Shandong
Shandong is a coastal province in East China which has played a major role in the development of Chinese civilization and culture as it has served as a pivotal cultural and religious center for Taoism, Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism. Shandong's Mount Tai is the most revered mountain of Taoism and a site with one of the longest histories of continuous religious worship in the world. The Buddhist temples in the mountains south of the provincial capital of Jinan were once among the foremost Buddhist sites in China. The city of Qufu was the birthplace of Confucius, and later became the center of Confucianism.
Shandong's location at the intersection of ancient and modern north–south and east–west trading routes has helped establish it as an economic center. After a period of political instability and economic hardship beginning in the late 19th century, Shandong has experienced rapid growth in recent decades. Home to over 100 million inhabitants, Shandong is the world's sixth-most populous subnational entity, and China's second-most populous province. The economy of Shandong is China's third-largest provincial economy with a GDP of in 2021, equivalent to the GDP of Mexico. If considered among sovereign states, Shandong would rank as the 15th-largest economy and the 15th-most populous as of 2021. Its GDP per capita is slightly above the national average.
Shandong is one of China's leading provinces in education and research. It has 153 higher education institutions, ranking second in East China after Jiangsu and fourth among all Chinese first-level divisions after Jiangsu, Guangdong and Henan., the Nature Index ranked two major cities in Shandong in the global top 35 cities by scientific research output.
Etymology
The name Shandong literally translates to "east of the mountain," from and, the name first came into being in Jin Dynasty, when Shandong East and West Circuit were created. The name refers to the province's location to the east of the Taihang Mountains. Its counterpart is Shanxi, which literally means 'west of the mountains' and locates in the western side of Taihang Mountains.A common nickname for Shandong is Qilu, from two major states Qi and Lu that existed in this region during the Spring and Autumn period. Whereas Qi was a major political power, Lu played only a minor political role but became renowned as the home of Confucius, and its cultural influence came to eclipse that of Qi. The cultural legacy of Lu is reflected in the province's official abbreviation of.
The province's old spelling is Shantung, which can be seen in Shantungosuchus, Shantungosaurus and Shantung fabric.
History
Ancient history
With its location on the eastern edge of the North China Plain, Shandong was home to a succession of Neolithic cultures for millennia, including the Houli, Beixin, Dawenkou, Longshan, and Yueshi cultures.The Shang and Zhou dynasties exerted varying degrees of control over western Shandong, while eastern Shandong was inhabited by Dongyi peoples, who were considered barbarians by the inhabitants of the Central Plain. Following the annexation the Dongyi state of Lai by the state of Qi in 567 BC, the Dongyi gradually became sinicized.
During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, power was accumulated by regional states; Shandong was home to the state of Qi based in Linzi, and the state of Lu based in Qufu. Lu is famous for being the home of Confucius; however, it was comparatively small, eventually being annexed by the neighboring state of Chu to its south. Meanwhile, Qi was a significant power throughout the entire period, and ruled cities including Jimo, Linzi, and Ju.
Imperial history
The Qin dynasty conquered Qi and founded the first centralized Chinese state in 221 BC. The Han dynasty that followed created several commanderies supervised by two inspectorates in what is now modern Shandong: in the north and in the south. During the Three Kingdoms period, Shandong was part of the northern kingdom of Cao Wei, which ruled over northern China.After the Three Kingdoms period, a brief period of unity under the Western Jin dynasty gave way to invasions by nomadic barbarians from the north. Northern China, including Shandong, was overrun. Over the next century or so, Shandong changed hands several times, falling to the Later Zhao, then Former Yan, then Former Qin, then Later Yan, then Southern Yan, then the Liu Song dynasty, and finally the Northern Wei dynasty, the first of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. Shandong stayed with the Northern dynasties for the rest of this period.
In 412 AD, the Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian landed at Laoshan, on the southern edge of the Shandong peninsula, and proceeded to Qingzhou to edit and translate the scriptures he had brought back from Pakistan and India.
