Xiaoxiang also transliterated XiaoXiang. Hsiao Hsiang, and Chiu Chiang, in some older sources, refers to the "lakes and rivers" region in south central China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, more-or-less corresponding with Hunan

Hunan

' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, south of the middle-reaches of the Yangzi River. Xiaoxiang is less a precise geographic entity than a concept. Xiaoxiang is used in Classical Chinese poetry

Classical Chinese poetry

thumb|right|300px|Attributed to [[Han Gan]], Huiyebai , about 750CE .Classical Chinese poetry is that type of poetry that is the traditional Chinese poetry written in Classical Chinese. It is typified by certain traditional forms, or modes, and certain traditional genres...

 and in literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

 for symbolic purposes, in part because this was a significant area, which at least through Song Dynasty

Song Dynasty

The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...

 China was still considered a wild place full of malaria, barbarians, and wild beasts. Indeed, for much of early Chinese history, this area belonged not to China, but to the independent state of Chu. Beginning at least with Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan

Qu Yuan was a Chinese poet who lived during the Warring States Period in ancient China. He is famous for his contributions to the poetry collection known as the Chu-ci...

, in the Third Century BCE, this region became to symbolically represent the unjust exile of a talented minister or government official by an unappreciative king or emperor.

In regards to the authors who helped shape the literary image of the Xiaoxiang:

The name Xiaoxiang comes in part from the name of the Xiang River

Xiang River

The Xiang River , in older transliterations as the Siang River or Hsiang River, is a river in southern China...

, which rises in the mountains of Guangxi

Guangxi

Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...

 and flows into Dongting Lake

Dongting Lake

Dongting Lake, or Lake Dongting is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River . Hence the lake's size depends on the season...

. There is a modern Xiao River

Xiao River

Xiao River is a river of China, and tributary to the Xiang River. It is part of the East China Sea basin....

, which is a tributary of the Xiang River, and joins it near present day cities of Yongzhou

Yongzhou

Yongzhou is a prefecture-level city in the Hunan province of China.YongZhou is located in the central and south of China, on the southern side of Xiang River, which is formed by the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang rivers. Yongzhou is one of the four ancient counties in Hunan; it is 2000 years old...

 and Changsha; however the name Xiaoxiang predates the bestowing of that name on the Xiao River: originally the adjective xiao, meaning "clear and deep", was used to descriptively for the Xiang River.

The Xiaoxiang region is the somewhat imaginative location of the various eponymous and highly symbolic Eight Views of Xiaoxiang

Eight Views of Xiaoxiang

The Eight Views of Xiaoxiang are beautiful scenes of the Xiaoxiang region, in what is now modern Hunan Province, China, as having been written in the poems, depicted in the pictures and known among the people, from the time of the Song Dynasty...

series of eight paintings and/or poetry verses.

See also

• Cangwu County
  Cangwu County
  Cangwu County is a county of Guangxi, China. It is under the administration of Wuzhou city....
  
  
• Changsha
• Chu (state)
  Chu (state)
  The State of Chu was a Zhou Dynasty vassal state in present-day central and southern China during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States Period . Its ruling house had the surname Nai , and clan name Yan , later evolved to surname Mi , and clan name Xiong...
  
  
• Chuci
• Classical Chinese poetry
  Classical Chinese poetry
  thumb|right|300px|Attributed to [[Han Gan]], Huiyebai , about 750CE .Classical Chinese poetry is that type of poetry that is the traditional Chinese poetry written in Classical Chinese. It is typified by certain traditional forms, or modes, and certain traditional genres...
  
  
• Dong Yuan
  Dong Yuan
  Dong Yuan was a Chinese painter.He was born in Zhongling . Dong Yuan was active in the Southern Tang Kingdom of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period...
  
  
• Dongting Lake
  Dongting Lake
  Dongting Lake, or Lake Dongting is a large, shallow lake in northeastern Hunan province, China. It is a flood basin of the Yangtze River . Hence the lake's size depends on the season...
  
  
• Eight Views of Xiaoxiang
  Eight Views of Xiaoxiang
  The Eight Views of Xiaoxiang are beautiful scenes of the Xiaoxiang region, in what is now modern Hunan Province, China, as having been written in the poems, depicted in the pictures and known among the people, from the time of the Song Dynasty...
  
  
• Hunan
  Hunan
  ' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
  
  
• Miluo River
  Miluo River
  The Miluo River is an important river in the Dongting Lake watershed. It is famous as the location of the ritual suicide in 278 BC of Qu Yuan, a poet of Chu state during the Warring States period, in protest against the corruption of the era....
  
  
• Qu Yuan
  Qu Yuan
  Qu Yuan was a Chinese poet who lived during the Warring States Period in ancient China. He is famous for his contributions to the poetry collection known as the Chu-ci...
  
  
• Shun (Chinese leader)
• Spotted bamboo
  Spotted bamboo
  Spotted bamboo refers to several species of bamboo, apparently within the genus Phyllostachys, also known as "teardrop" bamboo and as mottled bamboo, which are types of bamboo with stems that are mottled by dark spots...
  
  
• Yongzhou
  Yongzhou
  Yongzhou is a prefecture-level city in the Hunan province of China.YongZhou is located in the central and south of China, on the southern side of Xiang River, which is formed by the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang rivers. Yongzhou is one of the four ancient counties in Hunan; it is 2000 years old...
  
  
• Xiang River
  Xiang River
  The Xiang River , in older transliterations as the Siang River or Hsiang River, is a river in southern China...
  
  
• Xiao River
  Xiao River
  Xiao River is a river of China, and tributary to the Xiang River. It is part of the East China Sea basin....