Shantung

/shan"tung"/ or, for 2, /shan"tung/; for 1, also Chin. /shahn"doong"/, n.

1. Shandong.

2. (often l.c.) Textiles.

a. a heavy pongee. Cf. tussah.

b. a fabric imitating this, of rayon or cotton.

* * *

▪ province, China

Introduction

Chinese (Wade-Giles)  Shan-tung,  (Pinyin)  Shandong,  

      north coastal sheng (province) of China, lying across the Yellow Sea from Korea. It has an area of 59,200 square miles (153,300 square kilometres). Shantung is China's third most populous province, its population exceeded only by that of Szechwan and Honan. The name Shantung, which means “Eastern Mountains,” was first officially used during the Chin dynasty in the 12th century.

      The province consists of two distinct segments. The first is an inland zone bounded by the provinces of Hopeh to the north and west, Honan to the southwest, and Anhwei and Kiangsu to the south. The second is the Shantung Peninsula (Shandong Peninsula) extending some 200 miles (320 kilometres) seaward from the Wei and Chiao-lai river plains, with the Po Hai (Gulf of Chihli) to the north and the Yellow Sea to the south, giving Shantung a coastline of 750 miles.

      The inland zone, covering roughly two-thirds of the province's total area, includes a hilly central region, centred on the famous Mount T'ai complex, and a fertile and intensively farmed agricultural area on the north, west, and south, which forms part of the Huang Ho Basin and the North China Plain. The provincial capital, Chi-nan (Jinan), is situated just west of Mount T'ai and three miles south of the Huang Ho, which flows from southwest to northeast through the province before emptying into the Po Hai.

      The Shantung Peninsula, in contrast, is entirely an upland area and, with its seaward orientation and indented coastline, has traditionally depended on fishing, mining, and port-related activities. Long a focal area in the evolution of Chinese civilization and institutions, the province's natural inland–peninsular division is paralleled by a dual orientation in its past and present political and economic configurations. The eastern peninsula historically has coveted autonomy, whereas the inland portion has been closely tied to the inward-facing empire.

Physical and human geography

The land

Relief

      Shantung is dominated by two hill masses to the east-northeast of the Grand Canal and to the south-southwest of the present course of the Huang Ho. These hills are formed mainly of ancient crystalline shales and sedimentary rocks on their flanks and of hard, very ancient rocks with granitic intrusions in their core. Both masses are detached remnants of China's most ancient geologic core. The easternmost (peninsular) mass is connected to the Liaotung Peninsula by a submerged ridge, emerging periodically in the Po Hai as the Ch'ang-shan Archipelago. In fairly recent geologic times, the Shantung hill masses stood as islands in an inland sea that separated them from the T'ai-hang Mountains of Shansi to the west.

      A broad, marshy depression, the Chiao-lai Plain (sometimes known as Wei-hsien Valley), extends for about 100 miles from Lai-chou Bay in the Po Hai, south to Chiao-chou Bay in the Yellow Sea, near Tsingtao, and westward into the North China Plain. The generally flat surface of the plain is interrupted occasionally by bedrock-derived monadnocks (monadnock), or residual rocks or hills, that have resisted erosion. Another depression, part of the inland zone of western Shantung, forms the central segment of the North China Plain. It slopes eastward into a northwest–southeast trough skirting the western perimeter of the central Shantung hill mass and is filled with a mixture of loess and alluvial materials (sand, clay, and gravel), along with more recently deposited alluvium, resulting from the building up of the Huang Ho floodplain. Five narrow lakes forming part of the Grand Canal system stretch out along this depression and are also linked to a series of saline marshes (indicative of earlier swamp conditions) that separate the fertile margin at the western edge of the central hills from the main sections of the North China Plain to the south and west.

      Of the two main hill masses, the westernmost (inland) complex is the most extensive. It consists of a northern series of three parallel faulted ranges—the Hsing, Lu, and T'ai, which stretch northeastward for more than 200 miles—and a more diversified, lower, and more exposed southern portion. The granitic T'ai (Tai, Mount) range, dominated by Mount T'ai, the most famous of China's five sacred mountains, attains a maximum elevation of 5,000 feet. The mountains of the peninsular mass to the east seldom rise above 700 feet. There, surface erosion has etched irregular and deeply cut valleys, and rounded hills contrast sharply with small intermontane basins. Both the north and south coasts of the peninsula are rocky, with hills dropping precipitously to the sea and separating a series of intensively cultivated crescent-shaped plains.