The Sui dynasty reestablished unity in 589, and the Tang dynasty presided over the next golden age of China. For the earlier part of this period, Shandong was ruled as part of Henan Circuit, one of the circuits. Later on, China splintered into warlord factions, resulting in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Shandong was part of the Five Dynasties, all based in the north.
he Song dynasty reunified China in the late tenth century. The classic novel Water Margin was based on folk tales of outlaw bands active in Shandong during the Song dynasty. In 1996, the discovery of over two hundred buried Buddhist statues at Qingzhou was hailed as a major archaeological find. The statues included early examples of painted figures and are thought to have been buried due to Emperor Huizong's repression of Buddhism.
The Song dynasty was forced to cede northern China to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in 1142. Shandong was administered by Jin as Shandong East Circuit and Shandong West Circuit – the first use of its current name.
Early modern era
The modern province of Shandong was created by the Ming dynasty, where it had a more expansive territory, including the eastern of Liaoning. In 1376, the capital of Shandong moved from Qingzhou to Jinan, and since then, Jinan served as the provincial capital for seven centuries.After Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing in 1421, the cities of Jining and Linqing along the Grand Canal flourished due to the development of canal grain transport. However, due to the Little Ice Age, crop yields declined and famine persisted year after year, and compounded by the harsh policies of the imperial court, peasant rebellions broke out continuously.
In 1633, Ming generals Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming led their troops from Dengzhou, Shandong to Liaodong to surrender to the Manchu Qing, later joining the Qing army's entry into China proper. By 1640, peasant uprisings led by the White Lotus Society in Shandong intensified. The Ming court dispatched Zhu Datian to suppress the revolt, causing Shandong's population to decline sharply once again.
The earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 8.5 and an epicenter just northeast of Linyi devastated Dengzhou and the prefecture, and killed foreigners and locals, between 43,000 and 50,000 people are claimed to lost their lives.
Late Qing era
After the defeat in the First Opium War, China became increasingly exposed to Western influence; as a coastal province, Shandong was significantly affected. After the Second Opium War, Qing court opened Cheefoo as trade port, and then western powers like established consulates, missionaries, Christian schools, and factories in there. Due to its strategic position, every power wanted to gain its position in the province; in the 1880s, Shandong became the logistics and training base of Beiyang Fleet, and Weihaiwei served as the headquarter of the fleet. However, Beiyang fleet was disastrous defeated by Imperial Japanese Navy in 1894, and Japanese began to penetrate into Shandong. Three years later, two German catholic missionaries were killed in Juye, Heze, causing the Juye Incident, and Qing government had to cede Qingdao to the German Empire. In 1898, Weihaiwei was also given to Britain, as the result of pressure from Russian Empire.Moreover, due to the annexation of Outer Manchuria by Russia in 1860, the Qing government revoked the prohibition and encouraged settlement of Shandong people to what remained of Manchuria. A large number of people from Shandong migrated to Northeast China, Russian Far East, and Korea in search of better opportunities. Many settled in Northeast China, contributing significantly to the region's demographic and agricultural development, engaging in farming, construction, and mining. Before the extermination and forced deportation by Soviets, there were roughly 200 thousand Chinese labors in Russian Far East, 95% of whom are from Shandong.
Shandong was one of the first places where the Boxer Rebellion broke out, and became one of the centers of the uprising. In 1899, Qing general Yuan Shikai was appointed governor of the province to suppress the uprising. He held the post for three years.
Germany took control of the peninsula in 1898, leasing Jiaozhou Bay and its port of Qingdao under threat of force. Development was a high priority for the Germans: over 200 million marks were invested in world-class harbor facilities including berths, heavy machinery, rail yards, and a floating dry dock. Private enterprises worked across the Shandong Province, opening mines, banks, factories, and rail lines.
As a consequence of the First World War, Japan seized German holdings in Qingdao and Shandong. The 1919 Treaty of Versailles transferred ownership to Japan instead of restoring Chinese sovereignty over the area. Popular dissatisfaction with this outcome, referred to as the Shandong Problem, led to the vehement student protests in the May Fourth Movement. Among the reservations to the Treaty that the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved was "to give Shantung to China", the treaty with reservations was not approved. Finally, Shandong reverted to Chinese control in 1922 after the United States' mediation during the Washington Naval Conference. Weihai followed in 1930.