Hebei

/hue"bay"/, n. Pinyin.

a province in NE China. 41,410,000; 81,479 sq. mi. (211,031 sq. km). Cap.: Shijiazhuang.

Also, Hopeh, Hopei. Formerly, Chihli.

* * *

or Ho-peh conventional Hopeh formerly Chihli

Province (pop., 2000 est.: 67,440,000), northern China.

It is bordered by the Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli), the provinces of Liaoning, Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia; Beijing and Tianjin municipalities are enclaves within it. It has an area of 78,300 sq mi (202,700 sq km). Its capital is Shijiazhuang. Historically a chief barrier to northern invasion, it contains part of the Great Wall of China. From 1644 to 1912 it was ruled by the Qing dynasty. It was occupied by the Japanese in 1937 and taken by the Chinese communists in 1949. The provincial capital was at Baoding until 1958, when it was transferred to Tianjin, then to Shijiazhuang in 1967. Culturally and economically, Hebei is the most advanced province in northern China. The North China Plain, covering southern Hebei, has been inhabited by humans for several millennia. The fossil remains of Homo erectus pekinensis were discovered there.

* * *

▪ province, China

Introduction

Wade-Giles romanization  Ho-pei , conventional  Hopeh 

      sheng (province) of northern China, located on the Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli) of the Yellow Sea. It is bounded to the northwest by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and by the provinces of Liaoning to the northeast, Shandong (Shantung) to the southeast, Henan to the south, and Shanxi (Shansi) to the west. Hebei means “North of the [Yellow] River.” The provincial capital was at Baoding until 1958, when it was transferred first to Tianjin and then briefly (1966–68) back to Baoding; since 1968 it has been at Shijiazhuang, about 175 miles (280 km) southwest of Beijing. The present capital is at the junction of three railways: the Beijing-Guangzhou (Canton) line, China's north-south trunk line, and lines to Shanxi and to Shandong. The large municipalities of Beijing, the national capital, and of Tianjin lie within Hebei province but are both province-level administrative units. Culturally and economically, Hebei is one of the most advanced provinces in northern China. Area 78,200 square miles (202,700 square km). Pop. (2007 est.) 68,980,000.

Land

Relief

 Hebei province consists of two almost equal sections: the northern part of the North China Plain and the mountain ranges along the northern and western frontiers. The former is sometimes called the Hebei Plain. It is formed largely by the alluvial deposits of the five principal tributaries of the Hai River system, which converge on and then (as the Hai proper) flow past Tianjin to the sea. Two of them, the Yongding and the Chao, flow down from the northern highlands. The other three have their sources in the western and southern part of Hebei: the Daqing and Ziya rivers and the Southern Grand Canal (Nan Yunhe).

      The Hebei Plain slopes gently from west to east. It is bounded by the Yan Mountains on the north, the Taihang Mountains to the west, and the Bo Hai to the east. The mountains have at their base a string of alluvial fans. This inner belt of the Hebei Plain is generally well drained. Until the late 20th century the groundwater level usually was fairly close to the surface and was easily tapped for domestic water and irrigation. However, since then overuse has lowered the water table, necessitating deeper wells.

      The Yan Mountains form the northern rim of the North China Plain, displaying to the traveler an endless sea of rounded hills, with peaks averaging 4,900 feet (1,500 metres) above sea level. The Great Wall of China zigzags along its crests. Beyond these mountains the Mongolian Plateau stretches from the northernmost part of Hebei province to Mongolia. This part of Hebei was incorporated into the province in 1952, when Hebei's boundaries were extended beyond the North China Plain for the first time. The rim of the plateau has an average elevation of 3,900 to 4,900 feet (1,200 to 1,500 metres) and is rugged and inhospitable to human settlement. Between the Yan Mountains are large basin plains, cultivated and well inhabited. Coal and iron are mined in the northern mountains.

      To the west of the North China Plain sprawls the lofty north-south range of the Taihang Mountains, separating the Hebei Plain from the Shanxi Plateau, its highest peak rising above 9,000 feet (2,750 metres). The range is pierced by a number of west-east streams whose narrow valleys (the famous “Eight Gorges” of Taihang) are the routes of highways and railroads between the Hebei Plain and the Shanxi Plateau.

