WEI-FANG

formerly (until 1949) Wei-hsien, Pinyin Weifang, or Weixian city, east-central Shantung sheng (province), China. Wei-fang is situated on the main route along the northern slopes of the Shantung Hills at the northern end of the central plain. The locality is watered by the Wei and Chiao rivers, which divide the T'ai Shan (mountain) complex to the west from the mountains of the Shantung Peninsula itself to the east. From Wei-fang, highways fan out to Lung-k'ou and P'eng-lai on the northern coast, eastward to Yen-t'ai (Chefoo), and southeastward to Tsingtao. The city is on the main railway line from Tsingtao to Tsinan (Chi-nan), completed by the Germans in 1904. After the railway was built, Wei-fang became a market centre for the agricultural produce of the plain to the south, especially tobacco. The settlement of Wei-fang was founded before the unification of China in the 3rd century BC, when it formed part of the state of Ch'i, and it is still surrounded by many ancient remains. It was named Wei-chou under the Sui and T'ang dynasties (AD 581-907). In Sung times (960-1279) it was the seat of a military prefecture, Pei-hain, but later again became a civil prefecture. Under the Ming (1368-1644) and Ch'ing (1644-1911) dynasties it was demoted to county seat status as Wei-hsien-a name it retained until republican times (1911-49). Fang-tzu, to the south, has coal mines that were opened up early in the 20th century by the German firm Shantung Bergbau Gesellschaft, which operated under concessions gained in 1898. These concessions were retained by the German company after the Chinese repurchased most other mining rights in Shantung in 1911, but they were seized by the Japanese in 1915. Eventually, in 1923, they were transferred to the Lu-ta Colliery Company (a Sino-Japanese concern). Present-day Wei-fang is an industrial centre that processes local agricultural produce, engaging in flour milling, tobacco curing, and oil pressing (from local peanuts [groundnuts]), and manufacturing cotton textiles. It exports cloth to Honan and Shensi provinces and has a large dyeworks as well as a small metalworking industry, engaged largely in producing farm implements and machinery. Pop. (1990 est.) 428,522.