Leiyang is the hometown of
Cai Lun, the inventor of
papermaking technology, one of the
Four Great Inventions. It has more than 2,000 years of history as an ancient city named after the north of
Lei River.
Archaeological excavation proved that as early as the
Neolithic Age, people have lived in the territory of Leiyang. Until Leiyang was built as a division, it was a part of
Jingzhou, one of the
Nine Provinces before the
Spring and Autumn period and a part of
Chu State in the
Warring States period. In the 26th year of the reign of
Qin Shi Huang (221 BC), Lei County () was formed and took its name after the
Lei River, it was part of
Changsha Commandery. Dividing Changsha Commandery into Changsha State and
Guiyang Commandery (; not to be confused with present-day
Guiyang County) in 202 BC, Guiyang Commandery was formed from the southern portion of Changsha Commandery, the county of Lei was renamed to Leiyang and part of Guiyang Commandery. In the
Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD), Leiyang was the territory of the
Wu state. In 257 AD, the county of Leiyang was divided into four counties, that the two counties of Xinping () and Xinning () were located on the western side of
Chongling River, and the two counties of Leiyang and Liyang () on the eastern side of
Chongling River and western bank of
Lei River. The three counties of Xinping, Xinning and Liyang were located in Xiangdong Commandery () and the county of Leiyang in Guiyang Commandery. In 395 AD, the county of Liyang was merged to Leiyang. The county of Leiyang was renamed to Leiyin () in 589 and restored the name of Leiyang in 621. In the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960 AD), Leiyang was the territory of the
Machu State. The county of Leiyang was renamed to Laiyang () during the
Song dynasty and restored the name during the
Yuan dynasty. In November 1986, the county of Leiyang was reorganized as a county-level city. ==Geography==