Yanzhou Prefecture (simplified Chinese: 严州府; traditional Chinese: 嚴州府; pinyin: Yánzhōu fǔ) was an administrative unit (prefecture) in Zhejiang Province of China during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The territory of the former Yanzhou Prefecture is now part of the Hangzhou Prefecture-level city.
The prefectural capital was in Jiande, which, on account of this, was often referred to as Yanzhou Fu (严州府) both in Chinese and in Western languages.
A transcription commonly seen in both French and English writing of the time was Yen-tcheou-fou, derived from French missionary writing.
[1][2] Yanzhou prefecture was composed of the following subdivisions.