CHI-NAN

Pinyin Jinan, conventional Tsinan city and provincial capital of Shantung sheng (province), China. Chi-nan lies in the northern foothills of the T'ai Mountains, on the high ground just south of the Huang Ho (river), which provides the major route along the north side of the Shantung Hills. Well watered from natural springs, the area was settled in early times. From the 8th century BC it was the site of Li-hsia, a major city of the state of Ch'i, which flourished in the Chou period (c. 1122-221 BC). Later, in the 2nd century BC, the town became the seat of Li-ch'eng county in the commandery (district controlled by a commander) of Chi-nan. The Chinese name Chi-nan ("South of the Chi") came from the Chi River, which formerly flowed along what is now the lower course of the Huang Ho. The seat of the commandery was shifted to the present city at the beginning of the 4th century AD. Chi-nan remained an important centre of administration, under various names, during the next two centuries and also became a major religious centre. Nearby Mount T'ai (now Yu-huang), to the south, was one of China's greatest holy mountains, and from the 4th to the 7th century many Buddhist cave temples were built in the hills south of Chi-nan. During the Sui and T'ang periods (581-907) it remained a major city, under the names Ch'i prefecture and Chi-nan commandery. In 1116 it became Chi-nan superior prefecture, a title that it retained until 1911. Marco Polo, the Venetian traveler to China in the 13th century, visited it and described it under the name Chingli. When the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) created Shantung province, Chi-nan became its capital. In 1911 it became a county, under its old name Li-ch'eng. In 1930, however, it was made a municipality, incorporating the old city, the modern commercial area developed after 1906, and the northern suburb of Li-k'ou. Chi-nan's modern growth began in 1852, when the Huang Ho shifted its course to the old riverbed of the Chi, just north of the city. Although the Huang Ho was not a major waterway, this shift provided a link, used by small craft, with the Grand Canal and the waterways of northern Shantung and southern Hopeh provinces. The Hsiao-ch'ing River, flowing from Chi-nan to the sea south of the Huang Ho, was also a route for small craft. In 1904 Chi-nan's growing importance as a transport centre was increased when the German-built railway was completed from Tsingtao, which opened the city for foreign trade. In 1912 the north-south railway from Tientsin to P'u-k'ou was completed, with a rail junction at Chi-nan. The city rapidly became a major commercial and collecting centre for the rich agricultural region to the north. A great market for cotton, grain, peanuts (groundnuts), and tobacco, it developed a textile-manufacturing industry, flour mills, oil presses, and paper, cement, and match factories, thus becoming Shantung's second industrial centre after Tsingtao. When Japanese influence replaced the German presence in Shantung after World War I, a sizable Japanese colony became established in Chi-nan. In 1928, during the Northern Expedition of the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) armies, the Japanese army intervened-ostensibly to protect their own nationals-in what became known as the Tsinan Incident. A sizable arsenal in the city made Chi-nan the object of contention between rival forces throughout the pre-World War II period. It was occupied by the Japanese from 1937 to 1945. Chi-nan was taken by Chinese Communist forces in 1948. It was then rapidly developed both as a major administrative and industrial centre. The existing textile and flour-milling industries were expanded, and an important machine-building industry was developed. By the early 1970s Chi-nan had become a major centre of the automotive industry, manufacturing a wide range of heavy trucks and earth-moving machinery. In the late 1950s Chi-nan became the site of a major iron and steel industry, producing pig iron, ingot steel, and finished steel. It also is a major centre of the chemical industry. Chi-nan is the chief cultural centre in Shantung, with agricultural, medical, and engineering colleges and a large university. There are also many relics of Chi-nan's historical importance. The surrounding area has many well-known sites of natural beauty. Pop. (1990) 1,480,915.