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152-514: Li Yuanji was born in 603, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui . He was the fourth and final son of Li Yuan the Duke of Tang, a hereditary noble, and Li Yuan's wife Duchess Dou , who was herself the daughter of Dou Yi (竇毅) the Duke of Shenwu and Northern Zhou 's Princess Xiangyang. He had three older brothers by Duchess Dou -- Li Jiancheng , Li Shimin , and Li Xuanba (李玄霸, who died in 614). She also gave birth to an older sister of Li Yuanji's,

304-545: A continental monsoon climate, and is rather arid. Average January temperatures are below 0 °C, while average July temperatures are around 21–26 °C. 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. Annual precipitation averages around 350 to 700 millimetres (14 to 28 in), with 60% of it concentrated between June and August. Major cities: The outline of Shanxi's territory

456-597: A campaign against Chen, commanded by Yang Guang, another of his sons Yang Jun the Prince of Qin, and Yang Su, with Yang Guang in overall command. Gao Jiong served as Yang Guang's assistant. In spring 589, the Sui general Heruo Bi ( 賀若弼 ) crossed the Yangtze at Jingkou (京口, in modern Zhenjiang , Jiangsu ), and the Sui general Han Qinhu ( 韓擒虎 ) crossed the Yangtze at Caishi (采石, in modern Ma'anshan , Anhui ). Meanwhile, Yang Su

608-551: A center for trade and banking. The " Shanxi merchants " were once synonymous with wealth. The well-preserved city and UNESCO World Heritage Site Pingyao shows many signs of its economic importance during the Qing dynasty. With the collapse of the Qing dynasty , Shanxi became part of the newly established Republic of China . From 1911 to 1949, during the period of the Republic of China's period of rule over Mainland China , Shanxi

760-652: A commandery governor for a Yan state ( Former Yan or Later Yan ) during the Sixteen Kingdoms Period , and his descendants subsequently served the Northern Wei dynasty. Yang Jian emphasized Han Chinese cultural identity throughout his reign. Yang Jian's father was Yang Zhong ( 楊忠 ), a follower of the late-Northern Wei general Yuwen Tai , who later became prominent in the politics of the Western Wei under Yuwen's regency. Yang Jian's mother

912-644: A daughter of a clansman the Princess Guanghua and married her to Murong Shifu, to cement the peaceful relations with Tuyuhun. In 597, Cuan Wan ( 爨翫 ), the chief of the Nanning Tribe (南寧夷, located in modern Qujing , Yunnan ), rebelled. Emperor Wen sent the general Shi Wansui ( 史萬歲 ) the Duke of Taiping against Cuan, forcing him to surrender. Initially, Shi was to take Cuan to Chang'an to be presented to Emperor Wen, but Cuan bribed Shi, and so Shi allowed him to stay. Also in 597, Li Guangshi ( 李光仕 ),

1064-584: A degree of self-governance. He also took Emperor Ming's daughter as the wife and princess to his son, Yang Guang the Prince of Jin. (After Emperor Ming's death in 585 and succession by his son Emperor Jing of Western Liang , however, Emperor Wen reestablished the post of commandant of Jiangling and again put Western Liang territory under military control.) By spring 583, the Göktürks' internal dissension had become serious enough that Emperor Wen felt comfortable enough to commission his brother Yang Shuang ( 楊爽 )

1216-607: A distinct language from Mandarin and its geographical range covers most of Shanxi. Both Jin and Mandarin are spoken in Shanxi. Shanxi is a leading producer of coal in China , possessing roughly a third of China's total coal deposits. Nevertheless, Shanxi's GDP per capita remains below the national average. The province hosts the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center . The province is also known for having by far

1368-407: A faction, with tacit support of Empress Dugu, they had Yang Yong's associate Ji Wei ( 姬威 ) falsely accuse Yang Yong of plotting treason. Emperor Wen deposed Yang Yong and replaced him with Yang Guang. Emperor Wen also put a number of officials whom he believed to be part of Yang Yong's faction, including Shi and Yuan Min ( 元旻 ) the Duke of Wuyuan, to death. In 602, Empress Dugu died, and Emperor Wen

1520-571: A large, fortified prison complex filled with Communist prisoners. In a final act of desperation, Liang set fire to the prison and committed suicide as the entire compound burned to the ground. Soon after the Chinese Communist Revolution , Mao Zedong assigned Kang Sheng to carry out land reform in Shanxi. Kang encouraged the populace to have numerous farmers from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds denounced as "landlords," beaten, arrested, and executed. In some areas of

1672-436: A major part of Shanxi's economy. Shanxi possesses 260 billion metric tons of known coal deposits, about a third of China's total. As a result, Shanxi is a leading producer of coal in China and has more coal companies than any other province, with an 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

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1824-474: A modern curriculum and infrastructure of Chinese medicine achieved limited success, but much of the teaching and publication that this school of medicine produced was limited to the area around Taiyuan: by 1949 three of the seven government-run hospitals were in the city. In 1934 the province produced a ten-year-plan that envisaged employing a hygiene worker in every village, but the Japanese invasion in 1937 and

1976-468: A month later, however, with the people of Taiyuan petitioning to have Li Yuanji kept in charge, Emperor Gaozu restored him. (The traditional historians allege that Li Yuanji pressured the people into petitioning Emperor Gaozu.) In summer 619, Liu Wuzhou launched an attack on the Taiyuan region, and Li Yuanji sent the general Zhang Da (張達) to resist Liu, despite Zhang's protestations that the army given him

2128-464: A number of soldiers from the general Li Yi the Prince of Yan, to supplement his guard corps, against Emperor Gaozu's regulations. When this was revealed to Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Gaozu rebuked Li Jiancheng and exiled his guard commander Keda Zhi (可達志). When, subsequently, Li Jiancheng nevertheless requested the commandant at Qing Prefecture (慶州, in modern Qingyang , Gansu ), Yang Wen'gan (楊文幹), to conscript troops, presumably to guard against Li Shimin,

2280-604: A primary-school education and taught domestic skills. After National Revolutionary Army military victories in the 1925 generated great interest in Shanxi for the Kuomintang 's ideology, including women's rights , Yan allowed girls to enroll in middle school and college, where they promptly formed a women's association. Yan attempted to eradicate the custom of foot binding , threatening to sentence men who married women with bound feet, and mothers who bound their daughters' feet, to hard labor in state-run factories. He discouraged

2432-512: A princess to Ashina Rangan, in order to create greater friction between them. In 594, in response to another famine in the Guanzhong region, Emperor Wen again temporarily took up residence in Luoyang. He also, to share in some of his people's suffering, abstained from meat for a year. Late in 594, Yang Guang submitted a petition that Emperor Wen carry out the ancient ceremonies of worshipping

2584-563: A relatively high level of public order and security. Yan went to great lengths to eradicate social traditions which he considered antiquated. He insisted that all men in Shanxi abandon their Qing-era queues, giving police instructions to clip off the queues of anyone still wearing them. In one instance, Yan lured people into theatres in order to have his police systematically cut the hair of the audience. He attempted to combat widespread female illiteracy by creating in each district at least one vocational school in which peasant girls could be given

2736-438: A servant after her grandfather's defeat—and when Empress Dugu found out, she had Yuchi Jiong's granddaughter killed. Emperor Wen was exceedingly angry and rode away from the palace on a horse, returning to the palace only at the urging of Gao and Yang Su—but with Gao further angering Empress Dugu when Gao referred to her as "a woman." In 599, Gao was accused of associating with Wang Shiji and removed from his posts. Subsequently, Gao

2888-555: A small force of 6,000 men to hold off the entire Japanese army. A representative of the Japanese Army, speaking of the final defense of Taiyuan , said that "nowhere in China have the Chinese fought so obstinately". The Japanese suffered 30,000 dead and an equal number wounded in their effort to take northern Shanxi. A Japanese study found that the battles of Pingxingguan, Xinkou, and Taiyuan were responsible for over half of all