Drainage and soils

      The major Hebei rivers flow down from the loess-covered Taihang Mountains and the Shanxi Plateau. They carry a heavy load of silt after the summer downpours, depositing it in the shallow channels downstream on the plain, gradually silting them up and causing widespread floods in low-lying areas. Since 1949 vigorous measures for water control and soil conservation have been carried out together with reforestation in the upland areas. Numerous dams, generally small to medium-size, have been built upstream and in the tributaries to conserve the water for irrigation and other uses; flood-retention basins and storage reservoirs have been built downstream. The Duliujian River, connecting the Daqing to the sea, helps to drain the extremely low-lying tract around the large Baiyang Lake and the Wen'an Marsh. Water from the streams is used to wash away excess salt in the alkaline soil and to make it arable. Similar jian he (“reducing streams”) have been completed for the Southern Grand Canal.

      The Hai River (Hai River system) is only 35 miles (55 km) long, from the city of Tianjin to the sea, but the drainage basin of its five tributaries covers two-thirds of the province. A number of flood-control and power-generation projects have been developed in the Hai basin, including reservoirs to the northeast and northwest of Beijing. Another major river is the Luan (Luan River), which drains northeastern Hebei. A major project of the 1980s was the construction of a diversion channel carrying water from the Luan to Tianjin. All the major Hebei rivers empty into the Bo Hai, a shallow sea with an average depth of only 100 feet (30 metres). The water and nutrient matter brought down by the rivers nourish a rich marine fauna. In winter the surface water along the coast is frozen, but navigation is possible with the use of icebreakers. There are three important ports: Tianjin, which is about 35 miles up the Hai, Tanggu, and the major coal-handling and oil-shipping port of Qinhuangdao.

      The most common soil in the Hebei Plain is dark brown earth developed on loessial alluvium, modified by cultivation over several millennia. It is extremely fertile—the famous “good earth”—yielding crops with little fertilization for thousands of years. New alluvium is distributed in the areas along the rivers by frequent flooding. In the mountains the soils vary: the upland hills have leached dark brown soils, the more humid mountainous areas of the Yan and Taihang ranges have brown forest soils suited to fruit trees, and the northernmost Zhangbei plateau has light chestnut zonal soils.

Climate

      The province has a continental climate. The January mean temperatures range from 25 °F (−4 °C) in the south to 14 °F (−10 °C) north of the Great Wall. The average July temperature is about 77 °F (25 °C) in the North China Plain and 73 to 77 °F (23 to 25 °C) in the northern and western highlands. The annual precipitation (rain and snow) is more than 20 inches (500 mm) in most parts of the province. The summer months of June, July, and August constitute the rainy season.

Plant and animal life

      The natural vegetation of the greater part of the province is broad-leaved deciduous forest, but, after many centuries of human settlement, cultivation, and deforestation, little of the original vegetation remains except in the high mountains and other inaccessible areas. Annual afforestation projects have seeded millions of acres in an effort to develop the forest upland economy.

      The northernmost Zhangbei plateau has steppe grass of the Mongolian Plateau type. The higher mountains have coniferous forests. In the saline areas along the coast and in the low-lying depressions, plants that flourish in a salty environment dominate. There is a conspicuous absence of forests in the lowlands and lower hills. The flora is predominantly of a northern character. It includes willows, elms, poplars, Chinese scholar trees (Sophora japonica), trees of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), and drought-resistant shrubs.

      The present fauna includes elements of the temperate forest (such as the brown-eared pheasant [Crossoptilon mantchuricum]) and of the cold-winter steppe (such as the camel), as well as some tropical elements from the Indo-Malay region (such as the tiger and monkey). The domestication of animals such as the dog, sheep, goat, cow, horse, donkey, mule, camel, and cat has led to the extinction or near-extinction of many wild species. The smaller mammals are better-preserved, including moles, bats, rabbits and hares, rats, mice, and squirrels. Birds include the Mandarin duck (Aix galericulata), native to China. The Hebei Plain was the home of Peking man, an extinct hominin of the species Homo erectus, who lived about 550,000 to 230,000 years ago and used tools and fire; the site of the fossil finds, Zhoukoudian in Beijing municipality, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

People

      The ethnic composition of the population is almost entirely Han (Chinese). Minority groups include the Man (Manchu), Hui (Chinese Muslims), and a tiny percentage of Mongols.

