Guìyáng

Guiyang occupied the southern Hunan country, with its administrative seat at the place that became modern Guiyang county town. Under the Ming it formed a subprefecture within Hengzhou prefecture, governing Linwu and Lanshan as well as its directly administered territory. Its jurisdiction brought several neighbouring county communities into a common administrative framework.

In 1639 Jiahe county was created from Guiyang's directly governed lands and part of Linwu. This changed the arrangement of local administration without removing Guiyang's role as a centre above county level. A further change came in 1732, when the Yongzheng emperor approved its promotion to an independently administered subprefecture. Guiyang then governed Linwu, Lanshan and Jiahe directly under the provincial hierarchy. Its early modern history consequently included repeated adjustments to the division and supervision of surrounding territory, linking local government with decisions made by provincial and imperial authorities.