Zhoucun district () is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Zibo Zibo () is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province of China, province, China. It borders the provincial capital Jinan to the west, Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Bi ...

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

Province, China. The district covers and had an estimated population of 288,440 in 2013. Its main industry is

textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

and

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

manufacture. The center of the commercial district has a recently refurbished area with traditional buildings. Some of the filming for

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 14 November 1950) is a Chinese filmmaker.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retrieved 21 August 2008. A leading figure of China's Cinem ...

's film '' To Live'' was done in the district.

Historical anecdote

In the 17th century, the textile industry was flourishing in Zhoucun, while the local government was corrupted to a point that it set up a department called "" for extorting money. The department hired parasitic scumbags to levy various high taxes. It was not long before the merchants disappointed and began to leave. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice of the

Qing Government The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) was the last imperial dynasty of China. The early Qing emperors adopted the bureaucratic structures and institutions from the preceding Ming dynasty but split rule between the Han and Manchus with some positions als ...

, Huahsi Lee, came back to Zhoucun to see his family. He was outraged by the state of the economy of his hometown, and reported to Emperor Shunzhi. It would have been embarrassing for Shunzhi not to show his mercy, but inadequate to take ease on his taxes. He compromised: Zhoucun shall take only one day off the tax. This kind of stingy "mercy" was really some gigantic excrement drained upon Huahsi's head, but he thought of a way around it. Hushsi made orders to build a monument with "" ("No Tax Today") carvings ambiguously under the command of the emperor, so merchants are able to do business tax-free all the time. Later on Huahsi felt guilty about tax evasion and undertook the taxes himself. Huahsi even promised that whoever got robbed within 200 Li(about 115 km) around Zhoucun shall get reparation from his family. Such act maintained for seven generations, about 200 years. The economically preposterous and doubtful monument is still at the center of the relics called "", but it was long invalid.

Historical anecdote

Administrative divisions

Climate

References