THE GREATER CHINA FACTBOOK

_____________________________________________________________________

Tilman Aretz

Taiwan Elite Press

大中華百科全書
____________________________________________________

艾天望 著

時英出版社 出版
Tilman Aretz, THE GREATER CHINA FACTBOOK
Published by Taiwan Elite Press
3F-1, No. 88 Hsinsheng South Road Section 3, Taipei 10673, Taiwan R.O.C.
Tel. +886-2-2363 7348, +886-2-2363 4803; Fax +886-2-2362 7836
E-Mail: elite@ms25.hinet.net

First edition, September 2007

ISBN 978-986-7762-97-9
Editor: Matthew J. Hinson
Printed and bound in Taiwan
Typeface Garamond/Arial Unicode MS 10 pt

Copyright © 2007 by Tilman Aretz

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise without the prior written permission of the author except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out,
or otherwise disposed by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it
was published without the prior consent of the author.

Front cover pictures

Great Wall: Copyright © Dr. Monika Schwabbauer
Tiananmen: Copyright © Christian Loosen
Terracotta Army Soldier: Copyright © Christian Loosen
Taipei 101: Copyright © Tilman Aretz
Hong Kong Island Skyline: Copyright © Chen Boheng (陳柏亨)
Flap pictures
Fo Guang Shan: Copyright © Tilman Aretz
Author’s portrait: Copyright © Huang Chung-hsin (黃仲新)
Back cover picture
Longmen Caves: Copyright © Dr. Monika Schwabbauer

Disclaimer
Data and information in this book is provided for informational purposes only, and is not
intended for trading purposes. Neither the author, the publisher nor any of its data or content
providers shall be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
The author has taken care to provide the most accurate information possible. However, content is
provided without warranty or claim of reliability. The user agrees that errors or omissions shall
not be made the basis for any claim, demand, or cause for action. Information was obtained from
sources believed to be reliable, but the author does not guarantee its accuracy.
 To my parents,
Ursel and Elmar Aretz
 THE GREATER CHINA FACTBOOK
Table of Contents

Table of contents ............................................................................................................................................ 1

Maps .................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Preface .............................................................................................................................................................. 7
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Nomenclature ................................................................................................................................................ 10
Pronunciation guide to modern Chinese .................................................................................................. 11
The sounds of Mandarin Chinese ..................................................................................................... 11
The syllables in Mandarin Chinese .................................................................................................... 14
The Chinese tones ................................................................................................................................ 15
Other popular romanization and transliteration systems .............................................................. 16
Comparative tables ............................................................................................................................... 17
Comparison Hanyu Pinyin—Tongyong Pinyin .............................................................................. 20
Conversion table Wade Giles—Hanyu Pinyin—MPS ................................................................... 21

Part I: China today ......................................................... 26

Facts and statistics about China ................................................................................................................. 26
China’s population ........................................................................................................................................ 27
China’s demographic development ................................................................................................... 27
Nationalities in China .......................................................................................................................... 29
Languages in China .............................................................................................................................. 37
Religions in China ................................................................................................................................. 38
China’s geography ......................................................................................................................................... 42
General features .................................................................................................................................... 42
China’s topography ............................................................................................................................... 43
Rivers and lakes ..................................................................................................................................... 45
Vegetation and cultivation / Land usage .......................................................................................... 47
Natural disasters ................................................................................................................................... 47
China’s climate ............................................................................................................................................... 48
Climatic data for select Chinese cities............................................................................................... 48
Government and politics ............................................................................................................................. 52
PRC (People’s Republic of China) .................................................................................................... 52
—Political system of the PRC ........................................................................................................... 52
—The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ......................................................................................... 53
—Presidents and Premiers of the PRC............................................................................................ 56
—The Parliament and the Judiciary of the PRC ............................................................................ 56
—Ministries and agencies under the PRC State Council .............................................................. 57
 —Governors/Chief Executives of Hong Kong since 1843 and of Macau since 1623 ......... 60
ROC (Republic of China) ................................................................................................................... 64
—Political system of the ROC .......................................................................................................... 64
—Major political parties of the ROC ............................................................................................... 65
—Presidents of the ROC 1912-1948 ............................................................................................... 67
—Presidents / Vice Presidents of the ROC since 1948 ............................................................... 67
—Premiers / Heads of the ROC’s Executive Yuan ...................................................................... 68
—Heads of the ROC’s four other Yuans since 1928 .................................................................... 71
—Ministries and agencies under the ROC Executive Yuan ......................................................... 72
—Complete ROC election results since 1989 ................................................................................. 74
—Rulers and Governors of Taiwan since 1624 ............................................................................. 75
Human rights in China ........................................................................................................................ 78
Cross-strait relations ............................................................................................................................ 79
Territorial issues .................................................................................................................................... 86
—Disputed land borders of the PRC............................................................................................... 86
—Islands with sovereignty claimed by both the PRC and ROC ................................................. 87
—Islands under the effective control of the ROC ........................................................................ 89
China’s economy ........................................................................................................................................... 91
China (PRC) .......................................................................................................................................... 91
Taiwan (ROC) ....................................................................................................................................... 96
Quantification of the economies in Greater China and Singapore............................................. 99
Banking and finance ........................................................................................................................... 101

