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Wudi County ( simplified Chinese : 无棣县 ; traditional Chinese : 無棣縣 ; pinyin : Wúdì Xiàn ) is a county in the northwest of Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei province to the northwest and the Bohai Sea to the north. It is the northernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Binzhou .

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101-529: The population in 2020 was 465,837. As 2012, this County is divided to 2 subdistricts, 8 towns and 2 townships. This Shandong location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Shandong Shandong is a coastal province in East China . Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of

202-510: A Chenggu -style dagger-axe at Xiaohenan demonstrates that even at this early stage of Chinese history, there were some ties between the distant areas of north China. The Panlongcheng site in the middle Yangtze valley was an important regional centre of the Erligang culture. Accidental finds elsewhere in China have revealed advanced civilisations contemporaneous with but culturally unlike

303-725: A black bird and subsequently gave birth miraculously to Xie . Xie is said to have helped Yu the Great to control the Great Flood and for his service to have been granted a place called Shang as a fief. The period before the Shang dynasty was established is known as the " Predynastic Shang " (or "Proto-Shang"). In the Annals of the Yin , Sima Qian writes that the dynasty was founded 13 generations after Xie, when Xie's descendant Tang overthrew

404-502: A date first established by Sima Qian . Attempts to establish earlier dates have been plagued by doubts about the origin and transmission of traditional texts and the difficulties in their interpretation. More recent attempts have compared the traditional histories with archaeological and astronomical data. At least 44 dates for the end of the dynasty have been proposed, ranging from 1130 to 1018 BC. The oldest extant direct records date from c.  1250 BC at Anyang, covering

505-431: A few hundred humans and horses as well to accompany the king into the afterlife, in some cases even numbering four hundred. Finally, tombs included ornaments such as jade, which the Shang may have believed to protect against decay or confer immortality. The Shang religion was highly bureaucratic and meticulously ordered. Oracle bones contained descriptions of the date, ritual, person, ancestor, and questions associated with

606-479: A force of about a thousand troops at his capital and would personally lead this force into battle. A rudimentary military bureaucracy was also needed in order to muster forces ranging from three to five thousand troops for border campaigns to thirteen thousand troops for suppressing rebellions. The earliest records are the oracle bones inscribed during the reigns of the Shang kings from Wu Ding . Oracle bone inscriptions do not contain king lists, but they do record

707-462: A height of 8 m (26 ft), and formed a roughly rectangular wall 7 km (4 mi) around the ancient city. The rammed earth construction of these walls was an inherited tradition, since much older fortifications of this type have been found at Chinese Neolithic sites of the Longshan culture ( c.  3000  – c.  2000 BC }. In 2022, excavation of an elite tomb inside

808-473: A large labour force that could handle the mining, refining, and transportation of the necessary copper, tin, and lead ores. This in turn created a need for official managers that could oversee both labourers and skilled artisans and craftsmen. The Shang royal court and aristocrats required a vast number of different bronze vessels for various ceremonial purposes and events of religious divination. Ceremonial rules even decreed how many bronze containers of each type

909-526: A noble of a certain rank could own. With the increased amount of bronze available, the army could also better equip itself with an assortment of bronze weaponry. Bronze was also used for the fittings of spoke-wheeled chariots , which appeared in China around 1200 BC. The Shang dynasty entered into prolonged conflicts with northern frontier tribes called the Guifang . Bronze weapons were an integral part of Shang society. Shang infantry were armed with

1010-470: A quintessential part of the late Shang ritual complex. Chinese historians were accustomed to the notion of one dynasty succeeding another, and readily identified the Erligang and Erlitou sites with the early Shang and Xia dynasty of traditional histories. The actual political situation in early China may have been more complicated, with the Xia and Shang being political entities that existed concurrently, just as

1111-525: A rocky coastline with cliffs, bays, and islands; Laizhou Bay , the southernmost of the 3 bays of the Bohai Sea , is bordering the northern coast between Dongying and Penglai ; Jiaozhou Bay , which is much smaller, is surrounded by Qingdao . The Miaodao Islands extends northwards from the northernmost coast of the peninsula, separating the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea . With Jinan serving as

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1212-614: A small army. According to these legends, he founded a state known as Gija Joseon in northwest Korea during the Gojoseon period of ancient Korean history. However, scholars debate the historical accuracy of these legends. Before the 20th century, the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 BC) was the earliest that could be verified from its own records. However, during the Song dynasty (960–1279), antiquarians collected bronze ritual vessels attributed to

1313-533: A variety of stone and bronze weaponry, including spears, pole-axes, pole-based dagger-axes, composite bows, and bronze or leather helmets. Although the Shang depended upon the military skills of their nobility, Shang rulers could mobilise the masses of town-dwelling and rural commoners as conscript labourers and soldiers for both campaigns of defence and conquest. Aristocrats and other state rulers were obligated to furnish their local garrisons with all necessary equipment, armour, and armaments. The Shang king maintained

