Dongping County

Dongping County 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.

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.

In 1438, migrating Hui people introduced Islam to Dongping County. During the reign of the Wanli Emperor, the was built.

During the Cultural Revolution in Dongping County, religious activities were prohibited. Mosques were destroyed, imams were expelled, and the Quran was burned. The practice of Islam in the county was resumed in 1979.

The Shandong provincial government and the Dongping County government allocated special funding to restore Zhoucheng Mosque in 1997, and again in 2001.

Administration
As 2020, this county is divided to 3 subdistricts, 9 towns and 2 townships.
 * Subdistricts
 * (东平街道)
 * Zhoucheng Subdistrict (州城街道)
 * Pengji Subdistrict (彭集街道)
 * Towns
 * Townships
 * Shanglaozhuang Township (商老庄乡)
 * Jiuxian Township (旧县乡)

Demographics
In 2016, Dongping County had a permanent population of about 762,100 people, of which, 41.35% lived in urban areas.

Vital statistics
As of 2016, Dongping County had a birth rate of 14.9 per thousand, and a death rate of 5.0 per thousand, giving the county a rate of natural increase of 9.9 per thousand.

Ethnic groups
Most of the county's population is ethnically Han Chinese, however, Dongping County is home to 18 ethnic minorities, comprising about 4,300 people. The largest ethnic minority is the Hui people, who number about 4,100 as of 2016. Other ethnic minorities in the county include the Mongolian, Tibetan, Miao, Dong, Bai, Tujia, Hani, Dai, Lisu, Li, Jingpo, Yi, Zhuang, Buyi, Korean, Manchu, and Wa peoples. With the exception of the Hui people, many of Dongping County's ethnic minorities recently moved to the county for work, marriage, or other regions, and are not concentrated in any particular place within the county. The county has four designated ethnic villages:  in, Xiwangzhuang Village  in , Zhanzhuang Village  in , and Beimen Village  in Zhoucheng Subdistrict.

Hui people
Unlike the other minorities in Dongping County, the Hui people are concentrated within certain areas within the county. Large concentrations of Hui people can be found in Laohu, Zhoucheng Subdistrict, and Dongping Subdistrict. Smaller concentrations can be found within, Xinhu, , , and Shanglaozhuang Township.

Language
The Dongping dialect, a dialect of Mandarin Chinese, is spoken widely throughout the county. In some southern portions of the county, as well as regions surrounding Dongping Lake, retroflexes are dropped, resulting in certain characters with different pronunciations in Standard Mandarin (such as and ) being pronounced similarly. Some areas in the southeast and north of the county also employ erhua.

Religion
As of 2021, Dongping County is home to 19 religious venues approved by the county government, representing 5 different faith groups: Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Daoism, and Buddhism. These venues include the and the Daoist site of.

Notable people

 * Zhongli Chun, Qi consort from
 * , Red Eyebrows commander
 * , Han dynasty scholar and writer
 * , Northern Qi monk and calligrapher
 * Cheng Yaojin, Tang dynasty general
 * He Ning, Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period official
 * and, Song dynasty father and son zhuangyuan
 * Liang Kai, Song dynasty painter
 * , Song dynasty pediatrician
 * Wang Zhen, Yuan dynasty inventor, engineer, writer, and politician
 * , Yuan dynasty dramatist
 * Luo Guanzhong (disputed), Yuan dynasty writer
 * , Ming dynasty politician
 * , Ming dynasty scholar