The Shanxi Rift is a young, active rift in northern China that formed atop a Proterozoic orogen. The impact of these structures on active rift faults is poorly understood. Here, we quantify the landscape response to active faulting and compare it with published maps of inherited structures. We find that inherited structures played an important role in the segmentation of the Shanxi Rift and in the development of rift interaction zones, which are the most active regions in the Shanxi Rift.