name, historical
(～省) Zhili (a former province in northern China from 14th-century Ming Dynasty until 1928, notably containing the city of Beijing)
verb, literary
to be directly under the jurisdiction of
Examples (Wiktionary)
Mandarin
他在学堂的时候，先生问他：“直隶省的西边是哪一省？”他说是陕西。先生说：“错了，是山西，不是陕西。”他说：“陕西同山西，不是差不多吗？”
他在學堂的時候，先生問他：“直隸省的西邊是哪一省？”他説是陝西。先生説：“錯了，是山西，不是陝西。”他説：“陝西同山西，不是差不多嗎？”
tā zài xué táng de shí hòu ， xiān shēng wèn tā ： “ zhí lì shěng de xī biān shì nǎ yī shěng ？ ” tā shuō shì shǎn xī ． xiān shēng shuō ： “ cuò le ， shì shān xī ， bù shì shǎn xī ． ” tā shuō ： “ shǎn xī tóng shān xī ， bù shì chā bù duō ma ？ ”
When he went to school, the teacher asked him: "Which province is west of Zhili Province?" He answered Shaanxi. The teacher said: "Wrong, it is Shanxi, not Shaanxi." He said: "Would Shaanxi and Shanxi not be close enough?"