3040-542: A threat. Emperor Wen is also famous for having only two concubines . Although he might have had additional concubines not documented by traditional historians, this is the fewest for an adult Chinese emperor, surpassed only by the monogamous Emperor Fei of Western Wei and the Hongzhi Emperor of Ming. Emperor Wen loved and respected his wife Empress Dugu deeply, and he might not have had sexual relations with his concubines until after her death in 602. Yang Jian

3192-638: A three-pronged attack against Ashina Yongyulü, with Yang Liang in nominal command but not at the frontline. In response, Ashina Yongyulü and Ashina Dianjue made a joint attack against Ashina Rangan, defeating him and largely seizing his tribe. Ashina Rangan fled to Sui, and Emperor Wen treated him as an honored guest. Subsequently, both Gao Jiong and Yang Su engaged Göktürk forces and repelled them. Also in 599, with Wang Shiji's subordinate Huangfu Xiaoxie ( 皇甫孝諧 ) accusing Wang of treason after Wang refused to shield Huangfu after he committed crimes, Emperor Wen believed Huangfu and executed Wang. By this point, Yang Yong

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3344-537: A three-way split into the states of Han , Zhao , and Wei in 403 BC, a traditional date sometimes taken as the start of the Warring States period ( c.  473  – 221 BC). By 221 BC, all of these states had fallen to the state of Qin , which established the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). The Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) ruled Shanxi as the province of Bingzhou . During

3496-539: A width of 385 km (239 mi) from east to west, with a total area of 156,700 km (60,500 sq mi), accounting for 1.6% of the country's total area. Shanxi is divided into eleven prefecture-level divisions : all prefecture-level cities : The 11 prefecture-level cities of Shanxi are subdivided into 118 county-level divisions (23 districts , 11 county-level cities , and 84 counties ). Those are in turn divided into 1388 township-level divisions (561 towns , 634 townships , and 193 subdistricts ). At

3648-523: Is a province in Northwestern China . Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan , while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi and Datong . Its one-character abbreviation is 晋 ( Jìn ), after the state of Jin that existed there during the Spring and Autumn period ( c.  770  – c.  481 BC ). The name Shanxi means 'west of

3800-428: Is a parallelogram that runs from southwest to northeast. It is a typical mountain plateau widely covered by loess . The terrain is high in the northeast and low in the southwest. The interior of the plateau is undulating, the valleys are vertical and horizontal, and the types of landforms are complex and diverse. There are mountains, hills, terraces, plains, and rivers. The area of mountains and hills accounts for 80.1% of

3952-440: Is from north to south and from basin to high mountain. The annual precipitation in the whole province is between 358 and 621 mm, and the seasonal distribution is uneven. In June–August, the precipitation is relatively concentrated, accounting for about 60% of the annual precipitation, and the precipitation distribution in the province is greatly affected by the terrain. The province has a length of 682 km (424 mi) and

4104-413: Is possible that decades of Yan's socialist indoctrination may have prepared the people of Shanxi for Communist rule. After the death of Mao, the experiment was discontinued, and most peasants reverted to private farming under post-Maoist economic reforms . 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

4256-454: The Battle of Hulao , and Wang, in fear, surrendered. Li Shimin received the most honors stemming from the victory, but Li Yuanji also received promotions and honors. Subsequently, when Emperor Gaozu had the government mint new coins, there were strict prohibitions against minting by any other persons, except that Li Shimin and Li Yuanji were each granted the right to have three mints and Pei Ji

4408-549: The Grand Canal began. As a Northern Zhou official, Yang Jian served with apparent distinction during the reigns of the Emperor Wu and Emperor Xuan . When the erratic Emperor Xuan died in 580, Yang, as his father-in-law, seized power as regent. After defeating General Yuchi Jiong , who resisted him, he seized the throne for himself, establishing the new Sui dynasty. Yang Jian was the first ethnic Han ruler to control

4560-653: The Khitans destroyed Later Jin, the third. Finally, when the fifth of the Five Dynasties ( Later Zhou ) 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 , the third of the Five Dynasties, ceded a piece of northern China to

4712-658: 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 the Song dynasty's defense against the Khitans for the next 100 years because it lay south of the Great Wall . The later Zhou , the last dynasty of the Five Dynasties period was founded by Guo Wei , a Han Chinese, who served as

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4864-769: The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) which were of the same land area and borders as the previous Hedong Commandery of the Tang dynasty. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Shanxi extended north 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. For centuries, Shanxi served as

5016-574: The Northern Zhou . Ishbara therefore carried out a series of border attacks against Sui, allied with Gao Baoning ( 高寶寧 ), the former Northern Qi general who was still holding Ying Province (營州, roughly modern Zhaoyang , Liaoning ). In response, under advice from the general Zhangsun Sheng ( 長孫晟 ), Emperor Wen carried out the strategy of placating Ishbara's subordinate qaγans—his cousins Tardu ( 阿史那玷厥 ) and Apa ( 阿史那大暹便 ), and brother Ashina Chuluohou ( 阿史那處羅侯 ) – to create dissension within

5168-749: The Song dynasty and the Liao dynasty . Later the Southern Song dynasty abandoned all of North China , including Shanxi, to the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) in 1127 after the Jingkang Incident of the Jin-Song wars . The Mongol Yuan dynasty administered China into provinces but did not establish Shanxi as a province. Shanxi only gained its present name and approximate borders during

5320-587: The 13-year-old Li Zhiyun at Hedong. Even before Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and Chai Shao (who, at the urging of Li Yuan's daughter, left Chang'an on his own while she went into hiding) arrived at Taiyuan, Li Yuan rebelled, declaring that he wanted to support Emperor Yang's grandson Yang You the Prince of Dai, then nominally in charge at Chang'an, as emperor , while honoring Emperor Yang as Taishang Huang (retired emperor). In response, Sui officials arrested Li Zhiyun, took him to Chang'an, and executed him. Li Yuan made Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin both key generals, but

5472-717: The Assistant Military Commissioner at the court of the Later Han which was ruled by Shatuo Turks . He founded his dynasty by launching a military coup against the Turkic Later Han Emperor however, his newly established dynasty was short-lived and was conquered by the Song dynasty in 960. In the early years of the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127), the sixteen ceded prefectures continued to be an area of contention between

5624-514: The Crown Prince had lost the favor of both Emperor Wen and Empress Dugu, over his being overly wasteful (which displeased Emperor Wen) and having many concubines (which displeased Empress Dugu). They therefore considered deposing him and replacing him with Yang Guang. When Empress Dugu hinted as such, Gao Jiong stated clear opposition. Meanwhile, Emperor Wen himself had engaged in sexual relations with Yuchi Jiong's granddaughter, who had been made

5776-452: The Duke of Jie, but soon slaughtered all grandsons of Yuwen Tai, and eventually put the Duke of Jie to death as well. He entrusted most of the important governmental matters to his officials Gao Jiong , Yang Su , and Su Wei . Agreeing with some officials' assertions that Northern Zhou fell because its imperial princes lacked power to protect the central government, he sent his sons out to key provinces with broad powers. He further commissioned

5928-528: The Eighth Route Army and continued to advance towards Yan's capital. The lack of attention directed at their forces gave the Communists time to recruit and propagandize among the local peasant populations (who generally welcomed Communist forces enthusiastically) and to organize a network of militia units, local guerrilla bands and popular mass organizations. Genuine Communist efforts to resist

6080-735: The Guangtong Canal ( 廣通渠 ), greatly easing the transport of food and other supplies to the capital region Guanzhong . Nevertheless, on account of a famine in Guanzhong in fall 584, Emperor Wen briefly took up residence in Luoyang . In 586, the officials Liang Shiyan ( 梁士彥 ) the Duke of Cheng, Yuwen Xin ( 宇文忻 ) the Duke of Qi, and Liu Fang the Duke of Shu—all three of whom were friends of Emperor Wen but all of whom believed that they had been slighted by Emperor Wen—were accused of plotting rebellion, and all three were executed. In spring 587, continuing his canal-building regime, Emperor Wen built

6232-422: The Göktürks, and gradually, the strategy worked, causing the Göktürks to be unable to take unified actions against Sui. In 581, Emperor Wen commissioned a major attack on Chen, and while it was initially successful, Emperor Wen withdrew the attack in spring 582 after hearing that Emperor Xuan of Chen had died and believing it wrongful to attack a state whose emperor had just died. In 582, believing that Chang'an

