Zhili, alternately romanized as Chihli, was a northern administrative region of China since the 14th century that lasted through the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty until 1911, when the region was dissolved, converted to a province, and renamed Hebei in 1928.

[1] Zhili province was first constituted during the Ming dynasty when the capital of China was located at Nanjing along the Yangtze River.

In 1403, the Ming Yongle Emperor relocated the capital to Beiping, which was subsequently renamed Beijing.

[2] The region known as North Zhili was composed of parts of the modern provinces of Hebei, Henan, Shandong, including the provincial-level municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin.

In the 18th century the borders of Zhili province were redrawn and spread over what is today Beijing, Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Western Liaoning, Northern Henan, and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.