Where is Leizhou Peninsula?

Leizhou Peninsula, the southernmost tip of Chinese mainland.

Leizhou Peninsula coastline

It is located at the southernmost tip of Chinese mainland, bordering the South China Sea in the east, Beibu Gulf in the west and Hainan Province across the sea in the south. There are East China Sea, South Three Rivers, Panzhou and other islands, and the East Island has seawalls connected with the mainland. The peninsula is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and the coastline is about 1 180 km long, and the coastline of Liandao is 1450 km long.

Jurisdiction of Leizhou Peninsula

Zhanjiang City is the main urban area of Leizhou Peninsula, which governs Leizhou City (formerly Haikang County), Lianjiang City, Wuchuan City (3 county-level cities), xuwen county and Suixi County (2 counties), and Chikan District, xiashan district, Potou District and Mazhang District (4 districts). The main islands are: East Island, Nansan Island, Naozhou Island and Techeng Island.

It stands out in the South China Sea. It borders Lingnan hills in the north, Hainan Island across Qiongzhou Strait in the south and Beibu Gulf in the west, including Zhanjiang, Suixi, Leizhou and Xuwen, with a population of more than 5 million.

Qiongzhou Strait and Bohai Sea are located between Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island and belong to the inland sea of China. (Political inland sea)

It is located between Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island, Guangdong Province, with Beibu Gulf in the west, northern South China Sea in the east and east-west extension. It is about 80km long and 20-40km wide, with the narrowest point18km and an area of 2400km2, with an average water depth of 44m and the maximum water depth114m.

The straits are all located on the continental shelf, and the seabed topography is undulating, which is a long and narrow rectangular basin with northeast-southwest trend. The water depth in the middle is 80 ~ 100 m, and the east and xiping are shallow. The current in the Strait is strong, and the southwest monsoon prevails in summer. The water flows at high speed from west to east, and at low speed from east to west in other seasons. The strait is the key point for the southeast coast to enter the Beibu Gulf.

In the south of China, Hainan Island faces the Leizhou Peninsula in Guangdong Province. It is named after Hainan Island, also known as Qiongzhou Island. It is one of the three major straits in China. The straight line distance at the widest point of Qiongzhou Strait is 33.5 kilometers. Leizhou Peninsula Click here to add a picture to show that the peninsula is flat, high in northwest and low in southeast, and the altitude is mostly below 100 meters. The southern part is a basalt platform, accounting for 43.3% of the peninsula area, slightly turtle-backed. There are many isolated volcanic cones distributed on the platform, of which Shigaoling is the highest, with an altitude of 259 meters. Most of the central, western and northern parts are ocean terraces, accounting for 26.7% of the peninsula area, and the altitude is below 25 meters. The central and eastern parts are alluvial and marine plains, accounting for 17.4% of the peninsula area, and the terrain is gentle. The peninsula lacks surface water and rivers, which flow radially into the sea alone. Nandu River, the largest, is 65 kilometers long and flows into leizhou bay. The Youth Canal runs through the northern part of the peninsula, with a total length of 236 kilometers. Groundwater resources are abundant.

The coastline of the peninsula is tortuous and there are many harbors. The eastern part is the coast of platform drowned valley bay, the southern part is the coast of volcanic platform, and the western part is the coast of ocean terrace and platform drowned valley bay. Ports mainly include Zhanjiang Port, Leizhou Bay Port, Liusha Port, Wushi Port and Anpu Port. There are more than 30 islands in the coastal waters east of the peninsula, and the larger islands are Dongdao, Nansan, Weizhou, Xinliao and Dongli. East Island is located between leizhou bay and Zhanjiang Port, with an area of 247 square kilometers and a population of about 65,438+10,000. Flat terrain, sand dike in the east, water depth of 26 ~ 465,438+0 meters in the northeast, wide beach in the west, and 6820 meters long levee connected with the mainland. Nansan Island, located in the north of Dongdao Island, consists of 10 small islands with an area of 123 square kilometers. Naozhou Island is a volcanic island, located in the east of Dongdao Island, with an area of 53 square kilometers. The highest volcanic cone on the island is 8 1.6 meters above sea level, with steep cliffs in the east.

