Zhengzhou, city and capital ofHenansheng (province),China. Located in the north-central part of the province, it is situated to the south of theHuang He (Yellow River), where its valley broadens into the great plain and at the eastern extremity of the Xiong’er Mountains. The city is at the crossing point of the north-south route skirting theTaihang Mountains and the mountains of western Henan and the east-west route along the southern bank of the Huang He. Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan since 1954, forms a prefecture-levelshi (municipality).

Since 1950, archaeological finds have shown that there wereNeolithic settlements in the area and that theShangBronze Ageculture, which flourished there from about 1500bce, was centered on a walled city. Outside this city, in addition to remains of large public buildings, a complex of small settlements has been discovered. The site is generally identified with the Shang capital ofAo. The Shang, who continually moved their capital, left Ao, perhaps in the 13th centurybce. The site, nevertheless, remained occupied;Zhou (post-1050bce) tombs have also been discovered. Traditionally, it is held that in the Western Zhou period (1111–771bce) it became the fief of a family named Guan. From this derives the name borne by the county since the late 6th centurybce—Guancheng (“City of the Guan”). The city first became the seat of a prefectural administration in 587ce, when it was named Guanzhou. In 605 it was first called Zhengzhou—a name by which it has been known virtually ever since. It achieved its greatest importance under theSui (581–618ce),Tang (618–907), and earlySong (960–1127)dynasties, when it was the terminus of the NewBian Canal, which joined the Huang He to the northwest. There, at a place called Heyin, a vast granary complex was established to supply the capitals atLuoyang and Chang’an (present-dayXi’an) to the west and the frontier armies to the north. In the Song period, however, the transfer of the capital eastward toKaifeng robbed Zhengzhou of much of its importance.

In 1903 the Beijing-Hankou railway arrived at Zhengzhou, and in 1909 the first stage of the Longhai Railway gave it an east-west link to Kaifeng and Luoyang; it was later extended eastward to the coast atLianyungang, inJiangsu province, and westward to Xi’an, inShaanxi province as well as to western Shaanxi. Zhengzhou thus became a major rail junction and a regional center forcotton, grain, peanuts (groundnuts), and other agricultural produce. Early in 1923 a workers’ strike began in Zhengzhou and spread along the rail line before it was suppressed; a 17-story double tower in the center of the citycommemorates the strike. In 1938, during the war withJapan, the retreating Chinese Nationalist Army blew up the dikes retaining the Huang He about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the city, flooding a vast area. About the same time, in their drive to relocate industry in the interior far from the invading Japanese, the Chinese transferred all the local industrial plants to the west.

Britannica Quiz

Guess the City by Its River Quiz

When the People’s Republic was established in 1949, Zhengzhou was a commercial and administrative center, but it had virtually no industry. Because it was the center of a densely peopled cotton-growing district, it was developed into an industrial city, with industry concentrated on the west side so that theprevailing northeast winds would blow fumes away from the city. There are cotton-textile plants, spinning mills, textile-machinery works, flour mills, tobacco andcigarette factories, and various food-processing plants; coal is mined nearby. Zhengzhou also has alocomotive and rolling-stock repair plant, a tractor-assembly plant, and a thermal power-generating station. The city’s industrial growth has resulted in a large increase in population, primarily of industrial workers from the north. Trees have been planted throughout the city’smetropolitan area, holding down the sand that formerly blew in thick gusts through the city. A water-diversion project and pumping station, built in 1972, provide irrigation for the surrounding countryside. Zhengzhou is Henan’s cultural center, with many colleges, universities, and research institutes located there. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 1,170,828; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 2,636,000.