Hengyang

The former name of the city was Hengzhou (Hengchow) (衡州; Héngzhōu). 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.

In the 750s, the superintendent of Hengzhou Chen Xi'ang not only ruled his own region but also used his private army to dominate his nominal superior, the military governor Zhang Weiyi headquartered in Jing Prefecture (modern Jingzhou). Upon Zhang's replacement by the former chancellor Lü Yin in 760, however, Chen was placated and then killed in a surprise attack.

During the reign of the Tang emperor Xizong, Zhou Yue overthrew first the prefect of Hengzhou Xu Hao in 881 and then the agent of the rebel Qin Zongquan in the capital of the Qinhua Circuit at Tan Prefecture (modern Changsha) in 886. Xizong confirmed Zhou Yue in all his posts, renaming his circuit Wu'an. Xizong's brother then gave him additional authority over West Lingnan Circuit (modern Guangxi). Shortly after, in 893, Deng Chune and Lei Man attacked and killed him.

Other superintendents included Qi Ying and Xiao Ye.

After initially falling to agrarian rebels under Yang Shiyuan, Hengzhou was recovered by the lord of Wu'an Ma Yin and formed part of his power base during the collapse of the Tang. He initially supported the Later Liang, then declared himself king (Ma Chu) in his own right during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

During the Revolt of the Three Feudatories, Wu Sangui declared himself Emperor of the Great Zhou and established an imperial court at Hengzhou in 1678 before dying of illness later that year. His grandson Wu Shifan then retreated to Yunnan, and the Qing recovered Hengzhou the next year.

The Battle of Hengyang was the longest defense of a single city during the Second Sino-Japanese War. When Changsha fell to the Imperial Japanese Army on June 19, 1944, Hengyang became their next target. The reorganized 11th Army, consisting of 10 divisions, four brigades, and over 110,000 men, assumed the task of attacking Hengyang. It was part of the Japanese Ichi-Go offensive.

A Roman Catholic diocese of Hengzhou was established, although periodically suppressed. This was suffragan to the Archbishop of Changsha following its elevation in 1946.

Hengyang has an area of 15,279 km² (5,899 sq mi) and a population of 7,141,162. There are 1,075,516 people in the built-up area of 522 km² (202 sq mi) in the four central urban districts. Hengyang is a busy and growing industrial City and the leading transportation centre of Hunan, linking water, rail, and highway routes. Manufacturing includes: chemicals, agricultural, mining equipment, textiles, paper and processed foods. Lead, zinc, coal, and tin are mined nearby. Hengyang is the second largest city in Hunan province, and is a growing industrial hub and transportation center.

Known as the 'Bright Pearl in Southern China' and as 'Wild Goose City' (the latter because of wild geese that used to rest here while flying south for the winter), Hengyang has been the birthplace of many historical figures, such the revolutionist Luo Ronghuan and a noted Ming scholar Wang Fuzhi. The city was badly damaged during World War II and few historical buildings survive in diverse stage of reconstruction, including Shigu Academy, Dragon Tower, Confucian School on the Dongzhou Island (东洲岛), Laiyan Pagoda and Nantai Temple. Mount Heng, one of the Five Sacred Mountains, lies 45 kilometres north from the city proper.

Hengyang has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with four distinct seasons. Spring is subject to heavy rainfall, while the summers are long, hot, and humid with lesser rainfall, and autumn is comfortable and rather dry. Winter is rather brief, but cold snaps occur with temperatures occasionally dropping below freezing, and while not heavy, rain can be frequent. The monthly daily mean temperature ranges from 6.0 °C (42.8 °F) in January to 29.8 °C (85.6 °F) in July.

