Xiāngxī

Xiangxi denotes the Ji-Xu, or Chen-Xu, branch of Xiang Chinese, scattered through the Wuling mountains along the middle Yuan River in western Hunan. It stands apart from both New and Old Xiang, keeping only some of the Middle Chinese voiced initials, and sits beside the Miao and Tujia languages of the same hills.

Chinese rule reached the region with the expansion of the state of Chu in the third century BCE, and Han and later dynasties kept only a loose hold on its valleys.

Under the Yuan and the Ming after 1368 the native Tujia and Miao chieftains, or tusi, governed much of the area; the Qing court later replaced them with appointed officials in its gaitu guiliu reforms, tightening imperial control.