T'ANG-SHAN

Pinyin Tangshan, industrial city in eastern Hopeh sheng (province), China. Originally, T'ang-shan was a small hamlet dependent upon nearby K'ai-p'ing and located in an area where many small coal pits had been worked since the 16th century. In 1876 a Cantonese promoter of Western-style industrialization proposed to the governor-general of the former province of Chihli that a coal industry be established there. The first shaft of the mine at K'ai-p'ing (T'ang-shan) was begun in 1879. The coal was taken by horse tramway to Hs-ko-chuang (now known as Feng-nan), 7 miles (11 km) away, whence it was carried by canal to Ning-ho (Lu-t'ai) on the Chi-yn River, and thence shipped to a depot near Tientsin. In 1882, despite official opposition to railway development, the tramway was turned into China's first proper railway. In 1887 the railway was extended to Ning-ho, and then in 1888 to T'ang-ku, the outport of Tientsin. New collieries were opened at Lin-hsi, 15 miles (24 km) northeast of T'ang-shan, and these too were linked by rail to Tientsin. The K'ai-p'ing Mining Company then established its own shipping line, supplying coal to the northern ports, to the Chinese northern fleet, and to Shanghai. In 189194 Tientsin was connected by rail with Shan-hai-kuan, on the coast to the northeast of T'ang-shan; the company also developed its own port facilities after 1899, with a railway link to the ice-free harbour of Ch'in-huang-tao. The Boxer Rebellion of 1900, which led to the occupation of T'ang-shan by Russian troops, while Ch'in-huang-tao was occupied by an allied force, brought suspension of work on the port and rail link. The company, already in financial difficulties, then fell under British control. Production was resumed, and the new port and rail link were completed; by 1903 virtually all coal was exported via Ch'in-huang-tao. Yan Shih-k'ai, the new governor of Chihli, repeatedly but unsuccessfully attempted to gain control of the mining company. He then established a rival Chinese company, the Luan-chou Mining Company, which opened mines in the same district at Ma-chia-kou and Chao-ko-chuang. Although these mines were speedily brought into production, the company was soon involved in a price war with the K'ai-p'ing company and fell into financial trouble. The outbreak of the revolution of 1911 precipitated a financial crisis, and in 1912 the Anglo-Chinese Kailan Mining Administration was established to resolve the conflict and jointly to control the affairs of both companies. This organization continued to operate until 1934, when the Chinese Nationalist government recognized the formation of the Kailuan Mining Corporation, formally combining both companies. Under this arrangement British control over the whole mining operation was secured, and it was continuedeven after the Japanese occupation in 1937until the outbreak of war between Japan and the Western powers in 1941. The company reverted to British control in 1945, but in 1948 the area was taken by the Chinese Communists, who expelled the British in 1952. Under China's First Five-Year Plan (195357) the works were extensively modernized and extended, with some Soviet technical assistance. T'ang-shan was also the site of other industries, among them a large cement plantthe Chee-hsin Works, which began operation in T'ang-shan in 1907. After 1949, T'ang-shan's electric generating plants were expanded, and the city was joined to Tientsin and Peking by a high-tension grid. Iron and steel production that had been developed during the Japanese occupation declined after 1945 and remained at a low level until the mid-1950s, when it was rapidly expanded. In 1964 T'ang-shan was designated the centre of an experimental economic region designed to integrate the commercial life of the area. By the beginning of 1976, T'ang-shan was producing large quantities of ingot steel, pig iron, and finished steel. Engineering and ceramics were also important. On July 28, 1976, the city was devastated by a giant earthquake. Strong after-tremors continued for days. The quake leveled almost every building and flooded the mines. An estimated 700,000 to 1,500,000 people died from the several earthquakes that struck the city during the late 1970s and early 1980s. All new buildings were designed to be highly earthquake-resistant. Huge new apartment complexes housed 80,000 families by the end of 1980, and factories were rebuilt downwind to minimize pollution. Land along the fault lines was reserved for parks. Although many industries resumed operation within a year or two, it was not until the 1980s that total production regained its pre-1976 levels. Pop. (1986 est.) 940,000.