Dai County, also known by its Chinese name Daixian, is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Xinzhou Xinzhou, ancient name Xiurong (), is a prefecture-level city occupying the north-central section of Shanxi Province in the People's Republic of China, bordering Hebei to the east, Shaanxi to the west, and Inner Mongolia to the northwest. As ...

Shanxi Province Shanxi; formerly romanised as Shansi is a province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi and Datong. Its one-character abbreviation is ( ...

, China. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

at Shangguan is also known as Daixian. The county has an area of and had a population of 178,870 at the time of the 2020 census. The county is the home of the AAAAA-rated Yanmen Pass Scenic Area along the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection agains ...

, as well as the Bianjing Drum Tower, the Ayuwang Pagoda, and the Zhao Gao Forest Park.

Names

As is usual in Chinese, the name "Daixian" is used for both the

as a whole and for the

at Shangguan. Because the English word "

" only typically describes the area, it's more common to use a transcription of the Chinese form of the name when talking about its seat of government. ''Dàixiàn'' is the

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

of the

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

pronunciation of the Chinese

placename Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper nam ...

written as in

traditional characters Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages. In Taiwan, the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the ''Standard Form of ...

and as in the

simplified characters Simplified Chinese characters are one of two standardized character sets widely used to write the Chinese language, with the other being traditional characters. Their mass standardization during the 20th century was part of an initiative by t ...

now used in

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

. The same name was formerly written as Tai County, ''Tai Hsien'', or ''Tai-hsien'' in the Wade-Giles system. The name was most recently bestowed in 1912, during the organization of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. The county took its name from its predecessor Daizhou or Dai Prefecture, which had existed since AD585. This name was formerly written as ''Tai Chou'' or ''Tai-chou'' in Wade-Giles and as Taichow or TaichowSha by the now abandoned Chinese postal romanization system.. Daizhou had taken its name from the recently abolished Dai Commandery,. despite having never been part of it. or the seat of the earlier "Dai" regions. Dai Commandery had been created by the Zhou

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of Zhao to organize its northeastern conquests and was based in the former capital of the

Beidi The Di or Beidi (Northern Di) were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese ('' Huaxia'') realms during the Zhou dynasty. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and huntin ...

Kingdom of Dai. That city's native name was transcribed using the character ,. now read ''dài'' in Mandarin but with an

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...

pronunciation that has been reconstructed as . It became known as Daixian as well but was near present-day Yuzhou in

Hebei Hebei is a Provinces of China, province in North China. It is China's List of Chinese administrative divisions by population, sixth-most populous province, with a population of over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. It bor ...

.. Its name was used for the rump kingdom of Zhao established by Prince Jia to oppose Qin in the 220sBC; after the fall of Qin, there was a Dai among

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (), born Xiang Ji, was a Chinese warlord who founded and led the short-lived ancient Chinese states, kingdom-state of Western Chu during the interregnum period between the Qin dynasty, Qin and Han dynasty, Han dynasties of China, d ...

Eighteen Kingdoms The historiographical term "Eighteen Kingdoms" ( zh, t=十八國), also translated as "Eighteen States", refers to the eighteen '' fengjian'' states in China created by military leader Xiang Yu in 206 BCE, after the collapse of the Qin dynasty.� ...

and the

Han Empire The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

's princely appanages. These included the commanderies of Yunzhong and Yanmen in northern

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

along with the old Dai homeland in northwestern Hebei, spreading the name westward into Shanxi. The earlier name for the county had been Guangwu ("Broad-&-Martial"), with its eponymous county seat located southwest of present-day Shangguan.. It was also known as Yanmen (after the nearby pass) once the seat of Yanmen Commandery was moved to Guangwu from Yinguan (near present-day

Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, 2010 PRC Census, ...

) under the Kingdom of Wei during China's

Three Kingdoms period The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Western Jin dynasty. Academically, the ...

.. These names followed the posts when they moved to Shangguan under the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

. It ceased to be called Guangwu in 589 at the creation of Yanmen County; it ceased to be called Yanmen after that county was abolished under the Yuan. The town was also briefly known as Sizhou under the

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties of China's ...

and early Sui after Si Prefecture was relocated to Shangguan in 579 from its original seat northwest of

.. Present day villages of New Guangwu and Old Guangwu along with the Guangwu section of the Great Wall are located in adjacent Shanyin County.

Geography

Dai County's present territory covers . It lies in northeastern

between

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

to the south and

Datong Datong is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi Province, China. It is located in the Datong Basin at an elevation of and borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. As of the 2020 census, it had a population o ...

to the north, with the

Yanmen Pass Yanmen Pass, also known by its Chinese name Yanmenguan and as Xixingguan, is a mountain pass which includes three fortified gatehouses along the Great Wall of China. The area was a strategic choke point in ancient and medieval China, con ...

forming a natural

choke point In military strategy, a choke point (or chokepoint), or sometimes bottleneck, is a geographical feature on land such as a valley, defile or bridge, or maritime passage through a critical waterway such as a strait, which an armed force is for ...

which once controlled access to central

from the

Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Europea ...

