Qianjiang () is a sub-prefectural city of south-central Hubei Province, China. The city spans an area of , and has a population of 946,277 as of 2010. Toponymy Qianjiang's name means river diving, with the first character referring to qián shuǐ, the Chinese verb for diving, and the second character, jiāng, meaning river. History During the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, the area belonged to the independent state of Chu. In the Three Kingdoms period, the area of present-day Qianjiang was part of the Eastern Wu. Portions of present-day Qianjiang were ruled by the Sui dynasty as part of . Part of Qianjiang was incorporated into the Tang dynasty as Jiangling County (). In 857 CE, the area was placed under the . During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the area belonged to the independent kingdom of Jingnan. Qianjiang County () was first organized in 965 CE, during the Song dynasty. In 1293, during the Yuan dynasty, local flooding prompted officials to move the county center to present-day . Republic of China and World War II In 1913, when the Republic of China introduced circuit system, the area was placed under the jurisdiction of . In 1925, circuits were abolished, and the area was directly administered by the province. From the spring of 1930 to the winter of 1932, Qianjiang belonged to the Hunan–Hubei–Jiangxi Soviet. In 1932, the area was organized by the Republic of China under the new system, belonging to the province's Seventh Administrative Inspectorate. In 1934, the area was placed under the Sixth Administrative Inspectorate. Qianjiang was occupied by the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese War from May 1939 to August 1945. The Japanese primarily used prominent local Chinese to run the "puppet" government, notably many members of the Zhang family. From the spring of 1942 to the autumn of 1945, the area hosted a number of regional resistance governments. People's Republic of China The area was captured by the People's Liberation Army in December 1947. Upon the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the area was placed under . The communists from 1949 to early 1980s constructed a pharmaceutical plant, a textile factory, a book-printing factory, a large oil-and-gas drilling field, and other industrial installations in the Qianjiang area. As the national economic reform took force beginning in the late 1970s many of these state-run businesses went under.