◎Ancient History

Baoding has a splendid prehistoric civilization.It is confirmed that 28,000 years ago,it was the place where Homo sapiens,the ancestors of the yellow race (Mongolian race),flourished.It was the place where Tang Yao was born.Four or five thousand years ago,it was a region where primitive agriculture was quite developed.The famous Yi Family had herded cattle and horses and planted mulberry trees and crops in the Yishui River Basin.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period,Baoding was under the jurisdiction of the states of Yan and Zhongshan.By the mid-Warring States Period,after Zhao destroyed Zhongshan,the southern part of Baoding belonged to Zhao and the northern part of it belonged to Yan,and became the hinterland of the Yan culture.Since Qin and Han dynasties,Baoding has become an important strategic area of defense in the north.

Ethnic integration The Three Kingdoms Period,the Jin Dynasty,and the Southern and Northern Dynasties were important stages of ethnic integration in China.Aristocratic families of Hebei went southwards to the Jianghuai areas,while the northern nomads went southwards to the Central Plains to accept the Han culture and establish states.Baoding,being in the transitional zone of the farming culture and the nomadic culture,was most affected.A large number of noble families moved southwards,which impacted the local culture.However,the simultaneous activities of many ethnic minorities have injected diverse elements into the local culture,making the folk customs here simple and brave,and the culture more distinctive.

Prosperity and Chaos of War in the Sui the Tang and the Five Dynasties In the early Sui Dynasty and the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty,Baoding’s economy and culture developed in an all-round way.Baoding belonged to Hebei Dao (similar to province) in the Tang Dynasty.During the Tianbao Period of the Tang Dynasty,Hebei Dao enjoyed a very important economic position with its grain output ranking first in the whole country.The economic development promoted the prosperity of its culture,and a large number of cultural celebrities emerged.At the end of the Sui Dynasty,peasant uprisings were surging,and Baoding was just a place where peasant uprisings were active.It was first affected by the An-Shi Disturbances,and the Fanzhen (Buffer region) powers here were powerful enough to compete with the imperial court.In the Five Dynasties,Baoding belonged to the Later Tang Dynasty,the Later Jin Dynasty,the Later Han Dynasty,the Later Zhou Dynasty,etc.The rulers fought constantly,putting Baoding always in war.Years of war had made the people’s lives miserable and the economy greatly damaged.

Origin of the Name After the Jin Dynasty destroyed Liao and Northern Song dynasties and unified the north,many Han people in Hebei were driven away.At the same time,a large number of Jurchen people went southwards and implemented their own system and the Jurchen nobles became feudal landlords and gradually assimilated into the Han culture.Jin set up Zhongdu (the Central Capital) in present-day Beijing,Zhongshan Prefecture in Dingzhou and Shuntian Jiedushi in Baozhou.When the Mongolian soldiers attacked,Jurchen was unable to resist.A large number of landlords armed for self-protection.The rulers of the Jin Dynasty admitted these armed forces and used them to resist the Mongolian soldiers.Some of such forces were just in Baoding.But this failed to save the fate of the Jin Dynasty.In December 1213,the Mongolians captured Baozhou and destroyed the prefecture seat.In the unification war of Mongolia that destroyed the Jin Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty,the armed forces of Han people in Baoding played a significant role.The famous generals included Zhang Rou and his son Zhang Hongfan from Dingxing and Shi Bi from Boye.The Yuan Dynasty made Dadu (present-day Beijing) its capital,and Baoding its southern barrier,then Shuntian Jun was changed to Shuntian Lu,which was renamed Baoding Lu in 1275,with jurisdiction over 7 prefectures and 8 counties.That was how the name Baoding came into being.

Increasingly Important Position In the Ming and Qing dynasties,Baoding was still a place near the capital.In 1368,Baoding Lu was changed to Baoding Fu.After Zhu Di,Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty,moved the capital to Beijing,he ordered a lot of people from Shanxi and areas beyond the Great Wall to immigrate to Hebei to increase the population of Beijing and its surrounding areas.A large number of immigrants settled in Baoding.During the Ming Dynasty,Daning Dusi was stationed in Baoding,where a regional commander’s office was set up.There were more than 10,000 troops stationed all year round,responsible for the security of the capital and its environs.After the“Tumu Crisis,”the Oirat of Mongolia broke through Zijing Pass and surrounded Beijing,and then retreated from Zijing Pass.This caused the rulers to pay more attention to Baoding’s strategic defensive position.Therefore,they rebuilt Baoding City,and changed the earth-made city walls into brick-made ones.They also built Inner Great Wall in the Taihang Mountain area in the west of Baoding,and built gate towers,abutments and castles at Zijing Pass,Daoma Pass,Longquan Pass and other places.The Great Wall sections and gate towers in Baoding are mostly legacies of the Ming Dynasty.At the end of the Ming Dynasty,Baoding was captured by Qing soldiers,and its military and political status was gradually promoted.In 1669,the governor of Zhili moved to Baoding,which became the provincial capital of Zhili for the first time and became a regional political center.