Wǎxiāng

Waxiang was the speech of the Waxiang people of the Wuling mountains in north-western Hunan, centred on Yuanling and reaching Dayong and neighbouring counties. Although most Waxiang speakers were counted among the Miao, their language was a divergent branch of Chinese, preserving Old Chinese initials lost almost everywhere else; its name meant roughly rural speech, with the first character used only for its sound.

These valleys were the old Qin and Han commanderies of Qianzhong and Wuling on the edge of the Chinese world. Through the Yuan and the Ming after 1368 they remained under native tusi chieftains until the Qing replaced them with imperial officials.