Hedong

Hedong, written as 河东 in Chinese, is a toponym that literally means “east of the river.” It is commonly used in Chinese geography to label areas situated to the east of a major watercourse, and it remains a familiar place-name element in many cities.

In modern administrative divisions, Hedong appears as district-level names in several Chinese cities. The most prominent examples are Hedong District in Tianjin, a municipality directly administered by the central government, located on the eastern bank of the Hai River. Another widely recognized Hedong District is in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province, which likewise adopts the east-of-river naming convention for its urban district.

Historically, Hedong was also the name of administrative regions in imperial China. Hedong Commandery (and related variants) were used in various dynasties to describe jurisdictions east of a major river, most often associated with the general area east of the Yellow River. Over time, the term continued to appear in maps, historical records, and literary references as a generic designation for eastern riverine regions.

Beyond these districts, Hedong also appears in other local place names at county or town levels across different provinces. As a geographic toponym, its defining feature remains the implied position relative to a river, rather than any single fixed locality.