Dingtao County is a county under the jurisdiction of Heze

Heze

Heze is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The westernmost prefecture-level city in Shandong, it borders Jining to the east and the provinces of Henan and Anhui to the west and south respectively. The old name of Heze was Caozhou and now a part...

 in Shandong

Shandong

' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...

 province, China. It has a very long history. Its name originated during the Warring States Period

Warring States Period

The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, or the Warring Kingdoms period, covers the Iron Age period from about 475 BC to the reunification of China under the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC...

 from Fan Li

Fan Li

Fan Li was an ancient Chinese advisor in the state of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period. He had been to the state of Wu as hostage together with King Goujian of Yue. Three years later they came back and he helped Goujian to carry on a reform. At last Yue was able to defeat the state of Wu. After...

, a famous chancellor in the Yue kingdom

Yue (state)

Yue was a state in China which existed during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period , in the modern province of Zhejiang. During the Spring and Autumn Period, its capital was in Guiji , near the modern city of Shaoxing...

. The name means "where Fan Li lives." When Fan Li succeeded in helping his king avenge and create a powerful kingdom, he came to Dingtao to develop it commercially along with legendary beauty Xi Shi

Xi Shi

Xi Shi was one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China. She was said to have lived during the end of Spring and Autumn Period in Zhuji, the capital of the ancient State of Yue....

. Under Fan Li's management, Dingtao became very wealthy. Due to its special geographic location, it was called the core of the world.