The distribution map of ancient volcanoes in Leizhou Peninsula belongs to tropical climate. The annual average temperature is 23℃, 65438 0℃ in 10 month and 28℃ in July. The annual average precipitation 1400 ~ 1700 mm, May ~ 10 is the rainy season, and September is the peak of rainstorm, which is obviously divided into dry season and rainy season. It is windy all year round, with northwest wind prevailing in winter and southeast wind prevailing in summer, with an average annual wind speed of 3 meters per second. There are many typhoons in summer and autumn, with an average of 2 ~ 3 landing typhoons every year. There is an irregular semidiurnal tide on the east coast of the peninsula and a regular diurnal tide on the west coast.

Leizhou Peninsula is one of the important tropical and subtropical cash crop bases in China, which is rich in sugarcane, rubber, sisal, citronella and peanuts. Seafood mainly includes abalone, prawn, lobster, squid, oyster and pearl. Industries include sugar, food, salt, household appliances, chemicals, machinery, building materials and other categories. The transportation is more convenient. Litang-Zhanjiang and Guangzhou-Zhanjiang lines are connected with Hengyang-Youyiguan, Guiyang-Liuzhou and Beijing-Guangzhou lines. Highway network, the trunk line is the Xuwen-Guangzhou highway running through the peninsula. Zhanjiang is the center of water transportation, and the main ports are Zhanjiang and Hai 'an, which can lead to coastal areas. Civil aviation takes Zhanjiang as the center, connecting Guangzhou, Haikou and Hong Kong. The unique natural environment of the peninsula has created fascinating tropical scenery. The main scenic spots are Huguangyan, East Island and Tropical Crops Experimental Station in western Guangdong.

Leizhou Peninsula is located on the southern border of Chinese mainland, with Beibu Gulf in the west, large waters in the northern South China Sea in the east, Qiongzhou Strait in the south and Hainan Island in the south. It is also an important support and position of Hainan Island. 1950, based on the peninsula, the Fourth Field Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army launched the landing campaign on Hainan Island in March and April, crossed the Qiongzhou Strait, and liberated Hainan Island on May 1 day. The debate about the origin of Leizhou's name has always been explained: Leizhou is named after thunder. Not long ago, an author in Leizhou declared in an article that "Leizhou is the second largest minefield in the world after Java", as if it were a footnote to Leizhou. Baidu's entry "Thunderstorm in Summer" also says: "Even in winter, thunder can be heard in this area (Hainan Island and Leizhou Peninsula), hence the name Leizhou". In fact, these statements are groundless.

First, the history of "named after Dole" is not recorded.

We often say that the scientific definition of thunder is: when lightning appears, high temperature makes the water droplets in the flashway evaporate and the air volume expands rapidly. The weather phenomenon accompanied by lightning is called thunderstorm. (See Cihai) The formation of thunderstorms is related to climate and geographical conditions. Experts believe that there are many thunderstorms in Guangdong, such as Deqing in northwest Guangdong, Deqing in central Guangdong and Luoding in southwest Guangdong. Leizhou Peninsula also belongs to the thunderstorm zone, and it is impossible to speculate whether the name of ancient Leizhou is related to thunder.