. (The pass is still used by the G208, although the larger Erguang Expressway now passes to its west.) The main river is the Hutuo. Its principal tributaries within the county are the E ( ''É Hé''), the Zhongjie ( ''Zhōngjiě Hé''), the Yukou ( ''Yùkǒu Hé''), the Guangou ( t s ''Guāngōu Hé''), and the Qili ( ''Qīlǐ Hé''). The highest points are the Heige Tajian ( ''Hēigē Tǎjiān''; ) and Mantou Mountain ( t s ''Mántoushān''; ). Parts of the chains belonging to Mount Heng to the north and

Mount Wutai Mount Wutai, also known by its Chinese name Wutaishan and as is a sacred Buddhist site at the headwaters of the Qingshui in Shanxi Province, China. Its central area is surrounded by a cluster of flat-topped peaks or mesas roughly correspondin ...

to the east also reach Dai County.

Climate

History

Ancient China

Present-day Dai County lies to north of the historic heartland of ancient Chinese civilization in the

Fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

, Wei, and

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

valleys. The Chinese knew their northern neighbors as the Di or "Northern

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

". The " White Di" (''Baidi'') are recorded originating in north

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

west of the

but had settled in the Hutuo Valley by the 6th centuryBC.. The Zhou

of Jin pushed sporadically northward through both invasions and bribery of the Di's ruling class until its disintegration at the end of the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

. King Yong (posthumously known as the "Wuling" or "Martial-&-Numinous King") of the Jin successor state of Zhao adopted nomad-style

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, garments, dress, apparel, or attire) is any item worn on a human human body, body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin s ...

, equipment, and

cavalry tactics For much of history, humans have used some form of cavalry for war and, as a result, cavalry tactics have evolved over time. Tactically, the main advantages of cavalry over infantry were greater mobility, a larger impact, and a higher riding pos ...

in 307BC; in campaigns in 306 and 304BC overran the Loufan ( t s ''Lóufán'') and " forest nomads" ( ''Línhú'') of the Hutuo Valley and the lands to the northwest of the

, opening up to the

Eurasian steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also called the Great Steppe or The Steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Manchuria, Mongolia, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Europea ...

. He organized these conquests together with Zhao-held Dai as the three commanderies of Yunzhong, Yanmen, and Dai. He protected them by erecting long earthen barricades along what is now considered the Outer Great Wall, as well as a fortress overlooking

in present-day Dai County. The town of Guangwu, southwest of present-day Shangguan, was established under the Zhao as well. After Qin's conquest of Zhao in 228BC, its Prince Jia tried to reëstablish his family's kingdom in its northern commanderies; this " Kingdom of Dai" was quickly overrun by the Qin general

Wang Ben Wang Ben (王賁), was a Chinese general of the state of Qin during the Warring States period. He was a son of the better known general Wang Jian. He played a key role in the Qin's wars of unification. Life In 225 BCE, a 600,000 strong Qin arm ...

in 222BC, just prior to the reunification of China.

Imperial China

Under the First Emperor's rule, an administrative overhaul abolished China's former states and provinces, making the relatively small commanderies the highest level of regional government. Zhao's former holdings in northern Shanxi west of MountHeng formed Qin's Yanmen Commandery, with its seat at Shanwu in present-day Youyu County.. The frontier walls of the former states, including Zhao's, were merged into the first form of the

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...

. Guangwu was promoted to the seat of its own county, overseeing the parts of present-day Dai County in the Hutuo Valley. This was part of the Taiyuan Commandery under the Qin and

Western Han The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring int ...

, when it was part of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Bingzhou. Under the

Eastern Han The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

and Wei, the area was part of Yanmen Commandery, whose seat was at Mayi (present-day

). The county seat of Guangwu moved to what is now Shangguan under the

. An earthen wall 8 '' li'' in circumference was raised to protect the town.. It became the seat of Dai Prefecture in 585 during the Sui,. eventually taking its name as Daizhou. The prefecture covered parts of the present-day counties of Dai, Fanshi, Wutai, and Yuanping. The Ayuwang Pagoda was also first constructed under the Sui, but suffered repeated fires; the present Tibetan-style dagoba dates to the Yuan. The town was also known as Yanmen during this period, as it was the seat of the Yanmen Commandery. On 11 September 615,Sima Guang, ''Zizhi Tongjian'', Vol. 182. the Sui emperor Yang Guang (posthumously known as the Yang or Lazy Emperor) was besieged there by the Eastern Turkish (''Tujue'') leader Shibi Khan, who was angry about Chinese efforts to weaken and divide his realm. In his distress, Yang Guang promised promotions and rewards to the garrison and those who might rescue him. Credit became muddled, however, when the khan's Chinese wife Princess Yicheng responded to his pleas by sending a false report to her husband about an attack on the Turkish homeland. After the Turks withdrew, the emperor chose to renege on most of his promises; the event built animosity in the Chinese army ahead of the collapse of the Sui.. Dai Prefecture was reëstablished under the Tang, who made it part of their