Drainage

      Drainage is predominantly radial and subject to the prevailing configuration of the mountains. The only navigable river (other than portions of the Huang Ho) is the Hsiao-ch'ing, which emerges from a small spring-fed lake in a limestone outcrop zone near Chi-nan and flows parallel to the Huang Ho, before emptying into Lai-chou Bay. The southern hills, in contrast, are drained by several rivers in arable valleys, typified by those of the Tung-wen River system, which eventually terminate in the marshy plain east of the Grand Canal in Kiangsu Province.

Soils

      The soils of Shantung fall into two broad categories associated with upland or lowland distributions. The so-called Shantung brown soils are found over most of the two major hill masses and include a variety of brown forest and cinnamon-coloured soils formed through clay accumulations and sod processes.

      A distinctive variant of the typical Shantung brown soil is the recalcified soil (soil that has been made hard or stony by the deposit of calcium salts); it is found on the northern perimeter of the central hill mass. Calcareous alluvial soils predominate in both lowlands and plains. They are usually quite fertile, depending on both the length of time they have been cultivated and their proximity to urban centres (where heavier fertilization with human and animal wastes results in rich, dark-coloured soils). Silty alluvium covers most portions of the North China Plain area of the province.

      Another distinctive soil type found in central and western Shantung on the North China Plain is the subsurface sha-chiang t'u, or “sandy ginger soil.” This appears at the lowest elevations of alluvial plains where surface water remains unevaporated for several months until the dry season and also in sections of the plains subject to annual alluvial inundation. Such soils are always covered with alluvium or redeposited loess. Their name derives from the appearance of lime concretions that resemble the shape of ginger roots. Other sha-chiang t'u soils develop impervious layers of limestone hardpan.

Climate

      Shantung falls within the North China climatic region, which extends from the Huai River in the south to the Hopeh–Liaoning border in the north. It is characterized by a continental climate with cold winters and hot, dry summers. Climatic variation prevails, however, between the peninsular and inland zones of the province.

      The inland zone, especially in its northern sections, is subject to the full effect of the winter monsoon, when cold, northwesterly winds continue through December. By March wind direction gradually reverses, and warmer, southeasterly winds prevail throughout the summer. In the inland zone, annual precipitation ranges from 10 inches in northwest Shantung to 20 to 24 inches as one approaches the mouth of the Huang Ho. Of the total annual precipitation, 70 to 80 percent falls in summer. The interior areas of Shantung are also subject to severe winter and spring dust storms, sometimes followed by droughts and frequent summer floods. Temperatures in the inland zone range from a mean January reading of 25° F (−4° C) in the northern interior to a mean of 82° F (28° C) in July. This area is subject to freezing temperatures during one to three months, with frosts common from late October to April. Rivers often freeze over for extended periods during the winter months. In the interior zone the growing season extends 200 to 250 days.

      The maritime orientation of the Shantung Peninsula tends to modify the climatic extremes of the inland zone. The northern half of the peninsula is subject to winter snow and rainstorms and to extensive coastal ice from the mouth of the Huang Ho to Wei-hai and Chefoo (Yen-t'ai); the southern half is somewhat warmer. Mean January temperatures range from 25° F (−4° C) on the northern coast of the peninsula to 32° F (0° C) in the south. There is less temperature difference during the hot summer months when the mean July temperature is 79° F (26° C), but the ports of Chefoo and Tsingtao are cooler than interior stations. Maximum summer temperature in these ports rarely exceeds 77° F (25° C). Sea fog is common along the north and south coasts of the peninsula. Because of the high relative humidity, annual mean precipitation over the peninsula reaches 31 inches, with less seasonal contrast than in the interior of the province. Heaviest precipitation occurs on the south-facing slopes of the central and peninsular hill masses.

Plant life

      The limited natural vegetation that remains in the intensively cultivated inland zone of Shantung is found in minor depressions in the flat, alluvial landscape. Species there included reeds, grassy legumes, and several varieties of shrubs, notably tamarisk. Halophytic (salt-tolerant) vegetation is common in alkaline and saline soil areas along the coasts of the Po Hai and southern Shantung near the Kiangsu border. Many of the halophytic shrubs are harvested for fuel and are used for salt manufacture. Lienliu, a shrub with long willowy branches, is used for basket weaving, while other plants are woven into thatch mattings and sunshades. Poplar, pine, and arborvitae (an aromatic evergreen tree of the cypress family) are planted around settlements, along roads, and on the coasts.

