Xianxian 献县

History

Liu De, an elder brother of Emperor Wu, gathered classical scholars such as Mao Chang (毛苌) and collected pre-Qin Confucian texts, helping the Book of Documents, the Book of Rites and the Book of Songs survive. His posthumous title, Xian, became the county's name. The county government points out that Ban Gu's Book of Han describes him with the phrase "seek truth from facts" (实事求是), the first recorded use of an idiom later taken up by Mao Zedong.

In the Western Han the area was Lecheng County (乐成县). It became Leshou (乐寿县) under the Sui, the seat of Xianzhou (献州) under the Jin from 1151, and was reduced to Xian County under Hejian prefecture in the Hongwu reign of the Ming.

What to see

The Xianxian Han tombs (献县汉墓群), around Yuntaishan (云台山) and Yindian village (尹店村) east of the county town, are the burial ground of Liu De and his descendants; they were listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit in 1996. Dan Bridge (单桥), a five-arch stone bridge built between 1632 and 1645, joined the national list in 2006; the county government calls it the longest asymmetrical stone arch bridge in the world.

Zhangzhuang (张庄), 1 kilometre east of the county town, is the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Xianxian, known as the "first church of North China" (华北第一堂). The cathedral of the vicariate entrusted to French Jesuits moved here in 1861, and its Gothic church was consecrated in 1866; it was demolished in 1966, and a new Gothic Sacred Heart Cathedral (耶稣圣心主教座堂) with a 46-metre tower, built 50 metres west of the old site, was consecrated in 2003. The Ma Benzhai Memorial Hall (马本斋纪念馆), for the national hero Ma Benzhai, is a national patriotic education base.

Food and local products

Xianxian is the original home of the golden-silk jujube (金丝小枣), which the county government says Liu Zhongsi (刘仲思) bred here in the Northern and Southern dynasties; about 400,000 mu of jujube groves earn it the title "China's home of golden-silk jujubes". The county is also a national export base for winter jujubes (冬枣). Shallow, hot geothermal water heats homes, and in 2014 the China Mining Association named Xianxian "China's Hot Spring City" (中国温泉之城).

Setting and landscape

Part of the county is the Xianxian flood-diversion zone, locally called the "48 villages of Xianxian" (献县四十八村): 173 square kilometres set aside as one of 97 key flood storage areas in China. National Highway 106 runs north–south through the county town.

Highlights

• Xianxian Han tombs 献县汉墓群: Tombs of Liu De, Prince Xian of Hejian, and his descendants east of the county town; national listing 1996.
• Dan Bridge 单桥: Five-arch stone bridge of 1632–1645, national listing 2006; described by the county as the world's longest asymmetrical stone arch bridge.
• Zhangzhuang Sacred Heart Cathedral 张庄耶稣圣心主教座堂: Gothic seat of the Catholic Diocese of Xianxian, rebuilt and consecrated in 2003.
• Golden-silk jujube 金丝小枣: Local jujube variety grown on about 400,000 mu of groves.