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6384-489: The Göktürks. In spring 604, Emperor Wen, as per his custom, went to Renshou Palace to avoid the heat, despite warnings from the sorcerer Zhangchou Taiyi ( 章仇太翼 ) that if he went, he would never return. While there, he grew ill, and in fall 604, he died. He was buried at the Yangling District 's Tailing ( 泰陵 ) tumulus mausoleum, with Empress Dugu (though not in the same burial chamber). Shanxi Shanxi

6536-489: The Japanese "special forces" under Yan totaled 15,000 troops, plus an officer corps that was distributed throughout Yan's army. These numbers were reduced to 10,000 after serious American efforts to repatriate the Japanese were partially successful. Yan's Japanese army was instrumental in helping him to retain control of most of northern Shanxi during much of the subsequent Chinese Civil War , but by 1949 casualties had reduced

6688-418: The Japanese gave them the authority to carry out sweeping and radical social and economic reforms, mostly related to land and wealth redistribution, which they defended by labeling those who resisted as Hanjian . Communist efforts to resist the Japanese also won over Shanxi's small population of patriotic intellectuals, and conservative fears of resisting them effectively gave the Communists unlimited access to

6840-465: The Japanese into his service in the manner that he did, he retained both the extensive industrial complex around Taiyuan and virtually all of the managerial and technical personnel employed by the Japanese to run it. Yan was so successful in convincing surrendered Japanese to work for him that, as word spread to other areas of north China, Japanese soldiers from those areas began to converge on Taiyuan to serve his government and army. At its greatest strength

6992-594: The Japanese. During the Battle of Xinkou , the Chinese defenders resisted the efforts of Japan's elite Itakagi Division for over a month, despite Japanese advantages in artillery and air support. By the end of October 1937, Japan's losses were four times greater than those suffered at Pingxingguan, and the Itakagi Division was close to defeat. Contemporary Communist accounts called the battle "the most fierce in North China", while Japanese accounts called

7144-523: The Nationalists or the Japanese. He then negotiated a secret anti-Japanese " United Front " with the Communists in October 1936 and invited them to establish operations in Shanxi. Yan, under the slogan "resistance against the enemy and defense of the soil", attempted to recruit young, patriotic intellectuals to his government in order to organize a local resistance to the threat of Japanese invasion. By

7296-594: The Prince of Anping and Xiao Huan ( 蕭瓛 ) the Prince of Yixing instead believed that Cui was intending to attack the city, and they took the populace of the city and surrendered to the Chen general Chen Huiji ( 陳慧紀 ), the cousin to Chen's emperor Chen Shubao . In response, Emperor Wen abolished Western Liang, directly seizing its territory, while creating Emperor Jing the Duke of Ju. Emperor Wen, who had been planning to conquer Chen for years, now further enhanced his planning in earnest. In spring 588, Emperor Wen publicly announced

7448-500: The Prince of Qi and the general Wang Gui ( 王軌 ) were said to have suggested that Emperor Wu execute Yang Jian, but Emperor Wu resisted. Still, Yang Jian heard rumors and tried to hide his own talent to avoid trouble. It was not until 575 when Emperor Wu involved Yang Jian in a major campaign against rival Northern Qi . Yang Jian also participated in the 576–577 campaign that saw Emperor Wu being able to destroy Northern Qi and seize its territory. In 578, Emperor Wu died, and Yuwen Yun took

7600-652: The Prince of Wei to command a major attack against Ashina Shetu. Yang Shuang achieved a great victory, and part of his army, commanded by the general Yin Shou ( 陰壽 ), defeated Gao, forcing Gao to try to flee to the Qidan , but on the way, Gao was killed by his own subordinates, ending the last bit of Northern Qi resistance. After the defeat, the various subordinate khans further engaged in battles among themselves and against Ashina Shetu, with Sui watching by, refusing to give aid to any side. By 584, Ashina Shetu submitted to Sui, and even

7752-514: The Prince of Yue and their sons to death, and after Yuchi was defeated, he began to slaughter the Yuwen clan in earnest. He also had Emperor Jing promote his titles quickly, and he changed his surname back to Yang. Around the new year 581, his title was promoted to Prince of Sui ( 隨王 ). In spring 581, he had Emperor Jing yield the throne to him, ending Northern Zhou and establishing Sui dynasty, as its Emperor Wen. (His use of "Sui" as his new dynasty name

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7904-593: The Princess Anyi had died, and Emperor Wen married another daughter of a clansman, whom he created the Princess Yicheng ( 義成公主 ), to marry Ashina Rangan. Soon thereafter, Ashina Yongyulü was assassinated, and Ashina Dianjue declared himself Bujia Khan. In summer 600, Ashina Dianjue attacked Ashina Rangan, and Sui forces fought off Ashina Dianjue's attack, further causing Ashina Rangan to be grateful to Sui. In fall 600, with Yang Guang and Yang Su forming

8056-644: The Princess Dayi was still resentful of him, Emperor Wen had the official Pei Ju inform the cousin and subordinate khan to the Göktürks' Dulan Khan , Ashina Yongyulü, the Tuli Khan Ashina Rangan (son of Ashina Chuluohou) that he would let Ashina Rangan marry a Sui princess if Ashina Rangan was able to get Princess Dayi killed. Ashina Rangan, in response, accused Princess Dayi of adultery, and Ashina Yongyulü killed her and requested another marriage with Sui. Instead, Emperor Wen agreed to marry

8208-647: The Shanyang Canal ( 山陽瀆 ) between the Yangtze River and the Huai River to improve the transport of material between those two rivers. In fall 587, Emperor Wen summoned Western Liang's Emperor Jing to Chang'an to meet him. Emperor Jing complied with the direction. While Emperor Jing was away, however, Emperor Wen, believing that Jiangling would not be guarded well, sent his general Cui Hongdu ( 崔弘度 ) to Jiangling. Emperor Jing's uncle Xiao Yan ( 蕭巖 )

8360-425: The Sui had control. The Northern and Southern dynasties period was over, and Sui had united China. Much as how he had torn down Yecheng after Yuchi defeat, Emperor Wen tore down Jiankang, establishing only a minor garrison at the nearby Shitou as Jiang Province ( 蔣州 ). In 590, apparently jealous of the talent of the official Li Delin , who had been key in his takeover of power as regent and who had contributed to

8512-471: The Tang dynasty and after, present day Shanxi was called Hédōng ( 河東 ), or "east of the (Yellow) river". Empress Wu Zetian , one of China's only female rulers, was born in Shanxi in 624. During the first part of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960), Shanxi supplied rulers of three of the Five Dynasties. Among the Ten Kingdoms, it was the only one located in northern China. Shanxi

8664-643: The United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. The mining-related companies include Daqin Railway Co. Ltd., which runs one of the busiest and most technologically advanced railways in China, connecting Datong and Qinhuangdao exclusively for coal shipping. The revenue of Daqin Railway Co. Ltd. is among the highest among Shanxi companies due to its export of coal to Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Shanxi's nominal GDP in 2011

8816-636: The Western medical personnel he met with to discuss how to suppress the epidemic inspired him to modernize and improve Shanxi's medical infrastructure which he began by funding the Research Society for the Advancement of Chinese Medicine, based in Taiyuan, in 1921. Highly unusual in China at the time, the school had a four-year curriculum and included courses in both Chinese and Western Medicine. The main skills that Yan hoped physicians trained at

8968-439: The area around Taiyuan was a major national producer of coal, iron, chemicals, and munitions. Yan was able to protect the province from his rivals for the period of his rule partially due to his building of an arsenal in Taiyuan that, for the entire period of his administration, remained the only center in China capable of producing field artillery. Yan's army was successful in eradicating banditry in Shanxi, allowing him to maintain

