Jiǎnzhōu

Jianzhou stands in the hill country east of Chengdu on the road to Chongqing, the first prefectural city a traveller met after leaving the capital of Sichuan. The Han county here was called Niubi, and the Western Wei renamed it Yang'an after a nearby mountain. In 603 the Sui set up Jianzhou, named for the Lai Jian pond beside the town. The walls were of earth in the Tang, Song and Yuan periods, and the town served the farmers along the Tuo River. In 1373 the Ming reduced Jianzhou to a county, but in 1513 raised it to a prefecture once more, with Ziyang County under it. The Confucian temple, begun in the Song, was rebuilt in 1374.