HonanChinese (HenanWade-Giles ) romanization Ho-nan, (Pinyin) Henan, conventional Honansheng (province) of north-central China. It has an area of 64,700 square miles (167,700 square kilometres). The province stretches some 300 miles (500 kilometres480 km) from north to south and 350 miles (560 km) east to west at its widest point. It is bounded on to the north by Shansi and Hopeh, on the provinces of Shanxi and Hebei, to the east by Shantung Shandong and AnhweiAnhui, on to the west by ShensiShaanxi, and on to the south by HupehHubei. The Huang Ho He (Yellow River) divides the province into two unequal parts—one-sixth north and five-sixths south of the river—and thus to some extent belies the name Honan Henan (“South of the River”). K’ai-fengZhengzhou, the former capital, has been superseded by Cheng-chou, where the Peking–Han-k’ou provincial capital, lies in northern Henan at the point where the north-south Beijing-Guangzhou (Canton) railway crosses the Huang Ho He and meets the Lung-hai Railway Longhai line running from east to west.Physical and human geographyThe landReliefHonan ; Kaifeng, the former capital, is located about 45 miles (75 km) to the east. Area 64,500 square miles (167,000 square km). Pop. (2007 est.) 93,920,000.



plains. In the northwest the rugged

T’ai-hang and Chung-t’iao

Taihang and Zhongtiao mountains form the steep eastern edge of the




Taihang fold system of Permian times



. They

, and mark the northern border of the province.

South of the Huang



Hsiung-erh and Fu-niu

Xiong’er and Funiu. These mountains, which have an





T’ung-pai and Ta-pieh



Henan and


Hubei. The


Tongbai range is separated from the




Tang and









Bo Hai


(Gulf of Chihli


) and Yellow Sea

) formed the coast of a sea




Neo-Cathaysian Geosyncline (downward-sloping

subduction zone (downwarping part of the Earth’s crust)

, which

that extends from


Heilongjiang to


Jiangxi provinces. The floor of this


zone is sinking at a rate equal to that of deposition

; it is estimated that the sediment of the plain is now 2,800 feet deep in places



Henan has three river systems: the Huang




Tang and


Bai rivers in the southwest. The

Huang Ho—known


The Huang He—known in Chinese literature simply as the


He (“River”)


—turns eastward (immediately after its confluence with the Wei River

, at the Shansi provincial border, turns eastward at T’ung-kuan to flow directly across the north of Honan. Near T’ung-kuan it enters the San-men Gorge of some 80 miles, thence issuing onto the plain



the confluence with the Wei to the sea, a distance of


about 600 miles (1,000 km), the Huang


He receives only two comparatively small tributaries: the right-bank


Luo River, on which


Luoyang stands, and the left-bank


Qin River.



Huang He is subject to

very great



Shaanxi and




He, you never get clean again.”


Prior to the

river is


in the San-men Gorge, it is


, but when

until it


issued onto the plain; at that point, its pace

is checked. It can




Throughout historical times, this menace

has been



5 to

eight miles


has been






first south, then north


of the


Shandong Peninsula. The diversion has always been in northern


Henan between

Cheng-chou and K’ai-feng










Sanmenxia near the






the dam

proved valuable in taming

did help control the flood stages of the river.


western Honan

southwestern Henan. They flow eastward onto the




basin became the




Henan. Since 1957

three very

more than 20 large dams

at Lung-shan, Mei-shan, and Fo-tzu-ling





comparatively low









K’ai-feng and Cheng-chou

Kaifeng and Zhengzhou reportedly was transformed into fertile farmland

, and reclamation of

; since then, efforts to reclaim saline and alkaline land

has continued.ClimateClimatically, Honan

have continued, though with limited or short-lived success.


Henan lies in a transitional climatic zone between the North China Plain and the Yangtze


valley. Although protected in some degree from the Mongolian winds by the


Taihang Mountains,


Henan has


cold winters; summers are hot and humid. Average January temperature in the north is

28° F (−2° C

28 °F (−2 °C) and in the south

36° F (2° C

36 °F (2 °C). Average July temperature over the lowlands is

82° F (28° C

82 °F (28 °C), while in the western mountains it is a degree or two lower. There are

210 frostless

180 frost-free days annually in the north and


240 in the south.


Precipitation (nearly all of it rain) is distributed more evenly throughout the year than it is in the rest of North China, although there is a marked


spring-summer maximum.


Kaifeng has an average rainfall of 23 inches (580


mm), of which only


3 inches (75 mm) fall in the autumn and winter months. There is a steady decrease in total rainfall from southeast to northwest and a marked increase in variability.


