Jehol

Jehol is a historic geographic region in northern China, traditionally centered in areas now part of Hebei, Liaoning, and Inner Mongolia. The name derives from the Chinese term for the region, commonly rendered in English as Jehol or Rehe (热河) in older transliterations.

Historically, the Jehol region held political and cultural significance in imperial and modern times. It includes the area around Chengde, where the Qing dynasty built the Chengde Mountain Resort as a summer residence and political center during the 18th and early 19th centuries. The region thus figured in the broader history of northern China and the Qing administration’s outreach beyond the capital.

In the early 20th century, the area was associated with the Republic of China’s Rehe Province (热河省). After the Mukden Incident in 1931, Japanese forces occupied the region and it was incorporated into the puppet state of Manchukuo before being returned to China after World War II. Today the name Jehol is mainly encountered in historical references and in paleontological contexts rather than as an administrative unit.

Paleontology significantly shaped the modern prominence of the name Jehol. The Jehol Group, comprising formations such as the Yixian and Jiufotang in Liaoning and adjacent areas, yields a rich Early Cretaceous fossil record. The Jehol Biota is renowned for exceptionally preserved specimens, including feathered dinosaurs and early birds, dating roughly to 133–120 million years ago. These fossils have made Jehol a key reference point in studies of dinosaur–bird evolution and Early Cretaceous ecosystems.

Today, Jehol is primarily used in historical and scientific contexts, particularly in discussions of Qing-era geography and the Jehol Biota of the Early Cretaceous.