Pre-Qin period This area was occupied by
Xianyu people at beginning of
Zhou dynasty; it later belonged to the
Zhongshan (中山國) and
Zhao states during the pre-Qin period.
Qin and Han dynasties In pre-
Han times (i.e., before 206 BC), the site of the city of Shiyi in the state of
Zhao was located in this area. After taking over
Zhao,
Qin Shi Huang established the
Hengshan Commandery in the region. It became part of the
Zhao Principality under
Western Han. The land was briefly granted to Liu Buyi (), son of the
Emperor Hui, during
Empress Dowager Lü's reign. The territory was then passed to Liu Hong,
Emperor Houshao of Han, after Buyi's death. It was then granted to Liu Chao (), another son of Emperor Hui. During the
defeat of the Lü clan, Liu Chao was killed and the territory became a commandery of Zhao once again. Later, due to a
naming taboo of
Emperor Wen of Han, whose
personal name is Liu Heng, its name was changed to Changshan (常山). From
Han (206 BC–AD 220) to
Sui (581–618) times it was the site of a county seat named Shiyi.
Tang dynasty With the reorganization of local government in the early period of the
Tang dynasty (618–907), Hengshan county was abolished, and it was reestablished as a prefecture. It was renamed as Zhen Prefecture due to a naming taboo with
Emperor Muzong of Tang, whose personal name was Li Heng.
Yuan and Song dynasties Zhending was a giant city in the area, now
Zhengding county, where was destination of migration from
Yuan dynasty people and central area of preceding Northern
Song dynasty people, particularly in
Kaifeng and
Zhengzhou etc.
Marco Polo has glanced the city and noted it in his book.
Ming and Qing dynasties The name "Shijiazhuang" was first mentioned in 1535 on a
stele of a local temple. Shijiazhuang was then little more than a local
market town, subordinated to the flourishing city of
Zhengding a few miles to the north.
Republican era The growth of Shijiazhuang into one of China's major cities began in 1905, when the Beijing–
Wuhan (
Hankou)
railway reached the area, stimulating trade and encouraging local farmers to grow cash crops. Two years later the town became the junction for the new Shitai line, running from Shijiazhuang to
Taiyuan, Shanxi. The connection transformed the town from a local collecting center and market into a communications center of national importance on the main route from Beijing and
Tianjin to Shanxi, and later, when the railway from Taiyuan was extended to the southwest, to
Shaanxi as well. The city also became the center of an extensive road network. Pre-
World War II, Shijiazhuang was a large
railway town as well as a commercial and collecting center for Shanxi and regions farther west and for agricultural produce of the
North China Plain, particularly grain, tobacco, and cotton. By 1935, it had far outstripped Zhengding as an economic center. At the end of World War II the character of the city changed when it took on an administrative role as the preeminent city in western Hebei, and developed into an industrial city. Some industries, such as match manufacturing, tobacco processing, and glassmaking, had already been established before the war. By 1941, Shide railway line was constructed between Shijiazhuang and
Dezhou,
Shandong in the
war occupied period, operated by
North China Transportation Company. On November 12, 1947, the city was captured by Communist forces.
Xibaipo, a village about from downtown Shijiazhuang, in
Pingshan County was the location of the Central Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party and the headquarters of the
People's Liberation Army during the decisive stages of the
Chinese Civil War between May 26, 1948, and March 23, 1949, at which point they were moved to Beijing. Today, the area is a memorial site. Meanwhile, the industrialization of the city also gathered momentum thanks to government initiatives including the
First Five-Year Plan. Shijiazhuang was one of the fourteen cities selected as focus cities for development. The population more than tripled in the decade 1948–58 after Communist won the civil war. In the 1950s, the city experienced a major expansion in the textile industry, with large-scale cotton spinning, weaving, printing, and dyeing works. In addition, there are plants processing local farm produce. In the 1960s it was the site of a new
chemical industry, with plants producing fertilizer and
caustic soda. Shijiazhuang also became an engineering base, with a tractor-accessory plant. There are important coal deposits at
Jingxing and Huailu, now named
Luquan, a few miles to the west in the foothills of the
Taihang Mountains, which provide fuel for a thermal-generating plant supplying power to local industries. Tianjin was again carved out of Hebei in 1967, remaining a separate entity today. The provincial capital was then moved to
Baoding, however, the city was plunged into chaos due to the
Cultural Revolution just a year later. Thus, under the direction of
Mao Zedong to "prepare for war and natural disasters", Shijiazhuang became the provincial capital in 1968. Beginning in the 1990s, Shijiazhuang saw another episode of rapid growth and development. Starting from the plains area in the east and south of the city, the focus of the developments later shifted towards the mountainous districts and counties in the west, as well as along the
Hutuo River in the north. In December 2020, its mayor, Deng Peiran, was charged with corruption, with Ma Yujun currently serving as the acting mayor. A few weeks later, the city became a new
COVID-19 hotspot; starting from the village of Xiaoguozhuang in
Gaocheng District in the northern portion of the city, cases increased rapidly starting from January 2, 2021. Due to its proximity with Beijing and the severity of the outbreak, harsh measures were put into place, with all 11 million residences undergoing mandatory testing, as well as school closures, banning of gatherings, and residential districts being sealed. All highways were blocked off, with rail and air links also suspended. Throughout the years, the city's administrative units have been shifted and adjusted multiple times. Initially, Shijiazhuang was administered under the prefecture of the same name, along with the counties of
Zhengding,
Pingshan,
Lingshou,
Jingxing,
Jianping,
Huailu,
Jinxian,
Gaocheng,
Luancheng,
Zhaoxian,
Shulu,
Yuanshi,
Zanhuang,
Gaoyi, and one town,
Xinji. The first new district of the city,
Jingxing Mining District, was created on June 27, 1950. On November 7, 1952,
Hengshui Prefecture, to the east, was merged into Shijiazhuang, adding six more counties. The prefecture continued to expand after
Dingxian Prefecture was split and merged into
Baoding and Shijiazhuang on June 18, 1954. Between March 1960 and May 1961, the prefecture and the city merged. Thereafter, however, the prefecture was re-established, with Hengshui Prefecture splitting away the next year. The city and its prefecture merged for good in June 1993. In the 2010s, Shijiazhuang's administrative divisions saw further changes. In 2013, the county-level city of
Xinji, although still part of Shijiazhuang prefecture, is now
directly administered by Hebei province. Later, the
State Council of the People's Republic of China approved more adjustments to the city's divisions.
Qiaodong District was dissolved and merged into
Chang'an and
Qiaoxi districts. Three county-level cities,
Gaocheng,
Luquan, and
Luancheng, became urban districts. ==Geography==