Liaoning

Liaoning is named after the Liao River that runs through the province. Ning (宁, "peace") is used frequently in Chinese place names including Ningxia, Xining and Nanning. The current name was first adopted in 1929, and restored in 1954 upon the merging of the Liaoxi ("West Liao") and Liaodong ("East Liao") provinces.

Prior to 3rd century BC, Donghu, Gojoseon and Yemaek peoples inhabited Liaoning.[7] The state of Yan conquered the area around 300 BC. Two commanderies, Liaodong ("east of the Liao River") and Liaoxi ("west of the Liao River"), were established within the Liaoning region. The Yan city of Xiangping, the center of Liaodong, was located on the site of the present Liaoyang city.[8] As the Han dynasty fell, warlord Gongsun Du and his family established and maintained a semi-independent state based in Liaodong, until it was defeated by Cao Wei in 238. The state, also known as Yan, conducted numerous maritime diplomatic and trade expeditions, and had a lasting influence on Northeast Asian culture despite being short-lived.[9] After the end of Western Jin dynasty, Liaoning was ruled by Xianbei states of the Murong tribe – Former Yan, Later Yan, and Northern Yan. In 436, as Northern Wei seized the Yan capital, Liaodong Peninsula was taken over by Goguryeo. Tang dynasty annexed the region during the Goguryeo–Tang War. However, when the An Lushan Rebellion drained Tang's resources away from its frontiers, Bohai gradually expanded into Liaodong. Eventually, Liaoning was conquered by the Khitan Liao dynasty, followed by the Jurchen Jin dynasty and the Mongol Empire.

The Ming Liaodong Wall (in purple)

The late-Ming Liaodong (eastern Liaoning) separated by the wall from the "Kingdom of the Jurchen" (Regno di Niuche). The map was created during the early Qing, and mentions that "presently" the Jurchen (Tartari del Kin) have already conquered the rest of China

The Ming Empire took control of Liaoning in 1371,[10] just three years after the expulsion of the Mongols from Beijing. Around 1442, a defense wall was constructed to defend the agricultural heartland of the province from a potential threat from the Jurchen-Mongol Oriyanghan (who were Ming's tributaries) from the northwest. Between 1467 and 1468, the wall was expanded to protect the region from the northeast as well, against attacks from Jianzhou Jurchens (who were later to become known as the Manchu people). Although similar in purpose to the Great Wall of China, this "Liaodong Wall" was of a lower-cost design. While stones and tiles were used in some parts, most of the wall was in fact simply an earth dike with moats on both sides.[11]

Despite the Liaodong Wall, the Jurchens conquered Liaodong, or eastern Liaoning, in the early 17th century, decades before the rest of China fell to them. The Jurchen dynasty, styled "Later Jin" before being renamed to Qing, established its capital in 1616–1621 in Xingjing (兴京), which was located outside of the Liaodong Wall in the eastern part of the modern Liaoning Province.[12] It was moved to Dongjing (east of today's Liaoyang, Liaoning),[13][14] and finally in 1625 to Shengjing (now, Shenyang, Liaoning). Although the main Qing capital was moved from Shengjing to Beijing after it fell to the Qing in 1644, Shengjing retained its importance as a regional capital throughout most of the Qing era.

The Qing conquest of Liaoning resulted in a significant population loss in the area, as many local Chinese residents were either killed during fighting, or fled south of the Great Wall, many cities being destroyed by the retreating Ming forces themselves. As late as 1661, the Civil Governor (Fuyin) of Fengtian Province, Zhang Shangxian reported that, outside of Fengtian City (Shenyang), Liaoyang, and Haicheng, all other cities east of the Liao River were either abandoned, or hardly had a few hundred residents left. In the Governor's words, "Tieling and Fushun only have a few vagrants". West of the Liao, only Ningyuan, Jinzhou, and Guangning had any significant populations remaining.[15]

