Zoucheng () is a

county-level city A county-level city () is a County-level divisions of China, county-level administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judiciary, judicial but no legislature, legislative rights over their own local or ...

in the south of

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. Before it was incorporated as a city in October 1992, it was known as Zou County (邹县) or Zouxian. Zoucheng is located about 20 km south of the city of

Qufu Qufu ( ; zh, c=曲阜) is a county-level city in southwestern Shandong province, East China. It is located about south of the provincial capital Jinan and northeast of the prefectural seat at Jining. Qufu has an area of 815 square kilometers, ...

, and like Qufu, is administratively under the

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

of Jining. Its population was 1,116,692 at the 2010 census even though its built-up (''or metro'') area is much smaller.

Administrative divisions

Three subdistricts: * Gangshan Subdistrict (), Qianquan Subdistrict (), Fushan Subdistrict () Thirteen towns: * Xiangcheng (), Chengqian (), Dashu (), Beisu (), Zhongxindian (), Tangcun (), Taiping (), Shiqiang (), Yishan (), Kanzhuang (), Zhangzhuang (), Tianhuang (), Guoli ()

Historical sites

The philosopher

Mencius Mencius (孟子, ''Mèngzǐ'', ; ) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting ...

was born in Zoucheng, then within the feudal State of Zou. His descendants lived in Zoucheng all the way to the present. Some of them migrated to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War and to Korea during the Tang Dynasty. In the present day, there are four major sites in the city relating to Mencius: the Mencius Temple (), the Mencius Family Mansion (), the Mencius Forest (, ), and Mencius' Mother's Forest (, ). The Mencius Temple, which covers an area of more than on the south side of town, has five courtyards and sixty-four halls and rooms. Its history dates back to the year 1037 in the

Northern Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, endin ...

. The Mencius Mansion, where his descendants lived, is adjacent to the temple, and has 116 halls and rooms. According to the management of the Mencius Temple, the temple grounds house over 270 stone

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

s and sculptures, some of which dating from as early as the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

. Among them are some

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

stelae with inscriptions in 'Phags-pa script. Immediately to the north of Zoucheng lies the tomb of the King of Lu of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

(). It is the tomb of Zhu Tan (1370-1389), the tenth son of the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...

of the Ming dynasty. There is also a royal tomb from the

Han dynasty 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 ...

().

Climate

Transportation

* Zoucheng Railway Station on the Beijing-Shanghai Railway * Frequent bus service to the nearby

and Yanzhou.

Monorail

A , 12 station monorail to connect

and Zoucheng began construction in the first half of 2017, however construction was halted. A section was due to be completed in January 2018 to allow for testing to commence. The complete line was originally due to open in 2018. As of July 2021 the local government hopes to complete the line.

References

External links

Zoucheng municipal website
{{Authority control Cities in Shandong Jining County-level divisions of Shandong National Famous Historical and Cultural City