Heze (菏泽)

1. Introduction

Heze City, abbreviated as He, historically known as Caozhou, is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Shandong Province, People's Republic of China. It is located in the southwestern part of Shandong Province. The city borders Jining City to the east, Xuzhou City of Jiangsu Province and Suzhou City of Anhui Province to the southeast, and Shangqiu City, Kaifeng City, Xinxiang City, and Puyang City of Henan Province to the south, west, and north, respectively. Situated at the junction of Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Henan provinces, Heze lies on the alluvial plain south of the Yellow River, featuring flat terrain. Major rivers include the Zhuzhao New River, Wanfu River, and Dongyu River, with the Yellow River flowing along its northern border. The total area of the city is 12,238.62 square kilometers.

The People's Government of Heze City is located at No. 1111 Zhonghua Road, Mudan District. It is the region with the highest peony flower production in China. Additionally, the city is the location of Yuncheng County mentioned in Water Margin and also the site of the Caozhou Missionary Case.

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2. History

"Heze" was originally a natural ancient marsh, formed by the confluence of the Ji River. Over time, it silted up and became blocked. Its ruins are located 15 kilometers southeast of present-day Heze City.

2.1 Ancient Times to the Qin Dynasty

Heze boasts a long-standing culture. Sites of the Longshan Culture from the Neolithic Age have been discovered in various counties (districts) within its territory. Numerous relics remain from the revered ancient figures Yao, Shun, and Yu, who are celebrated in historical records. The evolution of administrative divisions in the region can be traced back to the 17th century BC. During the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th–11th century BC), three states were established within the present-day territory (central part): the State of Shen (between present-day Dingtao and Cao County), the State of Gu, and the State of Li (between present-day Juancheng and Yuncheng).

Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century–771 BC): The territory was divided among the State of Cao (capital at Dingtao), the State of Gao, the State of Xuju, the State of Lu, the State of Wei, and the State of Song.

Late Spring and Autumn Period: The territory was partitioned by the states of Song, Lu, and Wei.

Warring States Period (475–221 BC): In the early period, it was under the jurisdiction of the states of Qi, Chu, and Wei. By the late Warring States period, it was divided between the states of Qi and Wei.

Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC): The central and northern parts of the territory belonged to Dong Commandery (administrative seat at Puyang), while the southern and northern parts belonged to Dang Commandery (administrative seat at Dang County).

2.2 Han Dynasty to Qing Dynasty Period

Over the nearly 600 years from the Western Han to the Sui Dynasty, the administrative divisions underwent several changes. In the first year of the Xuanzheng era of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (578 AD), it was first named Caozhou.

Sui Dynasty (581–618 AD): After Emperor Wen of Sui ascended the throne, commanderies were abolished, and prefectures (Zhou) directly governed counties. The central part of the territory belonged to Caozhou (administered from Jiyin County), the northern part to Puzhou (administered from Juancheng), the northeastern part to Yunzhou (administered from Yuncheng), and the southeastern part to Daizhou (established after the abolition of Yongchang Commandery, still administered from Chengwu). The administrative seats of all four prefectures were within the territory. The southern part belonged to Songzhou. In 606 AD (the second year of the Daye era), Emperor Yang of Sui abolished prefectures and reinstated commanderies. The central part of the territory belonged to Jiyin Commandery (administered from Jiyin County), and the eastern part belonged to Dongping Commandery (administered from Yuncheng).

Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD): The territory was part of Henan Circuit. The central part belonged to Caozhou (administered from Jiyin County), the eastern part to Puzhou (administered from Juancheng), the northeastern part to Yunzhou, and the southern part to Songzhou (administered from Suiyang).

Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368 AD): It was under the Zhongshu Sheng (Central Secretariat).

Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD): Most of the territory belonged to Caozhou, Jiningzhou, and Dongpingzhou under Yanzhou Prefecture of Shandong Chengxuan Buzhengshisi (Shandong Provincial Administration Commission). A small part in the west and north belonged to Kaizhou under Daming Prefecture of the Capital Region and Puzhou under Dongchang Prefecture of Shandong Chengxuan Buzhengshisi. In 1368 (the first year of the Hongwu era), due to floods, Caozhou's administrative seat was moved to Anling Town (present-day Anlingji, Dahuangji Township, Heze City). The following year, it was moved again to Panshi Town (present-day site of Cao County town). In 1371 (the fourth year of the Hongwu era), Caozhou was downgraded to Cao County. In 1445 (the tenth year of the Zhengtong era), Caozhou was re-established at the site of the ancient Chengshi County (present-day Heze city). Although Caozhou governed two counties at this time, it was a prefecture-administered Zhou.

