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 2020, Dingzhou had a population of 1.1 million. Dingzhou has 3 subdistricts, 13 towns, 8 townships, and 1 ethnic township.[1] Dingzhou is about halfway between Baoding and Shijiazhuang, 196 kilometers (122 mi) southwest of Beijing, and 68 kilometers (42 mi) northeast of Shijiazhuang.

Dingzhou
定州市
Dingzhou skyline seen from Shuohuang Railway
Dingzhou skyline seen from Shuohuang Railway
Location in Baoding
Location in Baoding
Dingzhou is located in Hebei
Dingzhou
Dingzhou
Location in Hebei
Coordinates: 38°30′58″N 114°59′24″E / 38.516°N 114.990°E / 38.516; 114.990
CountryPeople's Republic of China
ProvinceHebei
Prefecture-level cityBaoding
Area
 • County-level city1,283.7 km2 (495.6 sq mi)
 • Urban
53.00 km2 (20.46 sq mi)
Elevation
58 m (189 ft)
Population
 (2020)
 • County-level city1,095,986
 • Density850/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
 • Urban
577,440
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code
073000
Area code0312
License Plate Prefix冀F
Websitewww.dingzhou.gov.cn
Dingzhou
Chinese定州
PostalTingchow
Literal meaning[Seat of] Ding ("Orderly") Prefecture
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDìngzhōu
Wade–GilesTing-chou
Former names
Lunu
Traditional Chinese廬奴
Simplified Chinese庐奴
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinLúnú
Wade–GilesLu-nu
Boling
Chinese博陵
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinBólíng
Wade–GilesPo-ling
Dingxian
Traditional Chinese定縣
Simplified Chinese定县
PostalTingsien
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinDìngxiàn
Wade–GilesTing-hsien]]

History

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Dingzhou was originally known as Lunu in early imperial China.[2] A tomb about 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) southwest of Dingzhou from 55 BCE 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 400 CE when it became the seat of Ding Prefecture under the Northern Wei, displacing the earlier An Prefecture.[2] In the mid-6th century, its territory held 834,211 people living in 177,500 households.[2] 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[4] until it returned to the name Dingzhou between 621 and 742 and again after 758.[2] 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.[2]

In 1055, under the Song, the city became the home of the 84-meter-tall (276 ft) 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.

Administrative divisions

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[1] Towns:

Townships:

Climate

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Climate data for Dingzhou (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 17.0
(62.6)
23.1
(73.6)
30.5
(86.9)
34.0
(93.2)
38.3
(100.9)
41.0
(105.8)
42.0
(107.6)
37.8
(100.0)
35.2
(95.4)
32.1
(89.8)
24.9
(76.8)
21.0
(69.8)
42.0
(107.6)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 2.9
(37.2)
7.0
(44.6)
14.2
(57.6)
21.4
(70.5)
27.2
(81.0)
31.6
(88.9)
31.9
(89.4)
30.3
(86.5)
26.5
(79.7)
20.0
(68.0)
10.9
(51.6)
4.3
(39.7)
19.0
(66.2)
Daily mean °C (°F) −2.8
(27.0)
1.0
(33.8)
7.8
(46.0)
15.1
(59.2)
21.0
(69.8)
25.5
(77.9)
27.0
(80.6)
25.5
(77.9)
20.6
(69.1)
13.7
(56.7)
5.2
(41.4)
−0.9
(30.4)
13.2
(55.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −7.4
(18.7)
−3.8
(25.2)
2.2
(36.0)
9.1
(48.4)
14.9
(58.8)
19.8
(67.6)
22.5
(72.5)
21.4
(70.5)
15.9
(60.6)
8.8
(47.8)
0.9
(33.6)
−5.0
(23.0)
8.3
(46.9)
Record low °C (°F) −18.6
(−1.5)
−17.3
(0.9)
−8.5
(16.7)
−1.5
(29.3)
4.3
(39.7)
10.8
(51.4)
16.1
(61.0)
13.0
(55.4)
5.4
(41.7)
−3.1
(26.4)
−11.2
(11.8)
−19.5
(−3.1)
−19.5
(−3.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 2.2
(0.09)
4.8
(0.19)
9.1
(0.36)
23.5
(0.93)
33.0
(1.30)
57.8
(2.28)
142.6
(5.61)
113.2
(4.46)
47.5
(1.87)
24.2
(0.95)
12.0
(0.47)
2.0
(0.08)
471.9
(18.59)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 1.6 2.4 2.8 4.7 6.1 8.3 11.4 10.3 6.9 4.8 3.3 1.7 64.3
Average snowy days 2.3 2.8 1.1 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.6 2.7 10.7
Average relative humidity (%) 55 51 49 53 57 61 75 79 74 68 65 58 62
Mean monthly sunshine hours 160.4 172.0 219.4 235.2 264.9 229.7 190.5 194.5 195.9 181.1 156.8 155.2 2,355.6
Percent possible sunshine 53 56 59 59 60 52 42 47 53 53 53 53 53
Source: China Meteorological Administration[5][6]

Transportation

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Dingzhou is one of the transportation hubs in North China.

Railroads

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Highways

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Places of interest

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Dingzhou Gongyuan

See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b 定州市-行政区网
  2. ^ a b c d e Xiong (2017), "Dingzhou".
  3. ^ Asian History
  4. ^ Xiong, Victor Cunrui (2017), "Boling", Historical Dictionary of Medieval China, Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, p. 69, ISBN 9781442276154.
  5. ^ 中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  6. ^ 中国气象数据网 (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 25 August 2023.

Bibliography

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  • Sidney D. Gamble, Foreword by Y.C. James Yen. Field work directed by Franklin Ching-han Lee. Ting Hsien, a North China Rural Community (New York: International Secretariat Institute of Pacific Relations, 1954; rpr Stanford University Press, 1968). xxv, 472p. 54009009. Sociological survey conducted in the 1920s and early 1930s.
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