Duchang County 都昌县

History

In 201 BC the Han carved Qiaoyang County (鄡阳县) out of Po County (番县), with its seat at Siwang Hill, now the Qiaoyang city ruins in Sishan village of Zhouxi town (周溪镇). The name recalls a beheading: Ying Bu (黥布), King of Huainan, was killed here. In 421 the basin of Pengli Lake (彭蠡湖) subsided, the lake spread south and most of Qiaoyang went under water; the county was abolished and merged into Pengze.

Duchang County was created in 622 from land taken from Poyang and Pengze counties. Its name comes from a village called Du, with Nanchang to the south and Jianchang to the west. Between 766 and 779 the seat moved east of the lake, where it stands today. The Song poet Su Dongpo (苏东坡) wrote a poem on South Hill describing Duchang on the lake, and the Southern Song chancellor Jiang Wanli (江万里) was born in the county.

What to see

South Hill (南山) is a 4A scenic area, and the county also has the South Hill Martyrs' Cemetery (南山烈士陵园). Laoye Temple (老爷庙) is known as the "Bermuda of the East"; Jingdezhen University researchers visiting it traced the shipping history of the Poyang Lake waters. The same researchers describe Heshe village (鹤舍古村) as an Eastern Han settlement of Gan-style houses on bluestone lanes, with carved brick and timber; the Shishu enclosed house (石树围屋), a defensive walled dwelling; and the Xingfeng Tower stone inscriptions (星凤楼碑刻群), which include carved calligraphy by Su Dongpo and Huang Tingjian (黄庭坚).

Drum-song and local products

Duchang drum-song (都昌鼓书) was added to the national intangible-heritage list in 2021. Performers, most of them blind, beat clappers with the left hand and a drum with the right, telling stories such as the Three Kingdoms and the Generals of the Yang Family in seven-syllable lines. The form is also heard in Hukou, Pengze, Poyang, Jingdezhen and Leping. The county's farms grow cotton, grain, rapeseed, sesame and soybeans.

Getting oriented

The Jiujiang-Jingdezhen section of the Hangzhou-Ruili Expressway (杭瑞高速) and the Quzhou-Jiujiang railway (衢九铁路) run through the county.

Highlights

• South Hill 南山: 4A scenic area; the Song poet Su Dongpo wrote a poem about Duchang on Poyang Lake while visiting it.
• Laoye Temple 老爷庙: Temple known as the "Bermuda of the East"; Jingdezhen University researchers used it to trace the shipping history of Poyang Lake.
• Heshe Ancient Village 鹤舍古村: Village of Gan-style houses and bluestone lanes described by Jingdezhen University researchers as dating from the Eastern Han.
• Duchang drum-song 都昌鼓书: Storytelling with drum and clappers, on the national intangible-heritage list since 2021.