Qing Dynasty (1644–1911 AD): The Buzhengshisi were changed to provinces. Except for the western and northeastern parts, which belonged to Daming Prefecture of Zhili Province and Yanzhou Prefecture of Shandong Province respectively, the rest of the territory belonged to Caozhou Prefecture of Shandong Province. In 1724 (the second year of the Yongzheng era), Caozhou was elevated to a directly-administered Zhou (Zhili Zhou), with its jurisdiction remaining unchanged from the Ming Dynasty. In 1735 (the thirteenth year of the Yongzheng era), Caozhou was elevated to a prefecture, governing one Zhou and ten counties. An attached county was established for the prefectural seat. It was named Heze because of the ancient He Mountain, He River, and Leize Lake in the area. The jurisdiction area at this time was slightly larger than present-day Heze City.

2.3 Republican Period

Mainland Period of the Republic of China (1912–1949): In 1912, the administrative system continued to use the late Qing three-tier system of province, prefecture, and county, with circuits (Dao) as supervisory districts of provinces. On January 8, 1913, the Beiyang Government issued an organizational order stipulating a three-tier local system of province, circuit, and county. Within the present-day territory, except for Dongming County, which belonged to Daming Circuit of Zhili Province, and Juancheng County and Liangshan County (originally Shouzhang County), which belonged to Jixi Circuit (later changed to Donglin Circuit, administered from Liaocheng) of Shandong Province, all other counties belonged to Dainan Circuit (later changed to Jining Circuit, administered from Jining) of Shandong Province. On October 22, 1925, Shandong Province increased the original four circuits to an eleven-circuit system, establishing Caopu Circuit (administered from Heze) in the area of present-day Heze city proper. In 1928, the circuit system was abolished. Dongming County came directly under Hebei Province, while the other counties came directly under Shandong Province. In 1932, the Nanjing Government stipulated that provinces should establish administrative supervision districts below them, with commissioner offices as dispatched agencies of the provincial government. By the eve of the July 7th Incident in 1937, Shandong Province had a total of seven administrative supervision districts (hereinafter referred to as districts): the First District administered from Jining; the Second District administered from Heze, governing Heze, Dingtao, Cao County, Chengwu, Shan County, Juye, and Yuncheng; the Sixth District administered from Liaocheng, governing Puxian (in 1931, Pu and Juan were separately administered; in 1926, Juancheng was merged into Puxian)... After the July 7th Incident, following the invasion of Shandong by the Japanese army, the Shandong Provincial Government evacuated Jinan, became a government-in-exile within the province, and established 17 districts across the province between 1938 and 1942. Juye, Yuncheng, Shouzhang, and Wenshang belonged to the Second District; Shan County, Chengwu, and Cao County belonged to the Eleventh District; Heze, Dingtao, and Puxian belonged to the Sixteenth District. After Japan's surrender, although the Shandong Provincial Government adjusted administrative divisions, the affiliations of counties within the territory remained unchanged. In September 1948, the Chinese People's Liberation Army occupied the entire county.

In March 1949, the North China People's Government decided to rename the Second, Third, Fifth, and Seventh Special Districts of Hebei-Shandong-Henan as Linhe, Huxi, Southwest Shandong, and Yunxi Special Districts respectively. In August of that year, Pingyuan Province was established. The northwestern part of the territory, including Linhe, Southwest Shandong, and part of Yunxi, were merged to form Heze Special District, which, along with Huxi Special District, belonged to the Pingyuan Provincial People's Government.

2.4 People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China (1949–present): In November 1952, the Central People's Government approved the abolition of Pingyuan Province. Heze and Huxi Special Districts were transferred to Shandong Province. On July 20 of the following year, the Central People's Government approved Shandong Province's abolition of Huxi Special District, with its constituent counties assigned to Heze and Jining Special Districts respectively. On November 12, 1958, the State Council approved the abolition of Heze Special District, with its counties assigned to Jining Special District. In June of the following year, Heze Special District was restored with its former jurisdiction. In March 1967, Heze Special District was renamed Heze Prefecture. In December 2000, with the approval of the State Council, Heze Prefecture was abolished and a prefecture-level Heze City was established. The former county-level Heze City was changed to Mudan District of Heze City.

