The Call of the "Four Provinces of Mountains and Rivers（山河四省，Shanhe Four Provinces）" to the World

"Shanhe Four Provinces（山河四省）" is a comprehensive term referring to four provinces in the central region of China: Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, and Henan. It can also be referred to as the "Central Plains".

The region where these four provinces are located is the birthplace of Chinese civilization. The mother river of Chinese civilization, the Yellow River, nurtured the ancient and profound culture here. During pre-Qin periods such as the Shang Dynasty, Zhou Dynasty, and Spring and Autumn Period, this area gave rise to Eastern languages and writing systems, forming a diverse range of schools of thought including Confucianism, Mohism, Daoism, and Legalism. These philosophical and cultural values were based on humanism, rationalism, and secularism.

The people here became moral, reasonable, self-aware, and pursued integrity. Society transformed from a jungle of survival of the fittest to an ordered system based on "ritual" and "law."

During the Han, Tang, and Song Dynasties, the geographical region of the “Shanhe Four Provinces（山河四省）" became the center of East Asian and Eastern civilization, just like the Apennine Peninsula in the Roman Empire, Athens in Greece, the Nile Delta in Egypt, Persepolis in Persia, and Mecca/Jerusalem in the Arab/Islamic world, holding great value, status, and influence. 

Its historical records, legal system, grand palaces, and vast roads symbolized its magnificence. Its literary works and scientific inventions were rich and of high quality, spreading to the West through the "Silk Road" and other channels. During that historical period, the people living here enjoyed relatively prosperous and peaceful lives compared to other regions.

However, just as Rome faced "barbarian invasions," Athens fell to Sparta, and the Arab and Islamic civilizations encountered Crusades and Mongol invasions and encroachment, the core of Chinese civilization in the Central Plains was repeatedly invaded, ravaged, occupied, oppressed, and violated by the northern Jurchens/Manchus and Mongols. It became devastated, and its former glory and greatness turned to ashes and distant memories.

The poem "River Red in the Distance" written by Yue Fei, a heroic figure in Chinese history and a commander who resisted the Jin Dynasty, vividly portrays the cruel changes in the Central Plains before and after the invasion of the Jurchen people.

"Gazing at the Central Plains, beyond the desolate smoke, many cities and fortresses are seen. 

In the old days, flowers covered the willows, and phoenix towers and dragon pavilions stood tall.

Before Mount Wansui, pearls and emeralds adorned the surroundings, while the Pengu Palace resounded with melodious songs. 

But now, iron-clad cavalry fills the outskirts, and the wind and sand are full of mud and blood.

Where are the soldiers? All of them became blood and flesh in the battle of the blades;Where are the civilians? Corpses littered the hills and ditches and filled the trenches.

Sighing for the unchanged rivers and mountains, thousands of villages are now deserted. 

When will I have the opportunity to lead a sharp battalion, crossing the clear river and the He and Luo regions with a direct whip? 

Upon returning, I shall continue my travels in Hanyang, riding the Yellow Crane."

Yue Fei's lament and ideals also represent the collective thoughts and aspirations of countless people in the Central Plains. They resolutely resisted the Jurchen invaders and established their presence south of the Yangtze River, preserving Chinese civilization in the southern region. However, subsequently, the southern region fell under the control of Mongol invaders. Guangdong's Yashan became a place of resistance for the Han Chinese, similar to Masada for the Jews against Roman invaders.

It wasn't until the 14th century that the Han Chinese finally broke free from Mongol rule and rebuilt China. People from all walks of life resumed their professions in agriculture, industry, commerce, and gradually developed in culture, education, and science and technology. The once devastated Central Plains (the four provinces' location) saw some recovery but could not match the splendor of the past.

Another three hundred years passed, and the descendants of the Jurchen people, the Manchu people, once again conquered and ruled China through brutal methods and conspiracies. The Qing Dynasty established by the Manchus became a political regime similar to the medieval European theocracy and monarchy, characterized by racism, colonialism, and authoritarianism. The Qing rulers massacred the people, plundered wealth, violated rights and freedoms, suppressed thoughts (the "literary inquisition"), incited hatred and conflicts among different ethnic groups, and hindered foreign interactions ("closed-door policy").The entire Chinese society is full of violence, oppression, and darkness, and the people are extremely miserable.

The Xinhai Revolution in 1911 overthrew Manchu colonial rule, and the Han Chinese finally regained their liberation, allowing the Central Plains to once again shine. However, due to Japanese invasions and warlord conflicts, the people's lives were not stable, and the region was plagued by war and disasters.

