Tongguan County

Tongguan County
County
Chinese transcription(s)
• Characters	潼关县
Tongguan
Country	China
Province	Shaanxi
Prefecture	Weinan
Area
• Total	526 km^2 (203 sq mi)
Population
• Total	150,000
• Density	290/km^2 (740/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Website	http://www.tongguan.gov.cn/

Tongguan
Simplified Chinese	潼关
Postal	Tungkwan
Literal meaning	High Pass
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Tóngguān Wade–Giles T'ung^2-kuan^1

Tongguan County (Chinese: 潼关县; pinyin: Tóngguān Xiàn) is a county in Weinan, Shaanxi, China. It is located in the west of the Central Plain, north of the Qin Mountains, south of Wei and Luo River, east of the Mount Hua and in between the three provinces of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Henan. Throughout Chinese history, Tongguan remains to be a strategic point due to its geographical significance.

History

Located between the Qin Mountains and the Yellow River, the path to Tongguan is very narrow and its terrain was difficult to pass. After the Eastern Han Dynasty, Tongguan gradually replaced Hangu Pass in significance and became the eastern portal of Guanzhong. Beginning from the Battle of Tongguan until the Sui and Tang Dynasty, Tongguan was always an important strategic base. It was especially apparent during the Tang Dynasty, as the safety of the national capital Chang'an was directly connected with the defense of Tongguan. The loss of Tongguan usually led directly to the fall of Chang'an as it happened during the An Shi Rebellion.^[1]

In the 19th and early 20th century, it was commonly known as Tungkwan.

References

1. Chinese History - Tang Dynasty: The Rebellion of An Lushan

External links

• (Chinese) Official website

Coordinates: 34°29′11″N 110°15′49″E / 34.48639°N 110.26361°E