Granulite xenoliths, sourced from the lower cratonic crust and brought to the Earth's surface within volcanic rocks, offer unique insights into the formation and destruction of cratons. Age determinations are essential for constructing the thermal history of cratons. However, accurate dating is complicated by the xenoliths' extended exposure to high temperatures and their complex thermal histories. Specifically, the effects of extended lower crust residency and entrainment heating on coupled SmNd and LuHf systematics remain to be explored. Six xenoliths hosted in the Mesozoic dioritic porphyry from the eastern North China Craton were sampled from center to edge using micro-drilling/sawing techniques. From each xenolith, two to four concentric zones were successfully extracted for coupled LuHf and SmNd geochronological analysis. These xenoliths predominantly exhibit a granoblastic texture, with minerals that are mostly unzoned. Textural and chemical analyses of minerals indicate a decompression process following the granulite-facies metamorphism, with subsequent multiple reheating events. Thermobarometric calculations suggest granulite-facies equilibration at temperatures of ~750 °C and pressures of 1.2–2.0 GPa. Consistent LuHf and UPb ages of ca. 1.7 Ga, obtained from garnet, zircon, and titanite in chemical and textural equilibrium, are attributed to granulite-facies metamorphism. The Paleoproterozoic LuHf ages and the Neoproterozoic SmNd dates are indistinguishable across all concentric zones within each xenolith, whereas SmNd ages are consistently ~1.0 Ga younger than the corresponding LuHf ages. This discrepancy suggests a complex history for this section of the lower cratonic crust, marked by a granulite-facies metamorphic event around 1.7 Ga, followed by prolonged cooling. A significant heating event during the Tonian, likely due to regional mantle plume activity, is inferred to have partially or completely reset the SmNd isochrons. This thermal event and subsequent thermal relaxation on the samples at different residence depths thereby decoupled the SmNd system from the LuHf system, signifying a thermal pulse at the southern margin of North China Craton. The Mesozoic entrainment heating event appears to have had minimal impact on the Lu–Hf/Sm–Nd systematics of garnet and UPb of zircon/titanite. Our data highlight the potential of coupled microsampling LuHf and SmNd geochronology on individual xenoliths to reveal tectonic episodes within the lower crust that might be undetected by accessory mineral UPb geochronology.