Elapsed Century of a Forgotten Province—Pingyuan in Light of Ecological Changes and Communist Rule

In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party established a new province called Pingyuan among the borders of Hebei, Henan and Shandong provinces, then abolished it in 1952. Since then, Pingyuan has been forgotten in history. This article brings to our attention the failed Pingyuan province and examines the region in a longer span of time. The fate of the Pingyuan region was intertwined with factors such the Yellow River floods, railways, and the modern governments’ ever-mounting capacity, or the illusional capacity, to utilize nature. As a case study this article illuminates how the ecological changes had impacted the development of local politics and economy in the transitioning age from pre-modern to modern China.