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Founding
Founding of Yan'an
prefecture-level city in Shaanxi, China
- 1089
- East Asia
Founding
prefecture-level city in Shaanxi, China
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Yan'an is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an), which served as the headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) before the city of Yan'an proper took that role.
Yan'an was near the endpoint of the Long March, and became the center of the Chinese Communist Revolution from late 1935 to early 1947. Chinese communists celebrate Yan'an as the birthplace of the revolution.
As of 2019, Yan'an has approximately 2,255,700 permanent residents.
Yan'an was populated at least as early as the Xia dynasty, when it formed part of Yong Prefecture. The area was not part of the subsequent Shang dynasty, and was instead inhabited by the Guifang, who fought against the Shang dynasty. The area was later inhabited by the Quanrong and the Xianyun during the Western Zhou period. During the Spring and Autumn period, the area was inhabited by the Beidi people. In the early portions of the Warring States period, the central and northern parts of present-day Yan'an belonged to the state of Wei, while the southern part belonged to the state of Qin. Later on in the Warring States period, the whole area was conquered by the Qin state.
Upon the establishment of the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE, the area was organized as part of Shang Commandery. The area remained part of Shang Commandery during the Han dynasty. The area's administrative divisions were reorganized during the Northern Wei: the southern portion was organized as Beihua Prefecture, which comprised Zhongbu Commandery, Fucheng Commandery, Yizhou Commandery (simplified Chinese: 义州郡; traditional Chinese: 義州郡), and Lezhou Commandery (simplified Chinese: 乐州郡; traditional Chinese: 樂州郡); the northern portion was organized as Dongxia Prefecture, which comprised Biancheng Commandery (Chinese: 遍城郡), Dingyang Commandery, Shang Commandery, and Shuofang Commandery, as well as Jinming Commandery within Xià Prefecture. During the During the Western Wei, the area was organized as Yan Prefecture, Fu Prefecture, and Dan Prefecture. Under the Sui dynasty, the area was re-organized as Yan'an Commandery, and a military base was established.
During the subsequent Tang dynasty, the area belonged to Guannei Circuit, and it became an important defensive outpost. Upon the Tang dynasty's establishment in 618 CE, three local commanderies were replaced with prefectures. The following year, another prefecture, Fang Prefecture was created in the area of present-day Yan'an. The prefecture system was briefly abolished in 742 CE, resulting in the area's four prefectures being reclassified as commanderies, although this was reverted in 758 CE.
At the beginning of the Song dynasty, the area's four local prefectures belonged to Yongxingjun Circuit. However, early on in the Song dynasty, the newly formed Tangut-led Western Xia dynasty briefly conquered northwestern portions of present-day Yan'an. Upon reconquering the area, the Song government placed it under the jurisdiction of two military-run jurisdictions known as jun: Bao'an Jun and Dingbian Jun (simplified Chinese: 定边军; traditional Chinese: 定邊軍). In 1041, Fuyan Circuit was established in present-day Yan'an. In 1080, Chinese polymath Shen Kuo was deployed to Yan Prefecture to aid in its defenses against the Western Xia. Around this time, he noted that a landslide on the bank of a large river near Yan Prefecture had revealed an open space several dozens of feet under the ground once the bank collapsed. This underground space contained hundreds of petrified bamboos still intact with roots and trunks, "all turned to stone" as Shen wrote. Shen noted that bamboo does not grow in the area, and he was puzzled during which previous dynasty the bamboos could have grown. Considering that damp and gloomy low places provide suitable conditions for the growth of bamboo, Shen deduced that the area's climate must have fit that description in very ancient times. Although this would have intrigued many of his readers, the study of paleoclimatology in medieval China did not develop into an established discipline. During the autumn months of 1081, Shen was successful in defending Song dynasty territory while capturing several nearby fortified towns of the Western Xia. Emperor Shenzong of Song rewarded Shen with numerous titles for his merit in these battles, and in the sixteen months of Shen's military campaign, he received 273 letters from the Emperor. However, Emperor Shenzong trusted an arrogant military officer who disobeyed the emperor and Shen's proposal for strategic fortifications, instead fortifying what Shen considered useless strategic locations. Furthermore, this officer expelled Shen from his commanding post at the main citadel, so as to deny him any glory in chance of victory. The result of this was nearly catastrophic, as the forces of the arrogant officer were decimated; Xinzhong Yao states that the death toll was 60,000. Nonetheless, Shen was successful in defending his fortifications and the only possible Tangut invasion-route to Yanzhou. However, it was eventually taken over by the Tanguts in 1082 once Shen's defensive victories were marginalized and sacrificed by the new chancellor Cai Que (who handed the city over to the Tanguts as terms of a peace treaty). In 1089, Yan Prefecture was renamed to Yan'an, and was promoted to a fu.
At the start of the Jin dynasty, Fuyan Circuit remained intact, and administered Yan'an Fu, Fu Prefecture, Fang Prefecture, Dan Prefecture, Suide Prefecture, Bao'an Jun, and Dingbian Jun. In 1146, Dingbian Jun was abolished, and in 1171, Bao'an Jun was reorganized as a county. In 1182, Bao'an County was reorganized as Bao'an Prefecture. In 1221, the Mongol Empire, led by Genghis Khan, began its invasion of Shaanxi with the aid of the Western Xia. That year, in the eastern portion of present-day Yan'an, the combined Mongol and Western Xia forces defeated a 30,000-strong Jin army led by general Wanyan Heda.
