Xuānzhōu

The Xuānzhōu culture covers the hilly country of southern Anhui between the Tianmu range and Mount Huangshan, centered on Xuancheng and taking in Wuhu, Dangtu, Ningguo and Jingxian. In the Spring and Autumn period it passed between Wu, Yue and Chu; the Qin made it Zhang Commandery in the third century BC, and in 109 BC the Han reorganized it as Danyang Commandery with its seat at Wanling, the future Xuancheng, which became Xuancheng Commandery's seat in 281 and remained the regional center.

Its speech is the Xuanzhou division of Wu, or Western Wu, the most internally diverse Wu branch, carrying strong Jianghuai Mandarin influence and sound innovations of its own.

Through the Yuan, Ming and Qing it was known for crafts rather than politics, above all Xuan rice paper, writing brushes and inkstones sold across China, while the southern hills bordered the merchant country of Huizhou.