|Literal meaning||East of the River|
|Traditional Chinese||河東道 or 河東路|
|Simplified Chinese||河东道 or 河东路|
Hedong was the name of a geographical area in Chinese history, used intermittently from the Warring States period to 1928. The name literally means "East of the River", and denotes the eastern part of the "middle reaches" of the Yellow River (when the river goes southward from Inner Mongolia to Henan).
Before the Tang dynasty (618–907), Hedong generally referred to the area in modern southwestern Shanxi around Yuncheng. During the Tang dynasty, Hedong became larger in size, corresponding to roughly the entire modern Shanxi province.
Warring States period, Qin dynasty, Han dynasty
Hedong Commandery was created by the State of Wei during the Warring States period (c. 475 BC – 221 BC) in Anyi District (安邑縣, in modern Xia County, Shanxi). Its administrative area was east of the Yellow River, west of the Qin River, and south of the Huo Mountains.
In 627, during Emperor Taizong of Tang's reign, the Hedong Circuit was established as one of the 10 circuits of the newly-founded Tang Empire. The area was defined as "East of the Yellow River and West of the Taihang Mountains", including modern Shanxi and northwestern Hebei.
The 18 prefectures under the administration of Hedong Circuit included:
Five Dynasties period
In 979, the Song dynasty under Emperor Taizong of Song annexed Northern Han. In 997, the former Northern Han territory officially became Hedong Route (河東路), with its administrative seat at Bingzhou (or Taiyuan).
In 1126, Hedong fell to the Jin dynasty conquest. In 1128, Jin dynasty split Hedong into 2 circuits, Hedong North (河東北) and Hedong South (河東南).
The Ming dynasty (1368–1644) recreated the Hedong Circuit under Shanxi Province. The administrative seat was again Puzhou.
Republic of China
In 1912, Hedong Circuit was abolished. It was reinstated in 1914, and abolished again in 1928.
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