During the Yuan dynasty, Yan'an Circuit was established, which administered Fu Prefecture, Jia Prefecture, and Suide Prefecture.
In 1369, during the Ming dynasty, Yan'an Circuit was reverted to a fu.
In 1725, during the Qing dynasty, the Fuzhou Directly Administered Prefecture was established in the area, which administered Yan'an Fu and Fu Prefecture. Prior to the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877), much of rural Yan'an was inhabited by Chinese Muslims. Much of its Muslim population was either killed in massacres, or forcibly relocated to areas further northwest, like Gansu. The demographic impacts of this was felt for decades, as the local economy cratered, and insufficient government support hindered recovery efforts: In 1823, Bao'an (present-day Zhidan County) had a population of 51,000, but only 170 remained in 1868; while Yan'an (present-day Baota District) had 61,200 inhabitants in 1823, but only about 10,000 in 1930. One account from a British traveler in 1911 described Yan'an as "a city of pretentious Government Offices long fallen into decay...Gazing down a vista of dim distant years one caught a glimpse of past splendour; but the living forces of which it had been the drapery and symbols had long since died out, leaving stagnation, corruption and decay to reign in its halls".
After the fall of the Qing dynasty, the city became part of the newly created Republic of China, and was reorganized by the Republican government in 1913 under Yulin Circuit. In 1920, the circuit's government was moved to the city of Fushi, within present-day Baota District. Circuits were abolished in 1928, resulting in counties being directly administered by the provincial government.
Throughout the Republic of China era, feudal-like landlordism persisted in Yan'an, and a number of observers found it to be worse in the region than elsewhere in rural China.
In 1934, two regional soviets were established. In October 1935, following the Long March, forces of the Chinese Red Army arrived in the area from Jiangxi. The following month, communist forces established a regional government in Wayaobu and re-organized regional soviet administrations. In May 1936, the area was re-organized by communist forces as Shaan-Gan-Ning Province (Chinese: 陕甘宁省). In December 1936, at the start of the Second United Front, Yan'an was taken over by the Chinese Communists. When Edgar Snow went there in 1936, it was under Kuomintang control and a Red army siege had recently been lifted. Unknown to him at the time, there had also been contacts there between the Communists and the generals who later staged the Xi'an Incident. Snow actually met Mao at Bao'an (Pao An).
Having rebelled against Chiang, the local warlords decided to hand over Yan'an to the Communists, who were now allies. They pulled out, and in January 1937, the Red Army entered Yan'an, without a fight. Around this time, American journalist Agnes Smedley was covering the Communist Eighth Route Army, which she wrote about in her book Battle Hymn of China.
On September 6, 1937, Yan'an became the seat of the communist government of what became known as the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. It became the center for intensive training of party members and army troops. Thousands of intellectuals traveled to Yan'an from all over the country. From 1937 through 1941, the Communist government organized large-scale migrations to Yan'an, predominantly from Suide to the northeast, which was a significantly more densely populated area. Many farmers from the region were attracted to Yan'an for the prospect of working more land, as well as the Communists' land and tax reforms. From 1937 to 1939, over 1,500,000 mu of previously unused land was cleared for agriculture. During this time, the large drive for intense rural labor earned its detractors, and was publicly criticized by some for "giving people a distaste for collective labour". Subsequently, these types of large-scale labor projects would be handled by the army. In 1941, Mao Zedong put special influence on a series of training programs to "correct unorthodox tendencies" and essentially mold the peasantry to the communist model. One of the first CCP programs launched was the Yan'an Rectification Movement.
During the Second World War almost all buildings, except a pagoda, were destroyed by Japanese bombing, and most inhabitants took to living in yaodongs, artificial caves or dugouts carved into hillsides which were traditional dwellings in Shaanxi. While Yan'an was the center of Chinese communist life many prominent Western journalists including Edgar Snow and Anna Louise Strong met with Mao Zedong and other important leaders for interviews. Other Westerners, such as Hsiao Li and Michael Lindsay, were part of the resistance movement in Yan'an.
In July 1942, Wuqi County was established.
Beginning in 1944, Yan'an played host to the United States Army Observation Group, also known as the Dixie Mission. This group sought to establish relations with Chinese Communist forces, investigate the Communist Party politically and militarily, and determine whether the United States should back Communist forces. Prominent Americans tasked with evaluating the Communist forces politically and militarily include John S. Service of the United States Department of State, and Colonel David D. Barrett of the United States Army. The mission explored possible plans for cooperation against the Japanese. The Americans had a presence in Yan'an from 1944 to 1947.
In May 1945, the government of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border moved from Yan'an to Xi'an.
Yan'an was briefly captured in the Battle of Yan'an by the Kuomintang forces in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist leadership learned of a planned attack in advance, and ultimately voluntarily withdrew from the city. From then until their capture of Beijing they were usually based somewhere else, often with a mobile headquarters. On April 21, 1948, the People's Liberation Army retook Yan'an.
In May 1950, under the People's Republic of China, Yan'an was re-organized as Yan'an District (Chinese: 延安分区), and was further re-organized as a special district (Chinese: 专区) in October. Yan'an was later established as a prefecture (Chinese: 地区).
Text from the Wikipedia article “Yan'an”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.