Jinan
Jinan is the capital of the province of Shandong in East China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is one of the largest cities in Shandong in terms of population. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilization and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub. The city has held sub-provincial administrative status since 1994. Jinan is often called the "City of Springs" for its famous 72 artesian springs.
Jinan is listed as the # 27 city in the world for scientific research as tracked by the Nature Index according to the Nature Index 2025 Science Cities. The city is home to several major universities, including Shandong, Shandong Normal, Shandong Jianzhu, University of Jinan, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Shandong University of Finance and Economics. Notably, Shandong University is one of China's most prestigious universities as a member of the Double First-Class Construction. The city is rated Beta- by the biannual GAWC ratings in 2020.
Etymology
The modern-day name Jinan literally means "south of the Ji" and refers to the old Ji River that had flowed to the north of the city until the middle of the 19th century. Similar names can be found in Jiyuan and Jiyang, The Ji River disappeared in 1852 when the Yellow River changed its course northwards and took over its bed. The current pronunciation of the character "Ji" with the third tone was established in the late 1970s. Prior to this, it was pronounced with the fourth tone. Older western texts spell the name as "Tsinan" or "Chi-nan".In ancient times, Jinan was also called the "estate of Luo", Luo refers to Baotu Spring, this can be seen in oracle bone scripts of Di Yi and Di Xin. The Battle of An, which was fought in the area during Spring and Autumn period between the states of Qi and Jin, is named for the ancient city of An which stood within the city limits of present-day Jinan. Marco Polo gives a brief description of Jinan under the name "Chingli" or "Chinangli".
From Zhou dynasty to Western Jin dynasty, the main settlement of Jinan Commandery was called the "city of East Pingling", which is located in current day Zhangqiu. During the Western Jin Dynasty, the administrative center was moved westward to Licheng, and this was kept until Qing dynasty. 19th and early 20th century texts frequently give the name of the city as "Tsinan Fu" where the additional "Fu" is the word Prefecture in Chinese.
Currently the city of Lixia was the major settlement in the area. The name "Lixia" refers to the location of Jinan at the foot of Mount Li, which lies to the south of the city.
Jinan is also referred to by the nickname "City of Springs", because of the many artesian springs in the urban city centre and its surroundings.
History
Early history
The area of present-day Jinan has been inhabited for more than 4000 years. The Neolithic Longshan culture was first discovered at Chengziya to the east of Jinan in 1928. One of the characteristic features of the Longshan culture are the intricate wheel-made pottery pieces it produced. Most renowned is the black "egg-shell pottery" with wall thicknesses that can go below 1 millimeter.During the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States period, the area of Jinan was split between two states: the state of Lu in the west and the state of Qi in the east. In 685 BCE, the state of Qi started to build the Great Wall of Qi across Changqing county. Portions of the wall still remain today and are accessible as open air museums. Bian Que, according to the legend the earliest Chinese physician and active around 400–300 BCE, is said to have been a native of present-day Changqing County. Zou Yan, a native of Zhangqiu City, developed the concepts of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. Joseph Needham, a British sinologist, describes Zou as "The real founder of all Chinese scientific thought."
Imperial era
After Qin Shi Huang conquered Qi and united China, he established Qi Commandery, which evolved into Jinan Commandery and Kingdom of Jibei in the early Han dynasty. During the times of the Han dynasty, Jinan was the capital of the feudatory Kingdom of Jibei and evolved into the cultural and economic hub of the region. The Han dynasty tomb where the last king of Jibei, Liu Kuan, was buried at Shuangru Mountain was excavated by archaeologists from Shandong University in 1995 and 1996. More than 2000 artifacts such as jade swords, jade masks, and jade pillows have been recovered within the 1,500 square meter excavation site, emphasizing the wealth of the city during the period. Cao Cao was an official in Jinan before he became the de facto ruler of the Han dynasty. His son, Cao Pi, overthrew the last emperor of the Han and founded the Wei Kingdom of the Three Kingdoms period.Beginning in the 5th century CE, Buddhism flourished in Jinan. The Langgong Temple in the southern county of Licheng was one of the most important temples in northern China at that time. The same period witnessed extensive construction of Buddhist sites in the southern counties of Licheng and Changqing such as the Lingyan Temple and the Thousand-Buddha Cliff. In particular, a large number of cave temples were established in the hills south of Jinan.
Jinan remained the cultural center of the region during the Song dynasty. The Song rulers promoted Jinan to a superior prefecture in 1116 CE. Two of the most important poets of the Southern Song were both born in Jinan: Li Qingzhao, the most renown female poet in Chinese history, and Xin Qiji, who was also a military leader of the Southern Song dynasty. Both poets witnessed a series of crushing defeats of the Song dynasty at the hands of the Jurchens who gained control over almost half of the Song territories and established the Jin dynasty in northern China. After Jinan came under control of the Jin dynasty, both Li Qingzhao and Xin Qiji had to abandon their homes and reflected this experience in their works.
