Zhangjiakou - Zhangjiakou

A prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hebei Province, China. It has jurisdiction over six city districts, including Xuanhua District, and 10 counties, including Wei County (as of 2017), with a population of 4.686 million (2014).

The city was one of the most important locations on the Great Wall that defended Hebei Province, as the Yang River, one of the upper reaches of the Yongding River, formed a natural gateway leading from Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the Hebei Plain, cutting through the northern part of the Taihang Mountains. Counties and prefectures were established during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but they were repeatedly abandoned after that. In the Ming Dynasty, when the capital was moved to Beijing and relations with Mongolia became tense, the Wanquan Capital Commander was established in the current Xuanhua District as a military base. Many forts were also built in the area where the terrain was strong. Among them, Zhangjiakou Fort, built in 1429, was the official customs office established during the Qing dynasty when relations with Mongolia were stabilized, and it replaced Datong as the center of trade with Mongolia in the east (the center in the west was Guihuacheng, now Hohhot), and also became a base for Han Chinese farmers and merchants to develop Mongolian territory. In the land trade treaty concluded with Russia at the end of the Qing dynasty, Zhangjiakou was designated as a trading post, and became a base for Russian merchants traveling from Kyakhta in Siberia to Kulun (Ulaanbaatar) and Beijing, and was also known in the West as Kalgan (meaning a gate in Mongolian). When special districts were established on the border area with Mongolia after the establishment of the Republic of China, Wanquan County was established in Zhangjiakou, and it became the center of Chahar Special District (later promoted to a province), and in 1939 it became Zhangjiakou City. In 1952, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the province was abolished and the city was incorporated into Hebei Province.

It once served as an inland trading base, and was a collection point for leather, wool, and carpets imported from Mongolia, and tea, cloth, and ceramics exported to Mongolia, with the leather and salt industries also thriving. Today, the city is connected to the Beijing-Baotou railway line, and its function as a transit trade point has declined, but in addition to traditional light industry, heavy industry has also emerged, making use of nearby natural resources, and the city has developed into a central city in northwestern Hebei Province. Xuanhua District is home to a large iron mine (Longyan Mine), and is the home of the Xuanhua Steel Group (formerly Longyan Iron Mine Company), which was established in 1919. There are many scenic places and historical sites, including Dajingmen, which was a checkpoint on the Great Wall.

[Motohide Akiyama, Editorial Department, January 19, 2018]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、河北(かほく)省北西部の地級市。宣化(せんか)区など6市轄区、蔚(い)県など10県を管轄（2017年時点）し、人口468万6000（2014）。

　市は、永定河(えいていが)の上流の一つである洋河(ようが)が、山西(さんせい)省、内モンゴル自治区より太行(たいこう)山脈の北部を開析して河北平野に向かう天然の関門をなし、河北省を防御する長城線上の最重要な位置の一つであった。すでに南北朝時代から郡県が設置され、以後廃設を繰り返していたが、明(みん)代に北京(ぺキン)へ都が移されモンゴルとの関係が緊張すると、現在の宣化区の地を軍事拠点として万全(ばんぜん)都指揮使司が置かれた。また区域内の地形的に堅固な所には多くの堡塞(ほうさい)が設けられた。なかでも1429年に築かれた張家口堡(ほ)は、モンゴルとの関係が安定した清(しん)代には公式の税関が設けられ、大同(だいどう)にかわって東部におけるモンゴルとの貿易の中心（西部での中心は帰化城(きかじょう)、いまのフフホトであった）になるとともに、漢民族の農民や商人のモンゴル開拓の基地となった。清末にロシアと結ばれた陸路の通商条約のなかで張家口は交易地に指定され、シベリアのキャフタより庫倫(クーロン)（ウランバートル）を経て北京へ至るロシア商人の拠点となり、西洋にもカルガン（モンゴル語で関門を意味する）の名で知られた。中華民国になりモンゴルとの境界領域に特別区が設けられると、張家口には万全県が置かれ、チャハル特別区（のち省に昇格）の中心となり、1939年張家口市となった。中華人民共和国成立後の1952年、省は廃止され市は河北省に編入された。

　かつては内陸部の通商基地として、モンゴルから輸入される皮革、羊毛、じゅうたんなどや、モンゴルへ輸出される茶、布、陶磁器などの集積地となり、皮革工業、製塩業なども盛んであった。現在は京包線（北京―パオトウ）が通るため、中継交易の機能は衰えたが、伝統的軽工業のほかに付近の天然資源を利用した重工業もおこり、河北省北西部の中心都市として発達している。宣化区には大規模な鉄山（竜煙(りゅうえん)鉱山）があり、1919年設立の宣化鋼鉄集団（旧、竜煙鉄鉱公司）が本拠を置く。万里の長城の関門であった大境門をはじめ名勝、旧跡も多い。

［秋山元秀・編集部　2018年1月19日］

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