      The mountainous zones of Shantung are almost completely deforested, with only a small part of the area covered by scattered deciduous and coniferous forests interspersed among barren, eroded hills. Several types of pine grow at higher elevations on rocky, shallow soils in association with alpine meadow species. On the lower slopes and in the valleys, mixed oak, elm, cedar, linden, ash, maple, and chestnut forests appear along with such economically important fruit trees as apple, pear, apricot, and peach. Other deciduous species found at the lower elevations include the pagoda (or Chinese scholar) tree, the white mulberry, Persian walnut, silk tree, and acacia. For centuries Shantung forests were overharvested for fuel and timber, and natural regeneration became extremely difficult. Since 1949, reforestation and closer regulation of timber harvesting has resulted in more extensive growth.

      Despite the obliteration of much of Shantung's natural vegetation cover, the peninsular zone still exhibits an interesting mixture of northern and southern vegetation. Along with common northern plants, uniquely southern varieties, such as wingnut, magnolia, and styrax, are common.

Animal life

      Through long periods of human settlement, intensive cultivation, and destruction of forests, animal life has suffered drastic decline. Animals include roe deer and field and harvest mice; birds include mandarin ducks, dollar birds (belonging to the roller group), and large owls. Even with recent attempts at reforestation, formerly extensive populations of native birds and mammals have almost vanished. Species of insects, beetles, and moths, however, are still unusually diverse and varied.

Settlement patterns

      The two largest cities are Tsingtao and Chi-nan, followed by the Tzu-po (Zibo) conurbation, a leading mining and industrial zone at the northern edge of the central hill mass, about 20 miles east of Chi-nan. Other cities include Chefoo (Yantai) and Wei-hai (Weihai), ports and fishing centres on the northeast coast of the peninsula; Wei-fang (Weifang), an industrial and commercial town on the central Chiao-lai Plain; and Hsin-t'ai, a mining town south of Tzu-pa.

      The greatest rural population densities are found in three areas. The first is one of the earliest settled places in the province, where irrigation works were constructed as long ago as the Han dynasty; it lies along the foothills of the central hill mass. The second, the southwestern Ho-tse–Ting-t'ao–Chi-ning area, is bounded on the northwest by the Huang Ho and on the southwest by the former course of the Huang Ho. This area was frequently subject to flooding, but because of its fertility and level terrain gradually became densely settled. The third area constitutes a fertile, irrigated strip along the north coast of the Shantung Peninsula between I-hsien and Lung-k'ou.

The people

      Shantung's population is predominantly Northern Mandarin-speaking and of Han (Chinese) origin, but there are small concentrations of Hui (Chinese Muslims) in Chi-nan, the capital, in Chou-ts'un (near Tzu-po), and in Chi-ning and Lin-ch'ing (trading centres on the Grand Canal in western Shantung). The population, more than 90 percent rural, is fairly evenly distributed over the level, cultivated areas of the province.

The economy

      Shantung has a diversified agricultural and industrial economy. A broad range of food and cash crops is grown for internal consumption and export to other provinces and overseas. The province's industrial base has been expanded since 1949. Before World War II, light industrial enterprises produced limited quantities of light products. Although the province often suffered a food deficit, agricultural products were continuously exported along with salt, coal, iron ore, and bauxite. Since 1949 relatively greater emphasis has been given to the development of industry, mining, and electric-power generation, although the absolute overall level of agricultural output has continued to rise. Shantung attained food self-sufficiency in 1970, while still increasing cash-crop production.

Resources

      Shantung's industrial base is supported by extensive mining activities, principally coal mining, which was originally developed by German concessionaires in the early 20th century. Considerable mechanization of coal-mining operations has taken place since 1949. There are also major iron-ore deposits located north of Tzu-po at Chin-ling-chen, some bauxite is mined near Nan-ting (Tzu-po), and gold is scattered throughout the peninsular hills. Edible salt is produced on both the north and south coasts of the Shantung Peninsula.

      Oil and oil products have exerted an increasing influence on the economy of the province. The Sheng-li oil field (Shengli oil field), China's second largest continental oil production area, is located on the mouth of the Huang Ho in the Po Hai. The field yields a type of oil especially suitable for fuel. A lighter oil is produced at the Tung-p'u field, on the Shantung–Honan border. A pipeline completed in 1978 connects the Sheng-li oil field with those of the North China Plain in Hopeh and the ports and refineries of the lower Yangtze River area.

