Regarded by some as one of the cradles of Chinese civilization along with the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, Henan is known for its historical prosperity and periodic downturns. The economic prosperity resulted from its somewhat fertile plains and its location at the heart of the country. Its strategic location also means that it has undergone more wars compared to certain other regions in China. The floods of the
Yellow River have caused damage from time to time.
Antiquity Archaeological sites reveal that prehistoric cultures such as the
Yangshao Culture and
Longshan Culture were active in what later is northern Henan since the
Neolithic Era. The later
Erlitou culture has been controversially identified with the
Xia dynasty, the first and mostly legendary Chinese dynasty. , the first form of
Chinese writing In the 11th century BC, the
Zhou dynasty of
Shaanxi arrived from the west and overthrew the Shang dynasty. During the
Western Zhou period (c. 1046 – 771 BC), the capital and political and economical center was moved away from Henan for the first time. The
Spring and Autumn period, a period of warfare and rivalry, began in 721 BC. What later is Henan and all of China was divided into independent states, which are at war for control of the central plain. While regarded formally as the ruler of China, the control that Zhou king in Luoyang exerted over the feudal kingdoms had virtually disappeared.
Laozi, the founder of
Taoism, was born in northern
Chu, part of what later is Henan.
Imperial era (25–220 AD)
Chinese tomb mural showing scenes of a banquet, dance and music, acrobatics, and wrestling, from the
Dahuting Han tombs, on the southern bank of the
Suihe River in
Xinmi The
Sui dynasty reunified China in 589 with its capital back in Chang'an. It collapsed due to
Sui Emperor Yang's costly attempt to relocate the capital from Chang'an to Luoyang and the construction of extravagant palaces there. The
Tang dynasty lasted for three centuries before it eventually succumbed to internal strife. In the
Period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907–960) that followed,
Kaifeng in eastern Henan became the capital of four dynasties. The
Song dynasty that reunified China in 982 also had its capital at Kaifeng. Under Song rule, Kaifeng overtook Luoyang and Chang'an as the largest city in China and in the world. Kaifeng served as the Jurchen's "southern capital" from 1157 (other sources say 1161) and was reconstructed during this time.
Modern era The Qing dynasty was overthrown by the 1911 Revolution and then the Republic of China was established in 1912, during which a man from Henan,
Yuan Shikai, played a role and thus became the first president of Republic of China. In 1938, during the
Second Sino-Japanese War, when the
Imperial Japanese Army captured Kaifeng, the government led by
Chiang Kai-shek bombed the
Huayuankou dam in Zhengzhou in order to prevent Japanese forces from advancing further. This caused flooding in Henan,
Anhui, and
Jiangsu resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. In 1942 Henan was hit by the
Chinese famine of 1942-43 resulting from a mix of drought, locusts and destruction caused by the war. In 1954, the government of the People's Republic of China moved the capital of Henan from Kaifeng to
Zhengzhou, as a result of its economic importance. The PRC had earlier established a
Pingyuan Province consisting of what later is northern Henan and western
Shandong with
Xinxiang as its capital. This province was abolished in 1952. In 1958, Yashan in
Suiping County, Henan, became the first
people's commune of China, heralding the beginning of the "
Great Leap Forward". In the subsequent famines of the 1960s, which are attributed to the Great Leap Forward, millions of people died in Henan. Suffering under famine and economic chaos caused by the Great Leap, locals in Henan offered resistance mostly through banditry. In 1959,
a peasant uprising erupted and was defeated after twenty days of fighting. A destructive flooding of the
Huai River in the summer of 1950 prompted construction of dams on its tributaries in central and southern Henan. Some of the dams were not able to withstand the levels of rainfall caused by
Typhoon Nina in August 1975. Sixty-two dams, the largest of which was the
Banqiao Dam in
Biyang County collapsed; flooding, spread over counties throughout
Zhumadian Prefecture and further downstream, killed at least 26,000 people. Unofficial human life loss estimates, including deaths from the ensuing epidemics and famine, range as high as 85,600, or 230 000. ==Geography==