Chóngyáng

Chongyang lies in southeastern Hubei, among the hills south of the Yangtze. The county took the name Chongyang in 975 under the Northern Song. Under the Yuan it belonged to Wuchang Circuit, and during the Ming and Qing to Wuchang Prefecture. Its county seat and surrounding villages formed a local administrative and agricultural district distinct from the prefectural city of Wuchang. Local gazetteers record the county's mountains, rivers and changing administration, preserving a history rooted in this upland landscape rather than in the later growth of Wuhan.