Focus on Hunan
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Geography and history
Hunan Province is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in central China, with its neighboring provinces Jiangxi, Chongqing, Guizhou, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hubei. The distance of Hunan from east to west is 667 kilometers, while 774 kilometers from north to south and the total area is 211,800 square kilometers. Because most of the province is located south of the Dongting Lake, it is named "Hunan;" and because of the Xiangjiang River, the longest in the province, its shortened name is called“Xiang”.
Hunan has a humid continental and subtropical monsoon climate with distinctive four seasons, sufficient sunshine, long frost-free period and abundant rainfall. It has an average annual sunshine of 1,300-1,800 hours, annual average temperature of 16°C-18°C, and a mean annual precipitation of 1,200-1,700 mm. It is suitable for human living and growth of crops and green plants.
Hunan has a huge river system with the Dongting Lake, the No.2 freshwater lake in China, in the north. The Xiangjiang River, the Zijiang River, the Yuanshui River, and the Lishui River flow into the Dongting Lake from the southwest to northeast, connecting with the Yangtze River. The total quantity of natural water resources in Hunan is on the top of nine provinces in South China.
Hunan is famous for its "home to nonferrous metal and nonmetal mineral." Out of the more than 160 plus mineral categories discovered in the world, Hunan has 141, among which the remaining deposits of 41 minerals, such as Stibium, Tungsten and Manganese stand among the top five of China.
Hunan has rich resources of animals and plants with a wide coverage. Five rare surviving "living fossil" in the world are founded in Hunan, namely: Cathaya Aargyrophylla, Met sequoia Glyptostroboides, Glyptostrobus Pensilis, Gingko and Davidia Involucrate.
Hunan has a long history as one of the cradles of the Agricultural Cultivation Culture of the Chinese people. More than 10,000 years ago, there were human being living and multiplying in Hunan. Hunan had belonged to Chu Kingdom in ancient times and was set up as Changsha Shire after Emperor Qinshihuang unified China in 211 B.C. Then Tang Dynasty set Hunan Inspector Office, after which it was Hunan Route in Song Dynasty, Huguang Province in Ming Dynasty, and Hunan Province in Qing Dynasty. During the Republic of China and since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, it has been Hunan Province. (Attachment: Hunan Historical Evolution Table)
Hunan has abundant cultural relics, including more than 30 Paleolithic ruins and more than 900 Neolithic ruins. The earliest primitive rice from more than 12,000 years ago was discovered here, and the cemetery of ancestors of the Chinese people, Yan Di Emperor and Shun Di Emperor, are also in Hunan. In addition, Hunan’s deep cultural background is also indicated by the massive Shang Dynasty bronzeware unearthed in Ningxiang, the Western Han Dynasty ancient grave unearthed in Changsha Mawangdui, the inscribed bamboo tablets of Kingdom in the time of Three Kingdoms unearthed in Zoumalou, the inscribed bamboo tablets of Qin unearthed in Long Shan Liye, the ancient South Great Wall discovered in Fenghuang County, as well as the Yuelu Academy of Classical Learning.
Hunan has long had the fine reputation as “the Kingdom of Chu, the unique home of many talents; the Academy of Yuelu, the very cradle of them." It has never been short of talents in history. A.D. 105 years witnessed Cai Lun from Hunan Leiyang, who made the first paper in the world with plant tissues, which is one of the Four Great Inventions of Ancient China. Zhou Dunyi, founder of Theoretical Study in Song and Ming Dynasties was from Yongzhou, Hunan, and 17th century outstanding thinker Wang Fuzhi was from Hunan Hengyang. During the seventy-nine years from the Opium War to "May Fourth Movement ," lots of outstanding persons came out from Hunan, such as Wei Yuan, ZengGuofan, He Shaoji, ZuoZongtang, TanSitong, ChenTianhua, Huang Xing, Cai e and so on. During the establishment and construction of the People's Republic of China, Hunan also contributed a lot of leaders of our party, government and army, including MaoZedong, RenBishi, Liu Shaoqi, PengDehuai, HeLong, LuoRonghuan and so on. They take the change and reform of the world as the own duty and rewrote China's history and affected the world pattern. At the same time, innumerable outstanding talents in literature, art, science, education and so on have also emerged from Hunan.
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