1414-643: Is 550 to 950 mm (22 to 37 in), the vast majority of which occurs during summer, due to monsoonal influences. Shandong is part of the Eastern Block of the North China craton . Beginning in the Mesozoic , Shandong has undergone a crustal thinning that is unusual for a craton and that has reduced the thickness of the crust from 200 km (120 mi) to as little as 80 km (50 mi). Shandong has hence experienced extensive volcanism in

1515-793: Is Weihai Port, and the airport closest to the zone is Wuhai Airport. Weihai Export & Processing Zone (EPZ) was set up by the approval of the State Council on April 27, 2000. Weihai EPZ is located in Weihai Economic & Technological Development Zone with programmed area of 2.6 km (1.0 sq mi). Weihai EPZ belongs to comprehensive export & processing zone. The EPZ is located 30 km (19 mi) to Weihai Airport, 3 km (1.9 mi) to Weihai railway station and 4 km (2.5 mi) to Weihai Harbor. Shang dynasty The Shang dynasty ( Chinese : 商朝 ; pinyin : Shāng cháo ), also known as

1616-415: Is also close to Qingdao Qianwan Container Terminal . At present, more than 40 foreign-invested enterprises have moved in, and 2000 projects have been approved. It is one of the special economic areas which enjoys the most favorable investment policies on customs, foreign exchange, foreign trade, and taxation in China. The State Council approved Qingdao High-Tech Industrial Development Zone in 1992. The zone

1717-590: Is around the national average. Shandong is one of China's leading provinces in education and research. It has 153 higher education institutions , ranking second in East China after Jiangsu and fourth among all Chinese first-level divisions after Jiangsu, Guangdong and Henan . As of 2023 , the Nature Index ranked Jinan ranked 32nd and Qingdao 43rd in the top 50 cities in the world by scientific research output. Shandong's name literally means 'east of

1818-489: Is located close to Qingdao Liuting Airport and Qingdao Harbor. Encouraged industries include electronic information, biotechnology, medicine, new materials, new energy, advanced equipment manufacturing, marine science & technology, national defense technology. Established in August 1995, Weifang Binhai Economic & Technological Development Area (BEDA) is a national economic and technological development area approved by

1919-600: Is now modern Shandong: Qingzhou ( 青州 ) in the north and Yanzhou ( 兗州 ) in the south. During the Three Kingdoms period, Shandong was part of the northern kingdom of Cao Wei , which ruled over northern China. After the Three Kingdoms period, a brief period of unity under the Western Jin dynasty gave way to invasions by nomadic peoples from the north. Northern China, including Shandong, was overrun. Over

2020-470: Is the world's sixth-most populous subnational entity , and China's second-most populous province . The economy of Shandong is China's third-largest provincial economy with a GDP of CN¥8.3 trillion (US$ 1.3 trillion) in 2021, equivalent to the GDP of Mexico. If considered among sovereign states, Shandong would rank as the 15th-largest economy and the 15th-most populous as of 2021 . Its GDP per capita

2121-608: Is the biggest industrial producer and one of the top manufacturing provinces in China. Shandong has also benefited from South Korean and Japanese investment and tourism, due to its geographical proximity to those countries. The richest part of the province is the Shandong Peninsula , where the city of Qingdao is home to three of the most well-known brand names of China: Tsingtao Beer , Haier and Hisense . Besides, Dongying 's oil fields and petroleum industries form an important component of Shandong's economy. Despite

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2222-675: Is the highest organ of state power in Shandong province and Shandong's provincial legislature. Its standing committee exercises the majority of the power of The Shandong Provincial People's Congress. The current chairman of the standing committee is Li Ganjie . The Shandong Provincial People's Government is the State Administration in Shandong province. Its main officials are elected and appointed by The Shandong Provincial People's Congress. The provincial government reports to Shandong Provincial People's Congress and State Council of

2323-503: Is the hilly Shandong Peninsula extending into the sea; Miaodao Archipaelago to the north of Shandong Peninsula is the border of Bohai Sea (west) and Yellow Sea (east). The highest peak of Shandong is Jade Emperor Peak , with a height of 1,545 metres (5,069 ft), which is also the highest peak in the Mount Tai Ranges. The Yellow River passes through Shandong's western areas, since 1855, it has always been entering

2424-410: Is unknown what criteria the diviners used to determine the response, but it is believed to be the sound or pattern of the cracks on the bone. The Shang also seem to have believed in an afterlife, as evidenced by the elaborate burial tombs built for deceased rulers. Often "carriages, utensils, sacrificial vessels, [and] weapons" would be included in the tomb. A king's burial involved the burial of up to

2525-494: Is ¥60.6 billion, which increased by 31%. There have been 48 projects invested by companies listed among the Global Fortune 500 in the zone. With the fast development of reform and opening-up, Haier , Hisense , Aucma, Sinopec , CSIC , CNOOC , CIMC etc. are all located in the zone. The State Council established Qingdao Free Trade Zone in 1992. The zone is 60 km (37 mi) away from Qingdao Liuting Airport. It

