Shangqiu

Shangqiu, Wade-Giles romanization Shang-ch’iu, city, eastern Henan sheng (province), east-central China. Situated in the middle of the North China Plain, it lies at the junction of the north-south route from Jinan in Shandong province to the central section of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) and the routes from Zhengzhou and northwestern China to Xuzhou in the east and farther southeast to Nanjing.

Two places were called Shangqiu before they were merged to create a prefecture-level city in 1997—the modern city, which was once named Zhuji, and the old county seat of the same name, which lies a short distance to the southwest. The old town has a long history. In the Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu) period (770–476 bce) it was the walled capital of the state of Song. It became the seat of Suiyang county in 220 bce. Its name and status subsequently underwent various changes until 596 ce, when its name was changed to Songcheng and it became the administrative seat of Songzhou prefecture. In the early 10th century it became the headquarters of the Guide army of the Nan (Southern) Tang dynasty (937–975/976). Songcheng (Shangqiu) was a canal port on the Bian Canal from 607 onward. Under the Song dynasty (960–1279), when the capital was transferred to Kaifeng, some 80 miles (130 km) to the west, it became a supply base. In 1005 it was made a superior prefecture named Yingtian, and in 1014 it became the subsidiary southern capital. In 1130, under the occupation of the Jin (Juchen), it became known as Guide superior prefecture. At the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), its significance was reduced by the construction of the Grand Canal farther east, and it was demoted to a simple prefecture named Guide, which was subordinate to Kaifeng superior prefecture. It again became a superior prefecture (still named Guide) in 1545 and retained this status until the foundation of the Chinese republic (1911).

The modern city of Shangqiu was originally a market town, locally called Zhuji. It outstripped the old Shangqiu in importance, largely as a result of the construction of the Longhai Railway, which made it a major regional commercial and collecting centre for the agricultural produce of the area, such as grain, beans, cotton, and raw silk. Since the Beijing-Kowloon (Hong Kong) railway opened for traffic in 1996 and crisscrossed the Longhai line at Shangqiu, the city has become a regional rail hub. It is also the focus of a dense road network, including two state trunk highways. The city has developed a variety of industries, including metallurgy, machinery, building materials, textiles, chemical, and processed foods; it also is a major electric-power-generating centre. Two large coalfields, Yongxia and Zhecheng, southeast and south of the city, respectively, have been under development. Pop. (2002 est.) 800,157.