Guanzhong

Guanzhong (Kwanchung; simplified Chinese: 关中; traditional Chinese: 關中; pinyin: Guānzhōng; Wade–Giles: Kuan¹-chung¹; literally: "Inside the Pass"), or Guanzhong Plain, is a historical region of China corresponding to the lower valley of the Wei River. It is called Guanzhong or 'within the passes', as opposed to 'Guandong' or 'east of the pass', i.e., the North China Plain. The North China Plain is bordered on the west by mountains. The Yellow River cuts through the mountains at the Hangu Pass separating Guanzhong from Guandong.

Geography

The passes that enclose Guanzhong are:

Historically the most important pass was the Hangu Pass along the Yellow River which separates Guanzhong from the North China Plain. Guanzhong includes the central part of Shaanxi and the extreme west of modern Henan.

The average altitude of the Guanzhong Plain is around 500 metres. Xi'an, the capital of Shaanxi, is the largest city in the Guanzhong plain, which also contains the cities of Tongchuan, Baoji, Xianyang and Weinan.

John Kuan

John Kuan (Chinese: 關中; pinyin: Guān Zhōng; born 9 June 1940), also known as Kuan Chung, is a Taiwanese politician who was the former president of the Examination Yuan of the Republic of China in 2008-2014.

Personal life

Kuan's daughter, Wendy Kuan (關雲娣), died in May 2011 after she fell from the kitchen window of her 27th floor apartment in Shanghai. It was rumored that she committed suicide because her husband, Zero Lin (林哲樂), was having an affair. Kuan has avoided meeting Lin ever since his daughter's death, refusing to attend any family events where his son-in-law would be present.

See also

References