Hengyang

Hengyang (simplified Chinese: 衡阳; traditional Chinese: 衡陽; pinyin: Héngyáng; Mandarin pronunciation: [xə̌ŋ.jǎŋ]) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about 160 km (99 mi) south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, whom 1,290,715 lived in the built-up (or metro) area consisting of 4 urban districts, Nanyue District not being conurbated yet. Hengyang is home to University of South China, Hengyang Normal University, and Hunan Institute of Technology, three major provincial public universities in the city.[3] The former name of the city was Hengzhou (Hengchow) (衡州; Héngzhōu[4]). This was the capital of a prefecture in the Tang dynasty's Jiangnan and West Jiangnan circuits. Li Jingxuan was banished to superintendence of Hengzhou after feigning an illness and attempting to usurp control of the legislative bureau at Chang'an against the Gaozong Emperor's wishes in AD 680. Following the AD 705 coup that removed the Empress Wu Zetian from power, her ally Li Jiongxiu was also briefly demoted to superintendence of this province. During the reign of Emperor Muzong, the chancellor Linghu Chu was also demoted to this province for his underlings' alleged corruption.