved in revolutionary activity and was nearly executed for treason. He later joined Yuan Shikai 's Beiyang Army and with the help and advice of Chinese diplomat Wang Zhengting , converted to Christianity in 1914, being baptized into the Methodist Episcopal Church . Feng's career as a warlord began soon after
10816-531: Was reputed to have liked baptizing his troops with water from a fire hose . However, no such incident is mentioned in Sheriden's detailed biography, or in Broomhall's account. Both Broomhall and Sheriden say that baptism was taken very seriously and that not all of Feng's troops were baptized. Journalist John Gunther , in his 1939 book Inside Asia , specifically denied that such mass baptisms took place. In
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