Mǐzhī

Mizhi lies in the loess hills of northern Shaanxi, where streams cut deeply into the plateau. Once a fortified settlement on the Song frontier with Western Xia, it became a county under the Jin. The Yuan incorporated neighbouring Dingrong into Mizhi, and the county remained under Suide through the Ming. In the seventeenth century Mizhi was the home district of Li Zicheng, whose uprising grew from the troubles of the late Ming into a campaign across much of China. After establishing the Shun regime at Xi'an in 1643, Li renamed his native county Tianbao. The Qing restored the name Mizhi, preserving the older name of this frontier settlement.