      Since nearly half of Hebei is mountainous, the density of population in inhabited places is really much higher than the overall provincial average (which is nearly three times the national average) suggests. The highest population densities in Hebei are found at the foot of the Taihang Mountains, in the belt of alluvial fans. This is a district settled since antiquity, on the ancient highway from the Zhongyuan, or “Middle Plain,” of the North China Plain to Beijing and on to the regions north of the Great Wall. These piedmont plains have also been settled since ancient times. The rural settlement pattern is that of huge nucleated villages. Farther east and south of the alluvial-fan belt are the low-lying districts subject to flood, which have somewhat lower densities. The area north of the Great Wall and the remote mountainous areas have the lowest densities.

      Before 1949 there was substantial migration from northwestern Hebei to Inner Mongolia. Peasants in southeastern Hebei also migrated in large numbers since the beginning of the 20th century to Inner Mongolia and to China's northwestern and northeastern regions.

Economy

Agriculture

      Hebei province is one of the major grain- and cotton-producing regions of China. In most areas, three crops can be produced in two years. Chief cereal crops include wheat, corn (maize), kaoliang (a variety of grain sorghum), millet, and potatoes. The main cash crops are cotton, oil-bearing seeds, hemp, beets, and tobacco. The widespread introduction of tube-well irrigation in the late 1960s and early '70s made Hebei one of the leading provinces in irrigated acreage. The Zhangbei plateau north of the Great Wall is a pastoral area, well known for its horses (raised around Kalgan [Zhangjiakou]) and lambskin. Baiyang Lake is a major inland freshwater fish-producing area. In the suburbs of large cities there has been considerable development of freshwater aquaculture (fish and shrimp) and stock breeding (dairy cows, hogs, and chickens). Qinhuangdao is a centre of marine fishing.

Resources and manufacturing

      Hebei lies at the heart of one of two major industrial regions in China. The province developed a modest industrial base from the late 19th century onward, chiefly in coal, iron, textiles, and indigenous handicrafts. Tremendous industrial expansion took place during the 1950s: the spinning capacity of Hebei's cotton belt was expanded considerably; a major coal belt, stretching in a crescent through Hebei and into northern Henan, provided the impetus for significant expansion of the coal-mining industry; and the incorporation into Hebei (1952) of the Longyan iron ore district of former Chahar province speeded the development of the iron and steel industry.

      In the 1960s the emergence of the Huabei oil (petroleum) fields made Hebei a major oil producer, and in 1983 China's first deep-horizon oil field went into operation in the southern section of the Dagang oil field on the Bo Hai coast, producing significant quantities of petroleum and natural gas. In addition, a new major oil field, partly offshore, was discovered in the vicinity along the coast of the Bo Hai in the early 21st century.

      These industries became the basis of the Beijing- Tianjin industrial region, the largest and most important industrial centre in North China. Industrial production has diversified and expanded to include such key products as cement, agricultural equipment, and fertilizer. Light industries include textile and ceramics manufacture, food processing, and paper and flour milling. Tianjin, the region's second largest city, is the primary industrial and commercial centre of North China and an important trade hub in the country. Other major industrial cities in the province include Tangshan (largely rebuilt since an earthquake in 1976) and Qinhuangdao in the east, central Baoding, Shijiazhuang in the west, and Handan in the south.

Transportation

      Hebei is well served by railroads. The province is at the centre of China's vast north-south railway network, and all of its major cities are connected by rail. Sea transport moves through Tianjin and Qinhuangdao. The port of Qinhuangdao, first opened to commercial activity in 1898, is now one of the country's most important trade entrepôts. It also is one of China's “open” coastal cities, which play a key role in the country's foreign trade and investment. Hebei is one of China's major road hubs, with express highways connecting the province's major cities as well as Beijing and Tianjin. Most air travel to and from the province is through the major airports at Beijing and Tianjin, but there is also a large international airport at Shijiazhuang.

