Gaochun County Detached from Lishui in 1491

Background

The gazetteer gives the detachment in a single sentence and no reason for it. The only Hongzhi entry before it records a severe drought in 1488, and the gazetteer does not connect the two. The motive must be sought in other sources; this entry does not speculate.

Time and place

The detachment took place in 1491. What was detached was the southwestern part of Lishui, and the new county was named Gaochun.

四年辛亥，析溧水西南境置高淳县。 — Kangxi Lishui County Gazetteer, 卷之一·邑纪·四年辛亥

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

The Ming Shi, juan 40 (Geography I), also records Gaochun: "Gaochun (south of the prefecture). In the fourth year of Hongzhi it was set up from the Gaochun township of Lishui County. To the southwest are the lakes Gucheng, Danyang and Shijiu. To the southeast is Guangtong, commonly called Dongba, where there is a Guangtong inspection station." The history makes the basis of the county "the Gaochun township of Lishui County", which differs from the gazetteer's "the southwestern part of Lishui was detached to form Gaochun County": one founds the county on a township, the other detaches a territory. The two are set side by side. The history also places Guangtong "southeast" of Gaochun, commonly called Dongba, showing that Guangtong passed to Gaochun after the division, unlike its allegiance when the sluices were set up in 1403.

Consequences

After the division Gaochun and Lishui were separate counties, Lishui's territory shrank, and the lakeside land in the southwest no longer belonged to it. The two counties long stood side by side, as appears from the gazetteer's entry for 1600: the Lishui residents Zhang Xiao, Xiong Zicheng and others petitioned the throne, saying that the dam at Guangtong had left the upper waters without an outlet, that more than 80,000 mu of fertile lakeside fields had been destroyed and the quota tax apportioned among the remaining households, and asking with tears for the commutation of grain tax "on the Gaochun precedent". In 1622 the prefect of Yingtian Prefecture, Xu Bida, and others jointly memorialised, and perpetual commutation of Lishui's grain tax was granted.

Uncertainties

First, the gazetteer gives no reason for the detachment, no boundary, and no figures for households or land; nor does it explain the name Gaochun. The Ming Shi supplies only the basis of the county, "the Gaochun township of Lishui County", and still no reason or boundary.

Second, it does not say when Gaochun began to commute its grain tax, referring only to "the Gaochun precedent".

Third, the extent of Lishui after the division is not recorded, and no boundary is drawn here.

Fourth, on the framing of the change: the Ming Shi says the county was set up "from the Gaochun township of Lishui County", the Kangxi gazetteer that "the southwestern part of Lishui was detached to form Gaochun County" — not mutually exclusive, yet not identical, and set side by side without choosing.

Fifth, on the seven layers of sources searched: the official websites layer, the published documents and lists layer, the academic layer, the media layer and the maps and fieldwork layer yielded nothing directly on the detachment of 1491; the classical-text layer yielded only the one item in the Ming Shi, juan 40. The core fact rests on two independent sources, the gazetteer and the history, but reason, boundary and figures are wanting in both, so the confidence remains medium.