      Major emphasis since the late 1970s has been given to increasing electric-power generation. High-voltage transmission lines and feeder lines to rural areas extend throughout the province and have substantially increased the supply of rural electric power, as well as the amount of electrically irrigated and drained acreage.

Agriculture

      The success of agriculture in Shantung since 1949 is attributable to extensive investment in irrigation, flood-control, and soil-conservation measures; drainage of alkalinized and salinized land; and increased mechanization. More than 60 percent of the province's wasteland has been reclaimed and cultivated, and in most irrigated areas the productivity ratio has improved from three crops in two years to two crops in one year. The leading food crops—wheat, corn (maize), soybeans, kaoliang (a variety of grain sorghum), spiked millet, and sweet potatoes—account for most of the total cultivated acreage of the province. The remaining arable land is given over to cash crops, which contribute substantially to agricultural earnings.

      Peanuts (groundnuts), the leading cash crop, are grown primarily in the peninsular uplands and in the south central sector. The large variety of peanuts grown in Shantung is especially well suited for oil pressing, and Shantung is a leading manufacturer of peanut oil for cooking. Shantung's other major cash crop, cotton, is grown throughout the province but is concentrated in the western and northern sections on the intensively irrigated lands near the mouth of the Huang Ho. Other cash crops include tobacco, grown chiefly on irrigated land in the vicinity of I-tu and Wei-fang; hemp, produced on low ground in the southwest; and fruit, grown on lower slopes of the central and peninsular hill masses.

      Animal husbandry plays an important role. The most common animals are pigs, yellow oxen, and donkeys. Sheep are also raised in the uplands. Sericulture (silkworm raising), another important subsidiary activity, has been carried out in Shantung for hundreds of years. The popular fabric known as shantung was originally a rough-textured tussah, or wild silk cloth, made in the province. Silkworm raising is most common in the central hills near I-tu, Lin-ch'ü, Tzu-ch'uan, and Lai-wu, and most of the raw silk is sent to other provinces for processing and spinning.

      Shantung's seaward orientation and its excellent harbours, as well as the convergence of cold and warm currents in offshore waters, have fostered a thriving ocean fishing industry, complemented by the intensive development of pisciculture in the province's western lake region. Trawlers and smaller fishing craft operate from ports around the peninsula and off the Huang Ho Delta. The ocean catch consists mainly of eels, herring, gizzard shad, fish roe, and several varieties of shrimp and crab. Freshwater varieties raised artificially are chiefly carp and crucian carp.

Industry

      The province is still especially well known for its light industrial products, despite post-1949 gains in heavy industry. Tsingtao (Qingdao), the major manufacturing centre, has a large textile industry, a locomotive works, and chemical, tire, and machine-tool factories. Pre-World War II oil pressing (peanut oil), cigarette making, flour milling, brewing, and beverage distilling installations are still important. Chi-nan (Jinan)—long famous for its silks, precious stones, and handicrafts—now also manufactures trucks, agricultural machinery, machine tools, precision instruments, chemicals, fertilizers, and paper. Tzu-po (Zibo) produces glass, porcelain and ceramics, and textiles. Wei-fang (Weifang) is an important food-processing centre, and it also has metal-processing and textile factories. Some of Shantung's better known handicraft goods are embroidered tablecloths from Chefoo and Lin-tzu, straw braids for hat weaving from P'ing-tu (east of Wei-fang), poplins, pottery, and ceramics.

Transportation

      Shantung's earliest railways were built in the first decade of the 20th century during the time of the German concession. One of the lines traverses the province from north to south and another east to west, connecting Tsingtao and Chi-nan. Since 1949 new lines have been built, including a major trunk line from Tsingtao north to Chefoo.

      Shantung's highways connect every district in the province, but many of them have earthen surfaces and are used either for short-haul transport or as feeder routes for the major railways. Truck traffic accounts for a majority of the total annual vehicular movement over Shantung's highways, as compared with only a small proportion in other North China provinces.

      Except for portions of the Huang Ho (Huang He) and of the Hsiao-ch'ing River in northern Shantung, part of the Grand Canal in the west, and the I River in the southeast, inland-waterway transport is limited. The chief route—for shallow-draft craft only—extends upstream from Li-chin, about 50 miles inland from the mouth of the Huang Ho, to Ch'i-ho, the main Huang Ho river port in Shantung and just northwest of Chi-nan. The Grand Canal is navigable only to a limited extent south of the Huang Ho.