Part II: The Chinese provinces .................................. 110

The provinces of China today.................................................................................................................. 110
China’s administrative organization ................................................................................................. 110
Ranking of China’s cities and provinces by population, area, and pop. density (2005) ......... 112
Administrative subdivisions in the PRC ......................................................................................... 113
Abbreviations of geographical names ............................................................................................ 115
Changes in China’s provincial composition since 1949 ............................................................... 116
Provinces of the old ROC (1912-1949).................................................................................................. 117
Obsolete geographical names ........................................................................................................... 118
Gazetteer—the Chinese provinces in detail ........................................................................................... 119
1. Anhui 安徽 (119); 2. Beijing 北京 (121); 3. Chongqing 重慶 (122); 4. Fujian 福建 (124);
5. Gansu 甘肅 (126); 6. Guangdong 廣東 (128); 7. Guangxi 廣西 (131); 8. Guizhou 貴
(134); 9. Hainan 海南 (136); 10. Hebei 河北 (137); 11. Heilongjiang 黑龍江 (140); 12. He-
nan 河南 (143); 13. Hong Kong 香港 (146); 14. Hubei 湖北 (147); 15. Hunan 湖南 (150);
16. Inner Mongolia 蒙古 (153); 17. Jiangsu 江蘇 (156); 18. Jiangxi 江西 (158); 19. Jilin
林 (160); 20. Liaoning 遼寧 (162); 21. Macau 澳門 (165); 22. Ningxia 寧夏 (166); 23. Qing-
hai 青海 (168); 24. Shaanxi 陜西 (170); 25. Shandong 山東 (173); 26. Shanghai 海 (176);
27. Shanxi 山西 (177); 28. Sichuan 四 (179); 29. Taiwan 台灣 (183); 30. Tianjin 天津
(187); 31. Tibet 西藏 (188); 32. Xinjiang 新疆 (190); 33. Yunnan 雲南 (193); 34. Zhejiang
浙江 (196). A few words about Singapore (199)
Part III: China’s history ............................................... 202
Chronology of Chinese dynasties ............................................................................................................ 202
Historical capitals ........................................................................................................................................ 205
The History of China: A Summary ......................................................................................................... 208
The emergence of humans in the China region ........................................................................... 208
Neolithic China: the Yangshao and Longshan Cultures .............................................................. 208
The legendary Xia Dynasty and the mythical emperors .............................................................. 210
The Shang/Yin Dynasty (ca. 1500-1000 BC) ................................................................................ 211
The Zhou Dynasty (ca. 1000-221 BC)............................................................................................ 212
Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC): Birth of a unified China .................................................................. 221
The Han Dynasty (207 BC – 220 AD) ........................................................................................... 225
Time of division between Han and Sui (220-589) ....................................................................... 232
The Sui Dynasty (589-618) ............................................................................................................... 243
The Tang Dynasty (618-907) ............................................................................................................ 245
Time of division between Tang and Song (902-979) ................................................................... 253
The Song Dynasty (960-1279).......................................................................................................... 256
The Mongols and the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)........................................................................ 265
Ming Dynasty (1368-1644): Chinese rule restored ....................................................................... 270
The Manchus and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) ....................................................................... 278
Chronology of Greater China 1911-2006 .............................................................................................. 295
List of noteworthy persons in Greater China ....................................................................................... 390

