Xianyang (Chinese:咸阳;pinyin:Xiányáng) is aprefecture-level city in centralShaanxi province, situated on theWei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital ofXi'an. Once the capital of theQin dynasty, it is now integrated into theXi'an metropolitan area, one of the main urban agglomerations innorthwestern China, with more than 7.17 million inhabitants. Its built-up area, consisting of 2 urbandistricts (Qindu and Weicheng), had 945,420 inhabitants at the2010 census. It has a total area of 10,213 square kilometers (3,943 sq mi).
Xianyang 咸阳市 | |
|---|---|
 Chenghuang Temple  Iharbour Campus ofXi'an Jiaotong University  Fenghuangtai | |
.png) Location of Xianyang Prefecture within Shaanxi | |
| Coordinates (Xianyang municipal government):34°19′48″N108°42′32″E / 34.3299°N 108.7088°E /34.3299; 108.7088 | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Shaanxi |
| Municipal seat | Qindu District |
| Area | |
| 10,213 km2 (3,943 sq mi) | |
| • Urban | 523 km2 (202 sq mi) |
| Population (2010) | |
| 5,096,001 | |
| • Density | 500/km2 (1,300/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 945,420 |
| • Urban density | 1,800/km2 (4,700/sq mi) |
| • Metro | Xian |
| GDP[1] | |
| • Prefecture-level city | CN¥ 215 billion US$ 34.6 billion |
| • Per capita | CN¥ 43,365 US$6,963 |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| ISO 3166 code | CN-SN-04 |
| Website | www |
.jpg)
| Xianyang | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg) "Xianyang" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters | |||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 咸阳 | ||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 咸陽 | ||||||||||
| Postal | Sienyang | ||||||||||
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Xianyang is the seat of theXi'an Xianyang International Airport, the main airport servingXi'an and the largest airport inNorthwest China, and one of the 40busiest airports in the world.[2][3]
Xianyang is one of the top 500 cities in the world by scientific research outputs, as tracked by theNature Index.[4] It is home to the main campus ofNorthwest A&F University (NWAFU), one of the world's top universities inagriculture science related fields,[5][6] and a member of "Project 985" club which is an organization of 39reputable universities in China.
History
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Xianyang was among the capital city's environs during theWestern Zhou dynasty, and was made the capital of thestate of Qin in 350 BC during theWarring States period before becoming the capital of China during the short-livedQin dynasty.[7] Because the city lay south of the Jiuzong Mountains and north of theWei River – both sunlight-rich (yang) orientations – it was named "Xianyang", meaning "fullyyang".[7]
UnderDuke Xiao of Qin's reign, ministerShang Yang designed Xianyang and in 350 BC organized the relocation of Qin's administration from the old capitalYueyang to the new city, which was then the capital for over 140 years. It was located in the modern day Shaanxi province on the northern bank of theWei River, on the opposite side of whichLiu Bang would later build theHan dynasty capital ofChang'an once he became emperor.
In 221 BC,Qin Shi Huang eliminated all six other warring states to establish thefirst centralized empire in Chinese history. Xianyang became the center of politics, economy and culture of the Qin empire. Noble families were compelled to move into Xianyang, and the realm's weapons were gathered in the city to be melted and cast into twelve towering statues. The Emperor had a lavishmausoleum built near the capital, complete with hisTerracotta Army. This and other large undertakings diverted enormous levels of manpower and resources away from agriculture. Coupled with the state's repressive measures on the population, these factors eventually led to the fall of the Qin dynasty and with it the original city of Xianyang.[8]
Qin Shi Huang expanded Xianyang beyond the walls. Then he built replicas of the palaces of all the conquered states along the Wei River. In 220 BC, he built Xin Palace (新城;Xīnchéng) and later renamed it Wei Palace (渭城;Wèichéng), named after the Wei River. He continued with the theme of earth as the mirror of heaven building a network of 300 palaces in the Wei valley connected by elevated roads. In 212 BC, he built the Epang Palace (阿房宮;Ēpánggōng).