Hedong Circuit __NOTOC__ Hedong (, unless otherwise noted) may refer to these places in China: Districts *Hedong District, Sanya, in Sanya, Hainan *Hedong District, Linyi, in Linyi, Shandong * Hedong District, Tianjin, in Tianjin Subdistricts * Hedong Subdistric ...

. In the spring of 623, the Eastern Turkish Jiali Khan and the Chinese rebels

Gao Kaidao Gao Kaidao (高開道; died 624), at one point known as Li Kaidao (李開道), was an agrarian rebel leader who rose against the Sui dynasty at the end of Emperor Yang's reign. He occupied the region centering Huairong (懷戎, in modern Zhangj ...

and Yuan Junzhang (, ''Yuan Jūnzhāng'') jointly besieged the Tang fortress there but were unable to take it. Chinese censuses recorded the district had 36,234 people living in 9,259 households in AD639 and 100,350 living in 21,280 households in 742. From 1369 until about 1375, under the early Ming, Dai

Prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

was briefly reorganized as a

. It was during this time that the present fortifications at

were constructed, and the earthen walls at Shangguan were given a

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

façade. Dai Prefecture was administered under the Ming and early

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

as part of the circuits of Yanmen ( t or s ''Yànmén Dào'') or Yanping ''Yànpíng Dào''), but it was directly administered by the provincial government after 1724 until near the end of the dynasty, when it was returned to Yanping Circuit. During the early 20th century, the Ming wall still surrounded the city, with four gates and a deep

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

. Daizhou was the site of a Protestant mission run by the Baptist Missionary Society. The nascent Christian community was, however, devastated in 1900 by the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

and subsequently by the memory of its powerlessness to defend itself..

Modern China

Following the

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

, the

reorganized Dai Prefecture as a

in 1912. This was originally under Yanmen Circuit; in 1921, it was placed directly under Shanxi's provincial government. During the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

(

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

), various locations in Dai County saw action during the 1937 Battle of Xinkou. This ended in a Japanese victory but guerrilla actions continued. Following the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

victory in the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, Dai County was placed under Xinzhou Prefecture. In 1958, it was merged with Fanshi County, but this arrangement was ended in 1961. In 2001, the county seat Chengguan ( t s ''Chéngguānzhèn'') changed its name to Shangguan and some of Dai County's smaller townships were merged to form larger units. Shangtian and Baicaokou merged to form Yanmenguan; Bata joined Tanshang; Xijiao joined Nieying; Jiaokou joined Xingao; Fenshuiling joined Huyu; and Hujiatan joined Shangmofang.

Administrative divisions

Since 2001, Dai County has been divided into six

towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and five townships:. These 11 township-level divisions are in turn divided into eight residential communities and 377

villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

(2015). The

is at Shangguan, with the main offices located on its East Main Street ( t s ''Dōng Dàjiē'').

Demographics

During the 2010 census, there were 214,091 residents in the county.

Tourism

Yanmenguan Township is home to the Yanmen Pass Scenic Area, a mountain pass bearing a major fortress along the

that has been given a AAAAA rating by the

China National Tourism Administration The China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) was a Chinese government authority responsible for the development of tourism affairs and was subordinate to the State Council. Its headquarters were in Beijing. History The predecessor was the ...

. The area has been strategically important and fortified since the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

, although the present works date to the 14th century during the early Ming. Other tourist attractions in Dai County include the Ayuwang or Ashoka Pagoda, a dagoba dating to the Yuan; the Daizhou Confucian Temple ( t s ''Dàizhōu Wénmiào''); the Bianjing Drum Tower ( t s ''Biānjìnglóu''); the Yang Ancestral Hall ( t s ''Yángjiā Cítáng''); the Zhao Gao National Forest Park ( t s ''Zhào Gǎo Guān Guójiā-Jí Sēnlín Gōngyuán''); and the Dongduanjing Archeological Site ( t s ''Dōngduànjǐng Yízhǐ'')..

Transportation

Buses connecting the county seat Daixian to the East Passenger Station of the provincial capital

run about every 30 minutes. Daixian is also connected by daily buses running to

's Xinnan Passenger Station.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . * . * * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * .

External links

Official site
{{authority control County-level divisions of Shanxi Xinzhou National Famous Historical and Cultural City