Yìzhōu

Yizhou lies in southern Shandong, amid hills and orchards famous for their pomegranates. Local tradition credits the Han minister Kuang Heng with bringing the fruit home from imperial gardens; by the Ming, growers had established extensive orchards. The fruit was traded over long distances, and a sweet, soft-seeded variety was later sent to the Qing court as tribute. In 1369 the Ming reduced Yizhou to Yi County, which came under Yanzhou prefecture in 1385.