Dàníng

Daning lies in the mountains north of the Yangtze gorges, on the river that bears its name. Nearby Ningchang grew around a natural brine spring at the foot of Baoyuan Mountain. Salt makers boiled the brine in pans, and their product travelled along mountain paths and waterways to markets beyond the valley. Salt revenues were of greater consequence to the county than its modest land tax.

The saltworks suffered disruption during the wars of the Ming-Qing transition. Under the Qing they gradually recovered: between 1665 and 1766 the number of working furnaces rose to as many as 336 as production revived. Merchants and salt workers gathered in the narrow valley, where the smoke of the furnaces became a familiar sight beneath the steep slopes.