2626-670: The Great Chinese Famine . In recent years, Shandong, especially eastern Shandong, has enjoyed significant economic development, becoming one of the People's Republic of China's richest provinces. Shandong is on the eastern edge of the North China Plain and in the lower reaches of the Yellow River , and extends out to sea as the Shandong Peninsula . Shandong borders the Bohai Sea to the north, Hebei to

2727-455: The Tertiary . Some geological formations in Shandong are rich in fossils. For example, Zhucheng in southeastern Shandong has been the site of discovering many dinosaur fossils. In 2008, about 7,600 dinosaur bones from Tyrannosaurus , Ankylosaurus , and other genera were found, likely the largest collection ever discovered at one location. The Shandong Provincial People's Congress

2828-439: The Yellow River . It has served as a pivotal cultural and religious center for Taoism , Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism . Shandong's Mount Tai is the most revered mountain of Taoism and a site with one of the longest histories of continuous religious worship in the world. The Buddhist temples in the mountains south of the provincial capital of Jinan were once among the foremost Buddhist sites in China. The city of Qufu

2929-670: The Yin dynasty ( 殷代 ; Yīn dài ), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the Book of Documents , Bamboo Annals and Shiji . Modern scholarship dates the dynasty between the 16th and 11th centuries BC, with more agreement surrounding

3030-582: The circuits (a political division). Later on, China splintered into warlord factions, resulting in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Shandong was part of the Five Dynasties, all based in the north. The Song dynasty reunified China in the late tenth century. The classic novel Water Margin was based on folk tales of outlaw bands active in Shandong during the Song dynasty. In 1996,

3131-619: The root systems. Presently, there are more than 140 wineries in the region, mainly distributed in the Nanwang Grape Valley and the Yan-Peng Sightseeing Highway(both are in Yantai ). The region produced more than 40% of China's grape wine production. Main varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon , Cabernet Gernischt , Merlot , Riesling and Chardonnay are all at 20 years of age, considered to be

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3232-588: The state of Lu based in Qufu . Lu is famous for being the home of Confucius ; however, it was comparatively small, eventually being annexed by the neighboring state of Chu to its south. Meanwhile, Qi was a significant power throughout the entire period, and ruled cities including Linzi , Jimo (near modern Qingdao ) and Ju . The Qin dynasty conquered Qi and founded the first centralized Chinese state in 221 BC. The Han dynasty that followed created several commanderies supervised by two regions ( 刺史部 ) in what

3333-561: The "Dogmeat General", as military governor of Shandong Province. Time dubbed him China's "basest warlord". He ruled over the province until 1928 when he was ousted in the wake of the Northern Expedition . He was succeeded by Han Fuju , who was loyal to the warlord Feng Yuxiang but later switched his allegiance to the Nanjing government headed by Chiang Kai-shek . Han Fuju also ousted the warlord Liu Zhennian , nicknamed

3434-777: The "King of Shandong East", who ruled eastern Shandong Province, hence unifying the province under his rule. In 1937 Japan began its invasion of China proper in the Second Sino-Japanese War , which would eventually become part of the Pacific theater of the Second World War. Han Fuju was made Deputy Commander in Chief of the 5th War Area and put in charge of defending the lower Yellow River valley. However, he abandoned his base in Jinan when Japanese troops crossed

3535-547: The 19th century, China became increasingly exposed to Western influence; Shandong, a coastal province under the dukedom of Xiong, was significantly affected. Qingdao was leased to Germany in 1897 and Weihai to Britain in 1898. As a result of foreign pressure from the Russian Empire , which had annexed Outer Manchuria by 1860, the Qing encouraged settlement of Shandong people to what remained of Manchuria . Shandong

3636-535: The 3rd century AD, "Yin" has been frequently used to refer specifically to the latter half of the Shang. It is also the name predominantly used for the dynasty in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, being rendered as In , Eun and Ân in Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese respectively. The name seems to have originated during the subsequent Zhou dynasty ; it does not appear in oracle bone inscriptions—which refer to

3737-537: The Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian landed at Laoshan , on the southern edge of the Shandong peninsula, and proceeded to Qingzhou to edit and translate the scriptures he had brought back from India . The Sui dynasty reestablished unity in 589, and the Tang dynasty (618–907) presided over the next golden age of China. For the earlier part of this period, Shandong was ruled as part of Henan Circuit , one of

3838-582: The Duke of Song , with its capital at Shangqiu . This practice was known as 'enfeoffment of three generations for two kings'. The dukes of Song would maintain rites honouring the Shang kings until Qi conquered Song in 286 BC. Confucius was possibly a descendant of the Shang Kings through the Dukes of Song. The Eastern Han dynasty bestowed the title of Duke of Song and 'Duke Who Continues and Honours

