Jiānglíng

Jiānglíng was the county seat inside the walled city of Jīngzhōu on the middle Yangtze plain, and under the Míng and Qīng the seat of Jīngzhōu Prefecture as well. Zhāng Jūzhèng, the Wànlì grand secretary who ran the Míng state for a decade, was born here in 1525. The Liáo princes kept a court in the city for generations.

The walls tell the story of the dynasties. The Southern Sòng rebuilt a circuit of 10.5 kilometers in 1186, Khubilai ordered it pulled down in 1276, and the early Míng had it rebuilt. In 1643 Zhāng Xiànzhōng's rebels tore down more than half of it. In 1646 the Qīng restored the circuit on the old foundations and renamed its gates.