Nánlíng

Nanling lies south of the Yangtze in the Qingyi River basin. Its hills contain ancient copper mines, including the Dagongshan workings, where miners and smelters laboured from the Zhou through the Tang and Song. Archaeologists have found furnaces, roasting kilns and underground galleries among the remains. The Tang poet Li Bai lived in Nanling on several occasions and wrote of leaving its children behind as he set out for the capital. The county later produced Ding Zi, who helped compile the great Yongle Encyclopedia under the Ming.