Shandong

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Province of east China, bounded to the north by the Bohai Gulf, to the east by the Yellow Sea, to the south by Jiangsu and Anhui, and to the west by Henan and Hebei provinces; area 153,300 sq km/59,200 sq mi; population (2000 est) 90,790,000. It is one of the most densely populated provinces of China. The capital is Jinan. There are coal, oil, petrochemical, engineering, and textile industries. Cereals, cotton, peanuts, wild silk, and wine are produced.

History
Settled as early as the 3rd millennium BC, Shandong was one of the cradles of Chinese civilization; oracle bones with early forms of Chinese writing have been excavated at sites in the province. In the Spring and Autumn, and Warring States periods (8th to 3rd century BC), Shandong was divided between the two states of Qi and Lu. The philosophers Confucius (551–479 BC) and Mencius (372–289 BC) were natives of Shandong at that time, as later were the poet Li Qingzhao (1084–1151), and the pioneer folklorist Pu Songling (1604–1715).

In 1121 Liangshan, on the south bank of the Huang He in the east of the province, was the base of the rebels later celebrated in the popular tale The Water Margin, reworked by the 14th-century novelist Luo Guan Zhong. In 1898 Germany and Britain leased naval bases in the peninsula, at Jiaozhou and Weihai. Germany developed its territory into the port and industrial city of Qingdao, and made it a base for economic exploitation of the province, building the railway line to Jinan, and developing the coal fields around Zibo. Qingdao was occupied by Japan in 1914, and was returned to China in 1922 in return for concessions elsewhere. Britain surrendered its lease on Weihai in 1930. Japan occupied the whole province between 1937 and 1945, during which time Shandong's coal industry was further developed.

Blue represents the Caribbean Sea. Yellow stands for the golden beaches. Effective date: 10 July 1973. >>