The full picture of Shengjing area 1734

Liaodong (Leao-Tong) in the early Qing, surrounded by the Willow Palisade. This map, published in 1734, was based on data collected by Jesuits in the early 18th century. The capital is in Shenyang (Chinyang); most other cities mentioned in Governor Zhang's report are shown as well

In the latter half of the seventeenth century (starting with laws issued in 1651 and 1653), the imperial Qing government recruited migrants from south of the Great Wall (notably, from Shandong) to settle the relatively sparsely populated area of Fengtian Province (roughly corresponding to today's Liaoning).[16] Many of the current residents of Liaoning trace their ancestry to these seventeenth century settlers. The rest of China's Northeast, however, remained officially off-limits to Han Chinese for most of the Manchu era. To prevent the migration of Chinese to those regions (today's Jilin and Heilongjiang, as well as the adjacent parts of Inner Mongolia), the so-called Willow Palisade was constructed (c. 1638 – c. 1672). The Palisade encircled the agricultural heartlands of Fengtian, running in most areas either somewhat outside the old Ming Liaodong Wall, or reusing it, and separating it from the Manchu forests to the northeast and the Mongol grazing lands to the northwest.[17]

Later on, the Qing government tried to stop the migrants flow to Fengtian or even to make some settlers return to their original places of residence – or, failing that, to legalize them. For example, an edict issued in 1704 commented on the recent Han Chinese settlers in Fengtian having failed to comply with earlier orders requiring them to leave, and asked them either to properly register and join a local defense group (保; bao), or to leave the province for their original places within the next ten years. Ten years later, naturally, another edict appeared, reminding of the necessity to do something with illegal migrants ...[18] In any event, the restrictive policy was not as effective as desired by the officials in Beijing, and Fengtian's population doubled between 1683 and 1734.[18]

During the Qing Dynasty, Manchuria was ruled by three generals, one of whom, the General of Shengjing (Mukden i Jiyanggiyūn) ruled much of modern Liaoning. In 1860, the Manchu government began to reopen the region to migration, which quickly resulted in Han Chinese becoming the dominant ethnic group in the region.

In the 20th century, the province of Fengtian was set up in what is Liaoning today. When Japan and Russia fought the Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905, many key battles took place in Liaoning, including the Battle of Port Arthur and the Battle of Mukden, which was, to that point, the largest land battle ever fought. During the Warlord Era in the early twentieth century, Liaoning was under the Fengtian Clique, including Zhang Zuolin and his son Zhang Xueliang. The province first received its present name on January 29, 1929; the Zhongdong Railway Incident took place later that year. In 1931, Japan invaded and the area came under the rule of the Japanese-controlled puppet state of Manchukuo. The Chinese Civil War that took place following Japanese defeat in 1945 had its first major battles (the Liaoshen Campaign) in and around Liaoning.

At the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Liaoning did not exist; instead there were two provinces, Liaodong and Liaoxi, as well as five municipalities, Shenyang, Lüda (present-day Dalian), Anshan, Fushun, and Benxi. These were all merged into "Liaoning" in 1954, and parts of former Rehe province were merged into Liaoning in 1955. During the Cultural Revolution Liaoning also took in a part of Inner Mongolia, though this was reversed later.

Liaoning was one of the first provinces in China to industrialize, first under Japanese occupation, and then even more in the 1950s and 1960s. The city of Anshan, for example, is home to one of the largest iron and steel complexes in China. In recent years, this early focus on heavy industry has become a liability, as many of the large state-run enterprises have experienced economic difficulties. Recognizing the special difficulties faced by Liaoning and other provinces in Northeast China because of their heritage of heavy industry, the Chinese central government recently launched a "Revitalize the Northeast" Campaign.

Landsat 7 image of western Liaoning

It is possible to think of Liaoning as three approximate geographical regions: the highlands in the west, plains in the middle, and hills in the east.

The highlands in the west are dominated by the Nulu'erhu Mountains, which roughly follow the border between Liaoning and Inner Mongolia. The entire region is dominated by low hills. A narrow strip of coastal plains, known as the Liaoxi Corridor, connects the Liao River Basin to the North China Plain, ending at the Shanhai Pass of the Great Wall.