3939-419: The GDP of Mexico. Its GDP per capita is around the national average . Compared to a country, it would be the 15th-largest economy and the 15th most populous as of 2021. Shandong ranks first among the provinces in the production of a variety of products, including cotton , wheat , and garlic as well as precious metals such as gold and diamonds . It also has one of the biggest sapphire deposits in

4040-713: The Germans: over 200 million marks were invested in world-class harbor facilities including berths , heavy machinery, rail yards, and a floating dry dock. Private enterprises worked across the Shandong Province, opening mines, banks, factories, and rail lines. As a consequence of the First World War, Japan seized German holdings in Qingdao and Shandong. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles transferred ownership to Japan instead of restoring Chinese sovereignty over

4141-533: The Grand Historian . According to the Records of the Grand Historian , the Shang moved their capital five times, with the final move to Yin in the reign of Pan Geng inaugurating the golden age of the dynasty. Di Xin, the last Shang king, is said to have committed suicide after his army was defeated by Wu of Zhou . Legends say that his army and his equipped slaves betrayed him by joining the Zhou rebels in

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4242-543: The Jinan High-tech Industrial Development Zone has attracted enterprises as LG, Panasonic, Volvo, and Sanyo. In 2000, it joined the world science and technology association and set up a China-Ukraine High-tech Cooperation Park. The Qilu Software Park became the sister park of Bangalore park of India. The export processing zone is located in the eastern suburbs of Jinan, east of the Jinan High-tech Industrial Development Zone, and to

4343-411: The People's Republic of China . The current Governor of Shandong is Zhou Naixiang . As of 1832, Shandong was exporting fruits, vegetables, wine, drugs, and deerskin, often heading to Guangzhou to exchange clothing and fabrics. The economy of Shandong is China's third largest provincial economy with a GDP of CNY ¥8.3 trillion in 2021 or USD $ 1.3 trillion in (nominal), which is equivalent to

4444-561: The Sea by Science and Technology, National Innovation Base for Rejuvenating Trade through Science and Technology and National Demonstration Eco-Industry Park. Weihai Economic and Technological Development Zone is a state-level development zone approved by the State Council on Oct 21, 1992. The administrative area has an area of 194 km (75 sq mi), including the programmed area of 36 km (14 sq mi) and an initial area of 11.88 km (4.59 sq mi). Its nearest port

4545-491: The Shang King in exchange for military aid and augury services. However these alliances were unstable, as indicated by the frequent royal divinations about the sustainability of such relations. The existence of records regarding enemy kills, prisoners and booty taken point to the existence of a proto-bureaucracy of written documents. Shang religious rituals featured divination and sacrifice. The degree to which shamanism

4646-496: The Shang era, some of which bore inscriptions. In 1899, several scholars noticed that Chinese pharmacists were selling "dragon bones" marked with curious and archaic characters. These were finally traced back in 1928 to what is now called Yinxu , north of the Yellow River near Anyang , where the Academia Sinica undertook archaeological excavation until the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. Archaeologists focused on

4747-592: The Shang joined the Rebellion of the Three Guards against the Duke of Zhou , but the rebellion collapsed after three years, leaving Zhou in control of Shang territory. After the collapse of the Shang dynasty, Zhou's rulers forcibly relocated "Yin diehards" and scattered them throughout Zhou territory. Some surviving members of the Shang royal family collectively changed their surname from the ancestral name Zi to

4848-414: The Shang kings were viewed as the best qualified members of society to offer sacrifices to their royal ancestors and to the high god Di, who in their beliefs was responsible for the rain, wind, and thunder. The King appointed officials to manage certain activities, usually in a specified region. These included agricultural official, pastors, dog officers, and guards. These officers led their own retinues in

4949-466: The State Council. Covering an area of 677 km (261 sq mi), BEDA has a population of 100,000. BEDA possesses a large state-owned industrial land for use with an area of 400 km (150 sq mi). The land can be transacted conveniently, guaranteeing the demand of any project construction and providing broad development space for the enterprises in the area. Continuously, BEDA has been accredited as National Demonstration Zone invigorating

5050-867: The United States' mediation during the Washington Naval Conference . Weihai followed in 1930. Shandong's return of control fell into the Warlord Era of the Republic of China. Shandong was handed over to the Zhili clique of warlords, but after the Second Zhili–Fengtian War of 1924, the northeast China-based Fengtian clique took over. In April 1925, the Fengtian clique installed the warlord Zhang Zongchang , nicknamed

5151-527: The Yellow River valley in Henan as the most likely site of the states described in the traditional histories. After 1950, the remnants of the earlier walled settlement of Zhengzhou Shang City were discovered within the modern city of Zhengzhou . It has been determined that the earth walls at Zhengzhou, erected in the 15th century BC, would have been 20 m (66 ft) wide at the base, rising to

