LIN-TZU

Pinyin Linzi town, central Shantung sheng (province), China. It is situated on the west bank of the Tzu River, a tributary of the Hsiao-ch'ing River, some 19 miles (30 km) east of Po-shan (Tzu-po) city. While modern Lin-tzu is little more than a local market town and a collecting centre for the agricultural produce of the surrounding district on the railway between Tsinan (Chi-nan) and Tsingtao, it, nevertheless, has considerable historical importance. In Chou times (c. 1122221 BC) it was the capital of the state of Ch'i from 869 BC onward. Ch'i was one of the most powerful of the feudal kingdoms, and by the 4th and 3rd centuries BC Lin-tzu was the greatest city in China, with a population said to have numbered 70,000 households (perhaps 350,000 persons). As the capital of the richest and most advanced of the Chinese states, it also became the intellectual and cultural capital of eastern China. Even after the unification of the empire it remained an important city and was the chief administrative centre of Shantung throughout Han times (206 BCAD 220), when it was the seat of Ch'i province. During the civil wars of the late 3rd century, however, and during the invasions of the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, it was devastated and fell into ruins. In the 5th century the Northern Wei state moved the seat of Ch'i province to I-tu, and in the 6th century Lin-tzu for a while lost even the status of a county seat. It was revived at a site some distance to the southwest under the Sui (581618) and until the later years of the Ch'ing dynasty (16441911) remained the seat of a county, usually subordinated to Po-shan. The existing city walls, which date to Sui times, are only 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in circumference. To the north, however, on the west bank of the Tzu Shui, are the ruins of ancient Lin-tzu, with massive walls 12 miles (19 km) in circumference. In the southwestern corner is another walled enclosure, which is thought to be the site of the royal palace of Ch'i. Outside the walls are many other remains connected with Lin-tzu's historic role, including the four huge tombs of the kings of the T'ien family, the Ch'i ruling house. Pop. (mid-1980s est.) fewer than 10,000.