察哈尔省曾是民国时期的“塞北四省”之一，又是如今内蒙古自治区的重要组成部分。自民国三年（1914）设置察哈尔特别行政区到1952年撤销省建，察哈尔省存在近40年，而“察哈尔”这一区域的历史更可远追至康熙十四年（1675）。

一、成吉思汗——林丹汗

首先需要说明的是，“察哈尔”既是一个区域概念，又是一个文化概念。要想弄清这个名词的内涵，需从其词意说起。较多的资料认为“察哈尔”一词源自突厥语，意思是“汗之宫殿卫士”。根据内蒙古乌兰察布盟察哈尔民俗博物馆中的解释，“察哈尔”是成吉思汗亲自挑选的蒙古勇士组成的大汗护卫队，这个说法似乎与突厥语的词意是相符的。更被广为认可的一种解释是察哈尔源自于湖的名称。在张家口北部有一片湖，辽金时名“羊城淖”，元代叫“察罕脑儿”，忽必烈曾在此建“察罕脑儿行宫”，驻于此地的蒙古族便以“察罕脑儿”为部落名，“察哈尔”即“察罕脑儿”的音变。在蒙语中，湖泊被称为“淖尔”，又作“诺尔”、“脑儿”。另外一种解释则称察哈尔为蒙语中“边地”的读音。自嘉靖年间，阿拉坦汗（俺答汗）的土默特部落称霸漠南蒙古，元室后裔则率部迁徙至辽东关外，因处边地，故此部落被称为察哈尔。 无论察哈尔一词源于哪种情况，有两点是肯定的。其一，察哈尔所指为漠南蒙古察哈尔部，“察哈尔”是一个流动的地理范围。其次，“察哈尔”曾为北元皇室所在部，曾是蒙元文化的中心，故一些人将她称为漠南蒙古的宗主部，在蒙古各部中占据重要地位（如今中国境内的标准蒙语便是以察哈尔部正蓝旗方言正音的）。 本文所指的察哈尔部——即察哈尔省的前身，其历史是从康熙十四年开始的。明末，察哈尔部林丹汗成为漠南蒙古最强大的汗王，但因反抗清兵，最后惨败，其子投降清廷。康熙十四年，察哈尔部布尔尼兄弟率众反清，后被清政府镇压，其部落被安置在宣府、大同之外，于坝上放牧、坝下垦田。

二、清初——民初

清政府将固定下来的察哈尔部编制为两翼八旗四牧群，即左翼（正蓝、正白、镶白、镶黄），右翼（正黄、正红、镶红、镶蓝）、四牧群（上都达布逊牧场、牛羊群牧场、太仆寺左、右翼牧场）。为了更好地管理察哈尔八旗四牧群的生产生活，清政府相继在今张家口万全、张家口赤城、锡林郭勒多伦设立张家口厅、独石口厅、多伦诺尔厅，即“口北三厅”。乾隆二十三年，又在张家口设立统领察哈尔八旗军事的察哈尔都统。这些建制一直延续至民国初年。察哈尔八旗的地理位置位于如今的乌兰察布盟、张家口市以及锡林郭勒盟三地交界，这三地亦是如今察哈尔文化的核心区。

民国三年，北洋政府改革清制，将口北3厅、锡林郭勒盟10旗、察哈尔12旗群及丰镇等5县编制为察哈尔特别行政区，都统借驻张家口。民国十七年（1928）,正式设立察哈尔省，省会张家口（蒙语名“卡拉根”，英文名KALGAN）。察哈尔省的省域范围包括锡林郭勒盟、察哈尔十二旗群、宣化、赤城、万全等口北道10县，计辖19县、1盟、18旗、4牧群。

三、伪蒙时期的察哈尔

1936年后，在日本人的挑唆下，以徳穆楚克栋鲁普（德王）为头目的蒙古贵族相继在察哈尔地区建立察哈尔盟、蒙古联盟自治政府、蒙疆联合自治政府，伪蒙疆联合自治政府以德王为主席，以张家口为首都，采用成吉思汗纪年，挂红蓝黄白四色旗，红色居中象征日本，取“以日本为中心，大同协和汉、蒙、回各族”之意。至此，原察哈尔省的全部地区沦陷于此。 伪蒙疆联合自治政府下辖巴彦塔拉、察哈尔、锡林郭勒、乌兰察布、伊克昭等五个盟，张家口、厚和豪特（呼和浩特）、包头3个特别市，大同、宣化两个省。

四、新中国的察哈尔省

内战后，国民党占领张家口，重组察哈尔省。1947年，内蒙古宣布自治，锡林郭勒盟及察哈尔八旗归属内蒙。49年后，经华北人民政府批准，恢复察哈尔省建制，省会设张家口（这一时期，内蒙古自治区省会也借设在张家口）。新察哈尔省辖雁北、察南、察北等7专区、53县及张家口、大同2市。

