Xīchōng

Xichong lies among the hills west of the Jialing River in Sichuan. Its county was established under the Tang in 621, and later came under Shunqing. The local gazetteer traces its complicated relationship with the old counties of Chongguo and Nanchong, whose territories were repeatedly divided and rearranged. In 1377 the early Ming government abolished Xichong and incorporated it into Nanchong; three years later it restored the county under Shunqing Prefecture. Its separate name thus survived the changes imposed on the surrounding administrative landscape.