Luoyang

洛阳市
Luòyáng Shì

Administration Type	Prefecture-level city
Area	15,208 km²
Population	6,383,900 (2004)
GDP	¥14,170 per capita (2004)
Major Nationalities	Han, Hui, Manchu, Mongolian
County-level divisions	15
Township-level divisions	Unknown
Area Code	379

Luoyang (simplified Chinese: 洛阳; traditional Chinese: 洛陽; pinyin: Luòyáng) is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.

Situated on the central plain of China, one of cradles of the Chinese civilization, Luoyang was one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China.

Names

Luoyang has had several names over the centuries, including "Luoyi" (洛邑) and "Luozhou (洛州)", though Luoyang has been the primary name for this city. It has been called, during various periods, "Dongdu" (東都, meaning the Eastern Capital, during the Tang Dynasty), "Xijing" (西京, meaning the West Capital, during the Song Dynasty), or "Jingluo" (京洛, meaning the general capital for China).

The origin of the name "Luoyang" is the city's location to the north of the Luohe River.

History

The original city was constructed by the Duke of Zhou (周公) in the 11th century BC as a settlement for the remnants of the captured Shang nobilities and was named Chengzhou. It became the capital of the Zhou Dynasty in 770 BC. The city was destroyed in a civil war in 510 BC and rebuilt the next year at the request of the king.

Horse Carriage Pits Museum, city centre.

In AD 25, Luoyang became the capital of Eastern Han Dynasty. For several centuries, Luoyang was the center of gravity of China.

In AD 68, the White Horse Temple, the first Buddhist temple in China, was founded in Luoyang. The temple still exists, though the architecture is of later origin, mainly from the 16th century. An Shihkao was one of the first monks to popularize Buddhism in Luoyang.

In AD 190, Chancellor Dong Zhuo ordered his soldiers to ransack, pillage and raze the city as he retreated from the coalition set up against him by regional lords from across China. The court was subsequently moved to the more defensible western city of Chang'an. Following a period of disorder, Luoyang was restored to prominence when Emperor Wen of the Wei Dynasty declared it his capital in AD 220.

The Jin Dynasty, successor to Wei, was also established in Luoyang. When Jin was overrun by invaders and forced to move its capital to Jiankang (modern day Nanjing), Luoyang was nearly totally destroyed.

In AD 493 the Northern Wei Dynasty moved its capital from Datong to Luoyang and started the construction of the artificial Longmen Grottoes. More than 30,000 Buddhist statues from the time of this dynasty have been found in the caves.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Luoyang administers 6 districts, 1 county-level city and 8 counties.

• Jianxi District (涧西区)
• Xigong District (西工区)
• Laocheng District (老城区)
• Chanhe District (瀍河区)
• Luolong District (洛龙区)
• Jili District (吉利区)
• Yanshi City (偃师市)
• Mengjin County (孟津县)
• Xin'an County (新安县)
• Luoning County (洛宁县)
• Yiyang County (宜阳县)
• Yichuan County (伊川县)
• Song County (嵩县)
• Luanchuan County (栾川县)
• Ruyang County (汝阳县)

Culture

Guanlin Temple, May 2007.

The Longmen Grottoes were listed by UNESCO in the list of World Heritage Sites in November 2000. White Horse Temple is located 12km east of the modern town. Guanlin is a series of temples that have been built in honor of a hero of the Three Kingdoms period, Guan Yu, close to the grottoes to the south of the city. China's only tombs museum, the Luoyang Ancient Tombs Museum is situated north of the modern town. Luoyang Museum is in the center of town.

Luoyang is also famous for the Water Banquet Shui Xi, which consists of 8 cold and 16 warm dishes cooked in various broths, gravies or juices, hence its name.

Luoyang has a reputation as a cultivation centre for peony (city flower of Luoyang).

An ancient Chinese musical piece, Spring in Luoyang, was adopted in Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392), and is still performed in its Koreanized (Dangak) version, called Nakyangchun (hangul: 낙양춘; hanja: 洛陽春). The American composer Lou Harrison created an arrangement of this work.

Colleges and universities

• Luoyang College of Technology (洛阳工业高等专科学校)
• Henan University of Science and Technology (河南科技大学)
• Luoyang Normal College (洛阳师范学院)
• Luoyang PLA College of Foreign Languages (解放军洛阳外语学院), now known as PLAUFL (PLA University of Foreign language)

Famous residents

• Gao Hong, pipa player

Sister cities

• Okayama, Japan, since April 6, 1981
• Tours, France, since April 6, 1981
• La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
• Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Bulgaria

External links

• Government website of Luoyang (in Simplified Chinese)
• 洛阳信息港 (in Simplified Chinese)
• Longmen Grottoes 龙门石窟 (in English and Simplified Chinese)

34°39′N 112°26′E