Gansu | History, Geography, Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

Wade-Giles romanization:

Kan-su

Gansu, sheng (province), north-central and northwestern China. It is bordered by Mongolia to the north, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the northeast, the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia and the province of Shaanxi to the east, the provinces of Sichuan and Qinghai to the south and southwest, and the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang to the west. A vital strategic pivot linking the centre of the country with the vast territory in the extreme west, the narrow corridor of Gansu has served for several centuries as a passageway between the upper Huang He (Yellow River) area and Chinese Turkistan. The capital is Lanzhou in central Gansu, on the south bank of the Huang He. Area 141,500 square miles (366,500 square km). Pop. (2020) 25,019,831.

Land

Relief

Plateaus are the dominant physical features of Gansu. Along the southern border, the lofty ranges of the Qilian Mountains separate Gansu from Qinghai. These ranges have an average elevation of 12,900 feet (3,900 metres) above sea level. Near Lanzhou the Huang He valley opens out, and excellent agricultural land is available. Some 120 miles (190 km) northwest of Lanzhou there is a stretch of interior drainage where the land is relatively flat and where glacier-fed streams, including the Hei River, disappear into the desert; this is the area referred to as the Hexi (Gansu) Corridor. The higher mountains nearby are covered with forests, and their lower slopes are green with grasses, but the floor of the corridor itself is monotonously flat and barren yellow earth. Geologically, formations of the Neogene and Paleogene periods (those about 2.6 to 65 million years old) appear in a number of basins in Gansu, with strata generally composed of red clays, conglomerates, red sandstones, and gypsum.

The topographical features of Gansu are relatively uncomplicated in the west and northwest, in contrast to the southeast, where the land has suffered local dislocations from earthquakes. In the northwest there are very few mountains but rather a hilly terrain that merges into the Gobi Desert to the east. The average elevation is about 3,000 feet (900 metres). The eastern part of Gansu is a major centre of earthquakes in China. From the 6th century ce to the present, major earthquakes have taken place an average of once every 65 years, while minor quakes occur at least once every 10 years. One of the greatest disasters of modern times occurred in 1920, when a violent earthquake centred in eastern Gansu caused great landslides. The death toll was estimated at 246,000, and many cities and towns totally vanished.

Climate

The climate in Gansu undergoes sharp temperature fluctuations in summer (June to August) and winter (December to February), with uneven and unpredictable precipitation throughout the year. In the west the average January temperature is 18 °F (−8 °C) in Jiuquan, for instance, and 19 °F (−7 °C) in Dunhuang, 200 miles (320 km) west of Jiuquan. The temperature in July in Jiuquan is 70 °F (21 °C), and in Dunhuang it is 81 °F (27 °C). Annual temperature variations for most parts of Gansu are more than 54 °F (30 °C); the range in the average number of frost-free days varies considerably, from 160 to 280.

Precipitation is meagre throughout most of Gansu. As one goes farther inland, the precipitation becomes increasingly less frequent. In the western part of the province, annual rainfall ranges from 2 inches (50 mm) at Dunhuang to 3 inches (75 mm) at Jiuquan. Irrigation depends mainly on runoff from melting snow in the Qilian Mountains. The southeastern part of the province, something of an exception to the general pattern, receives a relatively abundant rainfall. In Pingliang, 170 miles (275 km) east of Lanzhou, rainfall reaches 20 inches (500 mm). Summer is usually the period of maximum precipitation.

Plant and animal life

Although vegetation is rather limited in the mountain area, primeval forests still exist in the high Liupan Mountains in the eastern part of Gansu. On the floor of the Hexi Corridor, willows and poplars grow along the roads and ditches. Wild animals include marmots, deer, and foxes.

People

Population composition

Han Chinese constitute the main ethnic group in Gansu. Other major groups include Hui, Monguors (Mongols), Turks (Salars and Sarig Uighurs), and Tibetans. There are Monguors to the west of Lanzhou and Tibetans scattered over an area enclosed by the Zhuanglang, Datong, and Huang rivers. Minority autonomous prefectures and counties are established in the area where minority settlements are more concentrated.

The Han majority tends to follow the same traditional religious practices (e.g., Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism) that generally are observed elsewhere in China. The most important minority group in Gansu is the Hui (Chinese Muslims), living mostly in the north and west; some are of Arab, Turkish, or Mongol origin. A few Muslims are converted Han Chinese. The Hui include believers in both the Sunni and Shīʿite traditions. Tibetans and Monguors follow Tibetan Buddhism. Traditionally, almost every Tibetan family had at least one son in a Buddhist monastery, although that now is less common.

Most of the ethnic groups, including the Tibetan minority, speak Chinese as a second language. The Monguors, however, whose language differs completely from either Western or Eastern Mongolian, rarely speak a second language. Hui use both Chinese and Arabic scripts, although Arabic is usually used only for religious purposes.

Settlement patterns

The Han and the Hui are essentially agriculturists, although some engage in trade and industry. The Monguors are pastoralists or are seminomadic. Important urban areas are centred on Lanzhou. The largest city in eastern Gansu is Pingliang. A major urban centre in western Gansu is Jiuquan, and nearby are the respective oil and mining centres of Yumen and Jiayuguan. The population is concentrated in the Lanzhou Basin, in the fertile valley plains of the south and central sections there where irrigation is possible, and in the dry terrace land of the Liupan Mountains. In western Gansu, population is intensively concentrated in a number of small, isolated oases scattered along the bases of the high snow-capped ranges.

Village life among the Han inhabitants is generally similar to that elsewhere in North China. In Hui villages, however, the religious-communal lifestyle is distinctly different. There is a small public building that serves as a mosque, where children gather regularly to receive religious instruction and to learn the alphabet and phonetics. Hui villages are, by comparison, more organized and possess more community spirit than is usual in the Han villages. Hitherto the two peoples have been mutually segregated.

Tibetan villages are similar in many aspects to Han villages. Those Tibetans who are sedentary, however, have no clearly defined clan organization, and their family ties are much looser than among the Han.

Village dwellings generally are mud huts. Some people live in caves—which may be elaborate, with fine furnishings, or simply scooped out of the porous yellow earth cliffs. Brick structures predominate in cities and towns. The eating habits of the people are slightly different from those of the Chinese in other parts of the country. Coarse grains and wheat flour, rather than rice, are consumed.