3. Geography

Heze is located in the southwestern part of Shandong Province, bordering the provinces of Jiangsu, Henan, and Anhui. It has a population of 8.75 million and covers an area of 12,238.6 square kilometers. The terrain is flat, belonging to the Yellow River alluvial plain.

Heze City Meteorological Data (1981–2010)

| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year | |---------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------| | Record high °C (°F)| 18.2 (64.8) | 23.2 (73.8) | 28.5 (83.3) | 33.7 (92.7) | 38.1 (100.6) | 42.0 (107.6) | 41.8 (107.2) | 38.4 (101.1) | 36.0 (96.8) | 32.7 (90.9) | 26.8 (80.2) | 20.6 (69.1) | 42.0 (107.6) | | Average high °C (°F) | 4.7 (40.5) | 8.3 (46.9) | 14.2 (57.6) | 21.4 (70.5) | 26.6 (79.9) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.7 (89.1) | 30.4 (86.7) | 26.7 (80.1) | 21.5 (70.7) | 13.5 (56.3) | 6.6 (43.9) | 19.7 (67.6) | | Daily mean °C (°F) | -0.5 (31.1) | 2.9 (37.2) | 8.4 (47.1) | 15.3 (59.5) | 20.7 (69.3) | 25.6 (78.1) | 27.1 (80.8) | 25.8 (78.4) | 21.1 (70.0) | 15.2 (59.4) | 7.6 (45.7) | 1.4 (34.5) | 14.2 (57.6) | | Average low °C (°F) | -4.2 (24.4) | -1.3 (29.7) | 3.6 (38.5) | 10.1 (50.2) | 15.3 (59.5) | 20.3 (68.5) | 23.3 (73.9) | 22.2 (72.0) | 16.9 (62.4) | 10.6 (51.1) | 3.2 (37.8) | -2.3 (27.9) | 9.8 (49.7) | | Record low °C (°F)| -20.4 (-4.7) | -15.6 (3.9) | -11.3 (11.7) | -4.4 (24.1) | 3.8 (38.8) | 10.2 (50.4) | 15.4 (59.7) | 12.1 (53.8) | 4.8 (40.6) | -1.3 (29.7) | -12.9 (8.8) | -17.5 (0.5) | -20.4 (-4.7) | | Average precipitation mm (inches)| 6.8 (0.27) | 10.1 (0.40) | 21.3 (0.84) | 27.3 (1.07) | 56.4 (2.22) | 63.8 (2.51) | 159.1 (6.26) | 143.9 (5.67) | 71.0 (2.80) | 33.9 (1.33) | 19.4 (0.76) | 8.4 (0.33) | 621.4 (24.46) | | Average precipitation days (≥0.1 mm)| 2.6 | 3.7 | 5.3 | 5.7 | 6.6 | 8.0 | 11.8 | 9.0 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 73.8 | | Average relative humidity (%)| 67 | 63 | 62 | 64 | 69 | 67 | 81 | 84 | 79 | 73 | 71 | 69 | 71 | | Mean monthly sunshine hours | 159.0 | 151.2 | 191.9 | 226.8 | 257.7 | 252.1 | 213.3 | 217.5 | 204.4 | 206.6 | 173.7 | 156.8 | 2,411 | | Percentage of Possible Sunshine (%) | 51 | 49 | 52 | 58 | 60 | 58 | 48 | 53 | 55 | 59 | 56 | 52 | 54 |

4. Administrative Divisions

Heze City currently administers 2 municipal districts and 7 counties.

• Municipal Districts: Mudan District, Dingtao District
• Counties: Cao County, Shan County, Chengwu County, Juye County, Yuncheng County, Juancheng County, Dongming County

Heze Economic and Technological Development Zone is a provincial-level economic development zone established by Heze City. Luxi New Area is a provincial-level new area established by Shandong Province.

5. Economy

In 2022, Heze's GDP reached 425.03 billion yuan, ranking eighth in Shandong Province, higher than eight cities including Zaozhuang, Rizhao, Liaocheng, Binzhou, Tai'an, Dongying, Weihai, and Dezhou. Its per capita GDP ranked 15th, moving away from the situation of having the lowest per capita GDP. Primarily focused on agriculture, Heze also holds comparative advantages in forestry, animal husbandry, and mineral resources. With a timber stock of 13 million cubic meters, accounting for one-sixth of Shandong Province, Heze has become one of the four plain cities in China to meet afforestation standards. Luxi Yellow Cattle, Small-tailed Han Sheep, and Qing Goat are three "national treasures," with cattle and sheep inventories ranking third and first, respectively, among agricultural regions nationwide. The industrial sector is dominated by electricity, machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, textiles, and forest product processing.

