Xīngzhōng

Xingzhong, on the Daling River, was an important centre of western Liaoning under the Liao and Jin. Its Buddhist pagodas rose above a town whose history reached back to the capitals of the Yan states. The North Pagoda incorporated earlier structures beneath its Liao exterior, while other towers gave the settlement the name Three Pagodas in later times. The Yuan reduced Xingzhong from a superior prefecture to a prefecture, and the Ming established military guards there. Under the Qing, Three Pagodas became an administrative centre again: a subprefecture was established in 1774 and replaced by Chaoyang County in 1778. The old towers endured through these changes of government.