page_title: Zhengding County
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Zhengding County / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Maps of Zhengdingfu (正定府, now a county of Shijiazhuang Prefecture) and Longmenxian (龍門縣, now a town in Chicheng County) in Beizhili (北直隶), now Hebei and environs. Mention is also made of Xuanhuafu (宣化府), now a district of Zhangjiakou. An engraving from the Dutch edition of Du Halde's Description of China, Vol. I, p. 140. Français&#160;: "Tchin-ting-fou. Quatriéme Ville du premier Ordre, de la Province de Pe-tche-li. Long-men-hien. Ville du troisiéme Ordre, près de la Grande Muraille; dependant de Suen-hao-fou." Gravure extraite de Description de la Chine, édition de La Haye 1736. Tome 1 page 140.
context_page_description: Zhengding, originally Zhending, is a county in the southwestern Hebei Province, North China, located approximately 260 km south of Beijing. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shijiazhuang, the capital of the province, and has a population of 594,000. Zhengding has been an important religious center for more than 1,000 years, from - at least - the times of the Sui dynasty to the Qing dynasty. It is the founding place of several major schools of Chan Buddhism, however, many former religious building complexes have been severely damaged throughout history. A noted temple is the Longxing Monastery, where the historical building ensemble has been preserved almost intact. Furthermore, four famous pagodas, each with its own architectural style, are still standing.
context_section_description: Archeological finds indicate that the area of Zhengding County has been settled since the early Neolithic Period. During the Spring and Autumn period, the capital of the Xianyu Kingdom was located in the area. Under the Han, the county was the site of Dongyuan, where the emperor Liu Bang led a siege during Chen Xi's rebellion in the early 190s BC. In the year 256 (Western Jin dynasty), the Changshan Prefecture was established in the county. In 923, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the prefecture was renamed Zhengding Prefecture, which was later rearranged into the Zhengding Prefecture and Zhongshan County. Zhengding County was created during the Qing Dynasty, in 1723. In 1949, the county was subordinated to Shijiazhuang Prefecture and in 1986, it came under the jurisdiction of the City of Shijiazhuang.
  President and General Secretary Xi Jinping was Secretary of the county Party Committee between 1983 and 1985. A princeling, son of Xi Zhongxun, he was assigned to this rural area on his own request. He is credited with having a Qing dynasty style mansion constructed in the area for the filming of Dream of Red Mansions.
caption: Maps of "Tching-ting-fou" and "Long-men-hien", towns of "Pe-tche-li", from Du Halde's 1735 Description of China, drawn from accounts by Jesuit missionaries.
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