Government and society

Constitutional framework

      Hebei province is divided into 11 prefecture-level municipalities (dijishi). Below this level the province is divided into districts under the municipality (shixiaqu), counties (xian), autonomous counties (zizhixian), and county-level municipalities (xianjishi). The traditional subcounty administrative unit was the civil township, or rural district (xiang), which was supplanted in 1958 by the commune. The communes were in turn replaced by the xiang after the Cultural Revolution.

Education

      Public education has made major strides since 1949. The great majority of adults are now literate, and the bulk of the population has received at least a primary school education. With more than 30 institutions of higher education, the province has sought to upgrade the technical level of its citizens as part of a drive toward modernization. The emphasis on broadening opportunities for education led to the establishment of television and radio universities for part-time and continuing study, while vocational secondary schools serve the needs of Hebei's industry.

Cultural life

      Hebei is linguistically and culturally part of the Northern Mandarin dialect area and shares many of the features of that regional culture. Living in the northernmost part of the Sinitic zone—historically subject to nomad incursions and political subjugation—Hebei's people traditionally have been depicted as orderly, submissive, and uncomplaining. Their cuisine features wheat cakes, mutton, and bean dishes. There are many local operatic and dramatic traditions, carried on by the province's numerous art and theatre troupes.

      Hebei has numerous well-known tourist attractions. The Great Wall (Great Wall of China) (designated a World Heritage site in 1987) traverses the northern portion of the province, and there also is a section southwest of Beijing municipality; notable points along the wall in Hebei include Shanhaiguan Pass at Qinhuangdao in the east and Zijingguan Pass near Yixian in the west. Other popular tourist destinations are the Western and Eastern Qing tombs (collectively named a World Heritage site in 2000), respectively southwest and just east of Beijing municipality; and the Bishu Shanzhuang (the summer residence of the Qing emperors, also named a World Heritage site [1994]) and other historic sites in northeastern Chengde.

History

      Although the area of present-day Hebei province was settled very early, it lay for many centuries outside the sphere of most political and economic activity of the Chinese empire. Before incorporation into the Qin (Qin dynasty) empire in the 3rd century BCE, the region was occupied by the states of Yan and Zhao.

      Hebei has long been an area of strategic significance. To the rulers of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), it was largely a frontier zone beyond which lay their main enemies, the Xiongnu people, and defense of the region with walls and permanent garrisons was therefore emphasized. To the expansionist emperors of the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), Hebei served as a starting point for large campaigns aimed at the conquest of Korea. In 755, military forces stationed in the area were used to temporarily overthrow Tang rule in a revolt led by An Lushan. Hebei grew in importance under the rule of a series of northern-based dynasties, including the Liao (Liao dynasty), or Khitan (907–1125); the Jin (Jin dynasty), or Juchen (1115–1234); and the Yuan (Yuan dynasty), or Mongol (1206–1368). Beijing first became the capital of all of China under the Yuan rulers, who also completed work begun by the Jin on the Grand Canal linking Hebei to the rice-growing regions of southern China.

      During the Qing (Qing dynasty), or Manchu, dynasty (1644–1911/12) Hebei was called Zhili (“Directly Ruled”) province and continued to be strategically important, especially as foreign imperialist pressure mounted during the 19th century. Li Hongzhang, the foremost military and political leader of his time, served for many years as governor-general of Zhili and was succeeded by Yuan Shikai, who became president of the Chinese republic in 1912. A period of domination by a succession of autonomous warlords in Hebei followed Yuan's death in 1916. The warlord Yan Xishan continued to govern independently in Zhili (renamed Hebei in 1928) until the Japanese invasion of 1937.

      After Japan's defeat in 1945, the occupiers surrendered to the Chinese Nationalists (Nationalist Party). Chinese communist forces took the province in January 1949. Hebei's northern area expanded significantly in 1952 when it absorbed the southeastern portion of the former province of Chahar. Conversely, the province's territory shrank in 1967, when a large area in the east was carved off to create Tianjin municipality.

Frederick Fu Hung Victor C. Falkenheim Ed.

* * *