Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.

The name "Luoyang" originates from the city's location on the north or sunny ("yang") side of the Luo River.

During the rule of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history, the city was known as Shendu (神都; 'divine capital').

In 1600 BC, Tang of Shang defeated Jie, the final Xia dynasty king, and built Western Bo, (西亳), a new capital on the Luo River.

[citation needed] In 1036 BC a settlement named Chengzhou (成周) was constructed by the Duke of Zhou for the remnants of the captured Shang nobility.

[10] The late 2nd century saw China decline into anarchy: The decline was accelerated by the rebellion of the Yellow Turbans, who, although defeated by the Imperial troops in 184 AD, weakened the state to the point where there was a continuing series of rebellions degenerating into civil war, culminating in the burning of the Han capital of Luoyang on 24 September 189 AD.

This was followed by a state of continual unrest and wars in China until a modicum of stability returned in the 220s, but with the establishment of three separate kingdoms, rather than a unified empire.

[11]On April 4, 190 AD,[12] Chancellor Dong Zhuo ordered his soldiers to ransack, pillage, and raze the city as he retreated from the coalition set up against him by regional lords all over China.

[13] At the start of the 4th century, Luoyang was subjected to repeated attacks during the War of the Eight Princes and Upheaval of the Five Barbarians under the Jin.

In 311 AD, rebel forces of the Xiongnu-led Han-Zhao dynasty sacked and razed the city in an event known as the Disaster of Yongjia.

[14] For the next two centuries, Luoyang would cease as a major population hub, but remained a hotly contested region among various states to come.

The Jin dynasty, which had relocated south of the Yangtze river after the upheaval, was even able to recover the city on a few occasions.

[citation needed] In winter 416, during Liu Yu's northern expedition against the Later Qin, Luoyang fell to the Jin general Tan Daoji.

The Liu Song dynasty, which succeeded the Jin, briefly recovered the city in 430, but by the 460s, Luoyang was definitively under Wei control.

At the same time, the Shaolin Temple was also built by the Emperor to accommodate an Indian monk on the Mont Song right next to Luoyang City.

[18][19] During the Tang dynasty, Luoyang was Dongdu (東都), the "Eastern Capital", and at its height had a population of around one million, second only to Chang'an, which, at the time, was the largest city in the world.

She constructed the tallest palace in Chinese history, which is now in the site of Sui Tang Luoyang city.

[22] Another epitaph in Luoyang of a Nestorian Christian Sogdian woman also surnamed An was discovered and she was put in her tomb by her military officer son on 22 January, 815.

This Sogdian woman's husband was surnamed He (和) and he was a Han Chinese man and the family was indicated to be multiethnic on the epitaph pillar.

[23] In Luoyang, the mixed raced sons of Nestorian Christian Sogdian women and Han Chinese men has many career paths available for them.

After the People's Republic of China was established, Luoyang was revived as a major heavy industrial hub.

[29] As its name states, the Old Town of Luoyang is located on the north bank of the Luo, a southern tributary of the middle reaches of the Yellow River.

The countryside controlled by the municipal government includes still more rugged land: mountains comprise 45.51% of the total area; hills, 40.73%; and plains, 13.8%.

The Luoyang Museum (established 1958) features ancient relics dating back to the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.

Prior to the Jesuit China Missions, it was used for establishing the summer and winter solstices in traditional Chinese astronomy.

[37] Luoyang is the foundation of Confucianism, the birth of Taoism, the first transmission of Buddhism, the formation of metaphysics, and the origin of neo-Confucianism.

All kinds of cultural thoughts are integrated and symbiosis here, and the compass, paper making and printing among the four great inventions of ancient China were born here.

It comprises a wide selection of ingredients, simple and versatile, diverse tastes, sour, spicy, sweet and salty, comfortable and delicious.

[39] "Spring in Luoyang" (洛阳春; Luòyáng Chūn), an ancient Chinese composition, became popular in Korea during the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) and is still performed in its dangak (Koreanized) version Nakyangchun (낙양춘).

5The claimed province of Taiwan no longer have any internal division announced by Ministry of Civil Affairs of PRC, due to lack of actual jurisdiction.