of
Hailongtun fortress, the last rebel holdout during the
Bozhou Rebellion in 1600. The area of Zunyi was originally inhabited by the Tongzi people during the
Paleolithic. Later, its territory was a part of several kingdoms. Zunyi was considered to be the center of the
Yelang kingdom. The region around Zunyi first came under Chinese rule during
Han dynasty, during the reign of
Emperor Wu of Han. After the Han dynasty collapsed, the area remained under nominal Chinese control, but much of the administration was left to local, non-Han chiefs. In the 7th century CE, the area came under regular Chinese administration during the
Tang dynasty, Zunyi was placed under the new Bo Prefecture (Bozhou). Towards the end of the Tang, Bozhou was conquered by the
Nanzhao Kingdom. However, it soon gained independence as the
Chiefdom of Bozhou in AD 876. The chiefdom became an autonomous prefecture of the
Song and subsequent dynasties, while the ruling Yang family held power in Zunyi for more than seven centuries.
Bozhou rebelled against the
Ming dynasty in 1589, resisting the Ming for more than a decade before its eventual destruction in 1600. Subsequently, Zunyi Prefecture was established, with the present-day city of Zunyi becoming the prefectural seat. Zunyi retained its status as a prefectural seat through the
Qing dynasty. After the
Xinhai Revolution, Zunyi was redesignated as a county in 1914. In 1935, the
Zunyi Conference took place in the city during the
Long March and elevated
Mao Zedong to a dominant position within the
Chinese Communist Party. During the country's
First Five-Year Plan, Zunyi was redesignated as a city, and experienced considerable growth and transformation. ==Geography==