Shangqiu Prefecture, in the center of the great plains of the Yellow River, is the vital space place where the Augustinian Recollects began their historic mission one hundred years ago. It’s about a a place little known abroad, but important in Chinese cultural history.
Shangqiu is, etymologically, “the hills where the Song people lived.” This is curious appellation, given that the Prefecture is on the great alluvial plain of the Yellow River. Some of his few hills are, in fact, important scenes of local and national history.
From Shangqiu to the Pacific it is 400 kilometers away, but the average altitude over the sea level is only 50 meters and the highest point is 156.8 m. When the Augustinian Recollects arrived and said that the region was like the palm of a hand: “the people doesn’t have the slightest idea what a mountain is.”
The ancient channel of the Yellow River marks the northern border of Shangqiu. Since the rains are seasonal, their flows vary greatly during the year. The great avenues modified constantly its journey. Some of these ancient channels are today natural attractions, formed today as lakes or forests, or by the same 13-meter-high embankment on the ground that contained the river. Many other waterways flow from northwest to southeast, parallel to each other: Huaihe, Huiji, Dasha, Bao, Tuo or Hui.
The climate is semi-temperate monsoon, with an average temperature of 14.1ºC and rainfall of 681.1 mm (79 days of rain per year). There are great contrasts between winter and summer. In January the temperature does not exceed 5ºC, reaching a minimum of -4ºC; in July the maximums are 32 degrees and the minimum temperatures do not drop below 23. The annual average is 1,944 hours of sunshine; Spain, for example, has around 3,000.
Its geographical position is strategic for transportation. Your station on the railway network has always been a reference junction for four lines: Longhai, Beijing-Kowloon, Xulan and Shang-Hangzhou. As for roads, there are six highways and one ring road, four national and twelve provincial roads. The military airport has very few services regional and national civil bodies.
The Prefecture is in the far northeast of Henan Province. The northern and eastern limits of Shangqiu is also the provincial borders with Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu. Inside of prefecture there are two municipal districts, one city-county and six counties, according to the current administrative division.
It has 7,816,831 inhabitants (2020) in 10,703.55 km 2, a density of 730 inhabitants/km 2. 52% is urban population and 48% rural. Although there are 33 ethnic groups, 98.5% are Han and the rest are distributed among the Hui, Manchu, Miao, Li, Zhuang, Yi, Bai, Yao and Koreans. the language is the Mandarin in its Shangfu dialect, with small differences between east and west.
Among those who practice religion, the five with the greatest representation are, in this order, Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism, Protestantism and Islam.
More than 3,600 years of history
Shangqiu’s roots are deep and ancient, with an important role in history and in national culture. In fact, it is considered a National Historical and Cultural City and Excellent City for Tourism, with up to 23.5 million tourists (2019).
Here the “culture of fire” and a very deep-rooted and ancient commercial culture were born. Its existence is documented since 1,600 BC and it was the first capital of the Shang Dynasty.
Between 497 and 484 BC, the philosopher Confucius passed through Shangqiu, in exile. Between 369 and 290 BC the second most important Taoist philosopher, Zhuangzi, was born and lived in the city, with a proposal analogous to the Greek cynical school. And later it was the center of three schools of thought: Mohism, Taoism and Ming.
Shangqiu is the cradle of formal education. In 936 AD, the Yingtian Academy was founded, the first of the four principals of the Northern Shong Dynasty, later promoted to Imperial College. Many high-ranking officials of the country passed through its classrooms. At the moment there are six universities, 560 Secondary and Professional schools and 3,053 Primary schools.
The Prefecture has more than 3,000 protected places and objects of cultural interest. The historic center, surrounded by a 16th century wall, it is one of the hundred best preserved from China. You can also visit the country’s first celestial observatory, Ebo Tai; the already mentioned Yingtian Academy; or Mount Mangdang, where Emperor Gaozu began his rebellion against the Qin dynasty (210 AD) and site of royal tombs. It was unearthed there in 1991 an incredible collection of gold-engraved jade garments unique in the world.
There are also the historical ruins of Wangyoufang, Lizhuang, Zaolutai, Zhecheng or Mengzhuang; the Yanzhuang, Shengshou and Chongfa pagodas; the founding place of the Han dynasty, Mangdangshan; the Grand Canal pier; or the Xu Qudui tombs.
One of the best-known ancient Chinese legends, that of Hua Mulan, places in Shangqiu the place of origin of this heroine, who is today the (animated) star of Disney (2020).
Economic resources
Shangqiu is known as “the breadbasket of eastern Henan” for its more than 10 million annual tons of wheat, along with production of corn, cotton, oilseeds, fruits of the forest, mushrooms and vegetables. However, the degree of agricultural mechanization is low. It also has goat and pig farms and processes 461,000 tons of meat products and 144,000 dairy products.
There are more than 2,000 agroindustrial companies, some large in size and with products known throughout the country such as flour, feed, wines, noodles, frozen foods, sesame oil, curd, tofu or organic products.
Coal has resulted in an important extraction industry (16 million tons/year of anthracite) with reserves of 2,556 million tons. In minor scale to some extent there is mining of iron, marble, granite, dolomite, clay, kaolin and bentonite.
Coal brought with it the energy industry, metallurgy and foundries, kerosene production, methanol and aluminum. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment qualified the region was highly polluted in 2019, with high levels of ozone and gas emissions combustion.
Among Shangqiu’s star manufactured products, known throughout the country, are iron lanterns, straw and willow weaving, carved wood, clay sculptures and painting tiger tradition, to which an entire village is dedicated.
The logistics and transportation industries also have great importance as a natural part of agroindustrial and mining development.
Yesterday and today
From being a region of great poverty and violence when the Augustinian religious arrived recollects in 1924, today’s Shangqiu combines a rural world still anchored largely in the past with industrial wealth and modern urban spaces, including high railway speed, which structures and unites the place to the entire country quickly and safely.