In 1949, the Communist Party of China gained control of mainland China. Under its rule, these four provinces lost their autonomy and were completely controlled by the central government in Beijing. While there are some industrial areas in northern Hebei Province and Shanxi Province serving as coal mining areas, Shandong Province and Henan Province are mainly agricultural provinces. All four provinces rely heavily on agriculture.

During Mao Zedong's era, under the extreme policies of "Communism" promoted by the Chinese Communist Party, these four provinces were in extreme poverty, struggling to even meet basic needs. Particularly from 1959 to 1961, due to the failure of agricultural policies and forced requisitioning of grain to Beijing and other major cities and industrial areas, these four provinces experienced famine, with Henan Province being particularly severe. Approximately 30 million people died of famine nationwide, with an estimated 3 million deaths in Henan Province from hunger and secondary disasters.

It was not until the 1980s with the introduction of "reform and opening up" that these four provinces gradually began to recover and develop. Shandong Province has the third largest GDP in the country, while Henan Province ranks fifth. The cheap labor from Shandong Province and Henan Province has produced a large number of goods for China, Europe, and the world in "Foxconn" and other "sweatshops" and construction sites. Hebei Province and Shanxi Province have also made contributions to the country in terms of industry and mining.

However, while these four provinces have made significant contributions, they have not received the rights and welfare they deserve. They not only face the same authoritarian rule under the Chinese Communist Party as other regions in China but also experience evident regional oppression and unfair treatment.

For example, in the allocation of educational resources, students from Hebei Province and Henan Province have an admission rate of only 1.5% for top-tier universities (Project 985) and 4.2% for second-tier universities (Project 211) in the national college entrance examination (gaokao) each year, which is less than a quarter of that in Beijing and even 50% lower than provinces with easier gaokao. Although the situation is slightly better in Shandong Province and Shanxi Province compared to Henan Province, their admission rates are still below the national average.

In a country like China that highly values education and where the gaokao determines lifelong prospects, low admission rates, especially for prestigious universities, mean that these students will have limited opportunities, rights, dignity, and material gains in their future, or even lose them completely.

As a result, high school students in these four provinces are trapped in a cycle of intense competition. They need to study from 5:30 am to 10:30 pm, with strictly limited meal times, and only have one day off every two weeks. They have almost no extracurricular activities, little joy, and freedom. They are like exam machines and walking corpses. Such a life lasts for three years (from the first to the third year of high school) or even six years (from the first year of junior high to the third year of high school). They also face tremendous pressure and risks from the gaokao. The "Hengshui High School" in Hebei Province exemplifies this extreme and intense model. For young male and female students, it is a great mental torment and devastation.

Fundamentally, this inequality stems from the unequal distribution of educational resources in China, primarily due to regional disparities and inequalities between provinces. Beijing and other areas have monopolized core educational resources, while the "Shanhe Four Provinces" on their southern side have been most severely eroded.

Another manifestation of inequality is the differential treatment of different identity groups in terms of rights and social welfare, a policy long implemented by the Chinese Communist Party. There are significant disparities between urban citizens and rural villagers, state-owned enterprise workers and farmers, and national cadres and ordinary people. The special group of "migrant workers" in China, who work in urban manufacturing and construction industries, lack workers' welfare benefits, suffer from low incomes, and have previously had minimal access to healthcare and old-age security. Although the situation is no longer at zero today, it is still far from satisfactory. It resembles the situation of black people under South Africa's apartheid regime, fulfilling various obligations without corresponding rights.

As the "Shanhe Four Provinces（山河四省）"are predominantly agricultural provinces, the majority of registered residents are migrant workers or farmers. This means that most of the residents in these provinces belong to a lower socio-economic class, where they have more obligations but fewer rights.

Furthermore, the "Shanhe Four Provinces（山河四省）" lack discourse power in public opinion. As mentioned earlier, this region is the birthplace of Chinese civilization, and the gentle and broad Han civilization sprouted and grew from here. However, the CCP regime and conservative forces in the north do not allow it to have a free, autonomous, powerful, and civilized voice. They suppress its cultural development and historical identity, keeping the people divided, unable to unite, and even engaging in infighting for survival resources.

The "Shanhe Four Provinces（山河四省）" have also suffered from many other injustices and hardships, which cannot be fully described and displayed due to the length of this article.

