Qúzhōu

The Qúzhōu culture occupies the western Jinqu basin, where rivers form the Qu River, in a region called the thoroughfare of four provinces. In the Spring and Autumn period this was Gumie; the Qin set up Taimo County in 222 BC, and the Tang established Quzhou Prefecture in 621. The local speech belongs to the Chu-Qu division of Southern Wu.

During the Southern Song flight of the 1120s, Duke Yansheng Kong Duanyou brought the southern branch of Confucius's descendants to Quzhou, where they had a family temple. Under the Yuan it became Quzhou Route, renamed Longyou Prefecture in 1359 and Quzhou Prefecture in 1366.

The Longyou merchant band, visible under the Southern Song, reached its height in the mid-Ming, dealing in paper, books and jewels. A Wanli-era saying held that Longyou men were everywhere; the band declined under the Qing.