Leizhou was first named in the eighth year of Zhenguan in Tang Dynasty (634). At the same time, the neighboring Danzhou (now Danzhou City, Hainan Province), Qiongzhou (now Haikou City) and Douzhou (now xinyi city City) began to be named after 622, 63 1 and 634 respectively, but none of them were named after the word "Lei". Could it be Leibi Leizhou in Danzhou, Qiongzhou and Douzhou? From Zhenguan in Tang Dynasty to Qin and Han Dynasties, the number of thunder in Danzhou, Qiongzhou, Douzhou and Leizhou was not recorded. Looking through the Records of Leizhou, we can see the records of drought and generations praying for rain, but there is no record of lightning disaster. "Leizhou County Records" recorded an old saying in Leizhou, "When it thunders in autumn, there will be no harvest, and when it thunders in autumn, there will be more rice seeds", and it was annotated. It is said that Leizhou people pray for more thunderstorms, and there is a custom of listening to thunder and measuring the sky every year in beginning of autumn; "When it thunders in autumn, there are many kinds of rice", which means that "it is auspicious to have more thunder after autumn". This proverb is still circulating in the rural areas of Leizhou Peninsula. The reason is that the climate has not changed fundamentally in ancient and modern times. There is a large area of green land in Leizhou Peninsula today, which has replaced the "thousands of miles of bare land" in history. It is the result of the broad masses of people establishing the idea that man can conquer nature and vigorously building water conservancy projects under the leadership of the * * * production party, rather than the result of much thunder and little rain.

The causes of thunderstorms and minefields are distributed in China, where thunderstorms occur frequently. Lin, a famous meteorologist in China, has comprehensively expounded them in his monograph "Climate and its Extremes in China". Mr. Lin's conclusion is that "the distribution of thunderstorms in China is more in the south and less in the north, with more mountains and less plains, more land and less water." Based on the data provided by meteorological stations in the 50 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, he made a scientific analysis and came to the conclusion that Yunnan and Hainan are the first areas in China, followed by the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the northern Hengduan Mountains, and the third is Guangdong and Guangxi. Experts believe that although Leizhou Peninsula belongs to the Guangdong-Guangxi minefield, it is surrounded by the sea on three sides, with an average elevation of only 25-70 meters and no mountains. Compared with Hainan mountain area, central Guangdong, northern Guangdong and western Guangdong, the number of thunderstorms caused by thermal conditions is less. According to authoritative meteorological data, the average thunderstorm days in Mengla County, Yunnan Province are 123.7 days (maximum 148 days), Danxian County, Hainan Province is 122.5 days (maximum 139 days), and Jinghong City, Yunnan Province is120. The average annual thunderstorm days in Zhanjiang City (70% of the total area is under the jurisdiction of Gu Lei Prefecture) are 94.6 days, and those in Leizhou City, the hinterland of Gu Lei Prefecture, are 96 days, both of which are less than one third of the average annual thunderstorm days in Umao Island, Java Island. As for the "winter thunder bursts", it is unscientific to say that Leizhou is full of thunder. Lin pointed out that there are thunderstorms in winter in the south of the Yangtze River and Bashan area in China, and the latest areas of lightning are Mengding and Zhenyuan in Yunnan. Less and more are relative. If we can know the past from now, it is difficult to infer that Leizhou is the most thunderous. Perhaps the thunder in ancient Leizhou is not as good as that in Danzhou, Qiongzhou in the south and Douzhou in the north. The problem is that from the Tang Wude and Zhenguan years (Danzhou, Qiongzhou, Leizhou and Douzhou were first named) to the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were no complete meteorological data all over the country, and there were even fewer records of thunderstorms. No matter who says that the ancient Leizhou is named after Duolei, there is no evidence.

Second, the theory of "Leizhou Thunder"

Although there is no scientific basis for saying that Leizhou is famous for its thunder, it is not groundless and probably comes from some long-standing legends. These legends are found in historical records and handed down from generation to generation. They can be summarized as "Leizhou Duolei Theory" and there are three theories.

First, "Pig Ray". It is said that there is a lot of thunder in Leizhou, which turns into pigs and goes underground in winter. People dug up these pig mines, boiled them, warmed them, and let them return to the sky after spring. However, people of insight in ancient times thought this legend was absurd. In the Ming Dynasty, Leizhou County Records pointed out that "Lei Zizhen's concept of exercise began to be famous, the speaker called it thunder, the embarrassment of winter, and the cooking of the county people called it near life."

