Jīnhuá

Jinhua occupies a basin in inland Zhejiang, on the Wu River's route through the Lan and Fuchun rivers to the Qiantang. This waterway connected local agricultural and woodland products with Hangzhou and the southern end of the Grand Canal. Rice and bamboo were important to its role as a collecting and processing centre; pig raising also supplied the cured ham associated with the district.

At the opening of the fourteenth century the city was the seat of Yuan Wuzhou. In 1358 Zhu Yuanzhang's forces took it during the struggle against Yuan rule, and the new administration called it Ningyue Prefecture. In 1360 the prefectural name became Jinhua, which continued under the Ming and Qing. Its official institutions included a prefectural Confucian temple and school, whose arrangement is recorded in gazetteers of 1578 and 1683. These linked ritual, education and preparation for public service within the city. The combination of a prefectural seat, productive countryside and access to Zhejiang's river network gave Jinhua a durable place in provincial administration and commerce.