Yǒngshùn

Yǒngshùn was the seat of a powerful hereditary chiefship in western Hunan, ruled for generations by the Péng family. Their authority grew from the old Xīzhōu region, whose chiefs negotiated boundaries with the rulers of Chu in the tenth century. The Ming recognised Yǒngshùn as a native pacification commission, ruling a network of subordinate offices across the mountain valleys. In the late Ming, chief Péng Yuánjǐn rebuilt the old chief's town with brick and timber buildings on terraced ground. The chiefship survived into the Qing, but in 1729 its ruler Péng Zhàohuái surrendered his authority and the government created Yǒngshùn Prefecture. The former hereditary domains were reorganised into counties administered by appointed officials.