Dezhou () is a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China' ...

in northwestern

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

province,

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. It borders the provincial capital of

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

to the southeast, Liaocheng to the southwest,

Binzhou Binzhou (, ), formerly Putai, is a prefecture-level city in northern Shandong Province in the People's Republic of China. The city proper sits on the northern bank of the Yellow River, while its administrative area straddles both sides of its ...

to the northeast, and the province of

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

to the north.

History

Sulu Royal Family

The King of

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamor ...

Paduka Pahala from the first royal family on Sulu before the

Hashemites The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921� ...

went on a tribute mission to the Ming dynasty

Yongle Emperor The Yongle Emperor (; pronounced ; 2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), personal name Zhu Di (), was the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1402 to 1424. Zhu Di was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dyn ...

. He died of natural causes in China and his two sons and wife were left in the care of Hui Muslims in Dezhou, Shandong. The two families descended from the two sons were given the surnames An and Wen by the Ming Emperors. They lived through the Ming and Qing dynasties and still live in Dezhou today. The Kingdom of Sulu was converted to Islam, and the Hashemite

Sharif ul-Hāshim of Sulu Sharif ul-Hashim (began reign 17 November 1405) was the regal name of Sharif Abubakar Abirin Al-Hashmi. He was an Arab people, Arab

arrived in Sulu and married a princess of the previous non-Hashemite royal family, founding the

Sulu Sultanate The Sultanate of Sulu ( Tausūg: ''Kasultanan sin Sūg'', كاسولتانن سين سوڬ; Malay: ''Kesultanan Sulu''; fil, Sultanato ng Sulu; Chavacano: ''Sultanato de Sulu/Joló''; ar, سلطنة سولك) was a Muslim state that ruled ...

. Tausug delegations from Sulu have visited Dezhou to see the descendants of the previous royal family.

Death of Empress Xiaoxianchun

Qianlong's first empress,

Empress Xiaoxianchun Empress Xiaoxianchun (28 March 1712 – 8 April 1748), of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Fuca clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and first empress consort of Hongli, the Qianlong Emperor. She was Empress consort of Qing from ...

, died on the 8th day of the 3rd month of the 13th year of Qianlong at the age of 37, on board a boat in Dezhou under circumstances that were not well documented by historical sources.

Administration

The

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of Dezhou comprises thirteen county-level sub divisions: ;Districts *

Decheng District Decheng () is a district and the seat of the city of Dezhou, in the northwest of Shandong province, China, bordering Hebei province to the north. It has an area of and around 1,005,000 inhabitants (2020). Administrative divisions As 2012, this ...

(). The government of the prefecture-level city is located in this sub division. *

Lingcheng District Lingcheng District, formerly Ling County or Lingxian, is a district of the city of Dezhou Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the ...

() ;Cities Cities ( ''xianji shi'') administered by Dezhou are: *

Leling Laoling (), often mispronounced as Leling, is a county-level city in the northwest of Shandong province, China, bordering Hebei province to the north. Laoling has more than 640,000 inhabitants (1999) and is under the jurisdiction of Dezhou D ...

() * Yucheng () ;Counties Counties (县 ''xian'') administered by Dezhou are: * Pingyuan () *

Xiajin Xiajin County () is a county in the northwest of Shandong Province, China, bordering Hebei to the west. It is the westernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Dezhou Dezhou () is a prefecture-level city in northwestern ...

() * Wucheng () * Qihe () *

Linyi Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the east, Weifang to the northeast, Zibo t ...

() * Ningjin () *

Qingyun Qingyun County () is a county of north-northwest Shandong province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei province to the north. It is the northernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Dezhou Dezhou () is a prefect ...

() ;Development zones * Dezhou Economic Development District () * Dezhou Yunhe Economic Development District ()

Climate

Transport

Historical

The Yellow river and the Grand Canal runs through Dezhou, making it an important hub for cargo transit since antient times. It was described as "Junction of Nine Arteries" () and "Portal of the Capital" ().

Modern Era

Dezhou is connected via the Shijiazhuang-Dezhou railway, Shijiazhuang-Ji'nan HSR, Beijing-Shanghai railway, Beijing-Shanghai HSR. A small, single-track railway connects Dezhou with

Dongying Dongying (), a prefecture-level city, lies on the northern (Bohai Sea) coast of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. As of the 2020 census, 2,193,518 people resided within its administrative area of and 1,188,656 in the built-up area ...

city as well. The main expressway passing Dezhou is the

G3 Beijing-Taipei Expressway G3, G03, G.III, G.3 or G-3 may refer to: Politics * G-3 (Europe), the top three economies in the European Union * G-3 (Latin America), the grouping of Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela Military * AEG G.III, a German World War I heavy bomber * Alb ...

