page_title: Changsha
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Changsha / History / Early history
context_page_description: Changsha is the capital and most populous city of Hunan Province in the south central part of the People's Republic of China. It covers 11,819 km² and is bordered by Yueyang and Yiyang to the north, Loudi to the west, Xiangtan and Zhuzhou to the south, Yichun and Pingxiang of Jiangxi province to the east. According to the 2010 census, Changsha has 7,044,118 residents, constituting 10.72% of the province's population. It is part of the Chang-Zhu-Tan city cluster or megalopolis.
  Changsha is in the Xiang River valley plain, bordering the Luoxiao Mountains on the east, Wuling Mountains on the west, edging in Dongting Lake on the north and bounded on the south by the Hengshan Mountains. It has a monsoonal humid subtropical climate, with an average annual air temperature of 16.8 to 17.3 °C and an annual rainfall of 1,358.6 to 1,552.5 mm.
  Changsha has a history of more than 3,000 years. Changsha was the capital of Changsha Kingdom in the Han Dynasty, and the capital of the Chu State in the Ten Kingdoms period. The lacquerware and Silk Texts recovered from Mawangdui there are an indication of the richness of local craft traditions.
context_section_description: Development started around 3000 BC when Changsha developed with the proliferation of Longshan culture, although there is no firm evidence of such a link. Evidence exists that people lived and thrived in the area during the Bronze Age. Numerous examples of pottery and other objects have been discovered.
  Later Chinese legends related that the Flame and Yellow Emperors visited the area. Sima Qian's history states that the Yellow Emperor granted his eldest son Shaohao the lands of Changsha and its neighbors. During the Spring and Autumn Period (8th–5th century BC), the Yue culture spread into the area around Changsha. During the succeeding Warring States Period, Chu took control of Changsha. Its capital, Qingyang, became an important southern outpost of the kingdom. In 1951–57 archaeologists explored numerous large and medium-sized Chu tombs from the Warring States Era. More than 3,000 tombs have been discovered. Under the Qin (221–206 BC), Changsha was a staging post for expeditions south into Guangdong that led to its conquest and the establishment of the Nanyue kingdom.
  Under the Han (3rd century BC – 3rd century AD), Linxiang was the capital of the kingdom of Changsha. At first this was a client state held by Liu Bang's Baiyue ally Wu Rui that served as a means of controlling the restive Chu people and as a buffer state against Nanyue. By 202 BC, Linxiang had city walls to protect it against uprisings and invasions. The famous Mawangdui tombs were constructed between 186 and 165 BC. Lady Xin Zhui was buried in the earliest tomb (No. 2) and, during its excavation in the 1970s, was found to have been very well preserved. More importantly, the tombs included the earliest surviving copies of the Tao Te Ching and other important literary and historical documents.
  When Wu Rui's descendant Wu Zhu (吳著, Wú Zhù) died childless in 157 BC, the kingdom was granted to a cadet branch of the imperial family as their fief. The kingdom was abolished under Wang Mang's short-lived Xin dynasty and briefly revived by the Eastern Han. In AD 33, its prince was demoted and the area administered as Linxiang County and Changsha Commandery. Following the turmoil of the Three Kingdoms, Emperor Wu of Jin granted Changsha to the sixth son of a general of the imperial family named Sima Yi. The local government had over 100 counties at the beginning of the dynasty. Over the course of the dynasty, the local government of Changsha lost control over a few counties, leaving them to local rule. Following the turmoil of the Northern and Southern dynasties, the Sui (6th century) renamed Changsha Tan Prefecture or Tanzhou. Changsha's 3-tier administration was simplified to a 2-tier state and county system, eliminating the middle canton region.
  Under the Tang, Changsha prospered as a center of trade between central China and Southeast Asia but suffered during the Anshi Rebellion, when it fell to the rebels. Under the Song dynasty, the Yuelu Academy was founded in 976. It was destroyed by war in 1127 and rebuilt in 1165, during which year the celebrated philosopher Zhu Xi taught there. It was again destroyed by the Mongols during the establishment of the Yuan before being restored in the late 15th century under the Ming. Early 19th-century graduates of the academy formed what one historian called a "network of messianic alumni", including Zeng Guofan, architect of the Tongzhi Restoration, and Cai E, a major leader in the defense of the Republic of China. In 1903 the academy became Hunan High School. Modern-day Hunan University is also a descendant of the academy. Some of its buildings were remodeled from 1981 to 1986 according to their presumed original Song design.
  During the Mongol conquest of the Southern Song, Tanzhou was fiercely defended by the local Song troops. After the city finally fell, the defenders committed mass suicide. Under the Ming (14th–17th centuries), Tanzhou was again renamed Changsha and made a superior prefecture.
caption: Four-goat Square Zun
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