The city has a dual party-government system under whole-process people's democracy, like all administrative divisions of mainland China. The Mayor of Hengyang is the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Hengyang and is elected by Hengyang City People's Congress. The current mayor, Liu Zhongjie (Chinese: 刘中杰), is also secretary of the municipal government's Communist Party branch and deputy secretary of the Party Committee. The mayor has less power than the secretary of the Party Committee of Hengyang, currently Zhu Jian (Chinese: 朱健) since November 2025. Zhu had been mayor, and briefly held both posts before arrangements were completed for the election of a new mayor in December 2025. The chair of the City People's Congress Standing Committee is Liu Zhengxing (Chinese: 刘正兴) and the secretary of the City People's Political Consultative Conference is Wu Shuguang (Chinese: 吴曙光).

Administrative divisions

• Yanfeng District (雁峰区)
• Zhuhui District (珠晖区)
• Shigu District (石鼓区)
• Zhengxiang District (蒸湘区)
• Nanyue District (南岳区)
• Changning City (常宁市)
• Leiyang City (耒阳市)
• Hengyang County (衡阳县)
• Hengnan County (衡南县)
• Hengshan County (衡山县)
• Hengdong County (衡东县)
• Qidong County (祁东县)

Controversies

In 2013, Hengyang was the center of a major vote buying scandal where it was found that 56 officials were complicit in paying lower level local officials for votes. The 56 were subsequently removed from office, and an additional 512 resigned from their positions.

One former mayor and three former Party Secretaries were placed under investigation by the CCDI between 2013 and 2016, during Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign. On December 8, 2013, Chen Anzhong was dismissed, arrested and investigated for corruption. On December 18, 2013, Tong Mingqian was placed under investigation for "serious violations of laws and regulations". In April 2016, Li Yilong was placed under investigation for alleged "serious violations of discipline and laws." On November 8, 2016, Zhang Wenxiong was placed under investigation for alleged "serious violations of discipline".

List of mayors of Hengyang

List of Party Committee secretaries of Hengyang

This is a list of institutions with full-time bachelor programs in Hengyang:

• University of South China (南华大学)
• Hengyang Normal University (衡阳师范学院)
• Hunan Institute of Technology (湖南工学院)
• Hunan University of Technology Hengyang (湖南工业大学衡阳分校)

Hengyang is one of the 45 highway hubs in China. G4 Beijing-Hong Kong and Macau Expressway and G72 Quanzhou-Nanning Expressway intersect here. China National Highway 107 (to Beijing, to Guangzhou) and China National Highway 322 (to Kunming) pass the city centre.

Two bus terminals are located in the city. One is Hengyang Western Terminal which is located in the city centre and operates provincial lines and intra-metro lines in northern and western directions. Another is LingHu Terminal which operates lines of southern and eastern directions and locates on the edge of the city.

Hengyang is an important transport hub in southern China. The Beijing-Guangzhou railway and Hunan-Guangxi railway intersect at Hengyang. Hengyang railway station is one of the ten largest railway stations in China and is recognized as one of the extra-premium level stations. More than 100 trains pass by and stop at Hengyang Railway Station, making it one of the busiest stations all over the country and connecting it to most cities of China.

The city's new Hengyang East railway station is served by the Wuhan-Guangzhou high-speed railway and the Huaihua-Shaoyang-Hengyang railway. The Hengyang Metro is a planned monorail rapid transit system.

Opened in 2014, the city is served by Hengyang Nanyue Airport.

Dialect

Hengyang dialect, spoken in the city districts, Hengyang County and Hengnan County, is part of the New Xiang dialect group, as is the dialect of Hengdong County. The urban dialect is significantly influenced by Southwestern Mandarin. Qidong County speaks Old Xiang while the county-level cities of Leiyang and Changning speak Gan dialects.

Intangible cultural heritage

By the end of 2022, Hengyang City has 8 national intangible cultural heritage protection programs and 27 provincial ones.

• Ho Chen Tsu (1918-1994), born in Hengyang, architect and architecture educator
• Zhou Yaqin (2005), born in Hengyang, Silver medalist, 2024 Paris Olympics