Early history Tangshan has a long history, with ancient humans living in the area as early as 4,000 years ago. It fell within the territory of the
Guzhu Kingdom (1600BC) at the time of the
Shang dynasty and later became a part of the
State of Yan, one of the
seven Warring States (403221BC). During the
Han dynasty (206BC220AD) it became part of the ancient province of
Youzhou. It was under the jurisdiction of
Zhili province and Zunhua State successively during the
Qing dynasty.
Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties Tangshan was a village at the time of the
Tang dynasty (619907) and developed further in agriculture, oil exploitation and ceramics during the
Ming dynasty (13681644). During the
Hundred Days' Reform in the late Qing dynasty, the Kaiping Mining Administration was established in the third year of the
Guangxu Emperor (1877). In 1878, Qiaotun town was established at Tangshan and renamed Tangshan Town in 1889. In 1938, Tangshan City was formally founded. The administrative system of Tangshan during the Republic of China
Republican era continued to follow the Qing system. In 1929,
Zhili Province changed its name to
Hebei Province. On January28, 1939, because of Tangshan's special economic and political position, the
East Hebei Autonomous Government established Tangshan City which was initially called “Tangshan Municipal Government” and later changed to “Tangshan Municipal Office”. After Japan surrendered in 1945, the Chinese Nationalist Party in Peking (now known as
Beijing) took over the political control of Tangshan from Japan and set up an Administration Inspectors Office. In April 1946, it was decided at the 132nd Meeting of the
Chinese Communist Party Hebei Provincial Committee to set up Tangshan City and on May5 of the same year, the Tangshan Municipal government was founded.
People's Republic After the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October1, 1949, Tangshan remained a provincially administered municipality with 12 areas under its jurisdiction. In March 1955, it was decided at the 2nd session of the first People's Congress of Tangshan City to change Tangshan Municipal people's government to Tangshan people's committee without changing its administration areas. On April28, 1958, the
State Council approved the establishment of Tangshan prefecture. On August29, 1958, it was decided at the Seventh Session of the first People's Congress of Hebei Province to move the Tangshan Commissioner Office from Changli County to Tangshan City. The CPC Central Committee decided to designate Tangshan city as one of the 45 cities open to the world on June3, 1959. On June 8, 1959, the CPC Hebei Provincial Committee and the Hebei Provincial People's Congress decided to combine the Tangshan Commissioners Office and the Tangshan People's Committee into the Tangshan People's Committee. On April2, 1960, the State Council officially approved the abolition of Tangshan prefecture. Qinhuangdao city, Qian'an, Changli, Laoting, Baodi, Yutian, Jixian County and Zunhua which were formerly administered by Tangshan Prefecture were incorporated into the Tangshan Municipality. Luanxian County, Fengrun County (formerly a district) and Baigezhuang Farm were also incorporated into Tangshan Municipality. Meanwhile, Tangshan became a provincially administered municipality. On May23, 1961, the State Council approved the reinstatement of Tangshan prefecture, which was adopted at the 14th Meeting of the Hebei Provincial People's Committee on June3, 1959. Tangshan prefecture and Tangshan municipality were separated again and Tangshan turned into a specially administered municipality. The Tangshan Municipal Revolutionary Committee affiliated to the Revolutionary Committee of Tangshan Region was set up on January6, 1968. On March 11, 1978, Tangshan turned to be a provincially administered municipality. In October 1982, it was decided at the Seventh People's Congress of Tangshan city to abolish the Tangshan Municipal Revolutionary Committee and set up the Tangshan Municipal People's Government. The State Council approved the move on March 3, 1983, and thereafter implemented the city-governing-county system. On May13, 1983, the Hebei Provincial People's Government announced the cancellation of the Civic Administration office of Tangshan region, which ceased operation on May15, 1983. On December15, 1984, the State Council approved Tangshan city as one of 13 national “comparatively big” cities.
1976 Tangshan earthquake Tangshan suffered an
earthquake of
magnitude 7.8 (7.5 according to official reports) at 3:42am on July28, 1976, which resulted in many casualties. The official death toll was 255,000, but many experts believe that the actual number of fatalities was two to three times that number, making it the most destructive earthquake in modern history. As a result of the earthquake, most of the town had to be rebuilt. The earthquake was depicted in the 2010 movie
Aftershock. ==Geography==