Língzhōu

Lingzhou stands on the Yellow River plain south of Yinchuan. Canals drawn from the river made fields possible in this otherwise dry region, while the river itself provided a route through the northwestern frontier. The old city was an important military and administrative centre, contested by successive powers. Its prosperity and its vulnerability both came from the Yellow River: the water that sustained the plain could also destroy the town.

Floods repeatedly damaged the old city during the Ming. After the river undermined its walls, a new site was chosen farther north in the late fourteenth century. Continued danger led to another move, and in 1428 a new Lingzhou was established at the site of Lingwu. Military offices and settlements followed the changing town, while irrigation channels continued to draw water across the plain. Under the Qing, Lingzhou became a subordinate Zhou of Ningxia Prefecture in 1725.