Taiqian County 台前县

Setting and landscape

The county is a narrow strip, 40.4 kilometres from east to west and on average 15.5 kilometres from north to south. The Yellow River enters from Fan County (范县) and runs 69 kilometres along it, with Dongping (东平), Liangshan (梁山) and Yuncheng (郓城) in Shandong across the water. In the north the Jindi River (金堤河) passes through the county town to join the Yellow River, and the Jindi dike (金堤) marks the boundary with Yanggu County (阳谷县). The land is flat Yellow River alluvial plain, tilting slightly towards the north-east.

History

Until 1964 this ground belonged to Shouzhang County (寿张县) in Shandong, a name dating from the Eastern Han, when Emperor Guangwu renamed the Han county of Shouliang (寿良) to avoid the name of his uncle Liu Liang (刘良). When Shouzhang was abolished, the land south of the Jindi dike went to Fan County in Henan. Taiqian County was created from it in 1978 and came under Puyang in 1983. The name, "in front of the terrace", comes from Taiqian village, which stands before the old Phoenix Terrace (凤凰台) and became the county town in 1978.

What to see

Jiangjundu (将军渡, "Generals' Crossing") marks 30 June 1947, when Liu Bocheng (刘伯承) and Deng Xiaoping (邓小平) took 120,000 troops across the Yellow River with Sunkou (孙口) as the main crossing point, then marched on to the Dabie Mountains (大别山). A memorial stone was set up by the river dike south of Sunkou village in 1981; a memorial hall, a monument and a gallery of relief carvings followed between 2006 and 2014. The crossing site is a Henan provincial heritage site.

The Balimiao river-control stele (八里庙治黄碑刻), listed by Henan in 2000, records how the channel was regulated, with the labour, materials and sluices involved; Xu Youzhen (徐有贞) wrote and calligraphed the text. At the tomb of Zhang Gongyi (张公艺墓) in Sunkou town, the rebuilt Hall of a Hundred Forbearances (百忍堂) recalls Zhang presenting the idea of "a hundred forbearances" to Emperor Gaozong of Tang. In front of the tomb, drilling in 2006 located the buried Guxian Bridge (古贤桥), an early-Tang stone arch bridge 52 metres long.

Among local traditions, Zaobang opera (枣梆戏) is on Henan's intangible heritage list, and Dahong boxing (大洪拳), Meihua boxing (梅花拳) and Erjiaxian opera (二夹弦) are on Puyang's.

Highlights

• Jiangjundu memorial 将军渡: Memorial hall and monument at Sunkou, where Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping's army crossed the Yellow River on 30 June 1947.
• Balimiao river-control stele 八里庙治黄碑刻: Stele on Yellow River regulation with text by Xu Youzhen; Henan provincial heritage site since 2000.
• Tomb of Zhang Gongyi 张公艺墓: Tomb and Hall of a Hundred Forbearances in Sunkou town, linked to a story of Tang Emperor Gaozong.
• Zaobang opera 枣梆戏: Local opera on Henan's provincial intangible heritage list.