Hengyang is the second largest city of China's Hunan Province. It straddles the Xiang River about 160 km south of Changsha. Its former name was Hengzhou 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.