The central part of Liaoning consists of a basin drained by rivers such as the Liao, Daliao, and their tributaries. This region is mostly flat and low-lying.

The eastern part of Liaoning is dominated by the Changbai Mountains and Qianshan Mountains which extend into the sea to form the Liaodong Peninsula. The highest point in Liaoning, Mount Huabozi (1336 m), is found in this region.

Liaoning has a continental monsoon climate, and rainfall averages to about 440 to 1130 mm annually. Summer is rainy while the other seasons are dry.

Major cities:

• Shenyang
• Dalian
• Anshan
• Liaoyang
• Fushun
• Dandong
• Jinzhou
• Yingkou

Liaoning contains some of the foremost paleontological sites in the world. Known collectively as the Jehol Group, they include the Yixian Formation, Jiufotang Formation and Tiaojishan Formation. The name Jehol derives from a now defunct provincial division of that name, which covered an area that is now Western Liaoning, Eastern Hebei, and a small part of Inner Mongolia. Fossils were first found there during the 1920s. During the Japanese occupation of the area through the 1930s and early 1940s, more fossils were found, but records of them were lost after World War II ended. The area remained relatively unexplored until the 1990s. It was in 1996 that Liaoning made the headlines with the announcement of the discovery of Sinosauropteryx prima, the first example of a filamented "feathered" dinosaur. Sinosauropteryx prima was a small feathered meat-eating dinosaur, from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation.[19] This discovery pushed the evolution of feathers back in time and showed that dinosaurs, not only birds, had feathers. It also showed a direct evolutionary link between theropod dinosaurs and modern birds.

Since then, dozens of ground-breaking finds have been discovered throughout the Jehol group. These including the earliest flower, earliest eutherian mammal, known as Eomaia,[20] the earliest known metatherian, an intact embryo of a pterosaur,[21] Repenomamus robustus—a 15 kg heavy mammal that ate dinosaurs, Sinornithosaurus millenii, as well as many birds and feathered dinosaurs.[22] Discoveries such as Dilong paradoxus, another feathered theropod, date to the early Cretaceous Period. This is some 60 million years before Tyrannosaurus, and thus these discoveries push the evolution of feathers earlier than previously thought.[21]

The Liaoning fossils are noted for their high degree of preservation—often including soft body tissues, which is rare.[23] Aside from the famous birds and feathered dinosaurs, the Liaoning fossils include insects, fish, aquatic arthropods, and plants.[24] The Liaoning deposit is widely considered to be one of the world's premier fossil sites.[23] The high level of preservation is believed to be due to how the animals died. The area was volcanically active, and large plumes of volcanic dust repeatedly covered the area, instantly killing and burying any living thing in the area. The extremely fine grain of the sediment and the chemical composition of the ash prevented the usual bacterial decay.[24] In some specimens, extremely fine details can be seen such as the proboscis of the bee Florinemestruis used to drink nectar from the earliest flowers.[21] In other specimens, colours are still visible, including stripes on fish and spots on turtles.[24]

The politics of Liaoning is structured in a single party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China. The Governor of Liaoning (辽宁省省长) is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Liaoning. However, in the province's single party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Chinese Communist Party Liaoning Provincial Committee Secretary (辽宁省委书记 for short), colloquially termed the "Liaoning Party Chief".

Prior to 1949 and the Chinese Communist Revolution, Liaoning was governed by the Fengtian clique of warlords and interchangeably officials of the Chiang Kai-shek bureaucracy. During the Qing Dynasty Liaoning was known as the province of Fengtian (奉天), and was governed by a zǒngdū or Viceroy (The Viceroy of the Three Eastern Provinces, 东三省总督), along with the provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang. The province itself also had a governor (巡抚; xúnfǔ).

