Hunan
[key] [south of the lake], province, c.80,000 sq mi (207,254 sq km), S
central China, S of Dongting lake. Changsha is the capital. Largely hilly
in the south and west, Hunan becomes an alluvial lowland in the Dongting
basin in the northeast; the Xiang River, which traverses the province from
north to south, and the lesser Yuan and Zi rivers drain into Dongting lake.
The mountainous uplands include the Wuling and Nanling mountains; the
Wulingyuan scenic and historic area, in NW Hunan, is a tourist attraction.
Rice is the outstanding crop, particularly in the “rice bowl”
of Dongting lake; corn, sweet potatoes, barley, potatoes, buckwheat,
rapeseed, fruits, and tea are also produced. Although much of the province's
forested land has been cleared due to excessive cutting, many stands of
cedar, pine, fir, oak, camphor, bamboo, and tung wood are found in the
southwestern hills. Fishing and livestock raising are important rural
activities. Pulp and paper mills are found along the upper Yuan and Zi
rivers. Hunan abounds in minerals such as iron ore, lead, zinc, antimony,
tungsten, manganese, coal, mercury, gold, tin, and sulfur. Although
agriculture is still its main industry, Hunan has a variety of heavy and
light industries, such as food processing, aluminum smelting, iron, steel,
and textile mills, and the manufacture of machine tools, pyrotechnics, and
traditional handcrafts. The population of Hunan, concentrated mainly in the
Xiang and lower Yuan valleys and along the Wuhan-Guangzhou RR, is
overwhelmingly Chinese and speaks a variety of Mandarin. There are
aboriginal Miao and Yao peoples in the hills of the south and west; since
1952 several autonomous reserves have been established for these minorities.
Under Chinese rule since the 3d cent. b.c., the region was
traditionally called Xiang for its main river. It belonged to the kingdom of
Wu at the time of the Three Kingdoms (a.d. 220–80) and later
became part of the Chu kingdom of the Five Dynasties (907–60). Its
present name, first used (12th cent.) under the Sung dynasty, was revived in
the 17th cent. by the Manchus when the historic province of Huguang was
divided into the present provinces of Hubei and Hunan. Hunan, traditionally
the home of fighting men, supplied the troops that saved the Ch'ing (Manchu)
dynasty from the Taiping rebels (1850–64). Largely unoccupied by the
Japanese in World War II, it passed to Communist rule in 1949. Mao Zedong was born in Hunan.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Chinese and Mongolian Political Geography