Part IV: Appendix ........................................................ 474

Japan, Korea and Vietnam: History and Geography ............................................................................ 474
History of Japan ................................................................................................................................. 475
Prime Ministers of Japan since 1885 .............................................................................................. 476
Geographical names in Japan ........................................................................................................... 478
History of Korea ................................................................................................................................ 479
Leaders of Korea since 1948............................................................................................................ 480
Geographical names in Korea .......................................................................................................... 481
Leaders of Vietnam since 1954 ....................................................................................................... 482
Geographical names in Vietnam...................................................................................................... 484
International geographical names and terms ......................................................................................... 485
The 194 countries of the world and their capitals ....................................................................... 485
Alternative country names in Chinese ............................................................................................ 490
Obsolete country names ................................................................................................................... 490
Important geographic terms ............................................................................................................ 490
Continents and intercontinental regions ........................................................................................ 491
Seas and oceans, gulfs and straits .................................................................................................... 491
Major lakes ........................................................................................................................................... 493
Major rivers .......................................................................................................................................... 493
Major mountain ranges...................................................................................................................... 494
Islands, islets, and archipelagos ........................................................................................................ 494
 Other places, territories, and regions .............................................................................................. 497
Transnational or disputed territories and regions ......................................................................... 498
U. S. states ............................................................................................................................................ 499
Canada’s provinces and territories ................................................................................................... 500
Australia’s states and territories ........................................................................................................ 500
Administrative division of the United Kingdom .......................................................................... 501
The French régions ............................................................................................................................... 501
The 16 German states ....................................................................................................................... 502
The Russian republics ........................................................................................................................ 502
Space terms.......................................................................................................................................... 503
Selected time zones .................................................................................................................................... 505
Chinese holidays.......................................................................................................................................... 507
The Chinese calendar ................................................................................................................................. 508
Yin and Yang, the Five Primary Elements, the Ten Heavenly Stems ....................................... 509
The Chinese Zodiac: Twelve Animal Signs and Twelve Earthly Branches .............................. 511
The Ganzhi system.............................................................................................................................. 511
The Eight Trigrams and 64 Hexagrams ......................................................................................... 513
The 24 Solar Terms and the Eight Festivals .................................................................................. 514
Data about the Chinese lunar calendar, length of Chinese lunar years 1900-2050 ................ 516
Chinese family names ................................................................................................................................. 524
Single-character family names .......................................................................................................... 524
Two-character family names ............................................................................................................. 526
Degrees of kinship ..................................................................................................................................... 527
Military rank ................................................................................................................................................. 530
Ranks in the PRC Armed Forces..................................................................................................... 530
Ranks in the ROC Armed Forces.................................................................................................... 531
Weights and measures ................................................................................................................................ 532
Chinese system .................................................................................................................................... 532
Metric system ...................................................................................................................................... 533
US/British system .............................................................................................................................. 535
Other important measures ................................................................................................................ 538
Useful conversion tables ................................................................................................................... 539
List of chemical elements ......................................................................................................................... 541
Excerpts from important documents ...................................................................................................... 544
Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895) .......................................................................................................... 544
~ in Chinese: 馬關條約 關條約 ....................................................................................... 545
Japan’s “21 Demands” to China [full text] (1915) .......................................................................... 546
~ in Chinese: 日本的 二十一條要求 文 .................................................................. 548
Cairo Declaration [full text] (1943) ................................................................................................... 549
Agreements reached at the Yalta (Crimea) Conference (1945) .................................................. 549
Potsdam Declaration (1945) ............................................................................................................. 550
Japan’s First Instrument of Surrender (1945) ............................................................................... 550
~ in Chinese: 日本投降書 .............................................................................................................. 551
Surrender Order of the Imperial General Headquarters of Japan (1945) ............................... 552
Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of the Communist Rebellion
[full text] (1948) ........................................................................................................................... 553
~ in Chinese: 動員戡亂時期臨時條款 文 .................................................................... 554
 Treaty of San Francisco (1951) ........................................................................................................ 555
Treaty of Peace between the ROC and Japan (1952)................................................................... 556
~ in Chinese: 中華民國與日本國間和平條約 ......................................................................... 557
UN Resolution 2758 [full text] (1971).............................................................................................. 557
Shanghai Communiqué (1972) ......................................................................................................... 558
~ in Chinese: 中華人民共和國和美利堅 眾國聯 報 海 報 ................. 559
Joint Communiqué of the Gov. of Japan and the Gov. of the PRC (1972) ............................ 560
~ in Chinese: 中日聯 聲明 ......................................................................................................... 560
Taiwan Relations Act (1979) ............................................................................................................. 561
Joint Communiqué of the PRC and the USA (1982) .................................................................. 566
~ in Chinese: 中華人民共和國和美利堅 衆國聯 報 一七 報 ................. 567
PRC Constitution, Article 36: Religion (1982) .............................................................................. 567
~ in Chinese: 中華人民共和國憲法 第 十 條 ........................................................... 568
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) ............................................................................. 568
The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong (1984) .......................... 568
~ in Chinese: 中華人民共和國政府和大不列顛及北愛爾蘭聯 王國政府
關於香港問題的聯 聲明 .................................................................................................... 570
Guidelines for National Unification [full text] (1991) ................................................................... 571
~ in Chinese: 國家統一綱領 文 ....................................................................................... 572
ROC President Lee Teng-hui’s remarks about the “state-to-state relationship” extant
between the ROC and the PRC (1999) .................................................................................. 573
ROC President Chen Shui-bian’s “Five Noes” (2000, 2004) ...................................................... 573
The “Anti-Secession Law” of the PRC [full text] (2005) ............................................................. 574
~ in Chinese: 反分裂國家法 文 ....................................................................................... 576
List of abbreviations and acronyms ........................................................................................................ 578
Sources / Further reading ......................................................................................................................... 664
Maps