Liaoning is divided into fourteen prefecture-level divisions, all prefecture-level cities (including two sub-provincial cities):

Administrative divisions of Liaoning
Shenyang Dalian Anshan Fushun Benxi Dandong Jinzhou Yingkou Fuxin Liaoyang Panjin Tieling Chaoyang Huludao
Division code[25]	Division	Area in km2[26]	Population 2010[27]	Seat	Divisions[28]
					Districts	Counties	Aut. counties	CL cities
210000	Liaoning Province	145,900.00	43,746,323	Shenyang city	59	17	8	16
210100	Shenyang city	12,860.00	8,106,171	Hunnan District	10	2		1
210200	Dalian city	12,573.85	6,690,432	Xigang District	7	1		2
210300	Anshan city	9,252.00	3,645,884	Tiedong District	4	1	1	1
210400	Fushun city	11,272.00	2,138,090	Shuncheng District	4	1	2
210500	Benxi city	8,420.00	1,709,538	Pingshan District	4		2
210600	Dandong city	15,289.61	2,444,697	Zhenxing District	3		1	2
210700	Jinzhou city	9,890.62	3,126,463	Taihe District	3	2		2
210800	Yingkou city	5,365.46	2,428,534	Zhanqian District	4			2
210900	Fuxin city	10,354.99	1,819,339	Xihe District	5	1	1
211000	Liaoyang city	4,743.24	1,858,768	Baita District	5	1		1
211100	Panjin city	4,071.10	1,392,493	Xinglongtai District	3	1
211200	Tieling city	12,979.69	2,717,732	Yinzhou District	2	3		2
211300	Chaoyang city	19,698.00	3,044,641	Shuangta District	2	2	1	2
211400	Huludao city	10,414.94	2,623,541	Longgang District	3	2		1
Sub-provincial cities

These prefecture-level cities are in turn divided into 100 county-level divisions (56 districts, 17 county-level cities, 19 counties, and 8 autonomous counties), which are then further subdivided into 1511 township-level divisions (613 towns, 301 townships, 77 ethnic townships, and 520 subdistricts). At the end of the year 2017, the total population is 43.69 million.

Urban areas

Population by urban areas of prefecture & county cities
#	City	Urban area[29]	District area[29]	City proper[29]	Census date
1	Shenyang[lower-alpha 1]	5,718,232	6,255,921	8,106,171	2010-11-01
(1)	Shenyang (new district)[lower-alpha 1]	172,439	476,081	see Shenyang	2010-11-01
2	Dalian[lower-alpha 2]	3,902,467	4,087,733	6,690,432	2010-11-01
(2)	Dalian (new district)[lower-alpha 2]	319,942	741,230	see Dalian	2010-11-01
3	Anshan	1,504,996	1,544,084	3,645,884	2010-11-01
4	Fushun	1,318,808	1,431,014	2,138,090	2010-11-01
5	Benxi	1,000,128	1,094,294	1,709,538	2010-11-01
6	Jinzhou	946,098	1,091,799	3,126,463	2010-11-01
7	Yingkou	880,412	1,032,048	2,428,534	2010-11-01
8	Dandong	775,787	865,576	2,444,697	2010-11-01
9	Fuxin	750,283	790,656	1,819,339	2010-11-01
10	Liaoyang	735,047	789,137	1,858,768	2010-11-01
11	Haicheng	687,223	1,293,877	see Anshan	2010-11-01
12	Panjin[lower-alpha 3]	663,445	676,464	1,392,493	2010-11-01
(12)	Panjin (new district)[lower-alpha 3]	194,548	430,913	see Panjin	2010-11-01
13	Huludao	646,482	970,208	2,623,541	2010-11-01
14	Xinmin	484,287	657,763	see Shenyang	2010-11-01
15	Chaoyang	477,610	625,187	3,044,641	2010-11-01
16	Wafangdian	413,921	942,197	see Dalian	2010-11-01
17	Tieling	396,505	453,073	2,717,732	2010-11-01
18	Dashiqiao	330,328	704,891	see Yingkou	2010-11-01
19	Zhuanghe	304,233	841,321	see Dalian	2010-11-01
20	Donggang	290,957	627,475	see Dandong	2010-11-01
21	Fengcheng	247,219	543,933	see Dandong	2010-11-01
22	Kaiyuan	242,412	545,624	see Tieling	2010-11-01
23	Gaizhou	218,478	691,595	see Yingkou	2010-11-01
24	Lingyuan	200,354	570,660	see Chaoyang	2010-11-01
25	Diaobingshan	195,673	241,431	see Tieling	2010-11-01
26	Xingcheng	178,291	546,176	see Huludao	2010-11-01
27	Beipiao	168,620	496,164	see Chaoyang	2010-11-01
28	Dengta	163,064	496,122	see Liaoyang	2010-11-01
29	Linghai	134,716	508,079	see Jinzhou	2010-11-01
30	Beizhen	127,101	514,898	see Jinzhou	2010-11-01