9120-576: The atypical title of "Emperor Tianyuan" ( Tianyuan Huangdi ), but continued to exercise imperial powers. On one occasion, he became so suspicious of Yang Jian that he stated to Empress Yang, "I will surely slaughter your clan!" He then summoned Yang Jian to the palace, with instructions to kill him if his expressions betrayed any worries, but Yang Jian arrived without showing any unusual emotions, and avoided being killed. On another occasion, Empress Yang displeased Emperor Xuan, and Emperor Xuan ordered her to commit suicide. When Duchess Dugu heard this, she went to

9272-482: The battle a "stalemate". In an effort to save their forces at Xinkou, Japanese forces began an effort to occupy Shanxi from a second direction, in the east. After a week of fighting, Japanese forces captured the strategic Niangzi Pass , opening the way to capturing Taiyuan. Communist guerrilla tactics were ineffective in slowing down the Japanese advance. The defenders at Xinkou, realizing that they were in danger of being outflanked, withdrew southward, past Taiyuan, leaving

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9424-468: The beginning of his reign, Sui faced the threat of the Göktürks in the north, neighbored Tibetan tribes in the west, Goguryeo in the northeast, and Champa (Linyi) in the south. By the end of Emperor Wen's reign, the Göktürks had split into an eastern and a western khaganate, the eastern one being nominally submissive to Sui, as was Goguryeo. Champa was defeated and, while not conquered, did not remain

9576-502: The campaign, this precipitated a conflict between Goguryeo and Baekje. Also in 598, Cuan Wan rebelled again, and Yang Xiu accused Shi of accepting bribes from Cuan earlier. Emperor Wen considered executing Shi, but ultimately chose only to remove him from his posts, and it appeared soon after Shi was restored to his post. In 599, after Ashina Rangan reported that Ashina Yongyulü was planning to attack, Emperor Wen took preemptive action and had Gao Jiong, Yang Su, and Yan Rong ( 燕榮 ) command

9728-456: The capital. After Yang Xiu arrived at the capital, Yang Guang further manufactured evidence that Yang Xiu had cursed Emperor Wen and Yang Liang. In anger, Emperor Wen reduced Yang Xiu to commoner rank and put him under house arrest. In 603, Ashina Dianjue, faced with rebellions from the Tiele and Pugu ( 僕骨 ) tribes, surrendered to Ashina Rangan. By now, Ashina Rangan became the undisputed khan of

9880-420: The casualties suffered by the Japanese army in North China. Yan himself was forced to withdraw after having 90% of his army destroyed, including a large force of reinforcements sent into Shanxi by the central government. Throughout 1937, numerous high-ranking Communist leaders, including Mao Zedong , lavished praise on Yan for waging an uncompromising campaign of resistance against the Japanese. Possibly because of

10032-534: The center through which the Fen River runs. The highest peak is Mount Wutai (Wutai Shan) in northeastern Shanxi with an altitude of 3,058 m. The Great Wall of China forms most of the northern border with Inner Mongolia . The Zhongtiao Mountains run along part of the southern border and separate Shanxi from the east–west part of the Yellow River. Mount Hua is to the southwest. The Yellow River forms

10184-480: The chief of the aborigine people in Gui Province (桂州, roughly modern Guilin , Guangxi ), also rebelled. Emperor Wen sent the generals Wang Shiji ( 王世積 ) and Zhou Fashang ( 周法尚 ) against Li, and Zhou was able to defeat and kill Li. However, in the fall, Li Shixian ( 李世賢 ), who might have been related to Li Guangshi, rebelled at Gui Province, and Emperor Wen sent Yu Qingze the Duke of Lu to attack Li Shixian; Yu

10336-510: The city's walls, initiating bloody street-to-street fighting for control of the city. At 10:00 am, April 22, the Taiyuan Campaign ended with the Communists in complete control of Shanxi. Total Nationalist casualties amounted to all 145,000 defenders, many of whom were taken as POWs. The Communists lost 45,000 men and an unknown number of civilian laborers they had drafted, all of whom were either killed or injured. The fall of Taiyuan

10488-631: The commandant at Yi Province (roughly modern Chengdu , Sichuan ). However, just 68 days after Yuchi rose in rebellion, the general Wei Xiaokuan defeated Yuchi, and Yuchi committed suicide. Wang was also soon defeated, and Sima fled to Chen. To prevent Yuchi's headquarters at Yecheng to be used again as a base of opposition against him, Yang Jian had Yecheng (Northern Qi's old capital) torn down. During Yuchi's campaign, Zhou princes like Yuwen Xian Prince of Bi and Yuwen Zhao made attempts to assassinate Yang, but failed. In response, Yang put Yuwen Xian, Yuwen Zhao and Zhao's younger brother Yuwen Sheng ( 宇文盛 )

10640-551: The commander of the Eighth Route Army active in Shanxi and was named the vice-commander of the Second War Zone, under Yan himself. Yan initially responded warmly to the re-entry of the arrival of Communist forces, and they were greeted with enthusiasm by Yan's officials and officers. Communist forces arrived in Shanxi just in time to help defeat a decisively more powerful Japanese force attempting to move through

10792-494: The defenders due to fears of being shot down by the advancing Communists. The People's Liberation Army , depending largely on their reinforcements of artillery, launched a major assault on April 20, 1949, and succeeded in taking all positions surrounding Taiyuan by April 22. A subsequent appeal to the defenders to surrender was refused. On the morning of April 22, 1949, the PLA bombarded Taiyuan with 1,300 pieces of artillery and breached

10944-492: The designation of official music styles for Sui. In anger, He Tuo accused Su Wei of factionalism, and after investigation by Emperor Wen's son Yang Xiu and the official Yu Qingze (ted zhang), Su Wei was removed from office. After Su Wei's removal, Yang Su and Gao Jiong became effectively the co-prime ministers. When Heruo Bi, who believed that he should have been prime minister, complained, Emperor Wen removed him from his post as well and stripped him of his ducal title, but restored

11096-498: The ducal title a year later. (Su Wei, however, was back in his post at the latest by 595.) Also in 592, Emperor Wen, reacting to an overflowing abundance of food and silk in the governmental stores, reduced the taxes heavily, and he also sent messengers around central China, redistributing land to give the poor farming land. In 593, Emperor Wen commissioned a summer vacation palace, Renshou Palace (仁壽宮, in modern Linyou County , Shaanxi ), away from Chang'an , with Yang Su in charge of

11248-666: The end of 1936 Taiyuan had become a gathering point for anti-Japanese intellectuals from all over China. The Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 1937 led the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces to invade China, and Shanxi was one of the first areas the Japanese attacked. When it became clear to Yan that his forces might not be successful in repelling the Imperial Japanese Army , he invited Communist military forces to re-enter Shanxi. Zhu De became

11400-548: The end of 2017, the total population of Shanxi is 37.02 million. The Governor of Shanxi is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Shanxi. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor is subordinate to the provincial Communist Party Committee Secretary ( 中共山西省委书记 ), colloquially termed the "Shanxi Party Committee Secretary ". As is the case in almost all Chinese provinces,

11552-564: The entirety of North China after the Xianbei people conquered the region from the Liu Song dynasty (not counting the brief reconquest by Emperor Wu of Liang ). Generally speaking, Emperor Wen's reign was a great period of prosperity, not seen since the Han dynasty . Economically, the nation prospered. It was said that there was enough food stored for 50 years. The military was also powerful. At

11704-439: The eventual Princess Pingyang . In 616, with agrarian rebellions beginning to engulf northern China and frequent Eastern Tujue incursions across the border, Emperor Yang of Sui commissioned Li Yuan to be the commander of the forces at Taiyuan , guarding it against both agrarian rebels and Eastern Tujue. At that time, Li Yuan took Li Shimin with him to Taiyuan, but left Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, another son Li Zhiyun (李智雲), and

11856-445: The fact that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji had better relations with Emperor Gaozu's favored young concubines than Li Shimin did take a notable importance, since those concubines helped rehabilitate Li Jiancheng's standing before Emperor Gaozu, causing him to no longer consider making Li Shimin crown prince instead, as he considered at one point. After Liu Heita returned from Eastern Tujue and reoccupied old Xia territory, Li Jiancheng, at

12008-663: The former 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 with China's largest stockpile of nuclear missiles . Many private corporations, in joint ventures with the state-owned mining corporations, have invested billions of dollars in the mining industry of Shanxi . Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing made one of his largest investments ever in China in exploiting coal gas in Shanxi. Foreign investors include mining companies from Canada,

