Xindu Commandery () was a historical

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and Gr ...

of China, located in modern southern

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...

. The commandery was created in early

Western Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a wa ...

dynasty. In 155 BC, the territory was granted to Liu Pengzu (劉彭祖), son of the Emperor Jing, as the Principality of Guangchuan (廣川國). Later, Pengzu acquired the new title Prince of Zhao, and the principality was granted to Liu Yue, another son of the emperor. In 50 BC, the principality was abolished and reverted to a commandery. In 37 BC, the territory was granted to Liu Xing (劉興), son of the reigning Emperor Yuan, whose descendants held the fief until

Wang Mang Wang Mang () (c. 45 – 6 October 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun (), was the founder and the only emperor of the short-lived Chinese Xin dynasty. He was originally an official and consort kin of the Han dynasty and later seized the throne ...

's usurpation. After the restoration of

Eastern Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

, the commandery again became known as Xindu. In 72 AD, it was granted to Liu Dang (劉黨), son of the reigning Emperor Ming as the Principality of Lecheng (樂成國). After 122 AD, it became known as the Principality of Anping (安平國). The principality was dissolved in 184 AD, and it was subsequently administered as the Anping Commandery (安平郡). In 2 AD, it administered 17 counties, namely Xindu (信都), Li (歷), Fuliu (扶柳), Piyang (辟陽), Nangong (南宮), Xiabo (下博), Wuyi (武邑), Guanjin (觀津), Gaodi (高隄), Guangchuan (廣川), Lexiang (樂鄉), Pingdi (平隄), Tao (桃), Xiliang (西梁), Changcheng (昌成), Dongchang (東昌) and Xiu (脩). The population was 304,384 or 65,556 households in 2 AD, and 655,118 (91,440 households) in 140 AD. During early

Western Jin Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

dynasty, Anping again briefly became a principality and was granted to

Sima Fu Sima Fu () (180– 3 April 272), courtesy name Shuda, was an imperial prince and statesman of the Jin dynasty of China. He previously served as an official in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period before his grandnephew, Sima Y ...

, brother of

Sima Yi Sima Yi ( ; 179 CE – 7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He formally began his political career in 208 un ...

. Xindu County in Anping was also the capital of

Ji Province Ji Province, also known by its Chinese name Jizhou, was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China. It is referenced in Chinese historical texts such as the ''Tribute of Yu'', ''Erya'' and '' Rites of Zhou''. Rites of Zhou,Offices of Summer (夏� ...

. In 280 AD, the principality had a population of 21,000 households in 8 counties. Later during Jin dynasty, it became Changle Commandery (長樂郡). The commandery was abolished in early

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

. In Sui and Tang dynasties, Xindu Commandery became the alternative name of Ji Prefecture (冀州). In 742 AD, the prefecture had 9 counties: Xindu, Nangong, Tangyang (堂陽), Zaoqiang (棗強), Wuyi (武邑),

Hengshui Hengshui () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Shandong to the southeast. At the 2010 census its population was 4,340,373 inhabitants whom 522,147 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') are ...

(衡水), Fucheng (阜城), Tiao (蓚) and Wuqiang (武強). The population was 830,520, or 113,885 households.''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', Chapter 39.

References

{{Han dynasty provinces Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) Commanderies of the Northern dynasties Commanderies of the Sui dynasty