Yíngdào

Yingdao was the seat of Daozhou on the Xiao River in southern Hunan. It was the birthplace of the Song philosopher Zhou Dunyi, whose writings helped lay the foundations of Neo-Confucian thought. The stream by his home was called Lianxi, a name later associated with the scholar himself.

At the beginning of the Ming, Daozhou became a prefecture with its seat at Yingdao. In 1376 the prefecture was reduced to a subprefecture under Yongzhou, and Yingdao County was absorbed into it. The city walls, rebuilt on the north bank of the Xiao in the early Ming, were enlarged and repaired in 1492. The local school later honoured Zhou and his disciples Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi in its shrine.