12160-469: The governor of Ying Province, Wei Chong ( 韋沖 ), fought off the Goguryeo attack, Emperor Wen was angered. He sent his son Yang Liang the Prince of Han and Wang Shiji to serve as commanding generals, with Gao Jiong serving as Yang Liang's assistant, and the former Chen general Zhou Luohou ( 周羅睺 ) serving as the commander of the navy, to attack Goguryeo. However, the forces ran into food supply problems, and

12312-451: The head of Yan's "Patriotic Sacrifice League", had fought for years against the Communists in Shanxi until he was finally trapped in the massively fortified city of Taiyuan. For six months Liang put up a fierce resistance, leading both Yan's remaining Republic of China Army forces and his thousands of Japanese mercenaries. When Communist troops finally broke into the city and began to occupy large sections of it, Liang barricaded himself inside

12464-458: The heaven and earth gods at Mount Tai . Emperor Wen declined to carry out a full set of ceremonies due to its costs, but in spring 595 carried out an abbreviated version to seek blessings from the gods due to the ongoing drought. Also in spring 595, Emperor Wen ordered that no weapons be held by private individuals and that all of them be collected and destroyed, although he exempted the border provinces from this edict. In 596, Emperor Wen created

12616-462: The highest-ranked provincial officials, Jin Yinhuan , died in a car accident. Since Xi Jinping 's ascendancy to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party at the 18th Party Congress , numerous highly ranked officials in Shanxi have been placed under investigation for corruption-related offenses, including four incumbent members Bai Yun , Chen Chuanping , Du Shanxue , and Nie Chunyu of

12768-517: The influence of solar radiation, monsoon circulation and geographical factors, Shanxi's climate has four distinct seasons, synchronous rain and heat, sufficient sunshine, significant climate difference between north and south, wide temperature difference between winter and summer, and large temperature difference between day and night. The annual average temperature in Shanxi Province is between 4.2 and 14.2 °C. The overall distribution trend

12920-587: The invasion of northern nomads in the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304–439), several regimes including the Later Zhao , Former Yan , Former Qin , and Later Yan continuously controlled Shanxi. 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. During

13072-528: The largest number of historic buildings among all Chinese provinces, by possessing over 70% of China's surviving buildings built during or predating the Song dynasty . Also notable are the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, which date back over 1500 years. In the Spring and Autumn period ( c.  770  – c.  481 BC ), the state of Jin was located in what is now Shanxi. It underwent

13224-474: The legally prescribed punishment was too light in comparison to the degree of misconduct. Further, also believing that there was too much theft and robbery throughout the realm, he increased the punishment for theft to death—a law that he subsequently abolished. Also in 597, Emperor Wen's son Yang Jun the Prince of Qin, the commandant at Bing Province (并州, roughly Taiyuan , Shanxi ), was poisoned, but not to death, by his jealous wife Princess Cui. After Yang Jun

13376-478: The modern Sichuan region.) Once Li Shimin left, however, Li Yuanji, Emperor Gaozu's concubines, and the chancellor Feng Deyi , all spoke on Li Jiancheng's behalf, and Emperor Gaozu changed his mind, released Li Jiancheng, and allowed him to return to Chang'an and remain as crown prince. Instead, Emperor Gaozu only blamed the discord between his sons on Li Jiancheng's staff members Wang Gui and Wei Ting (韋挺), and Li Shimin's staff member Du Yan , exiling them. Yang

13528-563: The most important in Shanxi. Shanxi also contains about 500 million tonnes of bauxite deposits, about a 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 . As part of an effort to promote diversification in non-resource industries, since 2004, some local governments in Shanxi province have required that coal mining companies set aside funds for investing in non-coal business like agriculture and produce processing. In 2006,

13680-501: The mountains', a reference to its 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. Shanxi's terrain is characterised by a plateau bounded partly by mountain ranges. Shanxi's culture is largely dominated by the ethnic Han majority, who make up over 99% of its population. Jin Chinese is considered by some linguists to be

13832-426: The next morning, convening the senior officials Pei Ji, Xiao Yu , and Chen Shuda to examine Li Shimin's accusations. As Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji approached the central gate leading to Emperor Gaozu's palace, Xuanwu Gate (玄武門), Li Shimin carried out the ambush he had set. He personally fired an arrow that killed Li Jiancheng. Subsequently, Li Yuanji tried to kill Li Shimin, but Yuchi killed Li Yuanji instead during

13984-451: The number of Japanese soldiers under Yan's command to 3,000. The leader of the Japanese under Yan's command, Hosaku Imamura, committed suicide on the day that Taiyuan fell to Communist forces. Yan Xishan himself (along with most of the provincial treasury) was airlifted out of Taiyuan in March 1949. Shortly afterwards Republic of China Air Force planes stopped dropping food and supplies for

14136-412: The officers Erzhu Huan (爾朱煥) and Qiao Gongshan (橋公山) informed Emperor Gaozu that Li Jiancheng was encouraging Yang to start a rebellion so that they could seize power together. Emperor Gaozu, then at Renzhi Palace (仁智宮, in modern Tongchuan , Shaanxi ), was incensed, and summoned Li Jiancheng, then at Chang'an, to Renzhi Palace. Li Jiancheng briefly flirted the idea of occupying Chang'an and not accepting

14288-514: The official Pei Zheng ( 裴政 ) to carry out a project of simplifying the penal code and decrease the penalty from the harsh laws—a reform that was later largely accepted by the succeeding dynasties. Emperor Wen did not maintain as submissive a relationship with the Göktürks, which brought resentment from the Göktürks' Ishbara Qaghan . The qaγan's wife, the Xianbei princess Qianjin , Yuwen Zhao's daughter, particularly hated Emperor Wen for destroying

14440-690: The operations against Xu. Meanwhile, however, Liu returned from Eastern Tujue and again occupied Dou's old territory, and Li Yuanji was not able to stop him. Meanwhile, an intense rivalry had developed between Li Jiancheng, who as the oldest son was Emperor Gaozu's crown prince , and Li Shimin, as Li Jiancheng, while a capable general himself, was overshadowed by Li Shimin, who had done much to solidify Tang rule by destroying Liu Wuzhou, Wang Shichong, Dou Jiande, and Xue Rengao . Li Yuanji supported Li Jiancheng in this rivalry, as he believed that if Li Jiancheng became emperor, Li Jiancheng would create him crown prince. Since their mother Duchess Dou had died in 614,

14592-416: The order, but eventually reported to Renzhi Palace to request forgiveness. Emperor Gaozu put him under arrest. When Yang heard this, Yang rebelled, and Emperor Gaozu, after promising Li Shimin that he would be made crown prince, sent Li Shimin to attack Yang. (Under Emperor Gaozu's promise, Li Jiancheng would be removed as crown prince and created the Prince of Shu instead. He would then send Li Jiancheng to

14744-510: The palace to beg Emperor Xuan's forgiveness, and Emperor Xuan eventually spared Empress Yang. In summer 581, with Emperor Xuan intending to conquer Chen dynasty , he sent Yang Jian to be the commandant at Yang Province (揚州, roughly modern Lu'an , Anhui ) to prepare for the campaign against Chen. Before Yang Jian could depart, however, Emperor Xuan suddenly grew seriously ill. Two of Emperor Xuan's close associates, Liu Fang ( 劉昉 ) and Zheng Yi ( 鄭譯 ), who were friends of Yang's, summoned Yang to

14896-561: The palace to prepare to serve as regent, overriding the desire of another closet associate, Yan Zhiyi ( 顏之儀 ), to have Emperor Xuan's uncle Yuwen Zhao ( 宇文招 ) the Prince of Zhao appointed regent. Emperor Xuan soon died, and Zheng and Liu issued an edict in Emperor Xuan's name appointing Yang regent. Yang immediately pleased the officials at the capital by abolishing the wastefulness and cruel policies of Emperor Xuan, and he himself demonstrated both hard work and frugality, which impressed