Second, "Feng Lei said". It is said that there is a thunder mountain in Leizhou, where it often thunders. This mountain is connected with Xifeng Mountain in Qiongzhou. It is windy in Qiongzhou and thundering in Leizhou. The wind in Qiongzhou is strong, and Leizhou is full of thunder. The Qing Dynasty Leizhou County Records pointed out that "this is self-evident".

Third, "Lei Yin said". It is said that there are not only sunny days but also cloudy days in Leizhou. Yang Lei has a voice, which is the main source of life and beneficial to the world. Lei Yin and Vu Thang, also can't see, kill, specialize in punishing evil. Those who died suddenly before they knew what was wrong with them were struck by lightning. The reason is that they do evil themselves or that some of their ancestors do evil. So far, this "Lei Yin Theory" is still circulating in some villages in Leizhou Peninsula, and some people believe it. This statement was recorded in the Records of Leizhou Prefecture in Qing Dynasty, but it was not denied.

"Leizhou Thunder Theory" tells people that there are sunny thunder in the sky, cloudy thunder in the ground, wind thunder in the mountains and pig thunder in the ground. It can be said that Leizhou is full of thunder and little rain. "Leizhou Duolei Theory" is the product of that era when science was not prosperous, with a strong superstitious color, but it has been followed and valued by people since ancient times. So Leizhou is "thunderous".

"Multi-thunder Theory" and Thunder Culture

From the perspective of modern science, "Leizhou Duolei Theory" is absurd and incredible, but it is an integral part of Leizhou culture, so it has been passed down from generation to generation.

According to historians' research, the ancestors of Leizhou Peninsula were Ou people and Luoyue people, and they were called Li people in the Tang Dynasty, that is, the ancestors of Li people and Zhuang people today. Luoyue people worship lightning with totems and make bronze drums to symbolize lightning. The bronze drum is not only a utensil, but also a musical instrument. It is regarded as a god, and it is fun to beat the drum. People pass it around, offering drums and thunder, and they are used to each other. In the fifth year of Zhenguan in Tang Dynasty (63 1), Chen Wenyu was appointed as the secretariat of Donghe County, and three years later, the imperial court was allowed to change its title to Leizhou. Chen Wenyu reigned for eight years and was awarded the title of "King of Lei Zhen" after his death. The court sent courtiers to Leizhou to build a shrine to worship him. Later generations revered Chen Wenyu as Lei Zu, Lei Zu Temple as Lei Zu Temple, and people deified Chen Wenyu. There are many stories that he is a thunder seed and a thor. Leizhou people, whether slang people or Han immigrants from the north, respect Chen Wenyu. People in slang believe in thunder, and Han people believe in Raytheon in Taoism. Slang and Chinese cultural concepts are integrated in the activities of offering sacrifices to Lei Zu. Traditionally, people offered bronze drums to their ancestors, while Han people offered sacrifices to Taoist pigs, cows and sheep. Han people murmured and worshipped; People call heaven and earth and drum loudly. At first, the concept of sacrifice was to sacrifice Leizu, Raytheon and Tian Lei at the same time. However, with the deification of Chen Wenyu and various legends about thunder, Leizu, Raytheon and Tian Lei have become one integrated mass. Later, the sacrificial activities were simply called "Sacrificing Thunder".

According to historical records, the purpose of Leizhou Lei Festival is to pray for Raytheon's blessing, good weather and peaceful country. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, a large number of Han people moved into Leizhou from Fujian and other places, and Li and Zhuang, descendants of Li people, were driven out of Hainan and Guangxi, and Leizhou gradually became a unified country for Han people. The custom of offering sacrifices to thunder in Leizhou has been constantly evolving, and the peak of thunder culture of "changing drums in Leizhou" was deduced in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.