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5252-525: The Yellow River. He was executed for not following orders shortly thereafter. During the Japanese occupation, with resistance continuing in the countryside, Shandong was one of the provinces where the scorched-earth Three Alls policy ("kill all", "burn all", and "loot all") was implemented by Japanese general Yasuji Okamura . This lasted until Japan's surrender in 1945, killing millions of people in Shandong and Northern China. By 1945, communist Chinese Red Army forces already held some parts of Shandong. Over

5353-459: The Yin' upon Kong An, because he was part of the legacy of the Shang. This branch of the Confucius family is a separate branch from the line that held the title of Marquis of Fengsheng village and later Duke Yansheng. Another remnant of the Shang established the vassal state of Guzhu (present-day Tangshan ), which Duke Huan of Qi destroyed. Many Shang clans that migrated northeast after

5454-399: The afterlife. Perhaps for the same reason, hundreds of commoners, who may have been slaves, were buried alive with the royal corpse. A line of hereditary Shang kings ruled over much of northern China, and Shang troops fought frequent wars with neighbouring settlements and nomadic herdsmen from the inner Asian steppes. The Shang king, in his oracular divinations, repeatedly showed concern about

5555-680: The area. Popular dissatisfaction with this outcome, referred to as the Shandong Problem , led to the vehement student protests in the May Fourth Movement . Among the reservations to the Treaty that the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved was "to give Shantung to China", the treaty with reservations was not approved. Finally, Shandong reverted to Chinese control in 1922 after

5656-489: The barbarians living outside of the civilised regions, which made up the centre of Shang territory. In particular, the group living in the Yan Mountains were regularly mentioned as hostile to the Shang. Apart from their role as the head military commanders, Shang kings also asserted their social supremacy by acting as the high priests of society and leading the divination ceremonies. As the oracle bone texts reveal,

5757-610: The city walls yielded over 200 artefacts, including a gold face covering measuring 18.3 by 14.5 cm (7.2 by 5.7 in). In 1959, the site of the Erlitou culture was found in Yanshi, south of the Yellow River near Luoyang . Radiocarbon dating suggests that the Erlitou culture flourished c.  2100 BC to 1800 BC. They built large palaces, suggesting the existence of an organised state. In 1983, Yanshi Shang City

5858-425: The conduct of their duties, and some grew more independent and emerged as rulers of their own. There was a basic system of bureaucracy in place, with references to positions such as the "Many Dog officers", "Many horse officers", the "Many Artisans", the "Many Archers" or court titles like "Junior Servitor for Cultivation" or "Junior Servitor for labourers". Members of the royal family would be assigned personal estates;

5959-641: The decisive Battle of Muye . According to the Yi Zhou Shu and Mencius the battle was very bloody. The classic Ming dynasty novel Investiture of the Gods retells the story of the war between Shang and Zhou as a conflict with rival factions of gods supporting different sides in the war. After the Shang were defeated, King Wu allowed Di Xin's son Wu Geng to rule the Shang as a vassal kingdom. However, Zhou Wu sent three of his brothers and an army to ensure that Wu Geng would not rebel. After Zhou Wu's death,

6060-525: The discovery of over two hundred buried Buddhist statues at Qingzhou was hailed as a major archaeological find. The statues included early examples of painted figures and are thought to have been buried due to Emperor Huizong 's repression of Buddhism (he favored Taoism ). The Song dynasty was forced to cede northern China to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in 1142. Shandong was administered by Jin as Shandong East Circuit and Shandong West Circuit  –

6161-454: The divination. Tombs displayed highly ordered arrangements of bones, with groups of skeletons laid out facing the same direction. Chinese bronze casting and pottery advanced during the Shang, with bronze typically being used for ritually significant, rather than primarily utilitarian, items. As early as c.  1500 BC , the early Shang dynasty engaged in large-scale production of bronzeware vessels and weapons. This production required

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6262-418: The dynasty's collapse were integrated into Yan culture during the Western Zhou period. These clans maintained an elite status and continued practising the sacrificial and burial traditions of the Shang. Both Korean and Chinese legends, including reports in the Book of Documents and Bamboo Annals , state that a disgruntled Shang prince named Jizi , who had refused to cede power to the Zhou, left China with

6363-422: The earliest known body of Chinese writing , mostly divinations inscribed on oracle bones —usually turtle shells or ox scapulae . More than 20,000 were discovered in the initial scientific excavations during the 1920s and 1930s, and over four times as many have been found since. The inscriptions provide critical insight into many topics from the politics, economy, and religious practices to the art and medicine of

6464-414: The earliest layers of the Wucheng culture predating Anyang have yielded pottery fragments containing short sequences of symbols, suggesting that they may be a form of writing quite different in form from oracle bone characters, but the sample is too small for decipherment. The earliest securely dated event in Chinese history is the start of the Gonghe Regency in 841 BC, early in the Zhou dynasty,