Shortly after the First Emperor's death in 210 BC revolts erupted. At the beginning of December 207 BC, the last Qin emperorZiying surrendered to rebel leaderLiu Bang, who entered Xianyang peacefully without harming the locals. However, Liu Bang was forced to hand the city over to another more ruthless rebel leader,Xiang Yu, whose army greatly outnumbered Liu Bang's. Xiang Yu then killed Ziying and burned Xianyang in 206 BC,[9] destroying the sole surviving copies of severalbanned books that were kept in the royal library.[10]
In 202 BC, after defeating Xiang Yu inBattle of Gaixia and ending theChu-Han contention, Liu Bang was crowned the emperor of the newly establishedHan dynasty, and he built a new capital across theWei River merely miles from the ruins of old Xianyang and named this new cityChang'an. The Han-era town ofAnling (安陵, tomb ofemperor Hui) was located nearby and houses some of the Han dynasty's mausoleums.
Archeology
editFrom the end of the 1950s until the middle of the 1990s, archeologists discovered and excavated numerous Qin era sites in Xianyang, including palaces, workshops and tombs.
Administrative divisions
edit| Map | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Population (2004 est.) | Area (km2) | Density (/km2) |
| Weicheng District | 渭城区 | Wèichéng Qū | 400,000 | 272 | 1,471 |
| Yangling District | 杨陵区 | Yánglíng Qū | 140,000 | 94 | 1,489 |
| Qindu District | 秦都区 | Qíndū Qū | 450,000 | 251 | 1,793 |
| Xingpingcity | 兴平市 | Xīngpíng Shì | 560,000 | 496 | 1,129 |
| Binzhou city | 彬州市 | Bīnzhōu Shì | 330,000 | 1,202 | 275 |
| Sanyuan County | 三原县 | Sānyuán Xiàn | 400,000 | 569 | 703 |
| Jingyang County | 泾阳县 | Jīngyáng Xiàn | 500,000 | 792 | 631 |
| Qian County | 乾县 | Qián Xiàn | 560,000 | 994 | 563 |
| Liquan County | 礼泉县 | Lǐquán Xiàn | 460,000 | 1,017 | 452 |
| Yongshou County | 永寿县 | Yǒngshòu Xiàn | 190,000 | 869 | 219 |
| Changwu County | 长武县 | Chángwǔ Xiàn | 170,000 | 583 | 292 |
| Xunyi County | 旬邑县 | Xúnyì Xiàn | 270,000 | 1,697 | 159 |
| Chunhua County | 淳化县 | Chúnhuà Xiàn | 200,000 | 965 | 207 |
| Wugong County | 武功县 | Wǔgōng Xiàn | 410,000 | 392 | 1,046 |
Chinese Bureau of Statistics lists the urban population of the city at 316,641 (1990 Census), rising to 814,625 (2000 Census), and 835,648 in 2010 Census.[11]
Climate
edit| Climate data for Xianyang (Qindu District) (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 16.0 (60.8) | 23.0 (73.4) | 30.6 (87.1) | 34.6 (94.3) | 37.8 (100.0) | 41.7 (107.1) | 39.6 (103.3) | 39.2 (102.6) | 36.8 (98.2) | 31.1 (88.0) | 24.4 (75.9) | 22.4 (72.3) | 41.7 (107.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 4.7 (40.5) | 9.1 (48.4) | 15.1 (59.2) | 21.5 (70.7) | 26.4 (79.5) | 31.5 (88.7) | 32.5 (90.5) | 30.2 (86.4) | 25.1 (77.2) | 19.1 (66.4) | 12.3 (54.1) | 6.3 (43.3) | 19.5 (67.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −0.9 (30.4) | 2.6 (36.7) | 7.7 (45.9) | 14.1 (57.4) | 19.3 (66.7) | 24.5 (76.1) | 26.3 (79.3) | 24.4 (75.9) | 19.6 (67.3) | 13.3 (55.9) | 6.0 (42.8) | 0.5 (32.9) | 13.1 (55.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −5.1 (22.8) | −1.6 (29.1) | 3.4 (38.1) | 8.6 (47.5) | 13.4 (56.1) | 18.8 (65.8) | 22.1 (71.8) | 20.9 (69.6) | 15.9 (60.6) | 9.2 (48.6) | 1.9 (35.4) | −3.7 (25.3) | 8.7 (47.