Henan is therefore more subject to years of alternating heavy rain and drought than the provinces of the Yangtze


valley. In the past it


had suffered from severe famine. It also experiences spring cloudbursts and occasional hailstorms, both of which can be


highly destructive. In times of drought, summer dust storms are worse even than those of winter.

Plant and animal life

The natural vegetation of


Henan is deciduous forest and woodland over the plains, and deciduous and coniferous forest in the western highlands. Intensive settlement of the plains has long since led to the clearance of the trees to make way for cultivation. The mountains, however, retain some of their woodland. Since 1949 major efforts have been made in planting trees for shelter, timber, and other uses. More than 400 varieties of vertebrate land animals inhabit the province, most of them living in the upland forests. A number of species are endangered, including the serow (Capricornis sumatraensis), a type of mountain goat.

Population composition



Honan is China’s second most populous province, with the overwhelming majority of the population living in rural areas. The greatest concentration of rural population is vast majority of the people of Henan are Han (Chinese). There are no autonomous minority groups such as are found in the western provinces, the small number of Hui (Chinese Muslims) being integrated into the broader population. Earlier Mongol and Manchu invaders were absorbed and Sinicized. In the 12th century, when Kaifeng was the imperial capital of the Song dynasty, Jews originally from India or Persia became an important part of the community. The Kaifeng Jews retained their identity until the late 19th century, after which they were absorbed.

Settlement patterns

Henan became China’s most populous province in the late 1990s, after Chongqing municipality was separated from Sichuan province. The majority of the population lives in rural areas, the greatest concentration being in the eastern plain. Nearly Densities nearly as great densities are found in the I Yi and Lo Luo river basins and in the plain around Nan-yangNanyang in the southwest, but in the more mountainous west and south they are considerably less. On the eastern plain, villages are fairly close together, usually about one mile 1 mile (1.6 km) apart. In the mountains they are smaller and more widely dispersed. Houses are made mainly of mud-plastered walls and thatched roofs.

There was considerable movement of rural people of the plains to towns in the west in 1958–59, during agricultural collectivization and the Great Leap Forward.

The vast majority of the people of Honan is Han (Chinese). There are no autonomous minority groups such as are found in the western provinces, the small number of Hui (Chinese Muslims) being integrated into the broader population. Mongol and Manchu invaders were absorbed and Sinicized. In the 12th century, when K’ai-feng was the Imperial capital of the Sung dynasty, Jews, originally from India or Persia, became an important part of the community. They retained their identity until the 19th century but have since been absorbed.

The economyAgricultureHonan’s

Rural-to-urban migration has continued since then, although the overall proportion classified as urban has remained small. Nonetheless, two cities—Zhengzhou and Luoyang—have a population greater than one million each, and Zhengzhou’s urban area population exceeds 2.5 million.


Henan’s economy is essentially agricultural. Most of the total cultivated area lies in the plains to the east of the




Guangzhou railway. The only idle land is found in the mountains and in the saline lands of the northeast. Main food crops include winter wheat, millet, kaoliang (a variety of grain sorghum), soybeans, barley, corn (maize), sweet potatoes, rice, and green lentils. Wheat is by far the most important, in both acreage and production,


Henan ranking


at the top in


output among the provinces. Rice occupies only a small percentage of the crop area; its yield per acre, however, is almost three times as great as that of wheat. Fruit growing has received considerable impetus in recent years, partly for its own sake and partly for soil conservation, particularly in the idle sandy lands of the northeast and on mountain slopes. Dates, persimmons, apples, and pears are the main fruits, with walnuts and chestnuts also grown.


Henan produces draft animals of good quality, particularly yellow oxen and donkeys. Hogs are the most important food animals, and goats and sheep are mainly raised in the western mountains.

The chief industrial crops are cotton, tobacco, vegetable oils, and silk. Cotton is widely grown on about half the acreage available for farming, with its main concentration north of the Huang


He around

An-yang and Hsin-hsiang

Anyang and Xinxiang. Tobacco growing, introduced into Henan in

Honan in

1916, increased enormously after 1949;

within 40 years Honan became

Henan is now one of China’s largest tobacco


producers. Vegetable oils are important, with


Henan one of China’s largest producers of sesame, grown mainly in the east and south. Ramie, the most important of the leafy fibres, is grown in

east Honan

eastern Henan in the Huai


River valley.