1. New district established after census: Liaozhong (Liaozhong County). The new district not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.
2. New district established after census: Pulandian (Pulandian CLC). The new district not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.
3. New district established after census: Dawa (Dawa County). The new district not included in the urban area & district area count of the pre-expanded city.

Most populous cities in Liaoning Source: China Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook 2018 Urban Population and Urban Temporary Population[30]
	Rank		Pop.	Rank		Pop.
Shenyang Dalian	1	Shenyang	5,651,200	11	Huludao	728,700	Anshan Fushun
	2	Dalian	3,808,300	12	Dandong	668,100
	3	Anshan	1,420,800	13	Chaoyang	590,500
	4	Fushun	1,223,500	14	Tieling	435,200
	5	Jinzhou	969,000	15	Zhuanghe	348,000
	6	Yingkou	892,800	16	Wafangdian	329,500
	7	Benxi	861,000	17	Dashiqiao	261,600
	8	Panjin	847,100	18	Haicheng	244,800
	9	Liaoyang	763,600	19	Gaizhou	231,100
	10	Fuxin	759,400	20	Lingyuan	224,000

Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province

Dalian, second largest city in Liaoning Province

Liaoning has the largest and wealthiest provincial economy of Northeast China. Its nominal GDP for 2017 was 2.39 trillion yuan (ca. US$354 billion), making it the 14th largest in China (out of 31 provinces). Its per capita GDP was 54,745 yuan (US$8,108). Among the three provinces of Northeast China, Liaoning is the largest in terms of GDP and GDP per capita.

In 2008, Liaoning was the region with the highest GDP growth among global G8x8, the eight provinces or states below national level with the highest GDP of the top eight GDP nations. According to preliminary statistics, Liaoning maintained its GDP growth rate of 13.1 percent in 2009 and held its position as the province with the highest economic growth. Economic growth has since slowed down, with the economy expanding 3% in 2015 and contracting 1.3% in the first quarter of 2016.

Leading industries include petrochemicals, metallurgy, electronics telecommunications, and machinery.[31] On a national level, Liaoning is a major producer of pig iron, steel and metal-cutting machine tools, all of whose production rank among the top three in the nation. Liaoning is one of the most important raw materials production bases in China. Industries such as mining, quarrying, smelting and pressing of ferrous metals, petroleum and natural gas extraction, are all of great significance.

Meanwhile, Liaoning is an important production base of equipment and machinery manufacturing, with Shenyang and Dalian being the industrial centers. Enterprises such as Shenyang Jinbei Co. Ltd., Daxian Group Co. Ltd., and Shenyang Machine Tool Co. Ltd., are leaders in their sectors. The province's light industry mainly focuses on textiles and clothing industries which include cotton and wool spinning, chemical fiber production, knitting, silk production, and the manufacturing of both garments and textile machinery.

In 2008, its tertiary industry accounted for 34.5 percent of total GDP. In the future, Liaoning will continue its efforts to restructure large and medium-sized state enterprises. Meanwhile, the province will concentrate in developing its four pillar industries – petrochemicals, metallurgy, machinery and electronics.

