The current history and culture of Shanxi is formed by the historical integration of several ethnic groups.

Shanxi is one of the birthplaces of the Chinese nation. On this land, humans lived and multiplied 100,000 years ago. The Xihoudu Culture and Dingcun Cultural Sites show that humans have multiplied and multiplied here as early as the Paleolithic Age. During the Zhou Dynasty, Shanxi was the territory of the Tang State. Later, Tang Shuyu's son Xiefu changed the country's name to Jin because the Tang Dynasty was near the Jin River. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Shanxi was one of the Five Hegemons of Jin. During the Warring States Period, the three kingdoms of Han, Zhao, and Wei that divided the Jin Kingdom were called the Seven Heroes of the Warring States Period together with Qin, Chu, Qi, and Yan. After Qin Shihuang unified China, he established five counties in Shanxi, including Taiyuan, Shangdang, Hedong, Yanmen and Daijun. By the Sui Dynasty, Taiyuan was the third largest city in the Yellow River Basin after Chang'an and Luoyang. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan and his son raised troops in Taiyuan. After establishing the capital in Chang'an, they regarded Taiyuan as the "Northern Capital", which means "other capital". During the Five Dynasties period, the Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han and Northern Han Dynasties all started out based in Shanxi. During China's feudal society, Shanxi's status was very important, and due to its special geographical location, the more troubled the times, the more important it became. Whoever owns Shanxi can dominate the world. Therefore, Gu Zuyu of the Qing Dynasty pointed out in "Minutes of Reading History Fangyu": The situation in the world must be based on Shanxi. During the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, Shanxi's economy and culture took a leading position in northern China. In the Ming Dynasty, Shanxi Xingzhongshu Province was established in Taiyuan, and later it was changed to Chengxuanzheng Envoy Department, which took charge of the five prefectures and three states of Shanxi. In the Qing Dynasty, it began to be called Shanxi. Shanxi has a long history, a rich collection of people, and rich historical and cultural heritage. So far, it has a recorded history of three thousand years. It is known as the "Museum of Ancient Chinese Culture" and is also known as the "Cradle of Chinese Civilization." The legends of "Jingwei reclaiming the sea", "Nuwa mending the sky" and "Yu chiseling the Mengmen" happened in Shanxi. The three emperors of ancient China, Yao, Shun and Yu, all established their capitals in southern Shanxi, namely "Yao's capital Pingyang (now Linfen City)", "Shun's capital Puban (now Yongji City)", "Yu's capital Anyi (now Linfen City)" This summer county)". During the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Wen of Jin Chong'er was one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period. During the Northern Wei Dynasty, Datong (then known as Pingcheng) was once the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Taiyuan, the provincial capital, is known as the location of the "Dragon Veins" and has always been a battleground for military strategists. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan and his son launched an army in Jinyang (today's Taiyuan City), then captured Chang'an and established the Tang Dynasty. Later, Taiyuan was designated as the Tang Dynasty. The northern capital of the empire. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Central Plains suffered from successive wars and frequent famines. However, Shanxi, especially the southern Shanxi area, had a prosperous economy and a dense population, and became the main area for immigrants in the early Ming Dynasty. In half a century, Shanxi has emigrated more than a dozen times. Dahuaishu in Hongdong County was a major immigration station at that time. This is where the saying "Ask me where my ancestors are, the big locust tree in Hongdong, Shanxi" spread in many places across the country comes from. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the rise of Shanxi merchants and Shanxi bank accounts was famous both at home and abroad. The legendary ancestors of the Chinese nation, Huangdi, Yandi, and Chiyou (the three ancestors of humanities), all used Shanxi as their main areas of activity. Yao, Shun, and Yu, the three great figures in prehistoric China, all established their capitals in Shanxi. The Xia Dynasty, the first slave-holding state power in Chinese history, was also established in southern Shanxi. During the Shang Dynasty, Shanxi was the main ruling area of ??the Shang Dynasty. During the Zhou Dynasty, the Jin State, one of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn Period, rose up in Shanxi. During the Qin, Han, Wei, and Jin periods, Shanxi played a pivotal role in politics, military, economy, culture and other aspects. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Shanxi was the center of the rule of the Northern Dynasties, and the Northern Wei Dynasty once used Pingcheng (today's Datong) as its capital. Later, the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi also used Jinyang (today's Taiyuan) as their "other capital" and "accompanying capital", which promoted Shanxi's development has played a positive role. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty Li Shimin raised troops in Taiyuan and established the Tang Dynasty. From then on, Shanxi was considered by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to be the land of "Dragon Xing". Beijing". Since the Tang Dynasty, Shanxi has been famous for its special status and developed economy and culture. By the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, Shanxi still played a decisive role in the political and military situation in northern China. During the Song and Liao Dynasties, Shanxi further prospered and became the main economically and culturally developed region in northern China. In the Yuan Dynasty, there were 11 provinces in the country. Shanxi, Shandong and Hebei were called the "hinterland" of the Yuan Dynasty. Datong, Pingyang (today's Linfen) and Taiyuan became famous cities in the Yellow River Basin. At that time, Shanxi's commercial development, economic prosperity, and cultural prosperity were highly praised by Marco Polo, the great Italian traveler who traveled to China at that time. During the Ming Dynasty, Shanxi's commerce developed rapidly and once led the country. After China entered a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, Shanxi's economic and cultural development was severely damaged. However, the people of Shanxi heroically resisted the invasion of foreign enemies. Especially during the Anti-Japanese War and the War of Liberation, the people of Shanxi fought more tenaciously and wrote countless heroic stories on the land of the Three Shanxi Provinces. The Pingxingguan Victory, the Hundred Regiment Battle, and the Shangdang Battle will forever be remembered in history. In April 1949, the whole province was liberated. In September, the Shanxi Provincial People's Government was established, opening a new chapter in the history of Shanxi's socialist revolution and construction. Over the past decades, the people of Shanxi have made significant contributions to the country's socialist construction. The Yellow River flows through Shanxi and has given birth to countless heroes and people with lofty ideals. In various historical periods of China, Shanxi has produced many politicians, strategists, scientists, writers, and historians.

