Hunan
(2001 pop. 63.1 million). Located in south central China, Hunan Province covers an area of 209,773 square kilometers and is bordered by Hubei Province to the north, Guangdong and Guanxi Provinces to the south, Kiangsi Province to the east, and Sichuan Province to the west. Hunan Province lies on the fertile Hunan plain, the richest agricultural land in China. The province's summers are hot and humid; the temperature there can reach close to 38°C. Heavy rains are also common during the summer months. Hunan's capital is Changsha, which has a population of 2 million. Other major cities in Hunan Province include Hengyang, Xiangtan, and Zhuzhou.
Hunan Province has a long history and can trace its origins to the Warring States period (475–221 BCE), when it was a part of the kingdom of Zhu. Later, the region around Changsha became the center of Zhu culture. Sometime between the seventh and tenth centuries, ethnic Han Chinese began migrating to Hunan, displacing the native Miao and Yao peoples. Successive invasions by the Mongols in the thirteenth century and the Manchus in the sixteenth century drove the Miao and Yao farther south and west as Han Chinese immigrated in large numbers.
Hunan Province has long been known for its agricultural and industrial output. It is a major rice-growing region, but it also produces large amounts of citrus fruit, shellfish, sugarcane, tobacco, and tung oil seed. Hunan Province also has large deposits of nonferrous metals, including lead, zinc, mercury, tungsten, and copper. Industrially, Hunan produces chemical fertilizers and locomotives as well as iron and steel.
Hunan has also influenced the course of modern Chinese politics. Zeng Guo-fen, who suppressed the Taiping Rebellion, was born in Hunan, as was Mao Zedong (1893–1976), chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and founder of the People's Republic of China.
Further Reading
Chen, Jerome. (1992) The Highlander of Central China: A History, 1895–1937. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.
Perdue, Peter C. (1987) Exhausting the Earth: State and Peasant in Hunan, 1500–1850. Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asia, Harvard University.
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