Henan is one of the oldest centres of sericulture (silkworm raising) in China. The industry dates


to the


Dong (Eastern) Han dynasty (


25–220 CE). Both mulberry


leaf culture and oak


tree culture for silkworms flourished between the two

world wars until suffering

World Wars but suffered severely during the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45). After 1949 there was a revival on the slopes of the


Funiu Mountains, and the province became an important exporter of silk.


Henan suffers


severely at times from locusts, which winter in the arid, sandy, alkaline soils beside the Huang


He. Extended and improved cultivation in these areas has helped control the pest.

IndustryAlthough before 1949 there was little industrial development in Honan, subsequent industrialization was both rapid and extensive. Much of the development tapped Honan’s rich coal seams in the northwestResources and power

Henan is rich in a wide variety of minerals, and these have provided the base for developing the province’s industries. Both bituminous and anthracite coal are found along the slopes of the


Taihang Mountains, and big reserves of good coking coal in thick, easily mined seams are found in the


Funiu Mountains between

Hsü-ch’ang and P’ing-ting-shan

Huchang and Pingdingshan. Iron ore is found at


Ruyang on the


Ru River in the


Xiong’er Mountains, as well as some pyrite, bauxite, and mica. Large coal mines at


Jiaozuo supply the fast-growing industries of

Lo-yang, Cheng-chou, K’ai-feng, and Hsin-hsiang

Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Kaifeng, and Xinxiang but are still inadequate. The vast coalfield at

P’ing-ting-shan has been worked since 1964.Honan

Pingdingshan in central Henan is one of the largest in China. In addition, large proven reserves of low-sulfur petroleum and natural gas are extracted at the Zhongyuan complex of oil fields in the northeast. There also are deposits of lead, molybdenum, gold, and silver.

Henan is a significant producer of energy, with thermal plants in

Cheng-chou, Lo-yang, K’ai-feng, and Hsin-hsiang

Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Kaifeng, and Xinxiang linked by a power line. An ultrahigh-voltage transmission system, one of the largest in China

, began transporting

when it was completed in the early 1980s, transports electricity from the

P’ing-ting-shan coal-mining

Pingdingshan area to

Wu-ch’ang in the early 1980s. There are large proven reserves of low-sulfur petroleum and natural gas at the Chung-yüan complex of oil fields.Lo-yang

Wuhan in Hubei province. Hydroelectricity is of growing importance. In addition to the Sanmen facility, there is the even larger Xiaolangdi station on the Huang He north of Luoyang.


Although before 1949 there was little industrial development in Henan, from 1950 industrialization was both rapid and extensive. Much of the early development tapped Henan’s rich coal seams in the northwest. Subsequently, a comprehensive system of industrial production was enacted, with engineering, nonferrous metallurgical, and textile industries as its pillars. The province is a national leader in lead, aluminum, and glass production.

Luoyang was chosen as the site for China’s first tractor factory, opened in 1958. Since then its output has burgeoned, and


Luoyang has become a heavy


industry centre.


Zhengzhou lies in the heart of the cotton-growing area and is now the centre of the textile industry.




imperial capital of the


Song emperors, declined after the 11th century—especially when the Huang


He dikes were broken by rebel forces and the region was


flooded in 1642.


Although it eventually was restored, it remained marginalized until large chemical-fertilizer works and a tractor-accessories plant


led to its revival

. Hsin-hsiang

in the 20th century. Xinxiang, the most important city of

north Honan

northern Henan, is the


hub of the region’s railway network

of the area

as well as a centre of diversified manufacturing.

Emphasis has shifted over the years from

development of

heavy to

development of




Thus, there

There has been a growth in the production of consumer goods such as cigarettes, electronic products, bicycles, household appliances, textiles, and tableware.

Tourism is a major earner of foreign exchange

In addition, regional handicraft products—including lacquerware, jade carvings, tin pots, ink slabs, and tricolour glazed pottery horses (imitations of the ceramic horses produced during the Tang dynasty—are all well-known throughout the country.


Although the Huang


He flows through

north Honan

northern Henan, it serves


the province poorly as a line of communication. Within the province it was navigable only in the


Sanmen Gorge until the construction of the dam there. Even now it is useful over the plain only for small rivercraft. The Huai and its tributaries flowing down from the western mountains are rapid in their upper courses and silted in their lower, so that they




serve only small craft. The Wei of northeastern Henan, flowing north into the Hai system, has been joined by the People’s Victory Canal to the Huang




Zhengzhou is at the junction of China’s two greatest trunk railways, the

Peking–Han-k’ou–Canton line

line running from Beijing to Guangzhou and the


Longhai line, which runs from the east coast to


Xinjiang, in the far


northwest. Local railroads have also been developed, and most of the province’s goods are now carried by rail.

