Page "Zhili" Paragraph 6

The name Zhili means " directly ruled " and indicates regions directly ruled by the imperial government of China.

Zhili province was first constituted during the Ming Dynasty when the capital of China was located at Nanjing along the Yangtze River.

In 1403, the Ming Yongle Emperor relocated the capital to Beiping, which was subsequently renamed Beijing ( literally, " Northern capital ").

The region known as Northern Zhili ( Bei Zhili ) was composed of parts of the modern provinces of Hebei, Henan, Shandong, and the administrative districts of Beijing and Tianjin.

Conversely there was a region located around the " reserve capital " Nanjing known as Southern Zhili ( Nan Zhili ) that included parts of what are today the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, and the administrative district of Shanghai.