Luoning County 洛宁县

History

The county government ties Luoning to the legend of the Hetu and Luoshu (河图洛书) diagrams: it keeps a stele marking the place where the Luo Writing emerged from the river (洛出书处), and a platform where Cangjie (仓颉) is said to have invented Chinese characters. It also names the valley where the Yellow Emperor's musician Ling Lun (伶伦) cut bamboo for pipes, and Longtou Mountain (龙头山) and the Yumen River (禹门河), where Yu the Great is said to have cut through the hills to lead the Luo.

In 618 the Tang renamed the county Yongning (永宁) and moved its seat to Yonggu (永固城), the old town of today's Chengguan (城关镇); it became Luoning in 1913. In January 1945 the Communist Party set up an anti-Japanese county government at Jiuxian village (旧县村). The Neolithic Xiwang village site (西王村遗址) is on the national list of key cultural relics protection sites, and the stele at the Luo Writing site, the Luoning Confucian temple and the old Cheng and Zhang family houses are provincial protected sites.

What to see

Shenlingzhai National Forest Park (神灵寨国家森林公园), 26 kilometres southeast of the county town, covers 53 square kilometres and was set up in December 2002. It has a large group of rock "cascades" and was once a Taoist site; its highest point is 1,859 metres, and lacebark pines and the Shenling Grand Canyon (神灵大峡谷) are among its scenery. A cultural tour promoted by the county government links the Luo Writing site with the Cheng family compound (程家大院) and the Zhang family compound (张家大院).

Food and local products

Luoning is known as the "home of green bamboo", and Luoning bamboo weaving (洛宁竹编) is on the Henan provincial intangible heritage list. The Book of the Later Han records that bamboo from Jinmen Mountain (金门山) in Yongning could be cut into pipes that answered the call of the phoenix. By the county's account, Tang palace lanterns were framed with Luoning bamboo, and under the Shunzhi emperor of the Qing the county sent 400 poles a year to court for bamboo sap. The bamboo is cut in winter, then roasted, steamed, boiled and cooled before it is worked; roasting draws oil out of the skin, which is then rubbed with sawdust to a gloss. Weavers make baskets, sieves, mats, bird cages, flutes and fruit trays.

Getting oriented

The county seat is in Yongning subdistrict (永宁街道), and National Highway 343 runs through the county.

Highlights

• Luo Writing Site Stele 洛出书处碑: Marks the traditional place where the Luoshu emerged from the Luo River; a Henan provincial protected site.
• Shenlingzhai National Forest Park 神灵寨国家森林公园: 53 square kilometres of rock cascades, lacebark pines and a canyon, 26 kilometres southeast of the county town.
• Luoning bamboo weaving 洛宁竹编: Provincial intangible heritage using winter-cut bamboo that is roasted, steamed and boiled before weaving.
• Xiwang Village Site 西王村遗址: Neolithic site on the national key cultural relics list.