Shanxi - Shanxi - History: Pollen analyses from western and southern Shanxi reveal that several cereal plants were grown there as early as the 5th to the 3rd millennium bce. During the Xi (Western) Zhou period (1046–771 bce) the fief of Jin (now a colloquial and literary name for Shanxi) was established in the area of modern Quwo (east of Houma) along the Fen River valley in the southwest.
