In the previous article, the author talked to you about a series of administrative division adjustment stories in many regions of China, such as Hebei Province, Shandong Province, Liaoning Province and so on. Today, we talk about Shaanxi Province. In the long river of history, Shaanxi Province was once divided into three parts, in addition to the central region directly under the direct jurisdiction of the province, it was also divided into the Northern Shaanxi Administration District and the Southern Shaanxi Provincial Administration District. As an important province in the northwest region, why was Shaanxi Province divided into 3 parts? Today, we will talk carefully about the problems of the southern Shaanxi administration area and the northern Shaanxi administrative district.
First, let's talk about the long history of Shaanxi Province. In ancient Chinese history, Shaanxi Province belongs to one of the birthplaces of China's ancient civilization, in fact, the provinces of the entire Yellow River Basin, each province has its own characteristics and history. Since the Xia Shang Dynasty, the Shaanxi region has been a key area. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the Guanzhong region in central Shaanxi became the first choice for the imperial capital. Of course, the large number of non-working people and the grain production in the Guanzhong region have formed an irresolvable contradiction. Therefore, in the Sui and Tang dynasties, in order to solve the grain pressure, the Central Plains Dynasty excavated the famous Grand Canal. Before the establishment of the Song Dynasty, the capital of the Central Plains Dynasty generally took turns to sit between Xi'an in Shaanxi and Luoyang in Henan. During the reign of the Song Dynasty, for various reasons, the Song Dynasty finally chose to set the capital Kaifeng. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, the capital was determined to be in Dadu, which is now Beijing, thus changing the model of Dingdu.
During the reign of the Yuan Dynasty, the territory was very large, and the Yuan Dynasty had administrative difficulties. Under such circumstances, the Yuan Dynasty introduced the system of Xingzhongshu provinces, dividing the country into ten provinces. Among them, including Shaanxi Province, the provincial capital is determined in Xi'an. After the Ming Dynasty expelled the Yuan dynasty forces, in order to resist the counterattack of the Northern Yuan forces, shaanxi province and Gansu province were merged. Therefore, shaanxi province in the Ming Dynasty is actually equivalent to the current 2 provinces and 1 autonomous region.
In view of the fact that Nanjing was too far south, the Ming Dynasty once considered moving the capital to Xi'an, but due to the death of the crown prince Zhu Biao, Zhu Yuanzhang stopped the plan to move the capital. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, the provincial system of the Yuan Dynasty was followed. Please note that the administrative divisions of many provinces in China were basically established during the Ming Dynasty. For example, Henan Province, Shandong Province, Jiangxi Province and other provinces are not much different from the current administrative divisions. In the middle of the 17th century, in the face of internal and external troubles, the Ming Dynasty, which rose in the northeast region, began to enter the customs. After more than 10 years, the Qing Dynasty gradually established its rule over all parts of the Central Plains. The Qing Dynasty itself did not have much administrative experience, so it followed a large number of the Ming Dynasty's administrative system, including the provincial system.
The Qing Dynasty split provinces that were too large, such as Shaanxi Province, into Shaanxi Province and Gansu Province. From this time on, the administrative division of Shaanxi Province was basically determined. Since then, although there have been changes, the specific scale is not large. In the later period of Qing rule, the Western powers launched a series of wars of aggression against the Qing Dynasty, forcing the Qing Dynasty to open a series of treaty ports. All regions of the Qing Dynasty faced crises, and in such circumstances, in order to consolidate its rule, the Qing Dynasty began a famous foreign affairs movement.
Before that, the Guanzhong region was absolutely indispensable, after all, Shaanxi Province was crucial to the Qing Dynasty. Railways and other new technologies began to enter Shaanxi continuously. At the end of the 19th century, due to the loss of the capital, Empress Dowager Cixi even considered moving the capital to Xi'an. It can be seen that Xi'an still has a high status in the eyes of the qing dynasty's top brass. In 1912, the once invincible Qing Dynasty collapsed, and our country fell into an era of warlord chaos. In the late 1930s, the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression broke out. After the Japanese army occupied Kaifeng, Luoyang and other places, it continued to attack westward, occupying the Guanzhong region, and then moving south to Sichuan, which was the route of the Yuan Dynasty's destruction of the Southern Song Dynasty.
In 1944, Luoyang and other places were lost, and Tongguan became a fortress that must be defended. Although the Japanese army did not enter the territory of Shaanxi, a large number of Sanqin disciples went to the front line to resist the attack of the Japanese army. Due to the continuous war, the situation was very turbulent, causing serious damage to the economy of shaanxi. Fast forward to the late 1940s, when the northern part of Shaanxi Province had been liberated, but the central and southern parts had not yet been liberated. In view of the needs of the local administration, the Northern Shaanxi Administration District was established, with jurisdiction over Yan'an, Yulin, Suide, Huanglong and other places, with a total of 27 counties. With the changes in the national situation, the central and southern parts of Shaanxi have also been liberated. However, due to the problems in local management, Shaanxi Province was divided into three parts.
In addition to the Northern Shaanxi Administration District, central Shaanxi is under the jurisdiction of the province, administering Xianyang, Baoji, Weinan, Sanyuan and other places, with a total of 42 counties under its jurisdiction. The southern shaanxi region is divided into southern Shaanxi provinces, including Nanzheng, Ankang, Shangluo, Liangyun and other places, with a total of 35 counties under its jurisdiction. Notice that there were more than 100 counties in Shaanxi Province at that time, which is significantly more than the current number. This was because the counties at that time were relatively small, and some counties were later abolished or merged. There are also some counties that were later changed to districts or county-level cities. In addition to the southern Shaanxi bureau district and the northern Shaanxi bureau district, there are also the northern Sichuan bureau district, the northern Anhui bureau district, the northern Jiangsu bureau district and so on.
After entering the 1950s, with the gradual stabilization of the situation in the whole country, various regions began to recover and develop their economies after the war. At this stage, the local administration areas are not conducive to economic development. As a result, the administrative districts of each region began to be abolished one after another. In February 1951, with the needs of economic development, the Northern Shaanxi Administration District and the Southern Shaanxi Provincial Administration District were abolished and re-merged into Shaanxi Province. But a problem arose, and Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi Province, was temporarily promoted to a municipality directly under the central government. In the early 1950s, wuhan, xi'an, Guangzhou, Shenyang and other provincial capitals were promoted to municipalities directly under the central government.
So, Xi'an has become a municipality directly under the central government, where will Shaanxi Province be? The answer is still in Xi'an, because no other city in Shaanxi Province can replace Xi'an (although it is said that plans to move to Baoji) are planned). In Xi'an City, there are two sets of management agencies in Xi'an City and Shaanxi Province. In 1954, with the beginning of large-scale adjustment of China's administrative divisions, most of the municipalities directly under the central government were abolished. Xi'an was revoked and became the capital of Shaanxi Province. There are many more stories about the adjustment of administrative divisions in various parts of our country, and the author will talk to you slowly in future articles.