Liaoning is the place of origin of the Li Keqiang index, an alternative measure of economic performance where GDP figures are unreliable.

The population of Liaoning is mostly Han Chinese with minorities of Manchus, Mongols, Hui, Koreans and Xibe. Liaoning has both the highest absolute number and highest percentage of Manchus in all of China.

Excludes members of the People's Liberation Army in active service.
Source:[52]

According to a 2012 survey[53] only around 10% of the population of Liaoning belongs to organised religions, the largest groups being Buddhists with 5.5%, followed by Protestants with 2.2%, Muslims with 0.6% and Catholics with 0.2%.

Jade Buddha Temple in Anshan

The reports did not give figures for other types of religion; around 90% of the population may be either irreligious or involved in Chinese folk religions (cults of nature deities and ancestors), Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, folk religious sects.

The significant Manchu population, although strongly assimilated to the Han Chinese and practicing Chinese religions, also retains its own pure Manchu shamanism. At the same time, the local religion of the Han people throughout Manchuria has developed patterns of deities, ideas, and practices inherited from Manchu and Tungus shamanism, making it quite different from central and southern Chinese folk religion. The Mongol ethnic minority either follows the Mongolian folk religion and shamanism, or Tibetan Buddhism.

Chongzheng Hall in the Mukden Palace

The Mukden Palace was the palace of the Qing Dynasty emperors before they conquered the rest of China and moved their capital to Beijing. Though not as large nor as well known as its counterpart (the Forbidden City) in Beijing, the Mukden palace is significant for its representation of palace architecture at the time, and has recently been included on the UNESCO World Heritage Site as an extension of the Imperial Palace site in Beijing.

In addition, three imperial tombs dating from the Qing Dynasty are located in Liaoning. These tomb sites have been grouped with other Ming and Qing Dynasties tombs (such as the Ming Dynasty Tombs in Beijing, and the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing) as a combined UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wunu Mountain City, a Goguryeo site found in Huanren Manchu Autonomous County, is part of a combined UNESCO World Heritage Site that also includes sites in Ji'an, Jilin.

Benxi offers a boat ride through a large stalactite filled cave and underground river.

Anshan hosts the Jade Buddha Palace, the largest Buddha statue made of jade in the world.

Liaoyang, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in northeast China, has a number of historical sites, including the White Pagoda (Baita), that dates to the Yuan Dynasty.

The port city of Dalian, located on the tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, is a tourist destination in its own right, with beaches, resorts, zoos, seafood, shopping, Russian- and Japanese-era heritage architecture, and streetcars, a rare sight in China.

Dandong, on the border with North Korea, is a medium-sized city that offers a cross-river view of the North Korean city of Sinŭiju.

Bijia Mountain is an island which joins to the mainland at low tide by a land bridge.

Liaoning is also one of China's leading provinces in research and education. As of 2022, two major cities in Liaoning ranked in the world's top 200 cities (Dalian 49th and Shenyang 162nd) by scientific research output, as tracked by Nature Index.[6]

Dalian Sports Center Stadium.

Professional sports teams based in Liaoning include:

• Chinese Basketball Association
  • Liaoning Flying Leopards
  • Liaoning Hengye
• Chinese Football Association Super League (Chinese Super League)
  • Dalian Professional F.C.
• Chinese Football Association Jia League (China League One)
  • Dandong Tengyue
  • Liaoning Shenyang Urban

• Major national historical and cultural sites (Liaoning)
• Shenyang Mandarin
• 2013 National Games of China
• Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning
• Feathered Dinosaurs of China, a documentary book
• Gojoseon–Yan War
• Chaoyang North Tower

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liaoning.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Liaoning.

• (in Chinese) Official website of the Liaoning Provincial Government
• Liaoning Information Guide Archived 2011-10-25 at the Wayback Machine
• (in English and Chinese) Complete Map of the Seven Coastal Provinces from 1821 to 1850
• Economic profile for Liaoning at HKTDC