Guìzhōu

Guizhou city stands on the eastern Yunnan-Guizhou plateau, where roads converge from the surrounding mountain country. Earlier known as Shunyuan, it was a meeting place of local rulers and imperial officials. The hereditary An family of Shuixi and Song family of Shuidong held extensive lands on opposite sides of the Yachi River, yet both maintained offices within the city.

In 1372 the Ming organised their domains under the Guizhou native administration and established a garrison. The city became the seat of a provincial administration in 1413, giving Guizhou a government of its own. In the sixteenth century Chengfan Prefecture was moved here and renamed Guiyang, the name by which the city became known. Government buildings and schools grew alongside the old native offices as the provincial centre developed. Conflict reached the city in the early seventeenth century, when rebellions led by powerful chiefs shook the southwest. The Song family's hereditary office was abolished in 1631, and much of its territory became Kaizhou. The city endured as the seat of Guiyang Prefecture under the Qing, its authority extending across a country of older chiefly domains and newer counties.