K'AI-FENG

Pinyin Kaifeng, city in northern Honan sheng (province), China. Until 1955 it was the provincial capital (now transferred to Cheng-chou). K'ai-feng is situated in the southern section of the North China Plain, to the south of the Huang Ho (Yellow River), in an area where a number of streams flow southeastward into the Huai River. In the 4th century BC, as Ta-liang, it became the capital of the Wei dynasty; the Wei also built the first of many canals there, the Lang-t'ang Canal, joining the Huang Ho to the Chin River, flowing into northern Shantung province. At the end of the 3rd century BC, however, Ta-liang was laid waste by the forces of the Ch'in dynasty (221206 BC), and until the 5th century AD, K'ai-feng was only a medium-sized market town. Under the Northern Wei dynasty at the end of the 5th century, it became the seat of a commandery, and in the 6th century a prefecture, Pien Chou. Under this name it again became one of the most important commercial cities in China, its new importance being based on the Grand Canal, built in 607608 under the Sui dynasty (581618) and linking the Huang Ho with the Huai River, the Yangtze River, and the region of modern Hang-chou. All the revenues of southern China, and a vast volume of private shipping, passed through the city, which was the junction for another canal to western Shantung built in the early 7th century. Its importance grew steadily throughout the T'ang period (618907), and after 756 it was made the seat of a military governor whose province was named Hsan-wu. After 907 the various regional regimes that successively controlled the North China Plain made it their eastern capital. When the Sung (9601126) reestablished a unified empire, they too made it their capital. A cosmopolitan centre from early times, the city had, for many centuries, the only well-documented Jewish community in China (see K'ai-feng Jew). K'ai-feng was the first Chinese capital to be primarily a commercial metropolis. Under the Sung it was probably the most important centre of trade in the Orient. The focus of four major canals, it drew in vast revenues in grain and commodities and also became the focus of an industrial complex, which included an iron industry. The city itself was surrounded by a triple ring of walls. It seems probable that in the 11th century K'ai-feng's population was between about 600,000 and 700,000. The city suffered a severe blow when the Juchen (Chin) overran North China, captured K'ai-feng in 1127, and sacked it. Under Chin rule after 1127, K'ai-feng was first known as Pien-ching and later as the southern capital. It remained an important administrative centre, as it also was under the Mongol occupation, which lasted from 1234 until 1368, during which period it was the seat of the provincial administration of Honan. After 1127 the outer walls were abandoned, and the city was confined to the old inner city of early Sung times. In 1368 the first emperor of the Ming dynasty (13681644) made K'ai-feng the capital of Honan province and built a new set of walls. K'ai-feng suffered another disaster in 1642 when rebel forces diverted the Huang Ho to flood the city, which was temporarily abandoned and restored only in 1662. Although K'ai-feng remained an important regional administrative centre throughout Ming and Ch'ing (16441911) times, its commercial importance never regained its 11th-century peak. After the construction under the Mongols and the Ming of a new Grand Canal farther east, it was no longer a key point on the main north-south traffic artery. Neglect of the river works on the Huang Ho, moreover, made the river less useful as a waterway, while flood disasters became frequent. K'ai-feng's position suffered still further in the 20th century when both of the main north-south rail lines bypassed it, though it is linked to them by the east-west Lungai Railway. It has, however, undergone considerable industrial expansion. In addition to the old, established handicraft industries, such as cotton textiles and iron implements, it has become the centre of an engineering industry producing agricultural machinery, a zinc industry, and a large chemical industry. Some traces of the Sung capital still remain. The city is a cultural centre, with a medical college, libraries, and a provincial museum. Pop. (1990) 507,763.