Li County orLixian is anadministrative division of theprefecture-level city ofLongnan in southeasternGansu, a northwesternprovince ofChina. The2010 Chinese census found a population of 458,237, a decline of around 25,000 from theyear 2000 but still placing it second in size within its prefecture.^[1]

Li County 礼县
County
Longnan Prefecture withinGansu
Coordinates:34°06′03″N104°58′37″E / 34.10083°N 104.97694°E /34.10083; 104.97694
Country	China
Provinces	Gansu
Prefecture-level city	Longnan
County seat	Chengguan
Area
• Total	4,299.92 km2 (1,660.21 sq mi)
Population  (2017)[citation needed]
• Total	536,817
• Density	120/km2 (320/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard
Postal code	742200
Area code	0939
Licence plate prefixes	甘K
Website	lixian.gsjgbz.gov.cn

Thecounty seat isalso known asLixian,formerlyromanized asLi Hsien. It is located at the confluence of theWestern Han andYanzirivers, tributaries of theJialing andYangtze watersheds. Commanding a valley connecting theYellow andYangtze river systems, it was an important outpost of theShang andZhoudynasties and was the initial seat of theYing family who later established thekingdom andempire of Qin.

Lixian is bordered within Longnan by thecounties ofXihe to the east,Wudu to the south, andTanchang to the west. Themunicipalities ofDingxi andTianshui lie to the northwest and northeast, respectively.

SirEric Teichman, the British diplomat andorientalist, described the territory in 1916 before its modern development:

...the path [from Tianshui] crosses theTsin-ling Shan, and passes from the basin of theHuang Ho into that of theYang-tse by an easy pass. The south-eastern corner ofKan-su, south of the Tsin-ling Shan range, differs greatly from the rest of the province. The bareloess hills of Central Kan-su with their waterless valleys give way to jungle-covered mountains with abundance of water, andcoolie transport takes the place ofcamels, carts, andmules. The people are in close touch withSechuan.^[2]

The Libagold deposit (李坝金矿区) lies within the county limits.^[3]

Huaniu apples are a speciality agricultural product of the region.^[6]

Scientists fromLanzhou University have established that widespread agriculture began in Li County around 6,400years ago as part of theBanpo phase of theYangshao culture of theWei River valley. The warm, humid climate of the mid-Holocene made the area productive formillet prior to the drier conditions which began about 2000 BC.^[7]

By the time ofancient China, Lixian was part of the territory ofXichui (lit. "the Western March").^[8] During theShang dynasty,Zhongjue^[10] and his sonFeilian(蜚廉) controlled Xichui from the midst of the area'sRong tribes. Feilian's sonElai servedKing Zhou as his bodyguard and was killed when KingWu overthrew him and founded theZhou dynasty.^[11]

Under the Zhou, however, Elai's family—theHouse of Ying—continued to control the area. His great-great-grandson wasDaluo(大骆), who had two sons by different mothers in the early 9th century BC.^[11] Cheng, his son by the daughter of theMarquis of Shen, inherited Xichui and the other son,Feizi, initially went without and served as his brother'shorse breeder.^[12] His reputation grew to the point that King Xiao charged him with breeding and providing theimperial cavalry. He proved so successful that, when the Marquis of Shen blocked his inheritance of Daluo's estate, King Xiao created him lord of nearbyQin (present-dayZhangjiachuan, Gansu).^[8] During the 842 BCCompatriots Rebellion, the Zhou kingLi was overthrown atHao and forced into a prolonged exile;^[14] the Rong took the occasion to attack and massacre Cheng's clan at Xichui. KingXuan named Feizi's great-grandsonQin Zhong commander over the Zhou expeditions against the Rong around 827 BC^[11] but the Rong killed him at Qin in 822. His sonZhuang and his four younger brothers successfully invaded the Rong lands with 7,000 Zhou soldiers and recovered both Qin and Xichui.^[8]

At some point duringSpring and Autumn period,barley andwheat were introduced into the area in addition to its traditional millet.^[7] Created aduke over Xichui, Zhuang moved his family's capital to the site,^[11][12] establishing thecity ofQuanqiu.^[8] WhenZhuang died in 778 BC, his eldest son Shifu (世父) refused to inherit official duties but chose instead to live a life on hischariot, fighting the Rong in revenge for his grandfather's death.^[11][12] His younger brotherXiang opted to marry his sister Mu Ying to KingFeng of the Rong (豐王) and, the next year in 776 BC, he moved his capital from Quanqiu to Qian (汧, present-dayLongxian inShaanxi).^[12] Shifu led the defense of Quanqiu against the Rong who subsequently invaded. Overcome, he was captured and lived among the Rong for a year before being released.^[11] When theQuanrong overcameHao in 771 and ended theWestern period of the Zhou, Xiang was granted apromotion by KingPing and no longer suffered subordinate status.^[12]

Under theQin andHandynasties, it was part ofLongxi Commandery, headquartered atDidao (present-dayTaoyang inLintao County). During theNorthern Wei dynasty, it was part ofHanyang Commandery, headquartered at Hanyang (present-dayTianshui). Under theWestern Wei, this was changed toHanyang County. During theTang, Lixian was known asChangdao (長道,长道) and was part ofQinzhou (秦州), a province centered variously atShanggui (present-day Tianshui) andChengji (present-dayQin'an).^[15] The area was the home of the noted 10th-century memoiristWang Renhui (王仁裕).^[15] Li County was separated from Tianshui's jurisdiction during the ninth year ofChenghua (AD 1473) during theMing dynasty.

Li County'sloess is prone to erosion and landslides. Amid theincreasing collectivization of agriculture from 1964 to 1978, just seven flows damaged 22,000 hectares (85 sq mi) of farmland, destroyed 17,544 homes, and killed 1,142 people.^[16]

During theCultural Revolution, the area received a bit of local notoriety for its flagging grain production. The "experiences of Li County" were used by regional officials to caution against implementation ofTachai-style collectivism in the mid-1970s. The collective farms in the area saw decreasing year-on-year yields of grain until, by 1976, all 29 of the county'scommunes were consuming more grain than they produced. This provoked official action, which denounced the complaints as "sabotage" and "poison", in the period between the fall of theGang of Four and the rise ofDeng Xiaoping'seconomic reforms.^[17]

The area is also subject toearthquakes, with 25 recorded as having amagnitude of 5.0 or higher. The largest recorded was an 8.0-magnitude quake that struck on July 21, 1654; most recently,a 6.6-magnitude quake struck on July 22, 2013.^[18]

Lixian is one of the counties included in theTargeted Poverty Alleviation campaign. In 2014, 26.1% of the population fell under the poverty line.^[19]

Lixian is known as the home of rhubarb in China. According to Qianlong era writings, rhubarb has been cultivated in the area for thousands of years.^[20] Other local produce includes apples, walnuts andpeppers.^[21][22]

Present-day, Li County includes 22towns and 7townships:^[23]

Towns

-Towns are upgraded from Township.

-Towns are established newly.

-Former Towns are merged to other.

Townships

-Former Townships are merged to other.

• Dabaozishan Site and Graves

• Official website(in Chinese)