Jiànchāng

Jianchang was a regional administrative centre in the country now called Xichang in southwestern Sichuan. Under the Yuan, Jianchang Route was governed from Jian'an and belonged to Yunnan. The Ming advance changed its administrative position: in 1382 the route became a prefecture and military guard, while the locality served as the seat of the Sichuan regional military commission.

The old city's surviving layout is associated with construction in the Hongwu reign, with an official heritage account dating its beginnings to 1387. Walls, gates and streets gave physical form to a centre joining military administration with urban settlement. Under the Qing, the institutional names changed again. In 1728, Jianchang's supervising administration was reorganised as Ningyuan Prefecture, with its seat in the newly established Xichang County. The place consequently retained its regional role while successive dynasties replaced the offices governing it. Jianchang's Ming city and Qing prefectural seat represent connected stages in the administration of the valleys and mountain country south of the Dadu River.