15048-468: The people. Fearful of the intentions of the general Yuchi Jiong , who was then the commandant at Xiang Province (相州, roughly modern Handan , Hebei ), he summoned Yuchi back to the capital. Yuchi, however, refused, and believing that Yang's intentions were to usurp the throne, rose at Xiang Province against Yang. He was supported by the generals Sima Xiaonan ( 司馬消難 ), the commandant at Xun Province (勛州, roughly modern Xiaogan , Hubei ) and Wang Qian ( 王謙 ),

15200-607: The plan. By 626, Li Shimin was fearful that he would be killed by Li Jiancheng, and his staff members Fang Xuanling , Du Ruhui , and Zhangsun Wuji were repeatedly encouraging Li Shimin to attack Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji first—while Wei Zheng was encouraging Li Jiancheng to attack Li Shimin first. Li Jiancheng persuaded Emperor Gaozu to remove Fang and Du, as well as Li Shimin's trusted guard officers Yuchi Gong and Cheng Zhijie (程知節), from Li Shimin's staff. Zhangsun, who remained on Li Shimin's staff, continued to try to persuade Li Shimin to attack first. In summer 626, Eastern Tujue

15352-409: The project. The palace was far more luxurious than Emperor Wen expected, and its construction cost many lives. (When it was completed in spring 595 and Emperor Wen visited the palace, he was initially very displeased with Yang Su, but Empress Dugu persuaded him that Yang Su knew that he had little other entertainment, and she awarded Yang Su much treasure to show appreciation.) Also in 593, knowing that

15504-484: The province as many as one in five residents were denounced as landlords, and his program was copied throughout the rest of the new People's Republic of China . Shanxi became the site of Mao's "model brigade" of Dazhai : a utopian communist scheme in Xiyang County that was supposed to be the model for all other peasants in China to emulate. If the people of Dazhai were especially suited for such an experiment, it

15656-464: The province. He has been viewed by Western biographers as a transitional figure who advocated using Western technology to protect Chinese traditions, while at the same time reforming older political, social and economic conditions in a way that paved the way for the radical changes that would occur after his rule. In 1918 there was an outbreak of bubonic plague in northern Shanxi that lasted for two months and killed 2,664 people. Yan's interactions with

15808-424: The provincial Communist Party Standing Committee. They were all removed from office around August 2014. The following were also removed from office: Thousands of Shanxi officials were disciplined during the anti-corruption campaign under Xi Jinping . This necessitated a scramble to find find suitable personnel for many vacated offices. In the aftermath of the 'political earthquake', party secretary Yuan Chunqing

15960-415: The provincial government established a policy of "subsidizing peasants by coal" which made this diversification a provincewide requirement and encouraged local governments to develop policies like subsidies and favorable tax treatment to further encourage mining companies to invest in non-coal business. There are countless military-related industries in Shanxi due to its geographic location and history as

16112-464: The provincial party secretary and Governor are not natives of Shanxi; rather, they are outsiders who are, in practice, appointed by the central party and government authorities. The province went through significant political instability since 2004, due largely to the number of scandals that have hit the province on labour safety, the environment, and the interconnected nature between the provincial political establishment and big coal companies. Yu Youjun

16264-512: The rebellions, and the rebels were no match for Yang Su; within the year, the rebellions were put down. In 591, Tuyuhun sought peace and, as per custom, its khan Murong Shifu ( 慕容世伏 ) offered his daughter to be a concubine for Emperor Wen. Emperor Wen accepted the peace offer but declined the offer of Murong Shifu's daughter. (It was, however, around this time that he did take Chen Shubao's sister and another woman from Jiankang, Consort Cai, as concubines, although it appeared likely that Consort Cai

16416-439: The region.) In 621, with Li Shimin leading the army in besieging Luoyang , the capital of Wang Shichong 's rival Zheng state, Li Yuanji served as Li Shimin's assistant. When subsequently another rival ruler, Dou Jiande the Prince of Xia, came to Wang's aid, Li Shimin left Li Yuanji at Luoyang to continue the siege and to watch Wang, while he himself advanced to Hulao Pass to engage Dou. Li Shimin defeated and captured Dou at

16568-620: The reign of Emperor Ming's brother Emperor Wu , Yang Jian was further promoted in military authority. After Yang Zhong's death in 568, he inherited the title of Duke of Sui. In 573, Emperor Wu took Yang Jian's daughter Yang Lihua to be the wife and crown princess of his son Yuwen Yun the Crown Prince , and further honored Yang Jian. It was said that, however, that Yang Jian was so unusual in his appearance that some of Emperor Wu's close associates suspected Yang Jian of eventually harboring treasonous intent. Both Emperor Wu's brother Yuwen Xian

16720-513: The resentful Princess Qianjin referred to Emperor Wen as "father." He created her the Princess Dayi. In summer 584, believing that the Wei River , on account of its sandbars and treacherous waters, was becoming too difficult of a route for food transport to Daxing, commissioned the official Yuwen Kai ( 宇文愷 ) to construct a canal between Daxing and Tong Pass , parallel to the Wei River, named

16872-546: The rest of his household at Hedong (河東, in modern Yuncheng , Shanxi ). In 617, Li Yuan, fearful that Emperor Yang might punish him for his inability to suppress the rebels led by Liu Wuzhou the Dingyang Khan, was persuaded by Li Shimin to rebel against Sui rule. He then sent secret messengers to Hedong to summon his sons and to the capital Chang'an to summon his daughter and son-in-law Chai Shao (柴紹). Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji secretly travelled to Taiyuan, but left

17024-420: The rural population. Subsequent atrocities committed by the Japanese in the effort to rid Shanxi of Communist guerrillas aroused the hatred of millions in the Shanxi countryside, causing the rural population to turn to the Communists for leadership against the Japanese. All of these factors explain how, within a year of re-entering Shanxi, the Communists were able to take control of most of Shanxi not firmly held by

17176-410: The school would learn were: a standardized system of diagnosis; sanitary science, including bacteriology ; surgical skills, including obstetrics ; and, the use of diagnostic instruments. Yan hoped that his support of the school would eventually lead to increased revenues in the domestic and international trade of Chinese drugs, improved public health , and improved public education . Yan's promotion of

17328-607: The severity of his losses in northern Shanxi, Yan abandoned a plan of defense based on positional warfare, and began to reform his army as a force capable of waging guerrilla warfare. After 1938 most of Yan's followers came to refer to his regime as a "guerrilla administration". After the surrender of Japan and the end of the Second World War , Yan Xishan was notable for his ability to recruit thousands of Japanese soldiers stationed in northwest Shanxi in 1945, including their commanding officers, into his army. By recruiting

17480-408: The ships ran into a storm and suffered great losses. Both at sea and on the ground, Goguryeo forces inflicted heavy losses on the Sui forces. Nevertheless, King Yeongyang ceased his raids into China and so Emperor Wen called off the campaign against Goguryeo, unable to commit yet another enormous force to punish Goguryeo after the recent losses. As King Wideok of Baekje offered assistance to Sui during

17632-517: The south. Su Wei further wrote a work known as the Five Teachings (五教, Wu Jiao ) which is no longer extant but thought to be a work about loyalty to Sui and ordered that all former Chen subjects read and memorize it, leading to further resentment. When a rumor spread that Sui would move Chen subjects into the Guanzhong region in 590, nearly all of former Chen realm rose in rebellion, but in an unorganized manner. Emperor Wen sent Yang Su to quell

17784-418: The strategic Pingxing Pass . The Battle of Pingxingguan was the largest battle won by the Communists against the Japanese. After the Japanese responded to this defeat by outflanking the defenders and moving towards Taiyuan , the Communists avoided decisive battles and mostly attempted to harass Japanese forces and sabotage Japanese lines of supply and communication. The Japanese suffered, but mostly ignored

17936-444: The strategies in conquering Chen, Emperor Wen, believing in several false accusations against Li, removed Li from his office and made him a provincial governor. Li would not return to the central government for the rest of his life. After Chen was conquered, Sui began to apply its laws over Chen's former territory—which brought resentment from the gentry, as they had been treated preferentially under Chen and its predecessor dynasties in