, running north–south from it; other provincial expressways, as well as National Highway 104 and 105 offer connections in other directions for Dezhou

Tourism

Dezhou's biggest historical attraction is the tomb of Sultan Paduka Pahala of

(Philippines), who died in Dezhou on his return journey from a visit to the

in 1417. The tomb is well preserved and has been declared a national heritage site. Descendants of the sultan's

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

followers still live in Dezhou today, and are classified as the

Hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...

minority. One of Dezhou's county Lingxian used to be a big county in China in history, when it was called Pingyuan County. Now part of the ancient city wall of Tang Dynasty still exists in the south of the region. Before the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

formed, one of the three emperors

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...

used to be the chief of the county, together with his fellows Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. In addition, it is the hometown of

Dongfang Shuo Dongfang Shuo (, c. 160 BCE – c. 93 BCE) was a Han Dynasty scholar-official, ''fangshi'' ("master of esoterica"), author, and court jester to Emperor Wu (r. 141 – 87 BCE). In Chinese mythology, Dongfang is considered a Daoist ''xian'' ( ...

, the most well-known adviser during the reign of

Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), formally enshrined as Emperor Wu the Filial (), born Liu Che (劉徹) and courtesy name Tong (通), was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of ancient China, ruling from 141 to 87 BC. His reign la ...

; In Tang Dynasty, a major figure of Chinese calligraphy,

Yan Zhenqing Yan Zhenqing (; 709–785) was a Chinese calligrapher, military general, and politician. He was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang dynasty. His artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy is equal to that of the ...

, once took office as the administrator of the county. Today, a memorial hall for the two historic figures is built in the People's Park of Lingxian, where a lot of materials of Dongfang Shuo and stone inscriptions of Yan Zhenqing are preserved. For tourist attractions, there is also a famous temple in Qingyun County. It's called Haidao Jinshan Temple, which is one of the biggest centers of

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

in Northern China. The most attractive scene is the underground aisle where the portrait of the hell is presented using high technology.

Industry

A new industrial zone hailed as the "Solar Valley" is being built for experimenting with clean-energy urban projects and massive use of household utilities such as solar-powered water-heaters. The Washington Post describes Dezhou's Solar Valley as the "clean-tech version of Silicon Valley". Nowadays one of the biggest and most famous industries in Dezhou is solar energy industry, with two main corporations included—Himin Group () and its partner Ecco Solar Group (). Dezhou increased its international reputation when it was selected to follow previous hosts, Daegu, South Korea (2004),

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, UK (2006) and

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

(2008) as host of the 2010 International Solar City Congress. Himin Group has developed into the world's largest solar water heater manufacturer and is also discovering new areas such as photoelectricity. Greenpeace China cited Dezhou in May 2009 as an example of how

renewable energy Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

can become a more common reality throughout the world. Dezhou also houses the world's largest solar-powered office building, covering around 75,000 square meters." "
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Education

" Dezhou University"(also called Dezhou College, because it only offers undergraduate degree) is a comprehensive college which was approved by the National Education Committee in March 2000. It is the aggregation of Dezhou Teachers’ College, Dezhou Education College and Evening College Municipality, which has a 30-year history.

Notable people

(154 to 93 BC, The Western Han Dynasty), Writer and poet *

(709 to 784, The Tang Dynasty), Calligrapher, poet * Ma Dehua (1945), actor, best known for his role as Zhu Bajie in the television series

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popu ...

* He Rong (1962), Vice President of the

Supreme People's Court The Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China (SPC; ) is the highest court of the People's Republic of China. It hears appeals of cases from the high people's courts and is the trial court for cases about matters of national ...

* Han Hong (1971), Singer, songwriter, music producer, director *

Zhang Yuqi Zhang Yuqi (; born 8 August 1987), also known as Kitty Zhang, is a Chinese actress best known for portraying Mrs. Yuen in the 2008 film ''CJ7'' — which brought her media attention and kick-started her acting career, and Ruo Lan in the 2016 f ...

(1986), Chinese actress *

Ma Tianyu Ma Tianyu (; born 12 July 1986), also known as Ray Ma, is a Chinese Mandopop singer and actor of Hui ethnicity. He graduated from the Beijing Film Academy. Career 2006–2008: Debut as a singer In 2006, Ma Tianyu entered the ''My Hero'' compe ...

(1986), Chinese actor

Miscellaneous

*Dezhou is well known for its braised chicken and

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieti ...

. *The name of Dezhou is the same as the abbreviation of the Chinese name for the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. *Pingyuan, Dezhou is the foundation place of

Yihetuan The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, b ...

(

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...

) against the Eight Power Allied Force during the 1900s.

Notes

References

External links

德州鲁北热线陵县旅游Dezhou University

Government website of Dezhou
(in Simplified Chinese) {{Authority control Cities in Shandong Prefecture-level divisions of Shandong