These four provinces have a land area of 670,000 square kilometers and a population of 310 million. The population of these four provinces is nearly equivalent to that of the United States/Western Europe; the population of Hebei Province exceeds that of the UK, and the populations of Shandong/Henan exceed those of France/Germany. Even the province with the smallest population, Shanxi, has a population larger than most countries. These four provinces are also the birthplace of Chinese civilization, with a long history and rich culture. The people are hardworking and resilient. However, they are currently facing various injustices and inequalities, living as if they were walking corpses.

Recently (early August 2023), Beijing, Hebei, and many parts of China have been experiencing huge floods, rare in a hundred years, due to the intensification of droughts and floods caused by the climate crisis. While Beijing has been the focus of public attention and rescue efforts, Hebei province has been neglected, even becoming a "floodplain" for Beijing's flood control and drainage, and a casualty in the defense of Beijing's safety. 

As a result, hundreds of thousands of Hebeiers struggled in the floods, many died or disappeared, and some entire neighborhoods and villages were submerged. The fact that their voices have been silenced and they do not receive timely and adequate relief. This is as much a result of the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarianism and neglect of the climate crisis as it is a result of geographic injustice. This is the latest example of the injustice that has befallen the "Four Mountain Provinces（山河四省）". 

(In 2021, when Shanxi Province was flooded, the tragedy of "no one asked about Jin (no one cared about Shanxi)" also occurred. The flooding in Henan in the same year received attention, but the CCP refused to link it to the climate crisis, so Henan province will continue to face serious drought and flooding disasters in the future. (The "four mountainous provinces（山河四省）" are, and will continue to be, the hardest hit by the Climate Crisis).

In short, the CCP regime is a regime of "internal colonization", with the "Four Provinces" and many other disadvantaged provinces being colonized by the CCP power elite at their beck and call.

This is unacceptable and needs to change. The people of the "Shanhe Four Provinces（山河四省）”,the Chinese people, the German people, the European people, and people from all around the world, should come together and, just like the civil rights movements, equal rights movements, and social reform movements(It's like the "June 8 Movement (1968 Movement)”)that swept Europe and the United States in the 1960s, help the great people on the magnificent land of the "Shanhe Four Provinces" achieve equality and liberation.

By doing so, the people of the "Shanhe Four Provinces" will also be able to make significant contributions to the world. Once their civilization, conscience, and sense of responsibility are restored, they will become a powerful force for promoting world peace and democracy.

Due to the news censorship and information suppression in mainland China, I am currently unable to engage in related activities within the country. Therefore, I have to make this appeal here, shouting out for the suffering fathers, elders, compatriots, and fellow countrymen. I hope that the people of Germany and the world will pay attention, share, and participate, making the "Shanhe Four Provinces" widely known and helping the sinking Central Plains region in China to attain freedom and liberation!

Certainly, the "Four Provinces of Mountains and Rivers（Shanhe Four Provinces,山河四省）" cannot just wait for others to come to their rescue; they must also strive for self-improvement and self-help. Seeking noble virtues, knowledge, and spiritual wealth from history, establishing identity and mobilization foundations, summoning courage and using wisdom in reality, uniting with friendly and progressive organizations and individuals worldwide, together they can resist oppression, promote civil rights, improve livelihoods, enjoy rights, and receive assistance while also taking on their own responsibilities and fulfilling international obligations. By strengthening themselves from within and seeking help from others, there is hope for rejuvenation!

(In addition, provinces such as Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu have similar situations to the "Shanhe Four Provinces（山河四省）"and also suffer from injustice and inequality, particularly in the allocation of educational resources and the growth of young people. The people in these provinces also need to be widely recognized and supported.)

"Mountains and Rivers in Four Provinces" slogan:

Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and Shanxi, the four provinces of "山河四省（Shanhe Four Provinces）" contribute greatly but receive less.

The birthplace of Chinese civilization, the labor force behind China's rise, the world's factory.

Unequal distribution of educational resources, low college admission rates, the "Hengshui Model" brings suffering to millions of young people.

The majority of the population in these four provinces consists of non-state enterprise workers, farmers, and migrant workers, with poor access to healthcare, pension, and housing benefits (some even have no access at all).

Women, elderly, children, disabled individuals, LGBT individuals, and other vulnerable groups in these provinces lack a voice, have limited rights and freedoms, and lack a sense of security and legal protection.

Fairness and justice are needed!

I hope everyone will take photos, publish and disseminate the posters and information, such as on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Reddit..., and tell relatives, friends, strangers, everyone, for the "four provinces of mountains and rivers" and human rights in China, for human equality and peace Justice, Propaganda and Shout for China and the World！