18088-443: The struggle. Li Shimin's forces entered the palace and, under the intimidation of Li Shimin's forces, Emperor Gaozu agreed to create Li Shimin crown prince, and two months later passed the throne to him (as Emperor Taizong). Li Yuanji's five sons were all executed as well. Emperor Taizong also took Li Yuanji's wife Princess Yang as a concubine. Li Yuanji was initially posthumously reduced to commoner rank. After Emperor Taizong took

18240-567: The subsequent civil war made it impossible to carry these plans out. Yan's generous support for the Research Association for the Improvement of Chinese Medicine generated a body of teaching and publication in modern Chinese medicine that became one of the foundations of the national institution of modern traditional Chinese medicine that was adopted in the 1950s. Yan invested in Shanxi's industrial infrastructure, and by 1949

18392-447: The suggestion of his staff members Wang Gui and Wei Zheng , volunteered to lead the army against Liu. Emperor Gaozu thus sent Li Jiancheng, assisted by Li Yuanji, against Liu. Around the new year 623, with Liu's forced bogged down while attacking Tang's Wei Prefecture (魏州, in modern Handan , Hebei ), Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji engaged him at Guantao (館陶, in modern Handan as well), crushing him. Liu fled north toward Eastern Tujue, but

18544-404: The throne as Emperor Xuan. Emperor Xuan immediately began to show erratic behavior, and while he created Yang Jian's daughter Crown Princess Yang empress , he suspected Yang Jian deeply, although he made Yang Jian the minister of defense. In 579, Emperor Xuan passed the throne to his young son Yuwen Chan (by his concubine Consort Zhu Manyue ) (as Emperor Jing) and became retired emperor (with

18696-575: The throne, he posthumously created Li Yuanji the Prince of Hailing, with the unflattering posthumous name of La (meaning "ungrateful"). In 642, Emperor Taizong changed Li Yuanji's posthumous title to the greater title of Prince of Chao, and adopted his own son, by Consort Yang (Li Yuanji's widow), Li Ming (李明) the Prince of Cao (note difference in title) into Li Yuanji's line, as Li Yuanji's heir. Emperor Wen of Sui Emperor Wen of Sui ( 隋文帝 ; 21 July 541 – 13 August 604 ), personal name Yang Jian ( 楊堅 ), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian ( 普六茹堅 ),

18848-440: The title of the Duke of Chengji County ( 成紀縣公 ). In 557, Dugu Xin , impressed with Yang Jian, gave his daughter, Empress Dugu Qieluo, to Yang and made her his wife. He was 16, and she was 13. After Yuwen Tai's son Emperor Ming of Northern Zhou came to the throne later that year, Yang Jian was made the vice minister of internal affairs, and he was created the greater title of Duke of Daxing Commandery ( 大興郡公 ). Subsequently, during

19000-530: The total area of the province, and the area of Pingchuan and river valleys accounts for 19.9% of the total area. Most of the province's altitude is above 1,500 meters, and the highest point is the Yedoufeng, the main peak of Wutai Mountain , with an altitude of 3061.1 meters, which is the highest peak in northern China. Shanxi is located in the inland of the mid-latitude zone and belongs to the temperate continental monsoon climate in terms of climate type. Due to

19152-500: The use of the traditional lunar calendar and encouraged the development of local boy scout organizations . Like the Communists who later succeeded Yan, he punished habitual lawbreakers to "redemption through labour" in state-run factories. After the failed attempt by the Chinese Red Army to establish bases in southern Shanxi in early 1936 Yan became convinced that the Communists were lesser threats to his rule than either

19304-458: The western border of Shanxi with Shaanxi . The Fen and Qin rivers, tributaries of the Yellow River, 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

19456-509: The younger Li Yuanji was not, initially, although Li Yuan created him the Duke of Guzang. When Li Yuan subsequently began his campaign toward Chang'an, he left Li Yuanji in charge at Taiyuan. Later that year, after he captured Chang'an and declared Yang You emperor (as Emperor Gong) but kept power for himself as regent , he created Li Yuanji the Duke of Qi and put him in charge of the 15 commanderies around Taiyuan. In spring 618, Emperor Yang, then at Jiangdu (江都, in modern Yangzhou , Jiangsu ),

19608-532: Was Lady Lü, who gave birth to him in a Buddhist temple in Pingyi (馮翊, in modern Weinan , Shaanxi ). A Buddhist nun was impressed with Yang Jian's appearance, and raised him in his early years. Yang Jian attended the imperial college for the sons of the nobility and high officials. When he was 14 years old, he was appointed to serve in the military under Yuwen Tai. In 555, on account of Yang Zhong's accomplishments, Yang Jian received several official ranks, including

19760-542: Was a member of the northwestern Chinese military aristocracy which had arisen during the previous period of division, and he had served as a general under the Xianbei -led Northern Zhou . Yang Jian's family was the Yang clan of Hongnong ( 弘農楊氏 ), which had Han origins but had intermarried with the Xianbei for generations. Yang Jian's clan specifically claimed descent from the Han dynasty general Yang Zhen. Yang Zhen's eighth-generation descendant Yang Xuan ( 楊鉉 ) served as

19912-497: Was accused of cursing Emperor Wen, but when the sentence of death was recommended, Emperor Wen commented that he could not kill Gao soon after killing Yu and Wang, and therefore only reduced Gao to commoner rank. In winter 599, Emperor Wen created Ashina Rangan Qimin Khan, and commissioned Zhangsun Sheng to build the city of Dali (大利, in modern Hohhot) to house Ashian Rangan's people, and also sent an army to protect Ashina Rangan. By now,

20064-582: Was advancing from the west down the Yangtze, and Yang Jun was stationed in the middle Yangtze region, cutting off any Chen forces that might have been able to come to the aid of Chen's capital Jiankang . Heruo soon defeated and captured the Chen general Xiao Mohe , who was making a final attempt to repel Heruo and Han's forces from Jiankang, and Jiankang fell immediately after. Chen Shubao was captured but not harmed. Rather, he and his clan members were transported to Chang'an, where Emperor Wen treated them as honored guests. Some Chen generals briefly resisted, but soon

20216-452: Was ambushed and captured by his own official Zhuge Dewei (諸葛德威), who delivered him to Li Jiancheng. Li Jiancheng executed Liu. China was by this point almost completely unified by Tang. At one point, Li Yuanji tried to persuade Li Jiancheng to have Li Shimin assassinated when Li Shimin was visiting Li Yuanji's mansion, but Li Jiancheng, not having the heart to kill a brother, stopped Li Yuanji from doing so. In 624, Li Jiancheng requisitioned

20368-440: Was granted the right to have one mint. Later that year, when Dou's general Liu Heita rose in resistance to Tang rule and took over all of Dou's former territory, Li Shimin and Li Yuanji were sent against him. Li Shimin defeated Liu in spring 622, forcing Liu to flee to Eastern Tujue. Subsequently, they attacked another rebel leader, Xu Yuanlang the Prince of Lu, when Li Shimin returned to Chang'an and left Li Yuanji in charge of

20520-435: Was greatly saddened. Thereafter, he began to engage in sexual relations with his concubines, favoring Consort Chen and Consort Cai. Also in 602, Yang Guang, believing that Yang Xiu would eventually create trouble for him, had Yang Su collect evidence of Yang Xiu's wastefulness and use of items that were only appropriate for emperors. Yang Su submitted the evidence to Emperor Wen, and Emperor Wen, in anger, recalled Yang Xiu to

20672-437: Was initially home to the jiedushi (commander) of Hedong, Li Cunxu , who overthrew the first of the Five Dynasties, Later Liang (907–923) to establish the second, Later Tang (923–936). Another jiedushi of Hedong, Shi Jingtang , overthrew Later Tang to establish the third of the Five Dynasties, Later Jin , and yet another jiedushi of Hedong, Liu Zhiyuan , established the fourth of the Five Dynasties ( Later Han ) after

