Língwǔ

Lingwu lies in the Yellow River country of Ningxia, where irrigation supports farming close to dry steppe and desert approaches. The names Lingwu and Lingzhou have been applied to changing administrative jurisdictions and sites in this region. Under the Yuan the name Lingzhou was restored after the Western Xia period.

Flooding forced the Ming authorities to move the walled seat several times. In 1428 it was rebuilt at the site of present-day Lingwu, where it remained a prefecture under the Qing. Fields and irrigation channels linked the town with the productive plain and its wider frontier society.