Xiàogǎn

Xiàogǎn lies on the northern edge of the Jiānghàn plain, where the Fǔ and Huán rivers join south of the town. The county name goes back to the Southern dynasties. It was first Xiàochāng, "flourishing filial piety", in 454 under the Liú Sòng, after three legendary filial sons said to have lived here; in 924, under the Later Táng, it was changed to Xiàogǎn, after tales such as that of Dǒng Yǒng, who sold himself to bury his father.

Wars of the Sòng against the Jīn and the Mongols, and then the Red Turbans, emptied eastern Húběi. Under the early Míng newcomers made up about three fifths of its people, most of them from Jiāngxī, so that the country around Xiàogǎn was almost refilled. From this region many families later moved on to Sìchuān.