20824-832: Was killed in a coup led by the general Yuwen Huaji . When the news arrived at Chang'an, Li Yuan had Yang You yield the throne to him, establishing the Tang dynasty as its Emperor Gaozu. He created Li Yuanji the Prince of Qi. It was said that, while he was at Taiyuan, Li Yuanji was arrogant and wasteful, and he often held military exercises with his concubines and servants, involving use of actual armor and arms, and they suffered many casualties in these exercises, including injuries to Li Yuanji himself. His wet nurse Chen Shanyi (陳善意) tried to get him to change his ways, but he had his guards batter her to death. In spring 619, when his assistant Yuwen Xin (宇文歆) reported this to Emperor Gaozu, Emperor Gaozu temporarily removed him from his post. Less than

20976-762: Was making another attack, and under Li Jiancheng's suggestion, Emperor Gaozu, instead of sending Li Shimin to resist Eastern Tujue as he first was inclined, decided to send Li Yuanji instead. Li Yuanji was given command of much of the army previously under Li Shimin's control, further troubling Li Shimin, who believed that with the army in Li Yuanji's hands, he would be unable to resist an attack. Li Shimin had Yuchi summon Fang and Du back to his mansion secretly, and then on one night submitted an accusation to Emperor Gaozu that Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were committing adultery with Emperor Gaozu's concubines. Emperor Gaozu, in response, issued summonses to Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji for

21128-709: Was mostly dominated by the warlord Yan Xishan until the Chinese Communist Party took full control in 1949; Communists had already set up secret bases in 1936, but did not completely overturn Yan and the Nationalist government until 1949. Early in Yan's rule he decided that, unless he was able to modernize and revive the economy of his small, poor, remote province, he would be unable to protect Shanxi from rival warlords. Yan devoted himself to modernizing Shanxi and developing its resources during his reign over

21280-406: Was never able to have sexual relations with Emperor Wen while Empress Dugu was alive; Consort Chen , as the sister of a submissive former sovereign, might have had sexual relations with Emperor Wen on an infrequent basis, but it is not clear.) In spring 592, the official He Tuo ( 何妥 ), who, despite his senior status over Su Wei's son Su Kui ( 蘇夔 ), was losing out against Su Kui over a debate as to

21432-487: Was one of the few examples in the Chinese Civil War in which Nationalist forces echoed the defeated Ming loyalists who had, in the 17th century, brought entire cities to ruins resisting the invading Manchus. Many Nationalist officers were reported to have committed suicide when the city fell. The dead included Yan's nephew-in-law, who was serving as governor, and his cousin, who ran his household. Liang Huazhi ,

21584-546: Was overly severe, Emperor Wen responded to Yang Su: Also in 597, Ashina Rangan arrived at Chang'an, and Emperor Wen gave him the daughter of a clansman, whom he created the Princess Anyi, to be his wife, and awarded Ashina Rangan with much treasure, to try to break the bond between him and Ashina Yongyulü. From this point on, whenever Ashina Yongyulü would prepare to attack, Ashina Rangan would report his plans to Emperor Wen, allowing Sui forces to become prepared. In 598, King Yeongyang of Goguryeo attacked Ying Province, and while

21736-647: Was removed from his post in September 2014, with Wang Rulin 'helicoptered' into the provincial Party Secretary office. The GDP per capita of Shanxi is below the national average. Compared to the provinces in east China, Shanxi is less developed for many reasons. Its geographic location limits its participation in international trade, which involves mostly eastern coastal provinces. Important crops in Shanxi include wheat , maize , millet , legumes , and potatoes . The local climate and dwindling water resources limit agriculture in Shanxi. Mining-related industries are

21888-619: Was sending his confidants to Luoyang to build up personal control of the army there. After an incident in which Li Shimin suffered a severe case of food poisoning after feasting at Li Jiancheng's palace—an event that both Emperor Gaozu and Li Shimin apparently interpreted as an assassination attempt—Emperor Gaozu considered sending Li Shimin to guard Luoyang to prevent further conflict, but Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji, after consulting each other, believed that this would only give Li Shimin an opportunity to build up his personal power there, and therefore opposed it. Emperor Gaozu therefore did not carry out

22040-571: Was sent by the central government in 2005 to become Governor but resigned in the wake of the Shanxi slave labour scandal in 2007. He was succeeded by Meng Xuenong , who had been previously sacked as Mayor of Beijing in the aftermath of the SARS outbreak. Meng himself was removed from office in 2008 after only a few months on the job due to the political fallout from the 2008 Shanxi mudslide . In 2008, provincial Political Consultative Conference Chair, one of

22192-434: Was subsequently assassinated by his own subordinates. Later that year, Emperor Gaozu, troubled by repeated Eastern Tujue incursions, seriously considered burning Chang'an to the ground and moving the capital to Fancheng (樊城, in modern Xiangfan , Hubei ), a suggestion that Li Jiancheng, Li Yuanji, and the chancellor Pei Ji agreed with. Li Shimin opposed, however, and the plan was not carried out. Meanwhile, Li Shimin himself

22344-441: Was successful in suppressing the rebellion. Subsequently, however, Yu's brother-in-law Zhao Shizhu ( 趙什住 ), who had an affair with Yu's concubine, falsely accused Yu of treason, and around the new year 598, Yu was executed. Also in 597, Emperor Wen felt that the punishment for official misconduct was too light, and authorized that supervising officials would be permitted to batter their subordinates with large canes if they felt that

22496-429: Was taken back to Chang'an for treatment, Emperor Wen discovered that Yang Jun had been wasteful at his post, and removed him from all of his offices, allowing him to only retain the title of imperial prince. When Princess Cui's poisoning was discovered, Emperor Wen ordered Yang Jun to divorce her, and subsequently ordered her to commit suicide. When Liu Sheng ( 劉昇 ) and Yang Su suggested that the punishment against Yang Jun

22648-582: Was the founding emperor of the Chinese Sui dynasty . As a Buddhist, he encouraged the spread of Buddhism through the state. He is regarded as one of the most important emperors in Chinese history, reunifying China proper in 589 after centuries of division since the independence of the Cheng-Han and Han-Zhao dynasties from the Western Jin dynasty in 304. During his reign, the construction of

22800-534: Was too small of a city, Emperor Wen built a new capital nearby, which he named Daxing, and in spring 583 he moved the capital to Daxing. (From that point forward, Daxing and Chang'an became interchangeable names, although by the time of succeeding Tang dynasty , the new capital was known again just as Chang'an.) Also in 582, Emperor Wen, thankful for the refusal by the vassal Emperor Ming of Western Liang to support Yuchi Jiong in 580, withdrew his forces from Western Liang 's capital Jiangling , permitting Western Liang

22952-488: Was too small to resist Liu. When Zhang was in fact defeated, he surrendered to Liu and served as Liu's guide in subsequent attacks. Liu soon put Taiyuan under siege, and while Li Yuanji initially repelled him, Liu was soon back and again had Taiyuan under siege. In fall 619, Li Yuanji fled with his wife and concubines back to Chang'an, and Liu captured Taiyuan, moving his capital from Mayi (馬邑, in modern Shuozhou , Shanxi ) there. (In 620, Li Shimin defeated Liu and recaptured

23104-1324: Was typical of Chinese historical dynastic transitions—using the old fief name as the new dynasty's name—but he, believing that the character for his fief Sui ( 隨 ) to contain a "辶" radical , denoting "walking" and therefore a lack of permanence in the regime, removed "辶" from the character, rendering it "隋".) The Book of Sui records Emperor Wen as having withdrawn his favour from the Confucians , giving it to "the group advocating Legalism and authoritarian government." Emperor Wen abolished Northern Zhou's governmental organization of six departments, instead establishing five main bureaus—executive bureau ( Shangshu Sheng ( 尚書省) ), examination bureau ( Menxia Sheng ( 門下省) ), legislative bureau ( Neishǐ Sheng ( 內史省) ), Palace Library , and eunuch bureau ( Neishì Sheng (內侍省—note different tone and character versus 'legislative bureau')), with two additional independent agencies, 11 other independent departments, and 12 military commands. He posthumously honored his father Yang Zhong and mother Lady Lü as emperor and empress. He created his wife Duchess Dugu empress and their oldest son Yang Yong crown prince; he created his brothers and his other sons imperial princes. He initially created Northern Zhou's Emperor Jing

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