Dingxing County 定兴县

History

Under the Qin the area was Fanyang County (范阳县). Dingxing was created in 1166 under the Jin dynasty from Huang village (黄村) of Fanyang, and its name takes the Dading (大定) reign title and joins it to the word for prosperity. It belonged to Baoding Prefecture under the Ming and Qing.

By the county government's account, it was on the Yi River that Crown Prince Dan of Yan (燕太子丹) saw the assassin Jing Ke (荆轲) off on his mission to kill the King of Qin. The county government calls Gao Jianli (高渐离) the earliest musician in China and lists him among its natives. Others include the Eastern Jin general Zu Ti (祖逖), the Tang poets Lu Zhaolin (卢照邻) and Jia Dao (贾岛), Zhang Rou (张柔), the Yuan general who built the city of Baoding, and Wang Shifu (王实甫), author of The Romance of the Western Chamber (西厢记).

What to see

The Yicihui Stone Pillar (义慈惠石柱) stands on a low mound in Shizhu village (石柱村). It marks the mass grave of rebels from the Ge Rong (葛荣) rising of the Xiaochang era of the Northern Wei: local people first put up a wooden post, and under the Northern Qi it was replaced in stone. The limestone monument is 7 metres tall, with an eight-sided shaft carrying more than 4,000 carved characters and a small stone hall on top with a hipped roof and carved Buddha figures. It became a national key protected site in 1961.

The Ciyun Pavilion (慈云阁), in the county town, was formerly called the Dabei Pavilion (大悲阁). The present building is a Yuan-dynasty rebuild of 1306: two storeys, three bays square, 13.3 metres high under a hip-and-gable roof. It was listed nationally in 1996.

Crafts and local traditions

Dingxing painting felt (定兴书画毡), wool felt that holds ink and draws off water for calligraphy and painting, has been on the national intangible-heritage list since 2021. It is made entirely by hand: wool is sorted, beaten, doused with boiling water, shaped, rolled, washed and edged, then dried naturally. Under the Qing, He Shun (何顺) of the felt-making He family refined the craft, now handed down through four generations. The felt has been sold at Rongbaozhai (荣宝斋) in Beijing and Duoyunxuan (朵云轩) in Shanghai for more than 30 years. Nandaniu Beijing embroidery (南大牛京绣) is also nationally listed, and the county government calls Dingxing a birthplace of Hebei bangzi opera (河北梆子) and of Sun-style taijiquan (孙式太极).

Highlights

• Yicihui Stone Pillar 义慈惠石柱: Northern Qi limestone memorial pillar, 7 metres tall, with a carved stone hall on top; national key protected site since 1961.
• Ciyun Pavilion 慈云阁: Two-storey pavilion rebuilt in 1306 under the Yuan, in the county town; nationally listed in 1996.
• Dingxing painting felt 定兴书画毡: Hand-made wool felt for calligraphy and painting, national intangible heritage since 2021.