The first modern roads in


Henan date from the famine of 1920–21, when the American Red Cross built earth tracks to bring relief to the stricken provinces.

Since 1959 the great bulk of road building has been done

For years most road building was accomplished with little modern technology;

some roads penetrate

however, the country’s major north-south express highway between Beijing and Zhuhai (adjacent to Macau) now bisects central Henan, and another passing east-west through the northern part of the province connects Kaifeng to Zhengzhou and Luoyang. Some roads penetrate into the more remote mountain region

, as, for example,

(e.g., a road in the


Taihang Mountains between

Hui-hsien and Ling-ch’uan. Most

Huixian and Lingquan), and most of the other highways now have all-weather surfaces.

Administration and social conditionsGovernment

Air travel is centred on Zhengzhou.

Government and society
Constitutional framework

On the victory of the


communists in 1949

. Honan

, Henan, together with


Hubei, Hunan,




Guangdong, and


Guangxi, formed the Central South greater administrative region.

In 1954

Henan’s provincial government was established

, and for local governmental purposes Honan has been subsequently divided into eight prefectures (ti-ch’ü) and nine

in 1954. For local government purposes, Henan is now divided into 17 prefecture-level municipalities (




xian), and county-level municipalities (



The province was badly affected by political conflict during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76). During much of that time it was governed by a provincial Revolutionary Committee

, which consisted of 11 members, nine of whom were selected from the People’s Liberation Army, one from the “revolutionary cadres,” and one from the “revolutionary masses


The Revolutionary Committee was replaced in 1980 by the People’s Government, which is the administrative arm of the People’s Congress. The People’s Congress, acting largely through its Standing Committee, is an organ of the state, and its powers include enacting legislation, implementing state policies, and approving provincial economic plans and budgets. Its members are elected by the People’s Congress at the next lower administrative level, and it in turn elects the members of the People’s Government.


Since its Imperial days K’ai-feng has remained the cultural and educational centre of Honan, although it has come to share that role with Cheng-chou. The first impact of Western learning came, as in the rest of China, through the primary and middle schools of Christian missions. Little real progress was made in the turbulent years between 1911 and 1949, and the vast mass of the people remained illiterate. Successful efforts were made by the government in the first years after 1949 to overcome illiteracy, and a real attempt at universal primary education was launched. Education is now based on six years of primary schooling and six years of secondary schooling. Honan has more than 30 institutes of higher learning.

Health and welfare

Modern Western medicine

, like education,

was introduced by Christian missions but made


little impact on the vast area of


Henan. On attaining power in 1949, the


new national government concentrated attention on public hygiene and preventive medicine. A doctor’s training was cut from six to three years, and teams were dispersed throughout the province to teach hygiene, vaccinate, inoculate, and advise. Although a doctor’s training has now reverted to six years, emphasis

remains on the “barefoot doctor,” midwife,

has remained on midwives and health


workers. With the great development of coal mining in


Henan, attention has been focused on silicosis prevention, which is being achieved mainly by improving working conditions. Kala-azar, the debilitating disease carried by sand flies, is also receiving special attention. As elsewhere in the country, traditional Chinese medicine has gained status.


Since its imperial days Kaifeng has remained the cultural and educational centre of Henan, although it has come to share that role with Zhengzhou. The first impact of Western learning came, as in the rest of China, through the primary and middle schools of Christian missions. Little real progress was made in the turbulent years between 1911 and 1949, and the vast mass of the people remained illiterate. Successful efforts were made by the government in the first years after 1949 to overcome illiteracy, and a real attempt at universal primary education was launched. Education is now based on six years of primary schooling and six years of secondary schooling. Henan has more than 50 institutes of higher learning, including Henan University (1912) in Kaifeng and Zhengzhou University (1956).

Cultural life

In an essentially agricultural province such as


Henan, cultural life is centred in the rural community. While families


for the most part

, retain and own

live in their own homes, cultural life is focused in the community centre, with its reading room, library, and teahouses, in which the old tradition of storytelling has continued and is very popular. Loudspeaker radio is used to ensure communication. Traditional local music forms—such as the


zhuizi ballad and


yuju opera—are popular, as are the performances of the province’s many art troupes.