1952年，中央政府决定撤销察哈尔省建制。原察哈尔省被划分为山西（雁北、大同、察南、丰镇）、河北（张家口、宣化）、北京（延庆），察哈尔省正式退出历史舞台。

五、张家口（卡拉根）的察哈尔文化

张家口地处塞北，自古汉蒙杂居，其文化构成集合了山西、蒙古、北京三地风俗，是“乌大张”（乌兰察布、大同、张家口）文化带的核心区域。张家口与察哈尔的关系需从坝上和坝下两个区域进行考察。

“坝”即河北向蒙古高原的过渡地带，因海拔的不同，张家口被划分为坝上和坝下两个部分。坝上地区属蒙古高原南缘，是辽阔的草原，而坝下则临近京津，是典型的山区。坝上人自古以游牧为生，坝下人自古以农耕为主。坝上传统多信仰藏传佛教，坝下多信仰汉传佛教。坝上（康巴诺尔、沽源、张北）自古以来就是少数民族游牧区，而坝下上谷（怀来）、宣府（宣化）、涿郡（涿鹿）、蔚州（蔚县）皆是汉文化圈的历史名城，故坝上坝下风俗习惯存在一定差异。坝上康保、沽源、张北等县原本就临近或属于察哈尔八旗之地，故文化上更为接近蒙古。坝下各县（即原属宣府的河北省口北道10县）历史上多为关隘地区（如龙门卫、野狐岭、独石口、锁阳关），文化风俗上具有一定的蒙汉交融特征，但整体上更接近于山西、北京（赤城、怀来接壤北京处）。 行政区划的变更往往可以带来一个地区文化的变迁。正是察哈尔省近代存在的历史，使得坝上、坝下与蒙古、山西的文化进一步交融，从而形成了如今区域概念上的察哈尔文化。 综上，我们在使用察哈尔文化这个概念时至少包含两层含义：其一是以察哈尔蒙古族为核心的察哈尔蒙古文化，其二是近代以来以察哈尔省区划为范围、以张家口为中心形成的融合了山西、蒙古、北京（河北）三地文化的察哈尔文化。 最后，张家口文化构成中的山西部分还与明清以来山西人大量迁移至张家口坝上草原农耕有关，汉族人的北迁也促使蒙古人北迁，这也就是张家口坝上地区如今主要居民为汉族的原因（另一部分汉族人则是长期被汉族同化的蒙古族人，如在康保、张北、赤城等地）。

参考文献：

1、张家口文史资料：察哈尔纪事特辑

2、察哈尔省通志：口北三厅志

3、沽源县志

4、内蒙古正蓝旗巴彦胡舒嘎查调查

Kalgan

China

Alternate titles: Chang-chia-k’ou, Wan-ch’uan, Zhangjiakou

By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica • Edit History

           

Kalgan, Chinese (Pinyin) Zhangjiakou, (Wade-Giles romanization) Chang-chia-k’ou,  city in northwestern Hebei sheng (province), northern China. Kalgan, the name by which the city is most commonly known, is from a Mongolian word meaning “gate in a barrier,” or “frontier.” The city was colloquially known in Chinese as the Dongkou (“Eastern Entry”) into Hebei from Inner Mongolia. It is about 100 miles (160 km) northwest of Beijing. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 688,297; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 1,046,000.

History

Kalgan was the point at which the main caravan route from Beijing to Inner Mongolia and beyond passed through the Great Wall of China at the foot of the escarpments reaching up to the lower Mongolian Plateau. The Han dynasty (206 bce–220 ce) placed the region under Guangning county, the seat of which was slightly east of Kalgan, but the area remained only on the margins of effective Chinese control. During the Three Kingdoms (220–280) and the Xi (Western) Jin dynasty (265–316/317), it was the seat of a Wuhuan commandery. Later it became an important centre of the Xianbei, Mongol invaders of the 4th century. In 1429 the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) constructed a fort—the present-day Xia Bao (“Lower Fort”)—as part of the defenses against the Mongols. In 1613 the present LaiYuan Bao (“Upper Fort”) was built north of it as a trading centre. The town of Kalgan then grew up on the west bank of the Qingshui River, a tributary of the Yongding River, between the forts. The main trading centre was Kouwai, outside the north gate of the LaiYuan Bao.

Administratively, in Qing times (1644–1911/12), Kalgan was subordinated to Xuanhua, about 17 miles (27 km) south. It was the seat of a civil prefect and also of the military governor of the Mongols of Chahar, a former province of what is now Inner Mongolia.

