Tang Shuyu was a local king in the ancient state called Tang – a position given to him by his elder brother, the ruler Ji Song, during the Western Zhou Dynasty (c.11th century-771 BC). 

His decision to make use of the nearby Jin River to irrigate and foster agriculture transformed Taiyuan from barren land to a thriving city. 

When Xiefu, the son of Shuyu, succeeded his father to become the second king, he changed the fiefdom's name to Jin.

Xiefu built the Jinci Temple – which means the ancestral temple of the Jin state – to memorialize his father.