Yanchuan County () is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yan'an, in the northeast of Shaanxi Province, bordering Shanxi Province across the Yellow River to the east. The county spans in area, and has a permanent population of 170,100 people as of 2019. In 1969, Xi Jinping was sent to work in , Wen'anyi, Yanchuan County, as part of Mao Zedong's Down to the Countryside Movement. This has launched the county into the national spotlight, making the area a tourist site for many.
History Archeological artefacts dating back to the 22nd century BCE, which include knives, axes, adzes, sickles, pots, bowls, and various examples of clay and brick pottery, have been found within the county.
The area of present-day Yanchuan County once belonged to the Beidi state of . King Wen of Zhou attempted to attack the Zhai in the 17th year of Di Yi's reign (circa 1084 BCE). A number of settlements from the late Shang dynasty era have been discovered in what is now the town of . Other settlements from the slightly later Western Zhou era have been found in Wanjiahe Village (), .
In 635 BCE, Duke Wen of Jin, ruler of the state of Jin, seized the area of present-day Yanchuan County from the Zhai.
In 403 BCE, the Jin split into the Han, the Zhao, and the Wei, with the Wei inheriting the area, and incorporating it as the Shang Commandery. Nearly a century later, in 328 BCE, the Qin state (not to be confused with the later Qin dynasty), took the area from the Wei.
During the Qin dynasty, the northwest portion of present-day Yanchuan County was administered as Yangzhou County (), whereas the southeast portion was administered as Gaonu County.
In December 206 CE, Xiang Yu appointed Dong Yi to rule the area under a newly organized . However, it quickly fell under control of the Han dynasty, which resumed administering the area as Gaonu County in the Shang Commandery in August of the following year.
In 158 BCE, an army of 30,000 Xiongnu warriors briefly invaded the area.
In 120 BCE, Emperor Wu of Han ordered 700,000 disaster victims to move to northern lands, including the Shang Commandery.
In 9 CE, under the shortly lived Xin dynasty, Emperor Wang Mang renamed Gaonu County to Pingli County (), a change which was subsequently reverted when the Han dynasty reassumed control of the area.
The Xiongnu invaded the area again in 140 CE, this time proving more successful, and established prolonged control of the region.
In 319 CE, Shi Le established the Later Zhao, and took control of the area. However, the Later Zhao's control proved to be short lived, and the Former Qin, led by Fu Hong, conquered the area in 350 CE. This too proved to be transitory, with Yao Chang of the Later Qin taking the area in 384 CE. In 407 CE, just 23 years later, Helian Bobo, the Xiongnu leader of the Great Xia, assumed control of the area. Around this time, Linhe County () was established in present-day Wangjiaqu Village () in Yanshuiguan. In 431 CE, Emperor Taiwu conquered the Great Xia, and incorporated it into the Xianbei state of the Northern Wei. The Northern Wei maintained control of the area for about a century, and even reorganized the area's administrative divisions in 513 CE, incorporating the western portion of present-day Yanchuan County as Guangwu County (), and the eastern portion as Shuofang County (). Following the collapse of the Northern Wei, the Western Wei reorganized the area in 537 CE under the . The Wen'an Commandery administered three counties: Wen'an County (), Yixiang County (), and Guang'an County (). The administrative center of the Wen'an Commandery was located in present-day Wen'anyi. In 552, under Emperor Fei, former Linhe County was reorganized as Anmin County (), under the jurisdiction of the .
In 583 CE, the Sui dynasty abolished Wen'an Commandery, and replaced Wen'an County with Yanchuan County (same name as the present-day county), after Tuyanshui (), the former name of . The county fell under the jurisdiction of the zhou of , and the administrative center of the county is located in the same area as the contemporary urban core of Yanchuan County. Anmin County was replaced with Jiwan County (), which was abolished in 607 CE. Yanzhou was also abolished in 607 CE, and was replaced with the . In 617 CE, Liang Shidu, the leader of a peasant rebellion which proclaimed themselves to be the state of Liang (), took control of Yanchuan County, and briefly reorganized the county as Wenzhou ().
In 619 CE, shortly after the establishment of the Tang dynasty, Tang general conquered Wenzhou. He then split Wenzhou into a number of different zhou: Jizhou () was formed from the southwest portion, Xihezhou () was formed from the southeast portion, and Nanpingzhou () was formed from the northeast portion. Xihezhou would administer three counties: a new iteration of Anmin County (same name as the previous one), Xiuwen County (), and Sangyuan County (). Nanpingzhou would administer Yimen County () and Chengping County (). However, just two years later, Nanpingzhou was abolished and merged into Jizhou, which was renamed Beijizhou () in the subsequent year. Suizhou was established in the center of present-day Yanchuan County in 623 CE, but had its administrative center moved the following year. In 628 CE, Xihezhou was abolished, and both Xiuwen County and Sangyuan County were merged into Anmin County, which was renamed Anren County () and transferred to Beijizhou. The same year, Chengping County was transferred from Beijizhou to Suizhou. In 634 CE, Beijizhou was abolished, and reorganized as Yanchuan County (same name as the present-day county) and Anren County, both of which were placed under the resurrected Anzhou (same name as the previous iteration). In 648 CE, Anren County was renamed to Hongfeng County ().
