Jiangxi
(2002 est. pop. 44.7 million). The southeastern China province of Jiangxi (Chiang-hsi, Kiangsi) covers an area of 166,600 square kilometers and borders on Hunan in the west, Hubei and Anhui in the north, Zhejiang and Fujian in the east, and Guangdong in the south. Hilly and mountainous areas account for three-fourths of the area, which is traversed by rivers that flow into Lake Poyang, China's largest freshwater lake, situated in a 20,000-square-kilometer lowland area in the north of the province. While the mountains in the province rise from 1,000 to 2,000 meters, the low area in the north rarely exceeds 50 meters above sea level. The climate is subtropical, with plenty of rain, averaging 1,500 millimeters annually. This makes the province perfect for agriculture. A total of 99 percent of the population are Han Chinese. The capital, Nanchang (1.5 million, 1995), is situated in the northern lowlands.
Jiangxi remained sparsely populated until the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), when it was connected to the capital by the Grand Canal. During the Song dynasty (960–1279), Jiangxi became a center of political and cultural eminence and the resort of famous scholars, such as Zhu Xi (1130–1200). With the fall of the Song, the intellectual milieu declined, and in the following centuries the mountainous border regions became strongholds for antigovernment rebels. During the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), Jiangxi experienced peace and unprecedented wealth. This, however, was terminated with the Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864). In the early 1930s, Jiangxi became the battleground between the Communists and Nationalists, and from 1938 to 1945 the province was occupied by Japan.
Since 1949 economic development has grown steadily. Rice is by far the most important crop; most areas have two crops a year and some have three. Other major agricultural products are rapeseed, peanuts, and cotton, and, with a tea planting history going back to the eighth century, Jiangxi is one of the most important tea producers in China. Jiangxi also has a large production of pork, and timber and bamboo are exported to the rest of China. Industry is concentrated in the larger cities, and products include diesel engines, trucks, tractors, and aircraft. In the northeast the famous imperial kilns of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), which produce Jingdezhen porcelain, are still operating.
Bent Nielsen
Further Reading
Alley, Rewi. (1962) Land and Folk in Kiangsi: A Chinese Province in 1961. Beijing: New World Press.
Litzinger, Ralph A. (2000) Other Chinas, the Yao, and the Politics of National Belonging. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Sweeten, Alan Richard. (2001) Christianity in Rural China: Conflict and Accommodation in Jiangxi Province, 1860–1900. Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan.
Waller, Derek J. (1973) The Kiangsi Soviet Republic: Mao and the National Congresses of 1931 and 1934. Berkeley: Center for Chinese Studies, University of California.
Yang, Shangkui. (1981) Chen Yi and the Jiangxi-Guangdong Base Area. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.
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