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −16.3 (2.7) | −12.4 (9.7) | −8.5 (16.7) | −2.1 (28.2) | 2.4 (36.3) | 8.7 (47.7) | 14.7 (58.5) | 12.0 (53.6) | 5.0 (41.0) | −4.4 (24.1) | −12.3 (9.9) | −18.6 (−1.5) | −18.6 (−1.5) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 6.2 (0.24) | 8.8 (0.35) | 22.1 (0.87) | 34.6 (1.36) | 49.8 (1.96) | 60.5 (2.38) | 82.8 (3.26) | 84.6 (3.33) | 89.4 (3.52) | 54.0 (2.13) | 21.9 (0.86) | 4.5 (0.18) | 519.2 (20.44) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 3.5 | 3.9 | 5.9 | 7.0 | 8.8 | 8.0 | 9.7 | 9.4 | 11.4 | 9.6 | 5.7 | 2.8 | 85.7 |
| Average snowy days | 4.3 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 12.6 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 64 | 63 | 62 | 66 | 65 | 61 | 69 | 75 | 78 | 78 | 74 | 66 | 68 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 134.4 | 132.0 | 169.8 | 194.4 | 211.3 | 211.0 | 223.2 | 200.8 | 143.1 | 138.0 | 135.5 | 141.0 | 2,034.5 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 43 | 42 | 46 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 51 | 49 | 39 | 40 | 44 | 46 | 46 |
| Source:China Meteorological Administration[12][13] | |||||||||||||
Education
editXianyang is home to the main campus ofNorthwest A&F University (NWAFU), one of the world's top universities inagriculture science related-fields,[5][6] and a member of "Project 985" club which is an organization of 39reputable universities in China.
National
Public
Transport
editReferences
edit- ^陕西省统计局、国家统计局陕西调查总队 (August 2016).《陕西统计年鉴－2016》.China Statistics Press.ISBN 978-7-5037-7918-3. Archived fromthe original on 2017-05-29.
- ^"2020 Airport Traffic Report"(PDF).Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. July 2021. p. 30. Retrieved26 Sep 2021.
- ^2019 Annual Airport Traffic Report(PDF). United States: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. 2020.
- ^"Nature Index 2018 Science Cities | Nature Index Supplements | Nature Index".www.natureindex.com. Retrieved2020-11-26.
- ^ab"U.S. News & World Report: Best Global Universities for Agricultural Sciences".U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved13 September 2022.
- ^ab"ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects: Agricultural Sciences".www.shanghairanking.com. Retrieved2022-09-13.
- ^ab中国古今地名大词典 (in Chinese (China)).Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House. 2005. p. 2134.ISBN 978-753261743-2.
- ^Meyer 1997, pp. 91–95.
- ^Cotterell, page 29.
- ^Meyer, Milton Walter (1997).Asia : a concise history. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 92.ISBN 0847680681.OCLC 33276519.
- ^"China: Provinces and Major Cities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information".citypopulation.de. Retrieved4 April 2018.
- ^中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data (in Simplified Chinese).China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved24 September 2023.
- ^"Experience Template"中国气象数据网 (in Simplified Chinese).China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved24 September 2023.
Further reading
edit- Cotterell, Arthur (2007).The Imperial Capitals of China - An Inside View of the Celestial Empire. London, England: Pimlico.ISBN 978-1-84595-009-5.
External links
edit
| Preceded by | Capital of China 221 BC-206 BC | Succeeded by |