Dongping County

Dongping County Chinese: 东平县
Location in Tai'an
Dongping Location of the seat in Shandong
Coordinates: 35.937°N 116.470°E / 35.937; 116.470
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Shandong
Prefecture-level city	Tai'an
Seat	35°54′30″N 116°18′00″E
Area
• Total	1,339 km2 (517 sq mi)
Population  (2019)
• Total	761,500
• Density	570/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal Code	271500
Area code	0538
Website	www.dongping.gov.cn

Dongping County (simplified Chinese: 东平县; traditional Chinese: 東平縣; pinyin: Dōngpíng Xiàn; lit. 'eastern peace') is a county in the southwestern part of Tai'an, in the west of Shandong Province, China.

In 2007 a remarkable series of well-preserved frescoes dating to the Western Han Period (206 BC - 25 AD) was discovered in a tomb as construction workers were excavating for a planned shopping mall. The frescoes show, among other things, one of the earliest pictorial representations of Confucius meeting Laozi.

Examples of the frescoes

Fresco showing Queen Mother of the West

Fresco showing Confucius and Laozi meeting

History

This region is home to many Buddhist temples and some remarkable Buddhist inscriptions, originally texts were carved during the Northern Qi, but in the eleventh century these were carved over with pictorial images of Buddhas.

Administration

Dongping Subdistrict Pengji Subdistrict Zhoucheng Subdistrict Dayang Town Timen Town Laohu Town Daimiao Town Yinshan Town Banjiudian Town Jieshan Town Xinhu Town Shahezhan Town Shanglaozhuang Township Jiuxian Township Dongping Lake

As 2020, this county is divided to 3 subdistricts, 9 towns and 2 townships.

Subdistrict

• Dongping Subdistrict (东平街道)
• Zhoucheng Subdistrict (州城街道)
• Pengji Subdistrict (彭集街道)

Towns

Jieshan (接山镇) Shanhezhan (沙河站镇) Yinshan (银山镇)

Laohu (老湖镇) Banjiudian (斑鸠店镇) Dayang (大羊镇)

Timen (梯门镇) Xinhu (新湖镇) Daimiao (戴庙镇)

Townships

• Shanglaozhuang Township (商老庄乡)
• Jiuxian Township (旧县乡)

References

• Ha, Jungmin. (2016) Shaping Religious and Cultural Aspiration: Engraved Sutras in Southwestern Shandong Province from the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577 CE), China. Phd Dissertation. Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Duke University. https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/12216/Ha_duke_0066D_13425.pdf
• Wang, Yongbo and Ledderose, Lothar. (2014) Buddhist Stone Sutras in China. (Vol.1) Shandong Sheng = Shandong Province. edited by Wang Yongbo and Lothar Ledderose.Wiesbaden : Harrassowitz ; Hangzhou : China Academy of Art Press, 2014.