Hunan

a province in China, situated in the basin of Tungt’ing Hu (Lake Tungt’ing) and of the middle course of the Yangtze River. Area, 210,000 sq km. Population, 37.18 million (1973). Most of the inhabitants are Chinese; other nationalities include the Miao, T’uchia, Yao, Hui, Uighurs, and Chuang. The capital is the city of Ch’angsha.

In the west and south, Hunan is dominated by mountains and hills; the central region and the north are occupied by a plain that contains Tungt’ing Hu. The province has a subtropical monsoon climate, with an annual precipitation of 1,100–2,000 mm. The northern periphery of Hunan lies in the flood plain of the Yangtze; other major rivers are the Yuan Chiang, Tzu Shui, and Hsiang Chiang.

Hunan’s economy is based on agriculture, primarily land cultivation; approximately one-fifth of the province is under cultivation. Irrigated rice paddies, which produce 80 percent of the grain harvest, take up most of the cultivated land; they are found chiefly in the plain around Tungt’ing Hu. Maize, wheat, and barley are also cultivated. The principal industrial crops are ramie and cotton; tea, rape, peanuts, jute, and tobacco are also grown. The principal fruits raised are citrus types.

Livestock raising is an important part of the economy. The livestock population is primarily made up of draft animals and swine. There is commercial fishing in Tungt’ing Hu; fish breeding is also of some importance. Timber, primarily China fir, is felled on a large scale, and tung oil is expressed.

Mining and nonferrous metallurgy, which have undergone development in Hunan, are represented by the large-scale extraction of antimony at Hsik’uangshan, lead and zinc ores at Shuik’-oushan, tungsten at Tzuhsing and Sanchang, and manganese at Hsiangt’an. Antimony is melted in Hsik’uangshan, lead in Ch’angsha and Sungpo, and zinc in Sungpo. Hunan has a machine-building industry: electric locomotives, electrical machinery, and machine tools are manufactured in Hsiangt’an, mining equipment in Hengyang, and agricultural and irrigation equipment in Ch’angsha and Hengyang. Plants of the food-processing, paper, and textile industries are located in Ch’angsha, Hengyang, and Hsiangt’an. Craftsmen produce linen, canvas, umbrellas, and porcelain articles. The province’s major industrial and transportation centers are Ch’angsha, Chuchou, Hengyang, Hsiangt’-an, and Shaoyang.

In antiquity Hunan was inhabited by tribes of the Yao and Yi. In the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. it was part of the state of Ch’u. The Chinese began settling the province in large numbers in the fourth century A.D. The region was part of the Hsitao and Tungtao districts in the seventh and eighth centuries, of the Hsin-ghu Region from the ninth to 12th centuries, and of Hukuang Province from the 13th to 17th centuries. Hunan Province, with its present boundaries, was established in 1668.

In the late 18th century detachments of insurgent peasants, led by the White Lotus sect, were active in Hunan, and from 1852 to 1854 the army of the insurgent Taiping peasants operated in the province. During the revolution of 1925–27, Hunan was a center of the peasant movement. From 1927 to 1934 several revolutionary bases (soviet regions) were located in the province. Much of Hunan was occupied by the Japanese during the Chinese People’s National Liberation War against the Japanese Invaders of 1937–45 (Sino-Japanese War). In August 1949 the People’s Liberation Army of China liberated Hunan from the Kuomintang.