Xingtai History & Culture

Xingtai boasts a history spanning over 3,500 years, with humans inhabiting and thriving there between 50,000 and 100,000 years ago. It is the first city in North China and is known as the "Ancient Capital of Five Dynasties and a Prominent County of Ten Dynasties." Its administrative structure and location remained uninterrupted for over 3,000 years. The ancient city of Xingtai is the earliest established city north of the Yellow River and is known as the "First City of Yan and Zhao." Its rich history has produced sages such as Guo Shoujing, Wei Zheng, Li Mu, Song Jing, and Liu Bingzhong, as well as emperors like Guo Wei, Chai Rong, Meng Zhixiang, and Meng Chang. The first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, passed away in the sand dunes of Xingtai during his eastern tour. Xingtai is also the ancestral home of the Tang Dynasty royal family (Tang Zuling), where events that influenced the course of Chinese history took place, such as the abdication of Yao and Shun, the wearing of Hu clothing and horse riding, the Battle of Julu, and the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Nearly a hundred idioms and allusions, such as "burn the boats and cross the river", "who will win the final victory", "the people's blood and sweat", and "attacked from all sides", originated from Xingtai.