6. Transportation

6.1 Railway

6.1.1 National Trunk Lines

• Beijing–Kowloon Railway (Heze Station)
• Rizhao–Yanzhou–Xinxiang Railway (Heze Station)
• Rilan High-Speed Railway (Hezedong Station)
• Jingxiongshang High-Speed Railway (Hezedong Station)
• Hutai High-Speed Railway (Hezenan Station (Under Planning/Construction))

6.1.2 Rail Transit

• Yuncheng Tram (Under Planning/Construction)
• Heze Rail Transit (Under Planning/Construction)

6.2 Highway

• Five National Highways: G105, G106, G220, G240, G327; Expressways: G35 Jiguang Expressway, G1511 Rilan Expressway, S32 Hedong Expressway, S39 Linxin Expressway, S41 Puxin Expressway

6.3 Airport

• Heze Mudan Airport

8. Population

According to the Seventh National Population Census in 2020, the city's permanent resident population was 8,795,939. Compared with the 8,287,693 people recorded in the Sixth National Population Census, there was an increase of 508,246 people over the ten-year period, representing a growth of 6.13%, with an average annual growth rate of 0.6%. Among them, the male population was 4,467,017, accounting for 50.78% of the total population; the female population was 4,328,922, accounting for 49.22% of the total population. The overall sex ratio (with females as 100) was 103.19. The population aged 0–14 was 2,208,169, accounting for 25.1% of the total population; the population aged 15–59 was 4,975,921, accounting for 56.57% of the total population; the population aged 60 and above was 1,611,849, accounting for 18.32% of the total population, of which the population aged 65 and above was 1,253,600, accounting for 14.25% of the total population. The urban population was 4,461,825, accounting for 50.73% of the total population; the rural population was 4,334,114, accounting for 49.27% of the total population.

8.1 Ethnic Groups

Among the city's permanent resident population, the Han ethnic group population was 8,723,581, accounting for 99.18%; the population of various ethnic minorities was 72,358, accounting for 0.82%. Compared with the Sixth National Population Census in 2010, the Han population increased by 500,762, a growth of 6.09%, with its proportion in the total population decreasing by 0.04 percentage points; the population of ethnic minorities increased by 7,484, a growth of 11.54%, with its proportion in the total population increasing by 0.04 percentage points.

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10. 名人

• 彭丽媛
• 马兴瑞，现任中共中央政治局委员、中共新疆维吾尔自治区党委书记，(兼)新疆生产建设兵团第一政委、兵团党委第一书记。
• 王浩_(1963年)，现任中共浙江省委书记。
• 鹿心社，曾任国土资源部副部长兼国家测绘局局长，中共甘肃省委副书记，江西省人民政府省长、中共江西省委书记、中共广西壮族自治区党委书记，全国人民代表大会农业与农村委员会副主任委员等职。
• 林铎，曾任辽宁纪委书记（2014年8月-2016年3月），甘肃省长（2016年4月1日-2017年4月1日），甘肃省委书记（2017年4月1日-2021年3月30日）。现任全国人大华侨委员会副主任委员（2021年4月29日-）。林铎担任辽宁纪委书记期间，2015年5月，辽宁省委书记王珉落马，李希接任辽宁省委书记。
• 刘华，曾任中华人民共和国生态环境部副部长、党组成员，国家核安全局局长，现任国际原子能机构副总干事兼技术合作司司长。第十三届全国政协委员。刘华担任国家核安全局局长（2016年12月－2021年2月）的前任是中组部长李干杰。
• 张建春，曾任中组部副部长。2020年，任中宣部副部长。
• 房灵敏。 现任中共广西壮族自治区党委常委、自治区纪委书记兼监察委主任。
• 董开军，山东菏泽巨野人。2023年1月，董开军任河北省人民检察院检察长。

The county of Heze was named after the ancient He Mountain, He River, and Leize Lake.

Mudan District

Mudan District

Han Chinese population accounts for 99.18%; ethnic minority populations account for 0.82%

Papaya tree

Peony