Hedong area is one of the main birthplaces of the Chinese nation and the cradle of Chinese civilization. The ancient capital of Yao, Shun and Yu is in Hedong. The ancient Hedong refers to Gankun Bay, Hukou Waterfall in Yumenkou (Gulongmen), which is located in the southwest of Shanxi and east of Stork House in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in Qin Jin Grand Canyon.
Hedong region has made indelible contributions to the development of Chinese civilization. Xun Zi, a famous thinker in the Warring States Period, Fa Xian, the first monk in China to learn from the Western Heaven, Wang Tong, a great scholar in Sui Dynasty, Wang Bo, William Wang, Wang Wei, Wang Zhihuan, Wang Changling, Lu Lun, Song Wen, Liu Zongyuan, Bai Juyi and Si Kongtu, great writers in Yuan Dynasty, Yuan Haowen, Bai Pu and Zheng Guangzu and Luo Guanzhong in Ming Dynasty.