Fengyang County
Encyclopedia
Fengyang County is a county of Anhui Province
, China
. It is under the administration of Chuzhou
prefecture-level city
.
peoples inhabited this area and were collectively known as the Huaiyi after the Huai River. During the late Western Zhou Period and the early Spring and Autumn Period, the Dongyi became increasingly sinicized and formed their own states. During the late Spring and Autumn Period, the once-powerful Dongyi state of Xu
was pressured from all directions and destroyed through a series of wars with its neighbors, such as the Chu
State and the Wu
State. Another Dongyi State was the small Zhongli State, which was a part of the Huaiyi Confederation led by the State of Xu. Tombs belonging to the royalty of the Zhongli State were discovered in excavations between 2005 and 2008 near Fengyang. Eventually, the Huaiyi peoples were either pushed south or assimilated.
Fengyang's best known historical site is linked with the name of the county's most famous native, Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398). Although coming from a poor family, he became an important rebel leader and, later, the founder of China's Ming Dynasty
. Once entrenched as an emperor in the nearby Nanjing
, he honored the memory of his father, Zhu Wusi (d. 1344), and his mother, Lady Chen, by posthumously raising them to imperial dignity, and building for them an imperial-style mausoleum, known as Huangling (皇陵, literally, "Imperial Mausoleum"). The emperor even started building the new imperial capital, named Zhongdu (中都, "The Central Capital") near his childhood hometown, but the idea was eventually abandoned.
The stone figures of the Huangling mausoleum's have survived, and have been re-erected at the original location, some 7 km south of the county seat ((32°48′50"N 117°31′10"E)).
The mausoleum statuary and the remains of the capital-building project are protected as a national historic site known as "Zhongdu Imperial City of the Ming and the Imperial Mausoleum's Statuary" (明中都皇故城及皇陵石刻).
Anhui
Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. It is under the administration of Chuzhou
Chuzhou
Chuzhou is a prefecture-level city in eastern Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the southwest, Huainan to the west, Bengbu to the northwest, Chaohu to the south, and the province of Jiangsu to the east...
prefecture-level city
Prefecture-level city
A prefectural level city , prefectural city or prefectural level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. Prefectural level cities form the second level of the administrative...
.
Historical sites
During the Xia, Shang and early Zhou dynasties, the DongyiDongyi
Dongyi was a collective term for people in eastern China and in lands located to the east of ancient China. People referred to as Dongyi vary across the ages.The early Dongyi culture was one of earliest neolithic cultures in China....
peoples inhabited this area and were collectively known as the Huaiyi after the Huai River. During the late Western Zhou Period and the early Spring and Autumn Period, the Dongyi became increasingly sinicized and formed their own states. During the late Spring and Autumn Period, the once-powerful Dongyi state of Xu
Xu (state)
The State of Xu was a vassal state of ancient China during the Zhou Dynasty and Spring and Autumn Period ruled by descendants of the Yíng family. Xu was a Dongyi state also known as Xurong , Xuyi or Xufang , all meaning either "Xu barbarians" or "Xu Proper". Xu was one of the largest and most...
was pressured from all directions and destroyed through a series of wars with its neighbors, such as the Chu
Chu (state)
The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...
State and the Wu
Wu (state)
The State of Wu , also known as Gou Wu or Gong Wu , was one of the vassal states during the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period. The State of Wu was located at the mouth of the Yangtze River east of the State of Chu. Considered a semi-barbarian state by ancient Chinese...
State. Another Dongyi State was the small Zhongli State, which was a part of the Huaiyi Confederation led by the State of Xu. Tombs belonging to the royalty of the Zhongli State were discovered in excavations between 2005 and 2008 near Fengyang. Eventually, the Huaiyi peoples were either pushed south or assimilated.
Fengyang's best known historical site is linked with the name of the county's most famous native, Zhu Yuanzhang (1328-1398). Although coming from a poor family, he became an important rebel leader and, later, the founder of China's Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
. Once entrenched as an emperor in the nearby Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, he honored the memory of his father, Zhu Wusi (d. 1344), and his mother, Lady Chen, by posthumously raising them to imperial dignity, and building for them an imperial-style mausoleum, known as Huangling (皇陵, literally, "Imperial Mausoleum"). The emperor even started building the new imperial capital, named Zhongdu (中都, "The Central Capital") near his childhood hometown, but the idea was eventually abandoned.
The stone figures of the Huangling mausoleum's have survived, and have been re-erected at the original location, some 7 km south of the county seat ((32°48′50"N 117°31′10"E)).
The mausoleum statuary and the remains of the capital-building project are protected as a national historic site known as "Zhongdu Imperial City of the Ming and the Imperial Mausoleum's Statuary" (明中都皇故城及皇陵石刻).