      Shantung has a number of excellent seaports. Tsingtao is the largest in tonnage handled, although Chefoo, Wei-hai, and Lung-k'ow on the north coast of the peninsula also handle a considerable amount of shipping. Coastal shipping also plays an important role in Shantung's economy. Tsingtao alone handles more than one-third of the province's intraprovince trade. Trade between Tsingtao and Shanghai and Tsingtao and Lü-ta is particularly heavy.

Administration and social conditions

Government

      Shantung is divided into six prefectures (ti-ch'ü) and eight prefecture-level municipalities (shih). At the next lower administrative level there are counties (hsien) and county-level municipalities (shih). The Shantung Provincial Revolutionary Committee, the chief provincial administrative body from 1967, was replaced in 1980 by the People's Government, which is the administrative arm of the People's Congress. Until the early 1980s the rural people's communes, made up of production teams and brigades, served as the lowest administrative units. With the institution of family farms as primary production units, commune labour allocation, production, and marketing became less important. In many areas, county seats operate as coordinating centres for the production and distribution of commodities produced in the areas under their administrative jurisdiction.

Education

      Most of Shantung's institutions of higher education are located in the provincial capital, Chi-nan, with smaller or special-purpose schools scattered widely throughout the province. Among those in Chi-nan are the Shantung Medical University, the Shantung Institute of Technology, and Shantung University. Tsingtao is China's major centre for research training in marine science and technology. Institutions include the Institute of Oceanology of the Academia Sinica (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and the Shantung Oceanography College, which is under the jurisdiction of the national-level Ministry of Education.

Health and welfare

      Before 1949 Shantung was particularly hard-pressed by the pressure of population on the land, by the common occurrence, especially since the latter half of the 19th century, of floods, droughts, dust storms, excessive soil salinization and alkalinization, and insect infestations, and by frequent military and civil disturbances. Few serious attempts were made by officials of either the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty (1644–1911/12) or, later, by the Republic of China to ameliorate the difficult social conditions of the peasant population. With the exception of missionary-financed and missionary-controlled undertakings in areas under foreign influence or administration, such as Tsingtao, Chefoo, and Chi-nan, modern intensive health-care facilities were virtually nonexistent, and there was only token support for public higher education. Water supplies, environmental sanitation facilities, and public housing were similarly inadequate to the needs of the populace, and public health services were neglected and understaffed.

      Since 1949 the public health services in both rural and urban areas have been improved, and formerly common ailments such as kala-azar (a severe infectious disease transmitted by the sand fly), leprosy, and a variety of nutritional-deficiency diseases have been eliminated. Most large and medium cities now have adequate water-supply systems, often built in conjunction with multipurpose water-conservancy schemes to improve and stabilize the watersheds of nearby rivers. Along with water supply, the construction of sewage treatment facilities in many cities has also helped raise public-health standards.

      Not only has extensive tree planting enhanced the beauty of most Shantung cities, but “greening” has been officially designated as a primary task of urban reconstruction in order to ameliorate the effects of harsh climates and to improve health conditions. In Tsingtao alone, some 4,000,000 trees were planted from 1949 to 1959, while in Chi-nan, a green belt has been built on the site of some dilapidated sections of the ancient city wall. Along with urban reforestation, recreational facilities have been expanded, improved, and made readily available for public use. Many famous temples, hot springs, shrines, parks, lakes, and museums are frequented by the populace. In Chi-nan, a city famous for its hot springs, where for centuries poets, scholars, and officials enjoyed diverse pleasures, several new parks have been built and old buildings restored. Tsingtao, known as the most pleasant beach resort in North China, is also famous for its parks.

Cultural life

      Shantung's rich cultural and folklore tradition is most clearly evidenced in the temples, shrines, legends, and cults associated with Mount T'ai and with the temple and tomb of Confucius at Ch'ü-fu, north of Chi-ning. Despite official disavowal from 1949 until the mid-1980s of their religious, parareligious, animistic, and superstitious connotations, the temples, shrines, and their surrounding areas have been restored, renovated, and converted to public parks so as to assure their preservation as important symbols of the national cultural heritage.

