Early history The area of present-day Jinan has been inhabited for more than 4000 years. The
Neolithic Longshan culture was first discovered at
Chengziya to the east of Jinan (
Zhangqiu District) in 1928. One of the characteristic features of the Longshan culture are the intricate wheel-made pottery pieces it produced. Most renowned is the black "egg-shell pottery" with wall thicknesses that can go below 1 millimeter. During the
Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BCE) and
Warring States period (475–221 BCE), the area of Jinan was split between two states: the
state of Lu in the west and the
state of Qi in the east. In 685 BCE, the state of Qi started to build the
Great Wall of Qi across Changqing county. Portions of the wall still remain today and are accessible as open air museums.
Bian Que, according to the legend the earliest Chinese physician and active around 400–300 BCE, is said to have been a native of present-day Changqing County.
Zou Yan (305–240 BCE), a native of
Zhangqiu City, developed the concepts of
Yin-Yang and the
Five Elements.
Joseph Needham, a British
sinologist, describes Zou as "The real founder of all Chinese scientific thought."
Imperial era near Jinan is the only stone pagoda in China that can be dated back to
Sui dynasty After
Qin Shi Huang conquered Qi and united China, he established
Qi Commandery, which evolved into
Jinan Commandery and
Kingdom of Jibei in the early Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE). During the times of the
Han dynasty, Jinan was the capital of the feudatory
Kingdom of Jibei () and evolved into the cultural and economic hub of the region. The
Han dynasty tomb where the last king of Jibei, Liu Kuan (), was buried at Shuangru Mountain was excavated by archaeologists from
Shandong University in 1995 and 1996. More than 2000 artifacts such as jade swords, jade masks, and jade pillows have been recovered within the 1,500 square meter excavation site, emphasizing the wealth of the city during the period.
Cao Cao (155 – 220 CE) was an official in Jinan before he became the de facto ruler of the Han dynasty. His son,
Cao Pi, overthrew the last emperor of the
Han and founded the
Wei Kingdom (220 – 265 CE) of the
Three Kingdoms period. Beginning in the 5th century CE,
Buddhism flourished in Jinan. The Langgong Temple (, later renamed Shentong Temple, (, and now in ruins) in the southern county of Licheng was one of the most important temples in northern China at that time. The same period witnessed extensive construction of Buddhist sites in the southern counties of
Licheng and
Changqing such as the
Lingyan Temple and the
Thousand-Buddha Cliff. In particular, a large number of cave temples were established in the hills south of Jinan. Despite such violent conflicts, culture in Jinan continued to thrive during the
Jin (1115–1234) and
Yuan (1271–1368) dynasties: One of the most renowned artists of the Yuan dynasty,
Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) was appointed to the post of governor of Jinan in 1293 and spent three years in the city. Among the extraordinary art works he completed during his stay in Jinan, the best known painting is "
Autumn Colors on the Qiao and Hua Mountains". Geographer
Yu Qin (1284–1333) also served as an official in Jinan and authored his geography book
Qi Cheng there.
Ming and Qing When
Shandong province was established under the reign of
Hongwu Emperor, Jinan replaced Qingzhou to become its capital. Discontent over the construction of the railway was one of the sources fueling the
Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901). During the rebellion, foreign priests were evacuated from Jinan and Chinese Christians became a target of violence. The Jiaoji railway was completed in 1904, three years after the Boxer Rebellion had been put down, and opened the city to foreign trade. During the
Warlord era of the
Republic of China,
Zhang Zongchang, nicknamed the "Dogmeat General", ruled Shandong from Jinan for a period that lasted from April 1925 until May 1928. Zhang was unpopular for his heavy-handed rule and in particular his heavy taxation. Besides heavy taxes, he relied financially on opium to finance his periodic wars. On 3 May 1928, clashes developed between Japanese troops stationed in Jinan and the Kuomintang troops moving into the city (
Jinan incident).
