Tángyì

Tangyi was a county in western Shandong, near Liaocheng. A county bearing this name was established in the Sui period, and its seat later moved to the site of the old town. Under the Yuan it belonged to Dongchang Circuit; during the Ming and Qing it was administered under Dongchang Prefecture. The town's Confucian temple dates its foundation to the Jin dynasty, reflecting the long history of county institutions and local learning. County gazetteers compiled in the Ming and Qing recorded the district and its affairs. The wider Dongchang region was linked to the Grand Canal, although the canal's trade should not be assumed to have passed through Tangyi town itself. Farming and local markets sustained the surrounding communities on the North China plain.