Kalgan’s importance, however, was always primarily commercial—as the terminus of the principal caravan route to Mongolia and Russia, bearing most of the vast Siberian tea trade. In 1860, under the Sino-Russian Treaty, it was opened to Russian trade, and in 1902 it was opened to international trade. In 1911 the railway from Beijing reached Kalgan, and it was then steadily extended to the northwest. This was, however, the zenith of Kalgan’s international trade, when the city contained some 7,000 commercial firms and when the caravan traffic employed hundreds of thousands of camels, great numbers of ox wagons, and many thousands of men. After 1920, trade slumped because the Russian Revolution of 1917 and because political changes in Outer Mongolia had drastically reduced the importance of the caravan traffic. Civil disorder and banditry were rampant in the area north and west of Kalgan, while the extension of the railway to Hohhot in Inner Mongolia meant that Kalgan itself was no longer a railhead.

In 1937 the Japanese occupied the area and established an autonomous government, Cha-nan (South Chahar), at Kalgan. In 1937 the Federated Mengjiang Commission was set up at Kalgan to supervise the economic affairs, banking, communications, and industry of Japanese-occupied Inner Mongolia. Colonization by Chinese settlers was checked as part of the pro-Mongol policies pursued by the Japanese. After World War II the area was occupied by Chinese communists, and, although the Nationalist armies drove them out briefly, Kalgan was retaken in 1948. From 1948 to 1949, Kalgan was the capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, although located outside its borders. In 1952, when Chahar province was abolished, Kalgan again became a part of Hebei province.

Although the traditional commercial dominance of Kalgan was diminished, it remained a political and strategic centre. After the foundation of the republic in 1911, it was given the name Wanquan county. In 1928 Kalgan was made the administrative capital of a new Chahar province, which accelerated the colonization of the area by Chinese settlers. By the early 1930s, Chinese settlers had pushed 75 miles (120 km) beyond Kalgan, causing great damage to the environment by destroying the natural pasture and bringing about extensive soil erosion.

The contemporary city

Some light industry—primarily the preparation of furs, leatherwork, tanning, and shoemaking—had already eXisted in the 1920s and ’30s. Light industry and food processing were also encouraged under the Japanese occupation. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Kalgan developed rapidly, its population trebling between 1948 and 1958. Kalgan’s proXimity to the ranching area and the rich coal and iron mines in its vicinity meant the rapid growth of coal mining, metallurgical, machine-making (mostly mining machines), and power industries. In addition, it is still an important centre of fur processing and tanning; other manufactures include woolen fabric, cigarettes, and processed food. An expressway built in the 1990s connects the city with Beijing.

There are numerous historical sites in and around Kalgan. North of the city, near the town of Zhangbei, are the ruins of Zhongdu, the former middle capital of the Yuan dynasty (1206–1368). Southwest of the city, near the Sanggan River in the Nihewan Basin, are a group of sites that have been identified as being of Paleolithic to Neolithic age.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

Xuanhua

district, China

                                                                                                                       

Alternate titles: Hsüan-hua

By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica • Edit History

           

Xuanhua, Wade-Giles romanization Hsüan-hua,  former city, northwestern Hebei sheng (province), China. In 1963 it was incorporated into Kalgan (Zhangjiakou), becoming a district of that city. Xuanhua district is situated some 25 miles (40 km) southeast of central Kalgan, on the upper course of the Yang River.

In former times the settlement was in a border district, just inside the Great Wall, between the Inner Mongolian pasturelands and the area of Chinese settlement. Under both the Han (206 bce–220 ce) and Tang (618–907) dynasties, it was a strategic frontier prefecture. In 938 it was occupied by the Liao dynasty, and for the next four centuries it was an important administrative centre for successive dynasties of conquest. With the beginning of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), it once more became a Chinese frontier post. In 1430 Xuanhua became the headquarters of the military command of the northwestern defenses against the Mongols. Under the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12) Xuanhua remained a large, well-fortified city and a strategic and administrative centre, but the neighbouring city of Kalgan surpassed it as a commercial centre in the 19th century and had totally eclipsed it by the end of the Qing period. Xuanhua remained a secondary collecting centre for grain, wool, hides, and vegetable oils, which were marketed largely by rail via Beijing, in Tianjin.

In the 20th century Xuanhua developed mainly as an industrial centre. In 1918 the  Longyan (Lung-yen) Iron and Steel Company, a joint state-private enterprise, set up an ironworks there based on the production of nearby iron-ore mines. In the early days, coking coal for the plant had to be hauled by rail some 250 miles (400 km) from sites in ShanXi province. The mines were further developed during the 1950s and ’60s, though, and by the early 1970s, coal was being obtained from nearer locations. Xuanhua now mainly produces pig iron, which is processed at iron- and steelworks in other cities. Factories producing iron and steel, cement, machinery, chemicals, and textiles are located in the eastern and western sections of the district. Xuanhua yields quality grapes and wine. Notable examples of ancient architecture still stand in historical central Xuanhua, including QingYuan Tower,  Zhensu Tower, Gongji Pavilion, and the Lihua Monastery, with its brick pagoda.