The Yellow River and the Yangtze River .............................................................................................45

The Taiwan Area ......................................................................................................................................90

Provinces (inset maps)

Anhui 安徽 ................................................... 119
Beijing 北京 .................................................. 121
Chongqing 重慶 .......................................... 122
Fujian 福建 ................................................... 124
Gansu 甘肅 .................................................. 126
Guangdong 廣東 ......................................... 128
Guangxi 廣西 ............................................... 131
Guizhou 貴 .............................................. 134
Hainan 海南 ................................................. 136
Hebei 河北 ................................................... 137
Heilongjiang 黑龍江 ................................... 140
Henan 河南 .................................................. 143
Hong Kong 香港 ......................................... 146
Hubei 湖北 ................................................... 148
Hunan 湖南 .................................................. 150
Inner Mongolia 蒙古 ............................. 153
Jiangsu 江蘇 ................................................. 156
Jiangxi 江西................................................... 158
Jilin 林........................................................ 160
Liaoning 遼寧 ............................................... 162
Macau 澳門 ................................................... 165
Ningxia 寧夏................................................. 166
Qinghai 青海 ................................................ 168
Shaanxi 陜西 ................................................. 170
Shandong 山東 ............................................. 173
Shanghai 海 .............................................. 176
Shanxi 山西 ................................................... 177
Sichuan 四 ................................................. 179
Taiwan 台灣 .................................................. 183
Tianjin 天津 .................................................. 187
Tibet 西藏 ..................................................... 188
Xinjiang 新疆................................................ 190
Yunnan 雲南 ................................................. 193
Zhejiang 浙江 ............................................... 196

History
Yangshao and Longshan Cultures............. 209
Shang/Yin ..................................................... 211
Western Zhou ............................................... 213
The Seven Warring States ........................... 215
Qin .................................................................. 222
Western Han ................................................. 226
Eastern Han .................................................. 229
The Three Kingdoms .................................. 233
China in 400 AD .......................................... 239
Sui.................................................................... 244
Early Tang...................................................... 246
Late Tang ....................................................... 248
Northern Song .............................................. 257
Southern Song .............................................. 261
Yuan ................................................................ 266
Ming ................................................................ 271
Qing ................................................................ 279
Republic of China (ROC) ........................... 290

Note: The maps are sketches created by the author for information and orientation purposes only.
Minor inaccuracies cannot be completely ruled out. Unless otherwise indicated, all maps are
oriented with North at the top. Copyright for all maps © Tilman Aretz.
國家圖書館出版品預行編目資料

大中華百科全書 / 艾天望 著. –– 初版. –– 臺

北市：時英, 2007. 08
面： 公分

ISBN 978 986 7762 97 9 平裝

1. 百科全書

049. 2 96015234

大中華百科全書
＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
著 者：艾 天 望
出 版：時英出版社
地 址：台北市新生南路 3 段 88 號 3 樓之 1
登 記 證：局版台業字第 2944 號
電 話： 02 2363-7348
價 格：新台幣 800 元整
出版日期：2007 年 8 月初版
ISBN 978-986-7762-97-9