Jize County 鸡泽县

History

The name first appears in the Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋经); the county government explains it as a marsh of lush water plants where many birds roosted. The area passed from Wei (卫) to Jin (晋) in the Spring and Autumn period and belonged to Zhao in the Warring States. The Sui renamed the local county Jize in 596 (some records give 586), and in 1161, under the Jin dynasty, the seat moved to its present site and was walled. The county was merged into Quzhou (曲周县) in 1958 and restored in 1962.

Local tradition, as the county government tells it, holds that Duke Dao of Jin (晋悼公) gathered nine feudal lords here in alliance when the Zhou king ordered him to attack Chu. Mao Sui, who made his name by putting himself forward, gave Chinese the idiom "Mao Sui recommends himself" (毛遂自荐), and the county also claims the Han scholar Mao Chang (毛苌), linked to the Book of Songs (诗经). In 2008 the China Mao Clan Research Society confirmed that the Mao family of Shaoshan (韶山), Mao Zedong's line, descends directly from Mao Sui, and Jize and Shaoshan became twinned.

What to see

The county has built a Mao Clan Ancestral Hall (毛氏宗祠), Mao Sui Park (毛遂公园) and Mao Chang Garden (毛苌园), and named streets after Mao Sui and the Book of Songs.

Food and local products

Chilli has been grown here for more than 400 years, and the county government says it was supplied to the imperial kitchen as a seasoning under the Kangxi emperor. The local goat-horn chilli (羊角椒) has thin skin, thick flesh, plenty of oil, fragrant seeds and moderate heat. "Jize chilli" is a protected geographical indication. People's Daily reports that chopped chillies from Jize, the main seasoning of the Hunan dish chopped-chilli fish head, hold more than a fifth of the national market.

Getting oriented

The county government puts Handan 59 kilometres to the southwest and Shijiazhuang 158.5 kilometres to the northwest. Yongnian (永年区) lies to the west, Quzhou to the east, and Nanhe (南和县) and Pingxiang (平乡县) in Xingtai to the north. The Handan–Huanghua and Xingtai–Heshun railways share track through the county, with Jize, Jize North and Caozhuang stations, and National Highway 230 runs north to south.

Highlights

• Goat-horn chilli 羊角椒: Thin-skinned, thick-fleshed local chilli with moderate heat; Jize chilli is a protected geographical indication.
• Mao Sui Park 毛遂公园: Park named for the Warring States figure behind the idiom of recommending oneself.
• Mao Clan Ancestral Hall 毛氏宗祠: Ancestral hall of the Mao family, whose Shaoshan branch a clan society traced to Mao Sui in 2008.