6565-542: The early Zhou , who established the successor state of the Shang, are known to have existed at the same time as the Shang. It has also been suggested the Xia legend originated as a Shang myth of an earlier people who were their opposites. The Erligang culture centred on the Zhengzhou site is found across a wide area of China, even as far northeast as the area of modern Beijing, where at least one burial in this region during this period contained both Erligang-style bronze utensils and local-style gold jewellery. The discovery of

6666-479: The early stages of Chinese history. Several of the Chinese classics discuss the history of the Shang, including the Book of Documents , the Mencius and the Zuo Zhuan . From the sources available to him, the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian assembled a chronological account of the Shang as part of the Shiji ( c.  91 BC ) official history. Sima describes some Shang-era events in detail, while others are only mentioned as taking place during

6767-507: The end date than beginning date. The Shang dynasty is the earliest dynasty of traditional Chinese history firmly supported by archaeological evidence. Excavation at the last Shang capital Yinxu , near modern-day Anyang , uncovered eleven major royal tombs and the foundations of palaces and ritual sites, containing weapons of war and remains from both animal and human sacrifices. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade , stone, bone, and ceramic artifacts have been found. The Anyang site has yielded

6868-500: The first use of its current name. The modern province of Shandong was created by the Ming dynasty , where it had a more expansive territory, including the agricultural part of Liaoning . After the Ming–Qing Transition in 1644, Shandong acquired (more or less) its current borders. On 25 July 1668, an  earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.5 and an  epicenter  just northeast of Linyi devastated Shandong, and killed between 43,000 and 50,000 people. During

6969-596: The golden stage for these grapes. Most of them maintain an average saccharinity of above 20%. Major producers Founded in 1991, the Jinan High-tech Industrial Development zone was one of the first of its kind approved by the State Council . The zone is located to the east of the city and covers a total planning area of 83 km (32 sq mi) that is divided into a central area covering 33 km (13 sq mi), an export processing district of 10 km (3.9 sq mi), and an eastern extension area of 40 km (15 sq mi). Since its foundation,

7070-697: The home of Confucius , and its cultural influence came to eclipse that of Qi. The cultural legacy of Lu is reflected in the province's official abbreviation of Lǔ ( 鲁 ; 魯 ). With its location on the eastern edge of the North China Plain , Shandong was home to a succession of Neolithic cultures for millennia, including the Houli ( c.  6500–5500 BC ), Beixin ( c.  5300–4100 BC ), Dawenkou ( c.  4100–2600 BC ), Longshan ( c.  3000–2000 BC ), and Yueshi cultures ( c.  1900–1500 BC ). The Shang and Zhou dynasties exerted varying degrees of control over western Shandong, while eastern Shandong

7171-437: The impious and cruel final Xia ruler in the Battle of Mingtiao . The Records of the Grand Historian recount events from the reigns of Tang, Tai Jia , Tai Wu , Pan Geng , Wu Ding , Wu Yi and the depraved final king Di Xin , but the rest of the Shang rulers are merely mentioned by name. In the last century, Wang Guowei demonstrated that the succession to the Shang throne matched the list of kings in Sima Qian's Records of

7272-451: The invention of many musical instruments and celestial observations of Mars and various comets by Shang astronomers. Their civilisation was based on agriculture and augmented by hunting and animal husbandry. In addition to war, the Shang practised human sacrifice . The majority of human sacrifice victims mentioned in Shang writings were war captives taken from the Qiang people, who lived to

7373-417: The king provided them with pre-determined public works such as walling cities in their regions, distributed materials and issued commands to them. In turn, their estates belonged ultimately to the king's land, and they paid tribute to the king as well as reporting to him about conquered lands. More distant rulers were known by titles translated as marquess or count, who sometimes provided tribute and support to

7474-563: The main palatial complex, there were underground pits used for storage, servants' quarters, and housing quarters. Many Shang royal tombs had been tunnelled into and ravaged by grave robbers in ancient times, but in the spring of 1976, the discovery of Tomb 5 at Yinxu revealed a tomb that was not only undisturbed, but one of the most richly furnished Shang tombs that archaeologists had yet come across. With over 200 bronze ritual vessels and 109 inscriptions of Fu Hao 's name, Zheng Zhenxiang and other archaeologists realised they had stumbled across

7575-534: The mountains', from 'mountain' ( 山 ) and 'east' ( 东 ). The name refers to the province's location to the east of the Taihang Mountains . A common nickname for Shandong is Qilu ( 齐鲁 ; 齊魯 ), from the states of Qi and Lu that existed in the area during the Spring and Autumn period . Whereas Qi was a major political power, Lu played only a minor political role but became renowned as

7676-468: The name of their fallen dynasty, Yin. The family retained an aristocratic standing and often provided needed administrative services to the succeeding Zhou dynasty. King Wu of Zhou ennobled Lin Jian ( 林堅 ), the son of Prince Bigan , as the Duke of Bo'ling. The Shiji states that King Cheng of Zhou , with the support of his regent and uncle, the Duke of Zhou , enfeoffed Weiziqi ( 微子啟 ), a brother of Di Xin, as