The most famous ones include Chong'er, one of the overlords of the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Wen of Jin, Wu Zetian, China's only female emperor and an outstanding politician in the Tang Dynasty, Xue Rengui, the white-robed general, Guan Yu and Zhang Liao, China's "Martial Saints" and famous generals during the Three Kingdoms period, There are Di Renjie and Pei Du, the famous prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, the famous generals of the Han Dynasty who fought against the Xiongnu and went down in history, Pei Xiu, the cartographer of the Western Jin Dynasty who founded the "Six-body Cartography", and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", one of the four famous works in ancient China. The author Luo Guanzhong includes the famous poets Bai Juyi, Wang Bo, Wang Zhihuan, Wang Wei, and Wang Changling of the Tang Dynasty; the famous writer, philosopher, and political reformer Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty; the famous politician Sima Guang of the Song Dynasty; and the writers and poets of the Jin Dynasty. Yuan Haowen included Guan Hanqing, Bai Pu, and Zheng Guangzu, three famous dramatists among the four great masters of Yuan opera, and Fu Shan, a thinker, writer, medical scientist, calligrapher and painter in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, who was praised by Emperor Jiajing as "the direct minister of the world". "Gao Jin, Yang Shenxiu, one of the Six Gentlemen of the Reform Movement of 1898 in the late Qing Dynasty, Xu Xiangqian, Fu Zuoyi, etc. among the top ten famous generals. Shanxi is full of outstanding people, and there is no shortage of people from generation to generation. Among them, Shanxi merchants have traveled all over China and are famous all over the world.

Historical Relics

As early as 1.8 million years ago, the ancestor of the Chinese nation lit a fire at a place called Xihoudu at the bend of the Da (Yellow) River in Ruicheng, southern Shanxi. The fire was the first fire in the true sense of human history. From then on, it started a splendid civilization with a long history of a great nation. Xiangfen, also located in southern Shanxi, also has a long history: the "Dingcunren" ruins and the Taosi Xia Dynasty ruins are well-known at home and abroad. The Spring and Autumn Jincheng ruins in Houma show the splendor and majesty of the capital of Jin, the overlord of the Spring and Autumn Period. In addition, there are also precious cultural relics such as the Baipo Barrier where the Yellow Turban Army Guo Taibu stationed troops in the late Han Dynasty; the "Pujing Temple" built in the Jin Dynasty in Shiwei Village; and the residential buildings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Ding Village. Shanxi is one of the main representatives of the profound Yellow River culture. Ancient human cultural sites, ancient imperial cities, Baosha temples, grotto monuments, sculptures and murals, ancient pagodas and ancient tombs, Buddhist and Taoist holy sites, dangerous forts and passes, as well as revolutionary cultural relics and historical sites, etc., string together throughout the province from north to south, forming the ancient and modern landscape of Shanxi. Both have a rich and colorful cultural landscape. At present, more than 70% of the country's well-preserved ancient ground-level ancient buildings from the Song and Jin Dynasties are located in the province, and there are more than 119 national-level key protected cultural relics with precious value. Famous tourist attractions include: Yungang Grottoes, Hanging Temple in Datong tourist area and Beiyue Hengshan, one of the Five Mountains in China; Yingxian Wooden Pagoda and Chongfu Temple in Shuozhou tourist area; Wutai Mountain, Luya Mountain, Daishan Mountain in Xinzhou tourist area The hometown of the Yang family generals in the county; the Jinci Temple, Tianlongshan Grottoes, Dou Dafu Temple, Xuanzhong Temple, Guashan and Tianning Temple, and Wenshui Zetian Temple in the Taiyuan tourist area; the Pingyao Ancient City in Jinzhong, and the mansions of Shanxi merchants in the past ; Yao Temple in Linfen tourist area, the Big Sophora Tree and Guangsheng Temple in Hongdong County, Hukou Waterfall on the Yellow River in Ji County, and Houma Jindu ruins; Jiezhou Guandi Temple in Yuncheng tourist area, Ruicheng Yongle Palace murals, Xia County Sima Guang's Tomb, Yongji Yellow River Tieniu, Yongji Pujiu Temple and Yingying Tower, Wanrong Feiyun Tower, etc. Among them, Pingyao Ancient City, Yungang Grottoes, and Wutai Mountain have been listed as world cultural heritage.