Cai Gongshi, a Kuomintang emissary sent to negotiate and 16 members of his entourage were cruelly executed by the Japanese. Japanese officers placed an order to slice off his nose and ears, and to gouge out his eyes and tongue. Sixteen other members of his negotiation team were also stripped naked, recklessly whipped, dragged to the back-lawn, and slaughtered by machine guns on the same day. After the incident, Japanese reinforcements were sent to Shandong and by 11 May, Japanese troops pushed the Chinese troops from the area, inflicted thousands of casualties and killed over 2000 Chinese civilians. The Japanese occupied Jinan for more than six months until they withdrew to their garrison in Qingdao on 28 March 1929. When Chiang lectured a group of Chinese army cadets, he urged them to turn their energies to washing away the shame of Jinan, but to conceal their hatred until the last moment. The Kuomintang government later decreed that 3 May be designated a "National Humiliation Memorial Day." During the
Nanjing decade of the
Republic of China,
Han Fuju, a military commander from the warlord era who had aligned himself with the Kuomintang, was rewarded with the military governorship of Shandong, after fighting against the rebel troops of
Yan Xishan and his former commander
Feng Yuxiang in the
Central Plains War in 1930. He established his base in Jinan and is credited with curtailing banditry and drug trading, thereby bringing a measure of peace and prosperity to the city. Han Fuju abandoned Jinan the next day against orders to hold the city to the death. entered Jinan on 27 December 1937. by Chiang Kai-Shek's chief of staff, General
Hu Zongnan.
After World War II witnessed the takeover of the city by communists in the civil war Japanese troops controlled Jinan until their defeat in 1945. After this, the Kuomintang regained short-lived control of the city during the period from 1946 to 1948. The provincial government during this time was led by Lieutenant-General
Wang Yaowu, who also commanded the KMT army in the region. KMT rule over Jinan ended in September 1948 with the
Battle of Jinan in which units of the
People's Liberation Army under the command of
Chen Yi took the city. The battle for Jinan took a decisive turn in favor of the attackers when KMT Lieutenant-General
Wu Huawen defected to the Communist side with about 8,000 of his troops. The most likely explanation for his defection is that he had been pressured through relatives of his who were held captive by the Communist forces. On 27 May 1966, the
Cultural Revolution started in Jinan with an article in the local newspaper "Jinan Evening News" () that denounced vice-governor Yu Xiu as a
Bourgeois agent within the government. On 11 October 1967, the tallest statue of
Mao Zedong in Shandong province was erected on the campus of
Shandong Normal University. On 17 September 1968, a large assembly of Jinan workers celebrated the arrival of a
mango fruit in the "August 1st" Meeting Hall. The fruit had been a gift to the workers in Beijing by Mao and was subsequently passed on to the workers in Jinan. In November 1968, Wang Xiao Yu began to agitate against the local army units in Jinan and Shandong Province. By then unrest due to the Cultural Revolution had severely damaged the city's governmental and industrial infrastructure, with about 80 percent of all government institutions shut down. Large public protests were staged on 4 and 5 April 1969, in which approximately 500,000 people protested the occupation of
Zhenbao Island by the Soviet Union. On 29 July 1970, the leadership of the Cultural Revolution passed a resolution to make sweeping changes to the city's educational system: The liberal arts departments of Shandong University were moved to
Qufu and combined with Qufu Normal College to form a new Shandong University. The biology department was moved to Tai'an and merged into the Shandong Agricultural College. The rest of the sciences were to form the Shandong Science and Technology University. Shandong Normal University was to be moved to Liaocheng. Shandong Medical College and Shandong College of Traditional Chinese Medicine were to be merged and moved to Tai'an. Shandong University was restored in its original form and the "Shandong Science and Technology University" was abolished in early 1974. The first reversals of Cultural Revolution policies started in early 1971: On 23 May of that year, the
Shandong Provincial Museum was reopened after having been closed for about 5 years (since May 1966). In the next year, the Jinan Committee for the Cultural Revolution officially reverted the name changes of four city districts enacted in 1966. During the 6 years between the name change and its reversal, Lixia District had been known officially as "Hongwei", Tianqiao as "Face the Sun", Huaiyin as "East Wind", and Shizhong as "Red Flag". As the Cultural Revolution came to an end, Jinan started to receive visitors from abroad. For example, it was visited by a delegation from the
United States Congress between 8 and 11 August 1975. On 18 September 1976, Mao's death was mourned by about 600,000 people at an official service in Jinan's 1 August Square.
Post 1990s , a historical shopping street in Jinan. Jinan was the host of the 11th All China Games during October 2009. These games are the selection games for the Chinese Olympic champions. For this occasion, security was heightened and a full volunteer force was out on the streets directing visitor traffic. The city conducted major renovations in its transportation and recreation services in anticipation of the Games' visitors. In early January 2019, the
State Council of the People's Republic of China approved the approval of Shandong Province to adjust the administrative division of
Laiwu City and
Jinan City, cancel Laiwu City, and all jurisdiction of former Laiwu City belongs to Jinan City; establish
Laiwu District of Jinan City to replace the former
Laicheng District of Laiwu City with the same administrative area; establish
Gangcheng District of Jinan City to replace the former Gangcheng District of Laiwu City with the same administrative area. ==Climate==