7777-695: The next century or so, Shandong changed hands several times, falling to the Later Zhao , then Former Yan , then Former Qin , then Later Yan , then Southern Yan , then the Liu Song dynasty , and finally the Northern Wei dynasty , the first of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. Shandong stayed with the Northern dynasties for the rest of this period. In 412 AD,

7878-684: The next four years of the Chinese Civil War , they expanded their holdings, eventually driving the Kuomintang (government of the Republic of China ) out of Shandong to the island of Taiwan by June 1949, including a noble of the Xiong ( 熊 ) family who held the governorship, previously a dukedom during the imperial era, and an ancient viscountcy originating in Chu. The People's Republic of China

7979-635: The north of the Jiwang highway. The distances to the Jiqing Highway and the Jinan Airport are 9 and 18 km (5.6 and 11.2 mi) respectively. Approved by the State Council in October 1984, Qingdao Economic and Technical Development Zone has a plan of 12.5 km (4.8 sq mi). In 2004 the local GDP was ¥27.51 billion, which increased by 28.9%; the total industrial output value

8080-474: The northwest of the Shang. Using skeletal isotope analysis, a group of Shang sacrifice victims at the Zhengzhou site was also found to most likely have been war captives. Skulls of sacrificial victims have been found to be similar to modern Chinese ones (based on comparisons with remains from Hainan and Taiwan ). Cowry shells were also excavated at Anyang, suggesting trade with coast-dwellers, but there

8181-408: The northwest, Henan to the west, Jiangsu to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the northeast, east and southeast. It shares a short border with Anhui between Henan and Jiangsu. The northwestern, western, and southwestern parts of the province are all part of the vast North China Plain . The province's center is more mountainous, with Mount Tai being the most prominent. The east of the province

8282-500: The oracle bones by posthumous names . The last character of each name is one of the 10 celestial stems , which also denoted the day of the 10-day Shang week on which sacrifices would be offered to that ancestor within the ritual schedule. There were more kings than stems, so the names have distinguishing prefixes such as da ('greater', 大 ), zhong ('middle', 中 ), xiao ('lesser', 小 ), bu ('outer', 卜 ), and zu ('ancestor', 祖 ), as well as other, more obscure ones. The kings, in

8383-464: The primacy of Shandong's energy sector, the province has also been plagued with problems of inefficiency and ranks as the largest consumer of fossil fuels in all of China. The production of wine is the second largest industry in the Shandong Province, second only to agriculture. Geographically, the coastal areas remain relatively flat. Most of the soil is loose, well-ventilated, and rich in minerals and organic matter that enable full development of

8484-857: The province's economic and cultural center, the province's economic prowess has led to the development of modern coastal cities located at Qingdao , Weihai , and Yantai . Shandong has a temperate climate : humid continental (Köppen Dwa ); it is bordering humid subtropical (C wa under the Köppen climate classification ) in the south. Generally, summers are hot (typical max 35 °C) and rainy (except for eastern parts of Jiaodong Peninsula (typical max 28 °C) and Mount Tai (typical max 20 °C)), while winters are cold and dry. Average temperatures are −9 to 1 °C (16 to 34 °F) in January and 18 to 28 °C (64 to 82 °F) in July. Annual precipitation

8585-619: The reign of a particular king. A slightly different account of the Shang is given in the Bamboo Annals , a text whose history is complex: while originally interred in 296 BC, the authenticity of the manuscripts that have survived is controversial. Throughout history, the Shang have also been referred to as "Yin" ( 殷 ). The Shiji and the Bamboo Annals each use this name for both the dynasty, as well as its final capital. Since Huangfu Mi 's Records of Emperors and Kings in

8686-421: The reigns of the last nine Shang kings. The Shang had a fully developed system of writing, preserved on bronze inscriptions and a small number of other writings on pottery, jade and other stones, horn, etc., but most prolifically on oracle bones. The complexity and sophistication of this writing system indicates an earlier period of development, but direct evidence of such is still lacking. Other advances included

8787-433: The sacrifices to previous kings and the ancestors of the current king, which follow a standard schedule that scholars have reconstructed. From this evidence, scholars have assembled the implied king list and genealogy, finding that it is in substantial agreement with the later accounts, especially for later kings. According to this implied king list, Wu Ding was the twenty-first Shang king. The Shang kings were referred to in

8888-564: The sea to Shandong's northern coast; in Shandong, it flows on a levee , higher than the surrounding land, and dividing western Shandong into the Hai He watershed in the north and the Huai River watershed in the south. The Grand Canal of China enters Shandong from the northwest and leaves on the southwest. Weishan Lake is the largest lake in the province. Shandong's coastline is 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) long. Shandong Peninsula has

