Hepu County
county in Beihai, Guangxi, China
Hepu (Chinese: 合浦; pinyin: Hépǔ), alternately romanized as Hoppo, Hopu or Hop'u, is a county under the administration of Beihai City in southeastern Guangxi, China. It borders Lianjiang (Guangdong) to the southeast, Bobai County to the northeast, the Gulf of Tonkin to the south, Qinzhou to the west, and Pubei County to the north. Then-Premier Li Peng called this place "the Southern Pearl County" (南珠之乡) in November 1992. The county was once known as Lianzhou (Postal: Limchow). It has an area of 2,380 km2 (920 sq mi) and a population of 930,914 as of 2003.
About 300,000 of the inhabitants are of Hakka descent.
History
In antiquity, Hepu county was originally part of a larger county which encompassed part of Guangxi, Guangdong and even parts of Hainan. It was established in 111 BCE by Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty, during the first Chinese domination of Vietnam. During the brief interruption of the Han dynasty by Wang Mang, many of his opponents were exiled and banished to Hepu.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hepu County” as county in Beihai, Guangxi, China. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as county in Beihai, Guangxi, China. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1268277. VIAF identifies the subject as 151354904. The Library of Congress control number is n86088065. Authority coordinates are 21.667, 109.200. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1992 and 2003.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hepu County”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hepu County primary sources, Hepu County archive and Hepu research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hepu County”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hepu County” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.