During the Civil War that followed the proclamation of Kublai Khan as Great Khan in 1260 CE, Jinan was at the center of a rebellion by Yizhou governor Li Tan against Mongol rule in 1262 CE. The rebellion was crushed in a decisive battle that was fought not far from Jinan in late March or early April 1262 CE. After losing 4000 of his troops in the battle, Li Tan retreated to Jinan to make his last stand. After defections of his defenders had made his position untenable, Li Tan tried to commit suicide by drowning himself in Daming Lake. However, he was rescued by the Mongols in order to execute him by trampling him to death with their horses.
Despite such violent conflicts, culture in Jinan continued to thrive during the Jin and Yuan dynasties: One of the most renowned artists of the Yuan dynasty, Zhao Mengfu was appointed to the post of governor of Jinan in 1293 and spent three years in the city. Among the extraordinary art works he completed during his stay in Jinan, the best known painting is "Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains". Geographer Yu Qin also served as an official in Jinan and authored his geography book Qi Cheng there.
Ming and Qing
When Shandong province was established under the reign of Hongwu Emperor, Jinan replaced Qingzhou to become its capital. Jinan was the site of a siege during the Jingnan Campaign where the city was defended by loyalists of the Jianwen Emperor led by Tie Xuan against the rebel Prince of Yan Zhu Di's army.In 1852, the northward shift of the Yellow River into a new bed close to the city triggered the modern expansion of Jinan. The new course of the Yellow River connected the city to the Grand Canal and regional waterways in northern Shandong and southern Hebei.
German influence in Jinan grew after the Qing dynasty ceded Qingdao to the German Empire in 1897. A German concession area was established to the west of the historical city center. The Jiaoji railway was built by the Germans against local resistance. Discontent over the construction of the railway was one of the sources fueling the Boxer Rebellion. During the rebellion, foreign priests were evacuated from Jinan and Chinese Christians became a target of violence. The Jiaoji railway was completed in 1904, three years after the Boxer Rebellion had been put down, and opened the city to foreign trade. The importance of Jinan as a transportation hub was cemented with the completion of the north–south Jinpu railway from Tianjin to Pukou in 1912. Jinan became a major trading center for agricultural goods in northern China. Traded commodities included cotton, grain, peanuts, and tobacco. Jinan also developed into a major industrial center, second in importance to Qingdao in the province.
Republican era
In 1919, after World War I, the Japanese took over the German sphere of influence in Shandong, including control of the Jiaoji railway, and established a significant Japanese influence in Jinan. According to estimates by a contemporary Japanese government official, about 2,000 Japanese were living in Jinan in 1931, about half of whom were involved in the opium trade for which the Japanese had a loosely controlled monopoly that was exploited with the participation of Chinese traders.During the Warlord era of the Republic of China, Zhang Zongchang, nicknamed the "Dogmeat General", ruled Shandong from Jinan for a period that lasted from April 1925 until May 1928. Zhang was unpopular for his heavy-handed rule and in particular his heavy taxation. Besides heavy taxes, he relied financially on opium to finance his periodic wars. Zhang even planned to use some of the wealth extracted from these sources for building a living shrine and a large bronze statue for himself on the shore of Daming Lake, but these plans were not realized as his rule came to an end.
In the spring of 1928, the Kuomintang's Northern Expedition reached Jinan. On 3 May 1928, clashes developed between Japanese troops stationed in Jinan and the Kuomintang troops moving into the city. Cai Gongshi, a Kuomintang emissary sent to negotiate and 16 members of his entourage were cruelly executed by the Japanese. Japanese officers placed an order to slice off his nose and ears, and to gouge out his eyes and tongue. Sixteen other members of his negotiation team were also stripped naked, recklessly whipped, dragged to the back-lawn, and slaughtered by machine guns on the same day. After the incident, Japanese reinforcements were sent to Shandong and by 11 May, Japanese troops pushed the Chinese troops from the area, inflicted thousands of casualties and killed over 2000 Chinese civilians. The Japanese occupied Jinan for more than six months until they withdrew to their garrison in Qingdao on 28 March 1929. When Chiang lectured a group of Chinese army cadets, he urged them to turn their energies to washing away the shame of Jinan, but to conceal their hatred until the last moment. The Kuomintang government later decreed that 3 May be designated a "National Humiliation Memorial Day."
During the Nanjing decade of the Republic of China, Han Fuju, a military commander from the warlord era who had aligned himself with the Kuomintang, was rewarded with the military governorship of Shandong, after fighting against the rebel troops of Yan Xishan and his former commander Feng Yuxiang in the Central Plains War in 1930. He established his base in Jinan and is credited with curtailing banditry and drug trading, thereby bringing a measure of peace and prosperity to the city. However, from 1935 onwards Han was under heavy pressure from the Japanese consul in Jinan to declare Shandong an "independent state" allied with Japan.
After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese invasion force crossed the Yellow River north-east of Jinan on 23 December 1937. Han Fuju abandoned Jinan the next day against orders to hold the city to the death. He ordered the offices of the provincial government and the Japanese consulate in Jinan to be burned down and the ensuing power vacuum led to widespread looting in the city. Japanese troops from the 10th Division of the Manchurian Area Army entered Jinan on 27 December 1937. Han Fuju was arrested and executed for disobeying orders from superior commanders and retreating on his own accord by Chiang Kai-Shek's chief of staff, General Hu Zongnan.