First, let's talk about the history of Xi'an. It has to be said that Shaanxi Province has a long history and belongs to one of the birthplaces of China's ancient civilization, especially the Guanzhong Plain, which has flat terrain and fertile land. Under ancient farming civilizations, plains meant arable land and population. The Guanzhong Plain, with Xi'an as the core, has a very complex geological structure. The outer periphery is hilly and plateau, and the core is the fertile Guanzhong Plain, which is a very good topography. Therefore, from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, there were 13 dynasties in Xi'an.
Even in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the imperial court considered moving the capital to Xi'an several times. After the Song Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty did not have a capital of Xi'an, mainly for two main reasons. First, the threat of nomadic regimes in the northwest has increased. Second, the diversion of the Yellow River has caused shipping difficulties. Therefore, since the Northern Song Dynasty, Xi'an has never become a capital city again. However, even so, Xi'an is still the largest city and core city in the northwest, and there is no one. Up to now, Xi'an City is still irreplaceable in the northwest regions.
In the 13th century, after the rise of the Yuan Dynasty in the north, in a few decades, it successively eliminated the Western Xia Kingdom, the Great Jin Kingdom, the Dali State, the Southern Song Dynasty and other regimes, and established a huge dynasty that could not be lived. With the continuous expansion of the territory, the Yuan Dynasty also began to face the problem of worry. Faced with hundreds of state capitals and thousands of counties across the country, the Yuan Dynasty was a bit busy. All kinds of complex population, arable land, and grain production data made the Yuan Dynasty even more overwhelmed.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, the two-level division of prefectures and counties was not suitable for the Yuan Dynasty. The 15 roads of the Tang Dynasty and the 23 roads of the Song Dynasty also have their own problems. Finally, on the basis of the 23rd Road of the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty combined the experience of the Jin Dynasty xing shang shutai and launched a strengthened and upgraded version, that is, the provincial system. The Yuan Dynasty divided the country into 10 provinces, such as Gansu Province, Henan Jiangbei Province, Sichuan Province, Shaanxi Province, and so on.
Although the Yuan Dynasty established a provincial system, it was not perfect, and there were many problems in all aspects. First of all, the division of provinces is unreasonable, making management very difficult. Secondly, local institutions are very rough, overlapping and inefficient. By the end of the Yuan Dynasty's rule, problems arose in all directions. In 1368, after Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, on the basis of the provinces of the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty adjusted the division according to its own needs. After the Ming Dynasty Ancestor Zhu Di moved the capital, the Ming Dynasty formed a division of 13 provinces directly under the north and south.
It has to be said that the basic divisions of many provinces in China were established during the reign of the Yuan Dynasty, such as Jiangxi Province, Fujian Province, Zhejiang Province and so on. Compared with the current division, the difference is not large. However, Shaanxi Province was an exception, because during the reign of the Ming Dynasty, in order to resist the northern nomadic cavalry going south and coordinate the command, the Ming Dynasty abolished Gansu Province and incorporated Gansu Province into Shaanxi Province. Therefore, Shaanxi Province in the Ming Dynasty is equivalent to two or three provinces now. At that time, the status of Xi'an Province was very important.
In the 17th century, after the Qing Dynasty established its own rule, it further adjusted its division according to its own needs. Eventually, a model of 18 inland provinces was formed. Among them, in view of the complex geological structure of the northwest region, inconvenient transportation and other reasons. In the early days of the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, the Qing Dynasty split Shaanxi Province into Shaanxi Province and Gansu Province, and Gansu Province was re-established. At that time, Shaanxi Province had several prefectures and prefectures directly under its jurisdiction, such as Xi'an Province, Yulin Province, Fengxiang Province, Shangzhou, Huazhou, Yaozhou, and so on.
Among them, the jurisdiction of Xi'an Prefecture is very large, with a total of 1 prefecture and 15 counties under its jurisdiction, namely: Chang'an County, Xianning County, Lintong County, Gaoling County, Lantian County, Yan County, Xuan County, Xianyang County, Xingping County, Jingyang County, Sanyuan County, Fuping County, Liquan County, Weinan County, Tongguan County, Yaozhou county and so on. In other words, during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, the jurisdiction of Xi'an Province was not small.
In recent history, the Western powers launched a series of wars against the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty had to open a series of treaty ports and pay reparations continuously. The rule of the Qing Dynasty was already crumbling, and in order to save its rule, the Qing Dynasty began the famous Foreign Affairs Movement. A series of factories were established in Xi'an Province, and with the promotion of the railway, the urban framework of Xi'an was further established. In 1912, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, China entered a situation of warlord chaos.
In the blink of an eye, in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, with the end of the war, China entered the stage of post-war reconstruction, resumption of production, and economic construction, and a series of important projects began one after another. Among them, a considerable number of projects are located in Xi'an. In Shaanxi Province, a series of special zones have been set up, such as Hanzhong Special District, Suide Special District, Baoji Special District and so on. At that time, in view of the importance of Xi'an, Xi'an was temporarily promoted to a municipality directly under the central government, becoming one of more than 10 municipalities in the country.
It was not until 1953 that it became the capital of Shaanxi Province again. At first, the jurisdiction of Xi'an city was not large, only managing the urban area and suburbs. In fact, in the 1950s and 1960s, this was basically the case in all prefecture-level cities. In 1958, Chang'an County, Lantian County, Lintong County, and Yan County were assigned to the administration of Xi'an City. However, this situation only lasted for 3 years. In 1961, Lantian County and Lintong County were assigned to the management of Weinan Special District, and after the county was renamed Hu County, it was assigned to the management of Xianyang Special District.
In the 1960s, Xi'an managed only one County, Chang'an County, except for the urban area. In 1966, Xianyang City, which is under the jurisdiction of Xianyang Special District, was once placed under the administration of Xi'an City (it has to be said that Xi'an and Xianyang have a deep relationship). In 1971, Xianyang City was returned to Xianyang District. In the late 1960s, after all the special districts in the country were renamed as regions, the Xianyang special area was renamed Xianyang district. In the blink of an eye into the 1980s, with the sustained and rapid economic development of various parts of China, in order to adapt to the development of the times, the areas under the jurisdiction of many provinces in China have been successively changed into prefecture-level cities.
In addition, there are some prefecture-level cities whose scale has been expanding. In 1983, the Xianyang area was abolished and a prefecture-level city of Xianyang was established. The Xianyang area was originally under the jurisdiction of Hu County, Zhouzhi County, and Gaoling County, which were under the administration of Xi'an City. In the same year, Lintong County and Lantian County, which were under the jurisdiction of Weinan District, were placed under the administration of Xi'an City. Together with the original Chang'an County in Xi'an, Xi'an has formed 7 districts and 6 counties, for a total of 13 districts and counties.
They are: Xincheng District, Beilin District, Lianhu District, Baqiao District, Weiyang District, Yanta District, Yanliang District, Chang'an County, Lantian County, Lintong County, Zhouzhi County, Hu County, Gaoling County. With the tremendous development of Xi'an, the urban area has been further expanded, the urban population has continued to increase, and a series of major projects have been fully rolled out. Since the end of the 1990s, Chang'an County, Lintong County, Hu County, and Gaoling County have been abolished and changed to districts. As a result, 11 districts and 2 counties were formed.
I have to say that the development of Xi'an City is rapid. According to the latest population figures, the population of Xi'an has reached 12.95 million, ranking eighth in the country. It has to be said that Xi'an is very attractive to the surrounding regions, not just Shaanxi Province.
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