The so-called drum replacement in Leizhou means "providing drums regularly every year to offer sacrifices to thunder", and replacing the old drums with new ones when offering sacrifices to thunder. Changing drums is a common name for offering sacrifices to thunder. Leizhou people call bronze drums thunder drums, and thunder is heavenly drums. Playing the bronze drum symbolizes the heavenly drum, praying for frequent thunder and abundant rain. On the day of drum changing, officials and people in the state gathered in front of Leizu Temple, and officials from the state and county where Gao Lianqiong was located were invited to entertain him. Add 100 sets of gongs and drums, with gongs and cymbals, to play percussion. The drums thundered and the sky fell apart. In the sound of percussion, wizards and Taoist priests make all kinds of gestures, cursing and singing, which are bizarre and strange; There is also a prayer guard of honor composed of good men and women, singing and dancing to report the sky with thunder, which is vivid. Therefore, Leizhou Drum-changing is famous for its scale and westward journey, and its thunder-offering performance is even more amazing in the world. It is also known as the four best in the world with Guangde Burial, Qiantang River Tide and Dengzhou Haicheng.

"Guangdong New Language" says: "Thunder people can beat drums to admire the gods, also known as thunder drums, cloud thunder drums, and thunder is everything. Drum is like its sound, blonde hair is its gas, so the bronze drum is also a thunder drum. " It can be seen that Leizhou worships thunder, and the thunder drum symbolizes the heavenly drum, creating the spiritual realm of silence of the thunder drum, correspondence of the heavenly drum, harmony between man and nature, and joy between man and god. This is the spiritual essence of changing drums in Leizhou and the essence of Leizhou culture.

The totem of thunder —— the legend of thunder —— Leizhou —— King Lei Zhen, Leizu —— Raytheon —— Leizhou changed drums (offering sacrifices to thunder), which is the development vein of ancient Leizhou thunder culture. Lei culture has lasted for thousands of years, and so has the "Leizhou Duolei Theory". It's not surprising if someone comes to the conclusion that "Leizhou is famous for its thunder" on the basis of "Leizhou thunder theory" today.

Fourthly, the name of Lei in Historical Records.

According to historical records, in the fifth year of Zhenguan in Tang Dynasty (63 1), Chen Wenyu became the secretariat of Donghe Prefecture, and in the eighth year of Zhenguan in Tang Dynasty (634), the court requested that the state name be changed to "Leizhou" on the grounds that Donghe Prefecture was easily confused with its ancient names of Hezhou and Nanhezhou. As for why the word "Lei" was used as the country name, there is no historical data to check, but we can guess.

Conjecture 1: Lei Feng is the national title, the purpose of which is to promote national unity, unite people's hearts and facilitate governance. Chen Wenyu is a Han Chinese, and his predecessor was the leader of slang. People worship thunder and have the custom of offering sacrifices to thunder. Establishing thunder as a state is a respect for slang people, indicating that they should be officials of slang people, so that slang people will support him and the people in their jurisdiction can expect it. If this conjecture is true, Leizhou is named because it respects thunder, not because of it.

Conjecture 2: Taking Lei as the name of the state is not only to cater to folk customs, but also to pray for heaven, hoping that there will be frequent thunder and good weather in the state. Chen Wenyu lived in the era when Leizhou Peninsula changed from hunting to farming. Chen Wenyu was born into an Orion family in Haikang County, and he clearly saw the difficulties in hunting and agriculture. Agriculture depends on nature, so we must pray for the protection of Raytheon and make the clouds melt in time to nourish the country. Named after Lei as the state, it is intended to express the state's entrustment to detonators, and I hope that more attention will be paid. If this conjecture is true, Leizhou is named because it respects and expects thunder, not because of thunder.

There may be a lot of speculation, but speculation is speculation after all, and speculation cannot replace historical facts. In a word, the state named after Lei may be related to Lei, but whether it is named after Lei Duo or Lei Shao is impossible to verify. According to the earliest existing Records of Leizhou Prefecture, Leizhou "has Qinglei Mountain in the south of the county, hence its name." This proves that the state is named after "Lei" because there is Qinglei Mountain in the south of the state capital. Authoritative dictionaries, Ci Hai, Ci Yuan and China Encyclopedia respect historical records, and do not explain Leizhou or Leizhou Peninsula, so they are named after Lei. We should also respect historical facts and science, and don't rashly say that "Leizhou was named after thunder".