Taikang County (), formerly known as Yangjia County or Yangxia County, is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the north of

Zhoukou Zhoukou (; Postal romanization, postal: Chowkow) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province of China, province, China. It borders Zhumadian to the southwest, Xuchang and Luohe to the west, Kaifeng to the northwest, Shangqiu to the north ...

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 Chi ...

, in the east of

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

province, China. It is divided into 23 townships and 766 villages. The county is home to 1.43 million

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive v ...

and 25,000 Hui, with a population density of 581 people per kilometre squared.

History

The administrative area of Taikang was originally known as "Yangxia County"; its name was derived from

Xia dynasty The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradit ...

king

Tai Kang Tai Kang () was the third king of the Xia Dynasty. He was the son of the king Qi of Xia and paternal grandson of Yu the Great and queen Nu Jiao. Biography Tai Kang loved to hunt and did not rule well. According to the ''Bamboo Annals'', Tai ...

. The character "" is normally pronounced as but in

Central Plains Mandarin Central Plains Mandarin, or ''Zhongyuan'' Mandarin (), is a variety of Mandarin Chinese spoken in the central and southern parts of Shaanxi, Henan, southwestern part of Shanxi, southern part of Gansu, far southern part of Hebei, northern Anhui, n ...

is pronounced . As a major thoroughfare, the county has been historically important. It was the hometown of

Wu Guang Wu Guang (, died December 209 BC or January 208 BC) was a leader of the first rebellion against the Qin Dynasty during the reign of the Second Qin Emperor. Life Wu Guang was born in Yangxia (陽夏; present-day Taikang County, Zhoukou, Hen ...

, one of the peasant leaders of the rebellion against the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

. It was also the

ancestral hometown An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as ...

of the Xie and Yuan surnames; it consequently was the birthplace of several famous Xie clan members such as Xie Daoyun,

Xie Hui Xie Hui (謝晦) (390–426), courtesy name Xuanming (宣明), was a high-level general of the Chinese Liu Song dynasty, who, along with his colleagues Xu Xianzhi and Fu Liang, deposed Emperor Shao after the death of Emperor Wu (Liu Yu) due to ...

Xie Lingyun Xie Lingyun (; 385–433), also known as the Duke of Kangle (康樂公), was one of the foremost Chinese poets of the Southern and Northern Dynasties and a famous practitioner of the Six Dynasties poetry. Life Xie Lingyun was a descendant ...

Xie Tiao Xie Tiao (; style name: Xuan Hui (玄辉)) (464–499) was the leading Southern Qi poet of the Yongming reign. He was known as "Xiao Xie" (that is, "Little Xie") in comparison with Xie Lingyun. Life Born in Yangxia County, Henan, Xie Tiao liv ...

, and others. Following the start of the chaotic

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

period, Yangxia County initially remained part of the areas held by the

Eastern Jin Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

, but was later conquered by the

Former Qin The Former Qin, also called Fu Qin (苻秦), (351–394) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese history ruled by the Di ethnicity. Founded by Fu Jian (posthumously Emperor Jingming) who originally served under the Later ...

. In course of the latter's decline, the county was occupied by the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern dynasties, it ruled northern China from 386 to 535 during t ...

that held it until 446. It was then captured by the

Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties ...

, but reconquered by the Northern Wei in 488. Toward the end of the

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...

period, Yangxia County fell to the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and la ...

, which changed its name to "Taikang County" in 587. In 884, the Tang army under

Li Keyong Li Keyong () (October 24, 856 – February 24, 908) was a Chinese military general and politician of Shatuo ethnicity, and from January 896 a Prince of Jin (, ''Jin Wang''), which would become an independent state after the fall of the Tang dyn ...

defeated the rebel army of Shang Rang at Taikang. By time of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

, Taikang had grown rich as trade center and market town, and was widely nicknamed "Silver Taikang". Due to this wealth, however, the town was repeatedly sacked in times of political unrest. It was plundered by the Shun rebel army of

Li Zicheng Li Zicheng (22 September 1606 – 1645), born Li Hongji, also known by the nickname, Dashing King, was a Chinese peasant rebel leader who overthrew the Ming dynasty in 1644 and ruled over northern China briefly as the emperor of the short-li ...

in 1644 during the

fall of the Ming dynasty The transition from Ming to Qing, alternatively known as Ming–Qing transition or the Manchu conquest of China, from 1618 to 1683, saw the transition between two major dynasties in Chinese history. It was a decades-long conflict between the e ...

. In course of the

Nian Rebellion The Nian Rebellion () was an armed uprising that took place in northern China from 1851 to 1868, contemporaneously with Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864) in South China. The rebellion failed to topple the Qing dynasty, but caused immense economic ...

, Taikang was plundered by insurgents four times, namely in 1852, 1856, 1861, and 1863. After the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of ...

's outbreak, the

Yellow Sand Society The Yellow Sand Society (), also known as Yellow Way Society (), and Yellow Gate Society (), was a rural secret society and folk religious sect in northern China during the 19th and 20th century. Inspired by millenarian ideas, the movement la ...

and the Cha Tianhua bandit group raided the town in 1911. In the following years, Taikang's economic importance declined due to the construction of railways in the region, but it was still the target of rampaging bandits and soldiers in the Warlord Era and

Nanjing decade The Nanjing decade (also Nanking decade, , or the Golden decade, ) is an informal name for the decade from 1927 (or 1928) to 1937 in the Republic of China. It began when Nationalist Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek took Nanjing from Zhili clique ...

, with raids occurring in October 1923, December 1924, November 1925, January as well as June 1926, March 1927, March 1928, winter 1930, and January 1932. Today, Taikang is a primarily agrarian county, with some

light industry Light industry are industries that usually are less capital-intensive than heavy industry and are more consumer-oriented than business-oriented, as they typically produce smaller consumer goods. Most light industry products are produced for ...

. The county is famous for its production of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

Administrative divisions

As 2012, this county is divided to 11 towns and 12 townships. ;Towns ;Townships

Climate

Notable people

* Xie Daoyun, renown

poet * Xie Fei (441–507), high-ranking official who served under the

Southern Qi Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succe ...

, and

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

* Xie Hongwei (392–433), high-ranking official under the Liu Song dynasty *

, high-ranking official and regent under the Liu Song dynasty *

, important Six Dynasties poet * Xie Shang (308–337), high-ranking official under the Eastern Jin dynasty *

, major Yongming poet * Xie Zhuang (421–466), high-ranking official under the Liu Song dynasty

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Official website of Taikang County Government
{{authority control Taikang County County-level divisions of Henan Zhoukou