Xuancheng
prefecture-level city in Anhui, China
Xuancheng (Chinese: 宣城; pinyin: Xuānchéng; Xuanzhou Wu: Shye-san) is a city in the southeast of Anhui province. Archeological digs suggest that the city has been settled for over 4,000 years, and has been under formal administration since the Qin dynasty. Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta, it borders Wuhu to the northwest, Chizhou to the west, Huangshan to the southwest, and the coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu to the southeast and northeast respectively.
History
Archeological digs in Xuancheng have found pottery and stoneware indicative of the Liangzhu Culture.
During the Spring and Autumn period, the area belonged to the State of Wu, although, upon the decline of Wu, the area was also ruled by the State of Chu and the State of Yue, respectively.
Under the Qin dynasty, the area was administered as Zhang Commandery (Chinese: 鄣郡), which became the Danyang Commandery in 109 BCE, under the Western Han dynasty. During the Danyang Commandery, Wanling (Chinese: 宛陵, presently Xuanzhou District, the site of the Xuancheng Municipal Government) served as the administrative center. Xuanzhou has been the political, economic and cultural center of administration since then. In 281 CE, Xuancheng Commandery was established.
Xuancheng became a prefecture-level city in 2000.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Xuancheng” as prefecture-level city in Anhui, 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 prefecture-level city in Anhui, 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 Dec 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q360942. VIAF identifies the subject as 268723723. Authority coordinates are 30.948, 118.752. 1 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. 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 “Xuancheng”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Xuancheng primary sources, Xuancheng archive and Xuancheng 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 “Xuancheng”?
- 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 “Xuancheng” 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.