Píngjiāng

Pingjiang lies in northeastern Hunan, within the river country connected to Yuezhou and the Dongting Lake region. Hills, cultivated valleys, and waterways gave local communities a setting in which agriculture depended on careful use of uneven land. Rice growing in suitable low ground could be combined with upland crops, woodland products, and household crafts, while market routes linked villages with the larger commercial world of the middle Yangtze.

The county was called Changjiang under the Tang and received the name Pingjiang during the Later Tang. It was raised to a prefecture under the Yuan, then returned to county status under the Ming, when it belonged to Yuezhou prefecture. The Miluo River flows west across the district toward Dongting Lake, linking its hill country with the wider lake basin.