Lishui under the Ming and Qing

The end of the Yuan and the early Ming: a prefecture reduced to a county

In the sixth month of 1355, the fifteenth year of the Zhizheng era, the Ming forces took Taiping; Xu Da took Lishui Zhou, and the local notable Yang Chong and others persuaded the sub-prefect Tie to surrender the city intact. In the following year, 1356, the Ming forces took Jiqing Circuit and made it Yingtian Prefecture, and Lishui was placed under Yingtian. In 1369, the second year of the Hongwu era of the Ming founder, Lishui Zhou was reduced to a county and an order was given to establish a county school:

明太祖洪武二年己酉，改溧水州为县。令立学。

Translated: In the second year of the Hongwu era, Lishui Zhou was changed into a county. An order was given to establish a school.

The district government's "Historical Evolution" page states that "in the second year of the Hongwu era of the Ming (1369) Lishui Zhou was changed to Lishui County, under Yingtian Prefecture", which agrees with the gazetteer. With this the prefecture that had existed since 1295 came to an end and Lishui was a county again.

Offices below county level, established and abolished

The annalistic record also notes the establishment and abolition of offices below county level under the Ming: in the second month of 1394, the twenty-seventh year of the Hongwu era, the Lishui tax office, the salt-certificate inspection office and the Dongba inspection office were set up; in 1568, the second year of the Longqing era, the Lishui tax office was abolished; and in 1570, the third year of the Longqing era, the Xujia Wharf river office was abolished. The names and the dates are as the gazetteer gives them; the reasons for setting the offices up and their locations are not recorded.

The detachment of Gaochun

In 1491, the fourth year of the Hongzhi era, the southwestern part of Lishui was detached to form Gaochun County:

四年辛亥，析溧水西南境置高淳县。

Translated: In the fourth year, the cyclical year xinhai, the southwestern part of Lishui was detached to form Gaochun County.

Gaochun and Lishui have been administered separately since then, and the territory of Lishui shrank to what remained. The boundary of the detached area is not recorded in the annalistic volume, and none is drawn here.

The Qing: under Jiangning Prefecture

In 1645, the second year of the Shunzhi era, the Qing forces crossed the Yangtze; Wang Guanying, the zhixian (county magistrate) of Lishui, abandoned his post, and Fang Zhidao, the county jailer, led the people in surrendering the city intact. In 1646, the third year of the Shunzhi era, Yingtian Prefecture was renamed Jiangning Prefecture and Lishui remained under it:

三年丙戌，改应天府为江宁府，溧水仍隶之。

Translated: In the third year, the cyclical year bingxu, Yingtian Prefecture was changed into Jiangning Prefecture, and Lishui remained under it.

The district government's account of the Qing is that "during the Qing, Lishui belonged to Jiangning Prefecture", which agrees with the gazetteer. As to units below county level, the early Qing township names appearing in the annalistic volume include Shanyang and Bailu (as in the entries for 1649, "the Wu family of Pucun in Shanyang township", and 1651, "Li Yingkui, a commoner of Bailu township, reached the age of one hundred"), which shows that townships existed below the county; their number, extent and subdivision are not recorded.

Uncertainties

First, the year in which Yingtian Prefecture became Jiangning Prefecture is placed by the annalistic record in 1646, the third year of the Shunzhi era, while the district government gives only the general statement that "during the Qing, Lishui belonged to Jiangning Prefecture" without a year. The two are set side by side.

Second, the rank of the county under the Ming and the authority to which Yingtian Prefecture itself reported are not recorded in the annalistic volume and are not written up here.

Third, neither the boundary of the area detached in 1491 nor the locations and purposes of the Ming tax and inspection offices are given in the sources.