Xin'gan County 新干县

History

Neolithic sites at Tangtou (塘头镇) show early settlement. The county was founded in 221 BC under the Qin as Xin'gan (新淦) and is one of Jiangxi's eighteen ancient counties; its seat moved in 589 from Ganyang, in today's Zhangshu (樟树), to Nanshi village, now Jinchuan. After character simplification, the second character was replaced in 1957 by the homophone gan (干). Local figures include the Ming grand secretary Jin Youzi (金幼孜). In the Red Army years Mao Zedong's troops passed through several times; his former residence at Gongjia (龚家) in Maixie (麦斜) and the county soviet site are preserved.

What to see

The Dayangzhou Shang tomb yielded 486 bronzes, 754 jades and 139 pottery pieces, including 23 first-grade national relics, and the find was named one of China's hundred major archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. The Dayangzhou Shang site park has a planned area of 500 mu (about 33 hectares). Niucheng (牛城), 5 li (about 2.5 kilometres) from the tomb, has earthen walls and has produced pottery and a set of five bronze ding cauldrons. The Shang–Zhou Niutoucheng site (牛头城遗址) and the Warring States granary site at Jiebu (界埠) are provincial key protected sites.

The county government also lists the Jin-dynasty Dongshan Temple (东山寺), the review platform at Hepu (荷浦), where the Southern Song general Yue Fei stationed troops, and the Ming Wenchang Pagoda (文昌塔). Zaoshi (燥石), a Chinese traditional village in Qiqin town (七琴镇), lies at more than 600 metres, and its Caidiyan Mountain (才地岩山) rises to 1,082 metres; its main sights are odd rocks, waterfalls, stone-built houses, terraced fields and azaleas that flower in May.

Food and local products

Xin'gan red tangerines (新干红桔) appear in the Western Jin writer Zhang Hua's 'Records of Diverse Matters' (博物志) and were sent as tribute from the Song onward; the Qianlong Emperor called them 'big red robe' (大红袍). Zhang Henshui (张恨水) set his novel 'Swallows Flying North' (北雁南飞) in the Sanhu (三湖) orchards, and the fruit was first exported to the Soviet Union in 1957.

Highlights

• Dayangzhou Shang tomb 大洋洲商代大墓: Found in 1989 with 486 bronzes and 754 jades; one of China's hundred major 20th-century archaeological finds.
• Niucheng 牛城: Walled site 5 li from the Dayangzhou tomb that produced five bronze ding.
• Zaoshi village 燥石: Chinese traditional village above 600 metres in Qiqin town, with stone houses, terraces and May azaleas.
• Xin'gan red tangerine 新干红桔: Recorded in the Western Jin; tribute fruit from the Song; called 'big red robe' by the Qianlong Emperor.