Lìchuān

Lichuan lies in the highlands of southwestern Hubei, on the upper Qing River near the border with Chongqing, among the Tujia and Miao peoples of the Wuling Mountains. Under the Yuan and Ming the country belonged to hereditary native chiefs, among them the lords of Shinan, Zhonglu and Shaxi, who were confirmed by the court in their offices but ruled their valleys themselves.

In 1565 the Zhiluo chief Huang Zhong rose against the Ming and was put down; the court then replaced his lordship with an appointed garrison, the Zhiluo suo, one of the early steps towards direct rule in this country. The old order ended in 1735, when the Yongzheng government replaced the native offices with appointed officials, and the lands of Shinan, Zhonglu and Shaxi were joined with part of Enshi to form Lichuan County. Several formerly separate chieftaincies thus came under a single magistrate.