Zoucheng


Zoucheng is a county-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. Before it became a city, it was known as Zou County or Zouxian.
Zoucheng is located about 20 km south of the city of Qufu, and like Qufu, is administratively under the prefecture-level city of Jining. Its population was 1,116,692 at the 2010 census even though its built-up area is much smaller.

Administrative divisions

Three subdistricts:
Thirteen towns:
The philosopher Mencius was born in Zoucheng, then within the feudal State of Zou. His descendants lived in Zoucheng all the way to the present. Some of them migrated to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War. In the present day, there are four major sites in the city relating to Mencius: the Mencius Temple, the Mencius Family Mansion, the Mencius Forest, and Mencius' Mother's Forest.
The Mencius Temple, which covers an area of more than on the south side of town, has five courtyards and sixty-four halls and rooms. Its history dates back to the year 1037 in the Northern Song dynasty. The Mencius Mansion, where his descendants lived, is adjacent to the temple, and has 116 halls and rooms.
According to the management of the Mencius Temple, the temple grounds house over 270 stone steles and sculptures, some of which dating from as early as the Song dynasty. Among them are some Yuan dynasty stelae with inscriptions in 'Phags-pa script.
Immediately to the north of Zoucheng lies the tomb of the King of Lu of the Ming dynasty. It is the tomb of Zhu Tan, the tenth son of the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming dynasty. There is also a royal tomb from the Han dynasty.

Transportation