Honan Henan is known as the cradle of the Chinese nation. Luoyang, Kaifeng, Anyang, Nanyang, Shangqiu, Zhengzhou, and Junxian are all specially noted by the national government for their historical and cultural importance. Tourism is of great economic importance in the province and is a major source of foreign exchange. Important national-level scenic spots include Mount Song (north-central), one of the five sacred mountains of China, and the Shaolin Temple on its slopes (noted as the birthplace of Chinese martial arts); Jigong (Rooster) Hill, a popular summer resort near Xinyang; and the Longmen cave complex near Luoyang, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. Other popular tourist destinations include the Temple of the Chancellor (Xiangguo Si) at Kaifeng, Baima (“White Horse”) Temple at Luoyang, and Yinxu (“Ruins of Yin”) at Anyang, site of the capital of the ancient Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and also a World Heritage site (designated 2006).


Henan abounds in prehistorical and early historical interest. Some of the most important evidences evidence of the Neolithic beginnings of Chinese civilization are has been found in the northern part of the province. It was at Yang-shao in north Honan Yangshao in northern Henan that a Swedish geologist and archaeologist, Johan Gunnar Andersson, in 1921 discovered an assemblage of Neolithic painted pottery that, together with many later finds, marked the presence of a well-established primitive ancient farming culture , which has been named Yang-shao(subsequently called Yangshao). The early farmers occupied the lands at the confluence of the Huang, Wei, and Fen rivers, the cradle of Chinese civilization. The other main Honan Henan sites of the culture are at Miao-ti-kou, Lin-shan-chai, P’an Nan, and Hsi YinMiaodigou and Linshanzhai. The early farmers, who were also part-time hunters and fishermen, lived in sunken circular or rectangular dwellings, sometimes of considerable dimensions. They grew foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, and kaoliang (a type of sorghum) and had domesticated dogs and pigs. Cultivation with their primitive stone tools was comparatively easy in the easily worked loess (wind-borne) soil.

Immediately to the east, at Lung-shan in Shantung ProvinceLongshan in Shandong province, a different culture was discovered, known as the Black Pottery culture, as distinct from the slightly earlier Painted Pottery culture (Yang-shao Yangshao) culture). It was on these YangYangshao-shao–Lung-shan Longshan foundations that the early civilization of the Shang (Yin) dynasty arose (18th–12th century BC) in north northern and west Honan, south Hopehwestern Henan, southern Hebei, and west Shantungwestern Shandong. Excavations in Henan near An-yang Anyang and in Cheng-chou and Hsing-t’ai, Hopeh, Zhengzhou and in Hebei near Xingtai have revealed an advanced culture , having with a hierarchical class structure, advanced buildings, and elaborate ritual rituals in which beautiful bronze vessels were used. Based on the dating of oracle bone inscriptions, the Shang king P’an K’eng Pangeng moved his capital to a site near An-yang in 1384 BCAnyang about1300 BCE.

When the Shang kingdom fell to the Chou Zhou dynasty (1111–255 BC1046–256 BCE), An-yang Anyang lost its status as a capital. When After the Chou Zhou capital, Hao (near modern Sian in Shensi Provincepresent-day Xi’an in Shaanxi province), was destroyed in 771 BC BCE by western tribes, Lo-yang Luoyang (then known as Lo-iLuoyi) took its place. During the period 771 BC BCE to AD 938 CE, the distinction of being the capital was shared alternately by Lo-yang and Ch’ang-an (modern Sian). Lo-yang Luoyang and Chang’an (now Xi’an). Luoyang was the capital during the following dynasties—the Tung Dong (Eastern) Chou Zhou (771–256 /255 BC BCE), Tung Dong Han (AD 25–220 CE), Wei (220–265/266), Hsi Xi (Western) Chin Jin (265–311265–316/317), Bei (Northern) Wei (386–534/535; capital 495–535), and Hou (Later) T’ang Tang (923–936/937). With the fall of the T’ang dynasty in 936/937, K’ai-fengHou Tang dynasty, Kaifeng, then called PienBian, became the nation’s national capital and remained so until the Pei (Northern) Sung Bei Song dynasty was overthrown by the Juchen invaders in 1126. After the sack of K’ai-feng Kaifeng in 1127, the Honan Henan region continued to be the chief source of grain for Imperial imperial storehouses. Both Lo-yang and K’ai-feng Luoyang and Kaifeng remained important because of their strategic locations in the gateway leading from the North China Plain into the Huai BasinRiver basin, thence into the Yangtze Basinbasin. Cheng-chou Zhengzhou became important in the early 20th century as a railway junction and was made the provincial capital in 1954.