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HuNan is a landlocked province covering an area of 210,500 square kilometres situated to the south of the
Yangtze River Basin.
The name of HuNan is formed
from the Chinese words hu (‘lake’) and nan (‘south’), meaning the land to the south of the DongTing Lake, stretching
from Shashi, Hubei Province to Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province.
HuNan's population is estimated at 38,000,000. The capital and most important city of the province is
Changsha, situated in the east, on the banks of XiangJiang River.
Although the industrial sector has been developed
since 1949, Hunan's economy remains largely agricultural. It is a major rice-producing area and ranks third among
China's provinces in rice production with two crops annually in the south.
From the earlier decades of the 20th Century, Hunan was a centre of revolutionary activity; it
was the birthplace of many Chinese Communist leaders, among them the most outstanding is Mao ZeDong, a founder of the
People's Republic of China.
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History: From 350 to 221 BC, Hunan formed the southernmost extension of the state of Chu. From 221
to 206 BC, Hunan was under the rule of Qin Dynasty, which subdued contending feudal states and joined them into the
first unified state of China,
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... well over 3,000 feet above sea level |
of which Hunan formed part of the central area.
Geography: More than one-quarter of the terrain lies above 1,650 feet, and much of that is
well over 3,000 feet above sea level. The highlands in the west run from north-east to south-west, forming the eastward
edge of the Guizhou Plateau, whose extension, the Xuefeng Mountains, lies in the heart of the province.
The DongTing Lake is a broad and shallow lake - remnants of a former
inland sea, which once filled the entire Yangtze Basin. Its water level varies considerably between summer and winter;
it acts as a storage lake and regulator for water draining to the Yangtze.
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Ethnic hand dance |
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Hunan's entire river system drains into the DongTing Lake, with only the exception that one tributary of Lin Stream
draining directly into the Yangtze River. The western highlands are drained by the Yuan River and Li River. The Yuan in
its upper courses features fast-flowing torrents in summer, and run through deep gorges, broadening out to wider valleys
in their lower courses. Hunan's largest river, the XiangJiang, originates in the heart of the Nan Ling. Many smaller
rivers that originate in the mountains along the eastern border flow westward to join the XiangJiang in its northward
courses.
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Climate: The north generally experiences more extreme weather conditions, both in summer and in
winter than the south. In winter, occasional waves of cold front form a high-pressure zone centred over Mongolia sweep
southward, damaging tea bushes and fruit trees in northern Hunan. The average minimum temperature in December and
January is 6 degrees Centigrade. Summer is usually long and humid, and temperatures are slightly higher in the north.
The average maximum temperature in July and August is 30 degrees Centigrade.
The north has an average of 260 frost-free days a year, while the south has 300 days. Rainfall
is ample, with the maximum precipitation occurring between spring and
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Yueyang Tower - Huanglong Cave |
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summer. The total annual rainfall is 1,602 millimetres, with lesser precipitation in the north.
HuNan lies in the path of cyclones that pass from west to east along
the Yangtze Basin in summer, bringing with them at times long periods of heavy rain, resulting in extensive flooding of
low-lying lands around the DongTing Lake.
Population: Hunan covers 2% of China's landmass, and is home to about 5% of its population. The DongTing Plain and
the main river valleys are where the population is primarily concentrated.
Ethnic composition: There are over 1 million members of minority peoples consist of
four groups, the Miaos, the Tujia, the Dong, and the Yao of ethnic groups living in the western highlands. The life and
economy of the Miao and the Tujia are similar, and the two groups were not differentiated in the 1953 census, when they
were officially referred to as Miao. They lived in the west where their economy is based on the cultivation of terraced
fields on hills and in narrow valleys. They grow corn on mountain slopes and elsewhere cultivate tung, tea, and galla
nuts.
Each group has its own distinctive
handicrafts, notably embroidery and cross-stitch work. The Dong people live in their own autonomous counties in the
extreme southwest, with their centers at Tongdao and Xinhuang. The Yao are widely scattered over the mountainous regions
of the south and west.
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