Macheng (Chinese: 麻城; pinyin: Máchéng) is a city in northeastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering the provinces of Henan to the north and Anhui to the northeast. It is a county-level city under the administration of Huanggang City and abuts the south side of the Dabie Mountains. The city's administrative area covers about 3,747 square kilometres (1,447 sq mi), and includes some 704 villages and small towns. Total population was 849,092 at the 2010 census.
History
Macheng has a long history, dating back to the Spring and Autumn period as part of the state of Chu, and was the site of the historic Battle of Boju fought between Chu and Wu in 506 BC. It was named Macheng in 598 AD.
In 1927, a major peasant revolt erupted in Macheng, creating a strong base for the ensuing Communist revolution in 1949. More than 100,000 people joined Mao's Red Army under local Generals, Wang Shusheng and Chen Zaidao. A guerilla base in Macheng was eliminated in the Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Dabieshan.
Macheng played a key role during the Great Leap Forward. In an effort to increase crop yields, the local communist cadres began demolishing walls of old buildings, abandoned huts and farm stables where animals had urinated to provide nutrients for the soil. In January 1958, Macheng County was exalted by the provincial party secretary, Wang Renzhong. for reaching a rice yield of six tonnes per hectare. The People's Daily applauded the efforts in an op-ed and labelled it as a 'model commune' which attracted more than half a million cadres in 1958, including Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi and Li Xiannian. Spurred on by the positive coverage, overzealous local officials destroyed more than 50,000 houses in an effort to make more manure which spurred other neighboring counties and provinces to follow. As many as 30–40% of all houses in China were destroyed following this incident during the Great Leap Forward.[2]
The county-level city of Macheng has a total land area of 3,600 km2 (1,400 sq mi). It is located in the northeastern portions of Hubei. Most of the higher elevation portions of the Dabie Mountains is on the northern portions of the city. It is bordered by Henan to the northwest and Anhui to the northeast respectively. The region where Macheng is located is considered as a subtropical area and the Dabie mountainous terrain is mainly to the north and northeast.
Macheng is rich in resources, with about one million mu, or 670 square kilometres (260 sq mi)) under agricultural cultivation. Forests cover about three million mu (2,000 square kilometres (770 sq mi)), and water covers about 450,000 mu (300 square kilometres (120 sq mi)). The main mineral reserves are basalt, marble, and silicon, with large deposits of jade, gold, silver (large deposits of gold and silver are not verified) and copper, among others. The main plant crops are Chinese chestnuts, chrysanthemums, and persimmon fruit. The area is also famous for mulberry bushes and related silkworm production.[citation needed]
^Dikötter, Frank (2010). "Chapter 5 (Launching Sputniks)". Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958–62. United States of America: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 37. ISBN978-0-8027-7768-3.
^行政区划 (in Simplified Chinese). Macheng People's Government. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018. 2015年,辖鼓楼、南湖、龙池桥3个街道办事处,阎家河、三河口、木子店、张家畈、龟山、盐田河、夫子河、白果、歧亭、宋埠、中馆驿、顺河、乘马岗、黄土岗、福田河15个镇,铁门岗1个乡,麻城经济开发区1个省级经济开发区等共有20个乡级行政机构;
^"黄冈市乡镇(街道)名录" [Huanggang City Township-level Divisions List] (in Simplified Chinese). XZQH.org. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2018. 麻城市辖3个街道、15个镇、1个乡:龙池桥街道、鼓楼街道、南湖街道、中馆驿镇、宋埠镇、歧亭镇、白果镇、夫子河镇、阎家河镇、龟山镇、盐田河镇、张家畈镇、木子店镇、三河口镇、黄土岗镇、福田河镇、乘马岗镇、顺河集镇、铁门岗乡。