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Etymology

"Hebei" means 'north of the river', derived from the province's location north of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. In the Yu Gong, the province is recorded as " Jizhou ", lending to its traditional abbreviation of "Ji" (冀).

The province's nickname is "Yanzhao" (燕赵), which is the collective name of the Yan and Zhao states that controlled the region during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (771–221 BC). In 1421, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and the province surrounding the new capital was first called North Zhili or Zhili, meaning 'directly ruled'. When Nanjing became the capital of the Republic of China in 1928, the province of Zhili was abolished and given its present name of Hebei.