HUNAN, an important province of central China to the south of the Yangtze but within its basin, the southern boundary following the sinuous crests of the Nan-shan (or Nan-ling) which forms the divide between the Yangtze and Si-kiang drainage systems. The economic life of Hunan is essentially based on the valleys of two large rivers which converge on the Tung-ting lake, itself a reservoir and feeder of the Yangtze.
Of these the Siang-kiang, rising in the Nan-ling and flowing due north to the lake, is the most important of all the southern tribu taries of the Yangtze. It has formed throughout Chinese history one of the two great corridor routes through the South China Highlands to the Si-kiang and the Canton delta, the water parting ranges being crossed by the Che-ling pass at the head of the valley. It was a very early avenue of advance for the Chinese colonists from the Yangtze valley and the prevailing language is Mandarin, but Mandarin of an older type than that of the south-west, peopled in much later centuries by immigrants from North China. In the strategic relations of central and south China the Siang valley has always been of critical importance and it was one of the main lines of advance of the Nationalist armies from Kwang-tung to Hankow in the winter of 1926-27. It was selected as the route for the main Peking-Hankow-Canton Trunk railway which has been completed along it to a point above Changsha, the capital city of the province. The river itself is of great use for navigation, although subject to considerable varia tions of level according to the season. River steamers drawing up to 8 ft. of water sail from Hankow up the Siang to Changsha and Siangtan except during the winter months. Launches ply up stream during most of the year to Hengchow, and above that city the river and its tributaries are navigable for junks for long distances.
The second great river of Hunan is the Yuen-kiang which, rising in the Kwei-chow plateau, drains the western third of the province and flows into the Tung-ting lake at its south-western extremity. Although more impeded by rapids than the Siang, the Yuen is navigable for small boats right into Kwei-chow province, and is the great artery for the transport of timber from the forests of Kwei-chow and south-west Hunan to Hankow where there is a heavy demand for it for industrial and domestic purposes. It comes mainly in the form of rafts, floated down the Yuen into the Tung-ting Lake and thence to the Yangtze. The Yuen valley affords the chief route from the Central Yangtze to Kwei-chow and south-west China generally. A third river, the Tzu-kiang or Tan-ho (river of rapids) drains central Hunan between the Siang and Yuen basins and also flows into the Lake, but it is so im peded by rapids as to be of very little value for navigation and the trade of the middle and upper parts of its valley is chiefly carried on by the Siang route. Its focal point is Pao-king con nected by road with Heng-chow on the Siang and Changteh, the chief collecting centre for the Yuen.
The great majority of the population of Hunan is concentrated in these three valleys and the lowlands around the Tung-ting lake on to which they converge. Yo-chow, at the outlet of the lake is the connecting link with Hankow and the Yangtze trade. The agricultural production in the lowlands and especially in the re claimed land around the lake is rich and varied, yielding a sur plus available for commerce. Rice grown on the lake shores, in the valley bottoms and on the terraced slopes of the hills is the chief crop, and tea from the slopes of the valleys of the Lower Siang and its tributaries is an important commercial product, as is also tea oil. The cultivation of the mountain valleys is mainly of subsistence crops which include wheat, kaoliang, peas and groundnuts.
Hunan is of far more than agricultural importance. The most accessible coalfields of all south China, in the present state of communications, lie along the Siang valley. Those in the main valley itself, around Hengchow and Siangtan, and in the valley of the Lei tributary, are as yet worked only for local consumption but they are of great potential importance, partly on account of their quality, but especially because of their position on the half completed Hankow-Canton trunk railway. A smaller field, the Pinghsiang, is even now worked by modern methods, and this, although actually within Kiangsi province, communicates through Hunan with its main market in the cities of Wu-Han by the Chuchow-Pinghsiang railway, a branch of the main line. Hunan ranks seventh among the provinces of China in coal reserves and in coal production. In addition to this wealth in coal, Hunan appears to have considerable reserves of such metallic ores as tin, lead-zinc and antimony. The tin-fields of the Nan-shan are not yet exploited and the lead-zinc ores of the upper Siang valley are worked only to a limited degree, but the province supplies the bulk of the antimony production of the world. The ores are mined in the valley of the Tzu-kiang and refined at Changsha.
The Hunanese have long had a reputation in China for strong provincial patriotism. The Literati class is well represented and a feature of the countryside is the large number of estates be longing to the Hunanese gentry, some of whom have played a notable part in public affairs. The population of the province according to the Post Office estimate of 1926 is over 4o millions, and three cities, Changsha, Changteh and Siangtang are reported as having over 200,000 inhabitants.