      Mount T'ai—known also as Tung-yüeh (Tai, Mount), or “Eastern Peak,” to distinguish it from the “Southern Peak” (in Hunan), the “Central Peak” (Honan), the “Western Peak” (Shensi), and the “Northern Peak” (Shansi)—is the most prominent of these five sacred mountains where the emperors once offered sacrifices to Heaven and Earth. It was also the place where for centuries Buddhists, Taoists, and Confucianists built more than 250 temples and monuments to honour deified historical personages and to immortalize the sacred presence and supernatural powers of the supreme mountain deity of Mount T'ai. The mountain was deified at least as early as Han times, and in the Sung dynasty it was elevated by the emperor Chen-tsung to the position of “Equal with Heaven.” Incantations and prayers offered to the deity of Mount T'ai by countless emperors are inscribed in stelae along the ascent to the summit, and temples are distributed in T'ai-an and on the mountain itself.

      The Temple of Confucius, Confucius' tomb, and the residence of the Kungs (Confucius' lineal descendants) at Ch'ü-fu (Qufu) are also maintained as national historic monuments. Both the temple and the Kung residence are laid out with elaborate temples, monuments, pavilions, and gates, and have collections of stelae dating, in some cases, from the Han dynasty.

History

      A Neolithic culture—known as the Lung-shan (Longshan culture) because of archaeological remains discovered near the township of that name—existed on the Shantung Peninsula in the 3rd millennium BC; it played a key role in the establishment of a common rice-based cultural grouping that apparently spread along the Pacific seaboard from the peninsula to Taiwan and eastern Kwangtung.

      Western Shantung formed part of the Shang kingdom (18th–12th century BC). By the Ch'un-ch'iu (Spring and Autumn) period (770–476 BC) it had become the centre of political and military activity that resulted from the eastward expansion of the Chou, following their conquest of the Shang. One of the small southern Shantung states was Lu, the birthplace of Confucius and Mencius. Also in the “Eastern Territory”—an early name for Shantung—was Ch'i, extending over the major part of the peninsula; it became an important economic centre, exporting hemp clothing, silk, fish, salt, and a unique variety of purple cloth to all parts of China. Beginning in the Six Dynasties period (AD 220–589), Shantung became North China's leading maritime centre, receiving commodities from the South China coastal area (now Fukien and Kwangtung) for transshipment to destinations north and south of the Huang Ho. Thus, Shantung has been a part of China from its very beginning as an organized state.

      In 1293 the Grand Canal, running generally north to south, was completed, making western Shantung a major inland trading route. Yet even after the completion of the canal, maritime trade still remained important to Shantung, and the peninsula retained its dominant economic position. In the great agricultural areas of the province, however, early deforestation and the long-established practice of clearing land for cultivation without providing for flood prevention and control measures led to serious and ultimately disastrous erosion and wastage of valuable agricultural land.

      In the 19th century these problems were worsened by shifts in the course of the Huang Ho (Huang He). From 1194 until the early 1850s the Huang followed the original bed of the Huai along the Shantung–Kiangsu border before emptying into the Yellow Sea. After 1855, when a series of devastating floods was followed by extensive dike construction, the river changed to its present course some 250 miles to the north. Hardships and food shortages from floods and other natural calamities increased in intensity throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. This resulted in a substantial emigration of Shantung peasants to the Northeast (Manchuria) and to Inner Mongolia, with more than 4,000,000 people emigrating between 1923 and 1930.

      In the closing decade of the 19th century Shantung came under the influence of German, British, and Japanese interests. It was occupied briefly by Japanese troops after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95. In 1897 Germany landed troops, and in 1898 a treaty was signed by which China ceded to Germany, for 99 years, two entries to Chiao-chou Bay and the islands in the bay and granted the right to construct a naval base and port, Tsingtao (Qingdao). Germany used Tsingtao as a base to extend its commercial influence throughout the peninsula; it developed coal mines and constructed a railway (1905) from Tsingtao to Chi-nan. Similarly, in 1898 Great Britain obtained a lease for Wei-hai-wei (Weihai) (modern Wei-hai), another strategic port near the northern tip of the peninsula. This was in response to the Russian occupation of Port Arthur (now Lü-shun (Lüshun)). With the advent of World War I, Japan took over German interests in the peninsula and in 1915, as one of its infamous 21 Demands, compelled the Chinese to give official recognition to the renewed occupation. Taking up the Shantung question, the imperialist powers decided in 1919 to grant Japanese occupation, which Japan maintained until 1922.

      In the Sino-Japanese War of 1937–45, even though the Japanese had gained control of most of Shantung by the end of 1937, they miscalculated Chinese strength and suffered a serious defeat—their first of the war—at T'ai-erh-chuang, in southern Shantung, in 1938. In the postwar struggle between the Chinese Communists and Nationalists, Shantung came under Communist control by the end of 1948.

Baruch Boxer Ed.

* * *