In 660, , a Jihu Buddhist from Yanchuan County, proclaimed himself Holy Emperor of the Guangming (), and started a local rebellion. Bai experienced moderate military success, and his supported also occupied nearby Chengping County in Suizhou in April 683 CE.
Hongfeng County was renamed to Yanshui County () in 705 CE.
During one span in 895 CE, the area experienced 60 days of consecutive rain.
After the Tang dynasty, the area belonged to the Later Tang, which employed the to rule the area. Subsequently, the area was incorporated into the Northern Song.
On May 14, 962 CE, a severe episode of frost killed the region's crops.
In 976 CE, both Yanchuan County and Yanshui County were placed under the jurisdiction of Yan'an Fu again.
A village known as Chengping () was established in contemporary Yongping in 1038, which was attacked by the Western Xia the following year. However, this attack failed, and the Western Xia forces retreated. The Western Xia laid siege to the city of Yanzhou (in present-day Baota District) on January 18, 1040, and leaders from Chengping sent a large army of over 1,000 to aid in the city's defense. Conflicts between the Western Xia and local Northern Song leaders continued through the late 1090s.
In 1075, Yanshui County was abolished and merged into Yanchuan County as a town. During this time, Yanchuan County included areas belonging to present-day Zichang and Zizhou County.
Around 1078, a large portion of the Yellow River's banks in Yanshuiguan collapsed, revealing large amounts of ancient plant fossils. Scientist Shen Kuo travelled to this site in 1080 and 1081 to examine the fossils and petroleum, which he documented in his book Dream Pool Essays.
, the zhou which had been governing the counties of the area, was abolished in 1089, and replaced with under the new system of Fu. Yan'an Fu remained largely intact from 1089 up until 1913, when it was replaced with as part of the Republic of China's short-lived system of circuits.
In 1128, Jin dynasty armies occupied Yanchuan County, although they left the existing administrative structure intact.
In 1252, the town of Anding was split off of Yanchuan as its own county, which would later become Zichang.
A plague of locusts destroyed the area's crops in May 1404. The county's food supply was again thrown into jeopardy in the autumn of 1428, when a severe episode of frost destroyed the autumn harvest.
In 1466, the county magistrate built two bridges outside the county center's southern gates: the Tongji Bridge () and the Huimin Bridge ().
A severe drought struck the area from January to June 1521. Another severe drought struck the area in 1528, which was followed by intense floods and waterlogging. The following year, the county magistrate built a grain warehouse to try to prevent famine.
Around 1546 and 1547, the county magistrate built two forts to protect the area from invasion: one in Yongping, and the other in Wen'anyi. Two castles were also built in the county in 1551.
A severe episode of hail struck the county on July 23, 1549. The hail damaged buildings in the county, and injured many farm animals and humans. A drought and subsequent famine afflicted in the region in 1572, resulting in incidents of cannibalism. Furthermore, a major earthquake shook the area in 1591, and another one occurred in 1621.
From April to June 1628, severe drought afflicted the region, causing great economic harm and famine. That year, a peasant rebellion led by and broke out in the county. Hun and Wang conquered Yanchuan County, as well as Yanzhou, Qingjian County, and Mizhi County by the following year. At that point, Ming general was sent to crush the rebellion. In June 1630, the government of Yan'an Fu sent military leaders and Dusi Aimu () to put down the rebellion. However, the government response further plunged the area into instability. By the summer of 1630, a famine broke out in the region, and on December 22, 1630, Du Wenhuan led a massacre of 199 civilians in Yanchuan. The combined effects of the military conflict and famine resulted in Yanchuan's population declining by two-thirds. In November 1631, a 14-day long snowstorm hit Yanchuan County, killing a large number of farm animals and humans. By July 1632, Ming armies finally encircled Hun Tianwang's army in present-day Yanshuiguan. The resulting battle in Yanshuiguan killed approximately 620 soldiers. By the summer of 1633, Grand Coordinator led Ming armies to crush the remaining rebels in Yongning, resulting in a battle which killed over 1,600 soldiers, and, upon victory, saw the capture of about 550 rebel soldiers. That same year, locust swarms afflicted the region.
Qing dynasty Another famine afflicted the region greatly in 1640.
During the early days of the Qing dynasty, rebel leader led a local unsuccessful rebellion against the nascent dynasty. In March 1649, his forces occupied the center of Yanchuan County.
Severe flooding destroyed much of Yanchuan's center in 1660, destroying the city's north gate and eastern wall.
The county witnessed a solar eclipse on the morning of April 1, 1688.
A locust plague destroyed much of the region's crops in 1691.
An earthquake struck the county on April 6, 1695.
On June 4, 1701, a large flood destroyed much of the county's main city, including the north gate.
Another drought in the region took place in 1721, resulting in widespread famine and mass emigration from the area. The following year, voles ate and destroyed much of the region's crops, resulting in more famine and emigration.
Drought once again struck the region in 1759, resulting in more famine.
An academy was built by the county magistrate in 1786 called the Dengfeng Academy ().
In December 1787, the Yellow River, which is nearly perpetually a dark murky color due to high amounts of loess sediment in the river, underwent a brief period of being unusually clear.
A severe famine struck the region in 1790.
Major flooding on August 29, 1800, once again destroyed the county city's north gate, and submerged the village of Guaimao ().