Cultural Jiangxi

Author: Zhou Mou
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Through the long river of history, the diligent and wise people of Jiangxi have created a brilliant ancient civilization, depicted a vivid modern picture, and composed a moving modern chapter. Especially in the struggle for the birth of the People's Republic, the people of Jiangxi Province have made indelible and outstanding contributions to the founding of the new China. For more than 50 years since the founding of the People's Republic, under the kind care of the three generations of central leadership of the Communist Party of China with Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin at its core, and under the correct leadership of the provincial committee and the provincial government, the people of Jiangxi have united and struggled, started from scratch, and made great contributions to the prosperity and development of the great motherland with brilliant achievements. Jiangxi Province, abbreviated as Gan, got its name from the establishment of Jiangnan West Circuit by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in 733, and also from the fact that the largest river in Jiangxi is the Gan River. The province is divided into 11 prefecture-level cities and 99 counties (cities, districts), with Nanchang as the provincial capital. Jiangxi Province is located on the southern bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the southeastern central part of China, bordering Zhejiang and Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei and Anhui to the north, sharing the Yangtze River with them. Jiangxi is the hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the Minnan Delta, with straight-line distances to major cities and ports such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, and Hefei mostly within 600 to 700 kilometers. Anciently known as Jiangxi as "the tail of Wu and the head of Chu, the courtyard of Yue and Min," it is considered a "region of strategic importance." The total land area of the province is 166,900 square kilometers, accounting for 1.74% of the total land area of China and ranking first among the provinces and cities in East China. Except for the relatively flat northern part, the province is surrounded by mountains on three sides—the Mufu Mountains, the Wuyi Mountains, the Huaiyu Mountains, the Jiulian Mountains, and the Jiuling Mountains—with rolling hills in the middle, forming a vast basin that slopes toward Poyang Lake and opens to the north. The province has more than 2,400 rivers, with the Gan River, Fu River, Xin River, Xiū River, and Rao River being the five major rivers. Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and also the largest wintering ground for migratory birds in the world. Jiangxi is located near the Tropic of Cancer, with a warm climate and abundant rainfall, with an average annual precipitation of 1,341 to 1,940 millimeters. The frost-free period is long, making it a subtropical humid climate highly suitable for crop growth. The ecological environment of the province is excellent, with a forest coverage rate of 59.7%, ranking among the top in China. The province is rich in mineral resources, with copper, tungsten, uranium, tantalum, rare earths, and gold and silver being hailed as Jiangxi's "seven flowers of gold." In the long history of Chinese civilization, Jiangxi has produced many outstanding talents, including writers, politicians, and scientists such as Tao Yuanming, Ouyang Xiu, Zeng Gong, Wang Anshi, Zhu Xi, Wen Tianxiang, Song Yingxing, Tang Xianzu, and Zhan Tianyou, who shine like stars in history. Jiangxi is the cradle of the Chinese revolution. The August 1st Nanchang Uprising struck the first blow against the reactionaries of the Kuomintang, and Mao Zedong and Zhu De established a rural revolutionary base on Jinggang Mountains. The central Soviet area was centered in Ruijin in southern Jiangxi. More than 250,000 named martyrs have sacrificed their lives for the Chinese revolution in Jiangxi.