Historic city · Cultural centre · Scenic area · Hunan
Hengyang
衡阳
Wild Goose City beneath Nanyue, the Southern Mountain
Hengyang is a prefecture-level city on the Xiang River in southern Hunan. Its territory includes Mount Heng, the Southern Mountain (南岳) of the Five Great Mountains, and Leiyang, home of the paper-maker Cai Lun; the city itself is remembered for its defence against Japanese forces in 1944.
Key facts
Overview
Hengyang lies where the Zheng and Lei rivers join the Xiang, a natural hub of the southern Hunan basin and today a junction of the Beijing–Guangzhou and Hunan–Guangxi railways. The Heng mountains extend north of the city to the peak of Zhurong, 1,300 metres high.
Mount Heng has been a place of imperial sacrifice and of Buddhist and Daoist devotion for more than a thousand years; the Nanyue Temple at its foot is one of the largest temple complexes in southern China.
Names and nicknames
雁城
“Wild Goose City”
From the old belief that migrating wild geese flew no further south than Huiyan Peak, the southernmost of the Heng mountains.
History
Mount Heng was designated the Southern Mountain in the Han, and emperors sent officials to sacrifice there. In the Tang and Song it became a centre of Chan Buddhism — the monk Huairang, a disciple of the Sixth Patriarch, taught on the mountain — and the Shigu Academy made Hengyang a place of learning. The philosopher Wang Fuzhi retired to the hills near the city after the fall of the Ming. In 1944 the Chinese garrison held Hengyang against Japanese attack for 47 days.
c. 105
Cai Lun and paper
The court official from Leiyang presented his improved paper to the Han emperor; a memorial park stands in Leiyang.
8th century
Chan Buddhism on Mount Heng
Nanyue Huairang taught at the Fuyan monastery; his lineage became one of the main branches of Chan.
1675–1692
Wang Fuzhi at Xiangxi Caotang
The Ming loyalist philosopher spent his last decades writing in his retreat near the city.
June–August 1944
Defence of Hengyang
The garrison under Fang Xianjue resisted for 47 days during the Ichigo offensive before the city fell.
Landmarks
Temple or shrine
Nanyue Temple
南岳大庙
Temple of the god of the Southern Mountain at the foot of Mount Heng, with Buddhist and Daoist halls flanking the main courtyard.
Nature
Zhurong Peak
祝融峰
The 1,300-metre summit of Mount Heng, named after the god of fire, with a small stone temple.
Temple or shrine
Fuyan Temple
福严寺
Monastery on the mountain associated with Huairang, with an ancient ginkgo.
Historic site
Shigu Academy
石鼓书院
Rebuilt academy on a rock at the confluence of the Zheng and Xiang rivers in the city.
Neighbourhoods
Nanyue town
南岳镇
The temple town at the foot of Mount Heng, the base for climbing the mountain.
Food
Hengyang fish noodles
衡阳鱼粉
Rice noodles in a broth of river fish with chilli and perilla.
Nanyue vegetarian food
南岳素斋
Buddhist vegetarian cooking of the mountain's monasteries, with tofu and mountain vegetables.
Culture
Pilgrimage shapes the rhythm of Nanyue: in autumn, groups of pilgrims from rural Hunan climb the mountain to worship the Holy Emperor of the Southern Mountain (南岳圣帝). Hengyang is also proud of its scholarly tradition, embodied by Wang Fuzhi, whose writings were rediscovered by nineteenth-century reformers.
塞下秋来风景异，衡阳雁去无留意。Sài xià qiū lái fēngjǐng yì, Héngyáng yàn qù wú liú yì.
“Autumn comes to the frontier and the scene is strange; the geese fly off to Hengyang without a thought of staying.”
— Fan Zhongyan, “The Fisherman's Pride: Autumn Thoughts” (渔家傲·秋思), 1040s
Getting around
- Hengyang East station is on the Beijing–Guangzhou high-speed line; Hengshan West station serves Nanyue.
- Hengyang Nanyue Airport serves domestic routes.
- Buses and a cable car serve the upper slopes of Mount Heng.
Day trips
Leiyang
耒阳
County-level city with the Cai Lun memorial park and, by tradition, Du Fu's tomb.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Hengyang Municipal People's Government — Hengyang Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Hengyang — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
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