Definition of "Hsiang"

The Hsiang dialect is spoken principally in Hunan and resembles to some extent the southwestern Mandarin; in this group the number of tones varíes from six to seven.

1962 February, Ch’u Chai, Winberg Chai, “The Chinese Language”, in The Changing Society of China‎, Mentor Books, page 170

If we adopt the threefold division of Northern Chinese, the form commonly known as ‘Southern Mandarin’ occupies the southern part of Kiangsu, Anhwei south of the river Hwei and north by the Wu boundary, the south-east corner of Hupeh, and all Kiangsi not occupied by Wu or Hakka dialects. The western form covers the southern part of Hupeh, the whole of Hunan except the so-called Hsiang dialect area, and Szechʻwan south of Chengtu, with extensions into the provinces of Kweichow and Yünnan.

1973, R. A. D. Forrest, “The Modern Dialects”, in The Chinese Language‎, 3rd edition, London: Faber and Faber, page 221

Hweichou in southern Anhwei may be a Hsiang dialect or a Wu dialect. Hsiang has no written form apart from standard Chinese.

1978, “Asia”, in Barbara F. Grimes, editor, Ethnologue‎, 9th edition, Huntington Beach, CA: Wycliffe Bible Translators, page 241