8989-568: The settlement at Anyang, such as the walled city of Sanxingdui in Sichuan . Western scholars are hesitant to designate such settlements as belonging to the Shang. Also unlike the Shang, there is no known evidence that the Sanxingdui culture had a system of writing. The late Shang state at Anyang is thus generally considered the first verifiable civilisation in Chinese history. In contrast,

9090-445: The state as "Shang" ( 商 ), and to its capital as "Great Settlement of Shang" ( 大邑商 ; Dàyì Shāng ) —nor does it appear in any bronze inscriptions securely dated to the Western Zhou ( c.  1046  – 771 BC). The founding myth of the Shang is described by Sima Qian in the Annals of the Yin . In the text, a woman named Jiandi , who was the second wife of Emperor Ku , swallowed an egg dropped by

9191-469: The tomb of Fu Hao, Wu Ding's most famous consort also renowned as a military general, and mentioned in 170 to 180 oracle bone inscriptions. Along with bronze vessels, stoneware and pottery vessels, bronze weapons, jade figures and hair combs, and bone hairpins were found. The archaeological team argue that the large assortment of weapons and ritual vessels in her tomb correlate with the oracle bone accounts of her military and ritual activities. The capital

9292-628: The world. Other important crops include sorghum and maize . Shandong has extensive petroleum deposits as well, especially the Shengli Oil Field (lit. Victory Oilfield) in the Dongying area in the Yellow River delta. Shandong also produces bromine from underground wells and salt from seawater. It is the largest agricultural exporter in China. Shandong is one of China's richest provinces, and its economic development focuses on large enterprises with well-known brand names. Shandong

9393-411: Was a central aspect of Shang religion is a subject of debate. There were six main recipients of sacrifice: The Shang believed that their ancestors held power over them and performed divination rituals to secure their approval for planned actions. Divination involved cracking a turtle carapace or ox scapula to answer a question, and to then record the response to that question on the bone itself. It

9494-614: Was apparently occupied for less than a century and destroyed shortly before the construction of the Yinxu complex. Between 1989 and 2000, an important Shang settlement was excavated near Xiaoshuangqiao , about 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Zhengzhou. Covering an intermediary period between the Zhengzhou site and the late capitals on the Huan River , it features most prominently sacrificial pits with articulated skeletons of cattle,

9595-508: Was discovered 6 km (3.7 mi) north-east of the Erlitou site in Yanshi's Shixianggou Township. This was a large walled city dating from 1600 BC. It had an area of nearly 200 ha (490 acres) and featured pottery characteristic of the Erligang culture . The remains of a walled city of about 470 ha (1,200 acres) were discovered in 1999 across the Huan River from the well explored Yinxu site. The city, now known as Huanbei ,

9696-572: Was inhabited by Dongyi peoples, who were considered barbarians by the inhabitants of the Central Plain . Following the annexation of Lai  [ zh ] by the state of Qi in 567 BC, the Dongyi gradually became sinicized . During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods , power was accumulated by regional states; Shandong was home to the state of Qi based in Linzi , and

9797-468: Was one of the first places where the Boxer Rebellion broke out, and became one of the centers of the uprising. In 1899, Qing general Yuan Shikai was appointed governor of the province to suppress the uprising. He held the post for three years. Germany took control of the peninsula in 1898, leasing Jiaozhou Bay and its port of Qingdao under threat of force. Development was a high priority for

9898-480: Was proclaimed in October of that year. Under the new government, parts of western Shandong were initially given to the short-lived Pingyuan Province , but this did not last. Shandong also acquired the Xuzhou and Lianyungang areas from Jiangsu province, but this did not last either. For the most part, Shandong has kept the same borders that it has today. About six million people starved to death in Shandong during

9999-434: Was the birthplace of Confucius , and later became the center of Confucianism. Shandong's location at the intersection of ancient and modern north–south and east–west trading routes has helped establish it as an economic center. After a period of political instability and economic hardship beginning in the late 19th century, Shandong has experienced rapid growth in recent decades. Home to over 100 million inhabitants, Shandong

10100-422: Was the centre of court life. Over time, court rituals to appease spirits developed, and in addition to his secular duties, the king would serve as the head of the ancestor worship cult. Often, the king would even perform oracle bone divinations himself, especially near the end of the dynasty. Evidence from excavations of the royal tombs indicates that royalty were buried with articles of value, presumably for use in

10201-823: Was very limited sea trade since China was isolated from other large civilisations during the Shang period. Trade relations and diplomatic ties with other formidable powers via the Silk Road and Chinese voyages to the Indian Ocean did not exist until the reign of Emperor Wu during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 221 AD). At the excavated royal palace in Yinxu, large stone pillar bases were found along with rammed earth foundations and platforms, which according to Fairbank, were "as hard as cement". These foundations in turn originally supported 53 buildings of wooden post-and-beam construction. In close proximity to

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