| Dingzhou | |
| Settlement Type: | County-level city |
| Postal Code: | 073000 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | People's Republic of China |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Hebei |
| Subdivision Type2: | Prefecture-level city |
| Subdivision Name2: | Baoding |
| Pushpin Map: | China Hebei |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Hebei |
| Coordinates: | 38.516°N 114.99°W |
| Elevation Ft: | 189 |
| Elevation M: | 58 |
| Area Code: | 0312 |
| Area Total Km2: | 1283.7 |
| Area Urban Km2: | 53.00 |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 1249000 |
| Population As Of: | 2017 |
| Population Urban: | 414000 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | China Standard |
| Utc Offset: | +8 |
| Blank Name: | License Plate Prefix |
| Blank Info: | Chinese: 冀F |
| Psp: | Tingchow |
| P: | Dìngzhōu |
| W: | Ting-chou |
| L: | [Seat of] Ding ("Orderly") Prefecture |
| Former names | |
| Also Known As: | Lunu |
| P2: | Lúnú |
| W2: | Lu-nu |
| Altname3: | Boling |
| P3: | Bólíng |
| W3: | Po-ling |
| Altname4: | Dingxian |
| P4: | Dìngxiàn |
| Psp4: | Tingsien |
| W4: | Ting-hsien]] |
Dingzhou, or Tingchow in Postal Map Romanization, and formerly called Ding County or Dingxian, is a county-level city in the prefecture-level city of Baoding, Hebei Province. As of 2009, Dingzhou had a population of 1.2 million. Dingzhou has 3 subdistricts, 13 towns, 8 townships, and 1 ethnic township.[2] Dingzhou is about halfway between Baoding and Shijiazhuang, 196km (122miles) southwest of Beijing, and 68km (42miles) northeast of Shijiazhuang.
Dingzhou was originally known as Lunu in early imperial China. A tomb about 4km (02miles) southwest of Dingzhou from 55BCE was discovered and excavated in 1973. It contained several fragments of Han literature, including manuscripts of Confucius's Analects, the Taoist Wenzi, and the Six Secret Teachings, a military treatise. The identity of the tomb's occupant is unknown, but Chinese archaeologists have speculated that it belonged to Liu Xiu or Xu Xing.[3]
Dingzhou took its present name around 400CE when it became the seat of Ding Prefecture under the Northern Wei, displacing the earlier An Prefecture.[4] In the mid-6th century, its territory held 834,211 people living in 177,500 households.[4] Under the Sui, the seat of Boling Commandery at present-day Anping was renamed "Gaoyang". In 607, Dingzhou then became the eponymous seat of a new Boling commandery and retained that name and status under the Tang[5] until it returned to the name Dingzhou between 621 and 742 and again after 758.[4] Its territory held only 86,869 people in 25,637 households in 639 but recovered to 496,676 people in 78,090 households by 742.[4]
In 1055, under the Song, the city became the home of the 84m (276feet) Liaodi Pagoda, which is today China's tallest surviving pre-modern pagoda.
Under the early Republic, it was known as Dingxian (then romanized "Tingsien" or "Ting Hsien") from its status as the seat of Ding County. From 1926 to 1937, the county was the site of the National Association of Mass Education Movement's Ting Hsien Experiment of the Rural Reconstruction Movement. In the 1990s, the New Rural Reconstruction Movement maintained a training and outreach center.
[2] Towns:
Townships:
Dingzhou is one of the transportation hubs in North China.