Xiaoxiang is a name used for the "lakes and rivers" region of south-central China, lying south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and corresponding more or less with Hunan province. It is also transliterated as XiaoXiang, Hsiao Hsiang, and, in some older sources, Chiu Chiang. Rather than a precise geographic entity, Xiaoxiang is best understood as a concept.
The term is used in Classical Chinese poetry and in literature for symbolic purposes. This usage reflects the region's historical character: at least through the Song dynasty it was still considered a wild place associated with malaria and wild beasts. For much of early Chinese history the area belonged to the state of Chu.
Beginning at least with the poet Qu Yuan in the third century BCE, Xiaoxiang came to symbolically represent the unjust exile of a talented minister or government official by an unappreciative king or emperor.