page_title: Fenghuang County
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Fenghuang County / History
caption_attribution_description: 中文（简体）‎: 凤凰县田家祠堂，田兴恕损资所建
context_page_description: Fenghuang County is a county of Hunan Province, China, under the administration of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture.
  Located on the western margin of the province and the southern Xiangxi, it is immediately adjacent to the eastern edge of Guizhou Province. The county is bordered to the north by Huayuan County and Jishou City, to the east by Luxi County, to the southeast by Mayang County, to the southwest and the west by Bijiang District of Tongren City and Songtao County of Guizhou. Fenghuang County covers 1,745 km², as of 2015, It had a registered population of 428,294 and a resident population of 363,700. The county has 13 towns and four townships under its jurisdiction, the county seat is Tuojiang.
context_section_description: Fenghuang County has an exceptionally well-preserved ancient town that harbours unique ethnic languages, customs, arts as well as many distinctive architectural remains of Ming and Qing styles. The town is placed in a mountain setting, incorporating the natural flow of water into city layout. Over half of the city's population belong to the Miao or Tujia minorities. It was the centre of the unsuccessful Miao Rebellion (1854–73), which created a Miao diaspora in Southeast Asia during the last two centuries.  The city is revered in Miao traditions and funeral rites and is the location of the Southern China Great Wall (中国南方长城; 中國南方長城; Zhōngguó Nánfāng Chángchéng; Miao: "Suav Tuam Choj"), a fortification built by the Ming dynasty to protect the local Han Chinese from Miao attacks.
  
  After 1913, the name of the town changed from Zhen'gan (鎮筸) to Fenghuang. 
  The ancient town of Fenghuang was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on March 28, 2008 in the Cultural category. This ancient town was regarded as the most beautiful town in China by New Zealand writer Rewi Alley. It was built in 1704, and has 300 years of history. The ancient city is a gathering place for Miao and Tujia ethnic minorities.
  The town was damaged by flooding in July 2014.
caption: The gate to the government offices built in the 1920s. The writing on top of the gate reads "Fenghuang County"
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