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| Guanzhong | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Map ofShudao (Roads to Shu), Guanzhong is the valley at the top right | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 關中 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 关中 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Inside the Pass | ||||||||
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Guanzhong (Chinese:关中, formerlyromanised asKwanchung) region, also known as theGuanzhong Basin,Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as theShaanzhong region, is ahistorical region ofChina corresponding to the crescenticgrabenbasin within present-day centralShaanxi, bounded between theQinling Mountains in the south (known as Guanzhong's "South Mountains"), and the Huanglong Mountain, Meridian Ridge andLong Mountain ranges in the north (collectively known as its "North Mountains"). The centralflatland area of the basin, known as theGuanzhong Plain (关中平原; pinyin: Guānzhōng Píngyuán), is made up ofalluvial plains along the lowerWei River and its numeroustributaries and thus also called theWei River Plain. The region is part of theJin-Shaan Basin Belt, a prominent section of theShanxi Rift System, and is separated from its geological sibling — the Yuncheng Basin to its northeast — by theYellow River section southwest of theLüliang Mountains and north of the river's bend at the tri-provincial junction amongShaanxi,Shanxi andHenan.
The nameGuanzhong means "within the passes", referring to the four majormountain passfortresses historically defending the region. The region was the traditional heartland ofQin state duringZhou dynasty and thus often nicknamed the "800li of Qin land". TheYellow River,Lüliang Mountains and the eastern end of theQinling separate the region from the (then) politically orthodoxCentral Plain, which is located east of the strategicHangu Pass and therefore was historically referred as theGuandong ("east of the pass") region by the Qin people, who laterconquered the eastern states and unified China as a centralized empire — theQin dynasty — for the first time during the3rd century BC. Afterwards, subsequent prominent dynasties such as theHan andTang (both considered China's historicalgolden ages) also had thecrownland established in the Guanzhong region.
The Guanzhong Plain traditionally includes the central part of modernShaanxi province and the extreme northwestern tip ofHenan province (the western half ofSanmenxia). The averagealtitude of the region ranges from 300 to 700 m (980 to 2,300 ft)above sea level.Xi'an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi and the largest city inNorthwest China, is located at the center of the region, mostly south of the Wei River. Other major prefectural cities in the Guanzhong region include (from west to east)Baoji,Xianyang,Tongchuan andWeinan.
The four major historic fortifications that enclose Guanzhong region are:
Two more passes were later added, namely:
Historically the most important fortress of the above passes was the Hangu Pass, which commanded thechokepoint on a narrow land corridor along the south bank ofYellow River and what was then the only traversable passage into the Guanzhong region from theNorth China Plain. The formidable resilience of the Hangu Pass was what enabled theQin state to defeat numerous anti-Qin alliances formed by its eastern enemy states during theWarring States period.
The average annual temperature is around 13 °C (55 °F), and the annual rainfall ranges from 400 to 900 mm (16 to 35 in), averaging around 600 mm. Because some years have low precipitation and evaporation rates are high, the region's natural vegetation is a mix betweenforests andsteppes. Beforehuman settlements converted the plains foragriculture, it was home to a diverse range ofwildlife.[1]
The Guanzhong region became the heartland of theZhou afterJī clan leaderGugong Danfu relocated his people south fromBin (modern dayBinzhou, Shaanxi) to evade the violent raidings byXunyu,Xianyun andDi nomads. It is from Guanzhong region that the Zhou state prospered and eventually conquered theShang dynasty to establish theZhou dynasty in 1046 BC.
After theQuanrong nomads, with collaboration fromMarquess of Shen, killedKing You of Zhou and sacked the Zhou capitalHaojing in771 BC, theWestern Zhou dynasty collapsed and the surviving Zhou court fled east toLuoyi. TheYíng clan, then a minormarchervassal based in theLongxi Basin as abuffer state on the western frontier of the Chinese civilization, sent troops to escortKing Ping of Zhou along the journey. In gratitude, King Ping granted amid-level nobility to the Yíng leader,Count Xiang, and promised him authority to permanently claim any lands his clan can recapture from the nomads. The resultantQin state then spent the next few centuries fighting off various nomads to its north and west and eventually consolidated its base in the Guanzhong Plain and theLoess Plateau. The Qin capital then relocated progressively east from Qinyi (in modernQingshui County,Gansu) to Yong (in modernFengxiang County,Shaanxi), then toYueyang (in modernYanliang District ofXi'an, Shaanxi), and eventually toXianyang northeast across theWei River from the ruined old Zhou capital ofFenghao. Four passes were then built to defend this new heartland against hostile attacks from both the east and the west.
During theWarring States period, Qin grew powerful underShang Yang'slegalist reforms, and militarily became increasingly more successful, and its rivals to the east claimed that the Qin army was a "troop of tigers and wolves", and it was often said that "Guanzhong produces generals; Guandong produces ministers". After constructingirrigation systems such asZhengguo Canal, the already fertile Guanzhong region became extremely productive, allowing Qin state to become the preeminent power, repeatedly defeating and seizing more territory from its rivals to the east, andeventually unified China and established theQin dynasty in221 BC.
AfterFirst Emperor's death, the Qin dynasty soon fell into chaos due to the corrupt rule ofQin Er Shi andZhao Gao, and various rebellions broke out. In206 BC, the rebel leaderLiu Bang successfully invaded Guanzhong and forced the last Qin ruler,Ziying, to surrender the capital Xianyang, ending the Qin dynasty. Liu Bang entered the capital peacefully, and issued strict orders forbidding his troops fromlooting and harming the locals. However, he was forced to hand control over to another more powerful rebel leaderXiang Yu, who sacked, pillaged and torched Xianyang before enfeoffing the Guanzhong region to three surrendered Qin generalsZhang Han,Sima Xin andDong Yi, collectively known as the "Three Qins". However, merely four months later, Liu Bang returned with his newly appointed generalissimoHan Xin and reconquered the Guanzhong region, and used it as his base to eventually defeat Xiang Yu in thesubsequent civil war. After establishing theHan dynasty, Liu Bang created a new capital namedChang'an, which is just across the Wei River from the ruined Qin capital Xianyang.
Since the Western Zhou dynasty, the area was the capital region of China for a total of 12 dynasties including the Qin,Western Han,Sui, andTang. By the Tang dynasty the economic center of China had shifted south to theYangtze basin and Guanzhong became increasingly dependent on supplies transported via theGrand Canal. After the destruction ofChang'an in the last years of the Tang, Guanzhong became less significant politically as well as economically in later dynasties.[2]
