認識山東

文／欒小惠

中國東部沿海，有一片古老而神奇的土地。

黃河之水在這里奔騰入海，海岱文明在這里衍生繁榮，儒學經典在這里撰述傳承……這是一片溫暖而肥沃的土地，她有個質樸而敦厚的名字——山東。

西周初年，山東大部屬于齊國和魯國的疆域，因而被稱為“齊魯之邦”，后簡稱魯；又因在太行山以東，就有了“山東”這個平實簡明的稱呼。

○黃海、渤海在山東交匯，形成了“涇渭分明”的天然分界線。圖／李少偉The Yellow Sea and the Bohai Sea merge in Shandong Province with a clear-cut natural boundary.

凝視中國遼闊的版圖，齊魯大地的輪廓宛如一只雄鷹——東西綿延700多公里，構成雄鷹的軀體；南北舒展400多公里，魯北、魯南就像雄鷹的兩翼。雄鷹背依廣闊腹地，面向浩瀚海洋，矯首昂視，振翅欲飛。

山東自古就是人類宜居之地。東有海洋之浩瀚，西有平原之廣闊，南有湖泊之滋潤，北有黃河之浩蕩，中有泰山之雄奇與泉水之靈秀；氣候溫暖，四季分明；自然環境優美，物產資源豐富，是中國重要的農副產品生產基地。綿長的海岸線，坡平水淺，沙細浪緩，度假勝地密布；岸石嶙峋，灣深水碧，天然良港眾多。

山東是東方文明的重要發祥地之一。“沂源猿人”化石，證明四五十萬年前的山東就是古人類生長的沃土；這里物華天寶，人杰地靈，是人文淵藪，禮儀之邦。山東孕育了孔子等一大批歷史名人，以對中華文化發展的卓越貢獻而彪炳史冊，萬古流芳。

山東是中國的文化大省。在這塊古老的大地上，儒家文化、泰山文化、黃河文化、運河文化交相輝映，民俗文化、紅色文化、現代文化異彩紛呈。

山東是中國的經濟大省。經濟多年保持了快速、持續、健康發展，主要經濟指標位居全國前列，在中國的經濟格局中占有舉足輕重的地位。

山東人尊崇傳統，重信守諾，開放包容，勇立中國改革開放的潮頭，從沿海到內陸，從城市到農村，全面建構起整體對外開放的格局。

“岱宗夫如何？齊魯青未了。”齊魯大地，豪邁地敞開自信而寬廣的胸懷，擁抱世界，奔向未來。

編輯／郭蓓蓓

○黃河入海口。圖／侯賀良The Yellow River estuary.

○山東海濱城市風光獨特。圖／王德偉The coastal cities of Shandong have distinctive sceneries.

In China’s east coast, there is an ancient and marvelous land.

Here, the Yellow River flows into the sea, the Haidai civilization was born and fl ourished, and Confucianism originated and developed.

This is a warm and fertile land named Shandong.

In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 B.C.－770 B.C.),most of present-day Shandong belonged to the territories of the State of Qi and the State of Lu. Therefore, it was called the “State of Qi and Lu”. Later,Shandong was also called “Lu” for short. Literally, the name “Shandong”means “to the east of the mountain”, so called because it is located to the east of Mount Taihang.

On the map of China’s vast territory, the shape of Shandong looks like an eagle. Its body stretches over 700 kilometers from east to west and over 400 kilometers from north to south.North Shandong and South Shandong look like the eagle’s two wings. Backing onto the vast hinterland, the eagle faces the sea, lifts its head, looks into the distance and prepares to fl y.

Shandong has been a place suitable for human habitation since ancient times,with the sea to its east, a large plain in its west, lakes in its south, the grand Yellow River in its north, and the imposing Mount Tai and exquisite springs at its center. With a warm climate,Shandong has four distinct seasons.With a beautiful natural environment,Shandong abounds in natural products and resources and is an important production base of farm and sideline products in China. The long coastline with flat beaches, shallow water, fine sand and gentle waves provides venues for countless holiday resorts. The deep gulfs have given Shandong a number of good natural harbors.

Shandong is one of the birthplaces of the Eastern civilization. The Yiyuan ape-man fossil proves that some 400,000－500,000 years ago Shandong had already been home to ancient mankind. Shandong boasts ample natural endowment, outstanding people and rich cultural tradition and attaches great importance to propriety and protocol. It has produced a large number of well-known people such as Confucius who have made huge contribution to the development of the Chinese culture and left an indelible mark in history.

Shandong is a cultural powerhouse in China. This ancient land enjoys a fusion of Confucian culture, Mount Tai culture, Yellow River culture and Canal culture and a mixture of folk culture,revolution-related culture and modern culture.

Shandong is aneconomic powerhouse in China. Over the years it has maintained rapid, sustained and sound economic development with its main economic indicators leading the country. It is vital to China’s economy.

The people in Shandong value tradition and credibility, and are openminded and broad-minded. They are spearheading China’s reform and opening-up endeavor by promoting allround openness from the coast to the inland and from cities to villages.

“What is the scenery like in Mount Tai? Blue and green belt stretches over the state of Qi and Lu. ” With open arms, Shandong is ready to embrace the world and the future.