Jiangxi’s ‘Most Controversial’ County: Formerly Part of Anhui Province
When foreigners mention Huangzhou, they immediately think of golden rapeseed flowers blooming across the mountains and fields. It's the season of blooming rapeseed flowers, and with it comes the long-standing debate about Huangzhou's affiliation, which has been going on for a long time, much more lively than the spring in the rapeseed fields.
Huangzhou, located in the upper reaches of Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province, China, originally belonged to Anhui Province. There is historical evidence that it was established as Huangzhou County during the Tang Dynasty and long-term belonged to the Huizhou Prefecture, along with Yihuan, Qimen, Xinyin, Huizhou, and Jixi, commonly known as the 'one prefecture and six counties' of Huguo () by scholars and historians. During the Song Dynasty, Huizhou Prefecture was renamed Huizhou. These six counties belonged to Huizhou for over a thousand years, resulting in intertwined connections in terms of economy, culture, and customs.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Huangzhou was assigned to Jiangxi Province. This wasn't Huangzhou's first time being assigned to Jiangxi. In 1934, Huangzhou County was already assigned to Jiangxi Province, and officials strongly opposed this division, arguing that it harmed the integrity of the Huizhou Prefecture. This sentiment has been raised over the past century. This division was originally intended for military defense. Huangzhou County is mainly composed of mountains and hills, which has always been a strategically important area, but entering Huangzhou from other counties in Anhui is quite difficult, while entering from Shangrao in Jiangxi is relatively convenient, thus the first assignment of Huangzhou to Jiangxi was for the victory of the anti-Japanese war, out of military needs.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, under the suggestions of various party members, in 1947, Huangzhou was reassigned to Anhui Province. However, due to the prolonged war, as a military stronghold, Huangzhou suffered considerable damage. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, due to economic construction factors, Huangzhou was temporarily assigned to the easily accessible region of Shangrao in Jiangxi Province until today.
Therefore, many people still have lingering doubts about Huangzhou's current affiliation. In fact, in the early years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, when the economy was poor, no one had the energy to care about the affiliation of a county. Now that the economy is prosperous, people begin to trace the hometown of Zhu Xi and to trace the Wnpai school, which is undoubtedly justifiable. After all, the material basis determines the superstructure, which also perfectly illustrates the excellent development of Huangzhou today, a fertile ground for cultural prosperity. But the controversy is just for better cultural integration and development.
A fascinating story: During the Ming Dynasty, there were two capitals in Beijing and Nanjing, so there were 'North Zhili' and 'South Zhili'. 'South Zhili' included today's Anhui, Jiangsu, and Shanghai.
During the Qing Dynasty, 'South Zhili' was changed to the Jiangnan Province, and later due to the economic and population abundance of Jiangnan, Jiangnan Province was divided into Jiangsu Province and Anhui Province.
