Wu Commandery was a commandery of imperial China. It covers parts of the contemporary Northern

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...

and Southern

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its c ...

. The capital of Wu commandery was Wu (today's

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trad ...

). Major counties of Wu commandery include Wu (county), Yuhang county, and Huating county which later became known as

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, wh ...

and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

History

During its existence, Wu commandery was ruled by various dynasties and regimes. Chronologically,

Han dynasty 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 ...

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu o ...

, Jin dynasty,

Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period ...

Southern Qi dynasty Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succeede ...

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

, Chen dynasty, Sui dynasty and

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

governed Wu commandery in sequence. In the year of 129, Wu commandery was established during the reign of

emperor Shun of Han Emperor Shun of Han (; 115 – 20 September 144) was an emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty and the eighth emperor of the Eastern Han. He reigned from 125 to 144. Emperor Shun (Prince Bao) was the only son of Emperor An of Han ...

. When Kuaiji Commandery was divided, lands west of

Qiantang river The Qiantang River, formerly known as the Hangchow River and alternatively romanised as the Tsientang River, is a river in East China. An important commercial artery, it runs for through Zhejiang, passing through the provincial capital Hangz ...

in Kuaiji commandery formed the new Wu commandery. After the division of Kuaiji, Wu constitutes one of the commanderies of

Yang Province Yangzhou, Yangchow or Yang Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China mentioned in historical texts such as the '' Tribute of Yu'', '' Erya'' and '' Rites of Zhou''. Name There are four different theories regarding the origin of ...

. In 195, local strongman of Fuchun county Sun Ce acquired the entire Wu commandery without the authorization of

. His

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

ruled the commandery until 280. The last ruler of Sun clan

Sun Hao Sun Hao (243 – January or February 284), courtesy name Yuanzong, originally named Sun Pengzu with the courtesy name Haozong, was the fourth and last emperor of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the son ...

divided a part of Wu commandery and formed the new Wuxing Commandery. In 548, Military leader

Hou Jing Hou Jing (; died June 552), courtesy name Wanjing (萬景), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He was a general of Northern Wei, Eastern Wei, and Liang, and briefly, after controlling the Liang imperial regime for severa ...

started an open rebellion against

Emperor Wu of Liang Emperor Wu of Liang () (464 – 12 June 549), personal name Xiao Yan (蕭衍), courtesy name Shuda (叔達), childhood name Lian'er (練兒), was the founding emperor of the Chinese Liang dynasty, during the Northern and Southern dynasties peri ...

. Wu Commandery was occupied by Hou's army during his rebellion. Local lords Lu Xiang, Lu An and Lu Yingong of Lu clan were defeated. Xiang died out of fear and anger. The rebels caused great damage to the commandery's economy. It was recorded that, in Wu, human bodies were eaten as rations of the rebels. In 589,

Emperor Wen of Sui The Emperor Wen of Sui (; 21 July 541 – 13 August 604), personal name Yang Jian (), Xianbei name Puliuru Jian (), alias Narayana () deriving from Buddhist terms, was the founder and the first emperor of the Chinese Sui dynasty. The '' Book ...

abolished the commandery system and substituted it with "Zhou"(administrative division). Consequently Wu commandery was renamed as Suzhou. However, In 607,

Emperor Yang of Sui Emperor Yang of Sui (隋煬帝, 569 – 11 April 618), personal name Yang Guang (), alternative name Ying (), Xianbei name Amo (), also known as Emperor Ming of Sui () during the brief reign of his grandson Yang Tong, was the second emperor o ...

re-established Wu commandery. In 758. Wu commandery was once more renamed Suzhou. Wu commandery ceased to exist nominally in 758 and continued to exist under the name of Suzhou. Shortly after the

An Lushan Rebellion The An Lushan Rebellion was an uprising against the Tang dynasty of China towards the mid-point of the dynasty (from 755 to 763), with an attempt to replace it with the Yan dynasty. The rebellion was originally led by An Lushan, a general off ...

, the imperial court enforced heavy taxes on the people of Wu commandery since Wu was not invaded by An's army. However, the tax collection became unbearable for the ordinary peasants of the commandery (An amount of tax that was equivalent to 8 years of laboring was demanded). In 762, a low rank officer of Taizhou Yuan Chao, with angry peasants, stormed and attacked cities of Wu commandery including Suzhou. The Tang court had to pacify Yuan's unexpected rebellion in 763. Yuan was captured by Li Guangbi and was escorted to the capital Chang'An. He was soon executed under the charge of treason.

Subordinate counties

* Wu County: Administrative centre of Wu commandery. Shares the same name with the commandery. Today's

. * Haiyan County: Still exists today under this name as a subordinate county of

Jiaxing prefecture Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and ...

. In 549,

established Wuyuan Commandery in this county. Shortly afterward, the Wuyuan Commandery was abolished and Haiyan returned to the administration of Wu. * Wucheng County: Today's

Huzhou Huzhou (, ; Huzhounese: ''ghou² cieu¹'') is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province (Hangzhou–Jiaxing–Huzhou Plain, China). Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzhou to the south, and the provi ...

. In 266, Sun Hao established the Wuxing Commandery which included this county. No longer a part of Wu after 266. It was the capital of Wuxing commandery. * Yuhang County: Today's

. Later formed a part of Wuxing Commandery and thus no longer belonged to Wu. * Piling County: Today's

Changzhou Changzhou ( Changzhounese: ''Zaon Tsei'', ) is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provin ...

. * Dantu County: Today's

Zhenjiang Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and b ...

. * Qu'e county: Today's Danyang. * Youquan County: Today's

Jiaxing Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the ...

. Changed its name to Jiaxing in 231 according to the decree issued by

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...

. * Fuchun County: Today's Fuyang district of Hangzhou. In 225, this county became a commandery, the Dong'an Commandery. Dong'an was soon abolished in 228. * Yangxian County: Today's Yixing, later became a part of Wuxing Commandery. * Wuxi County: Still exists under this name today. Formally joined Wu commandery in 188. Abolished in 234 * Lou County: Today's Kunshan. Abolished before the year of 589. Parts of this county formed Kunshan and Xingyi county. * Yanguan County: Today's Haining. Originally named Haichang. Established in 223. * Huating County: Today's

. Established in 751 by the governor of Wu commandery Zhao Juzhen.

Functionaries

According to the bureaucratic system of Han dynasty, every commandery has an identical hierarchy of functionaries. The top administrator of Wu commandery is Taishou(the top official of a Commandery). In addition, the Taishou has a subordinate Juncheng(vice Taishou and an assistant of its work). Military affairs are entrusted to the Duwei of a commandery. In terms of counties, Ling(an officer) is in charge of a county with more than 10 thousand registered families. Zhang(an officer) is in charge of a county with a population that is less than 10 thousand. In Wu commandery, many counties reached a relatively large population thus were governed by a Ling. Numerous resources proved Wu, Wucheng , Yuhang, Qu'e, Haiyan, Fuchun, Jiaxing, Yangxian to be some of the large counties with a Ling. During Jin and Southern dynasties, the top official of commanderies (including Wu commandery) were called Neishi. The Neishi, in practice, did not differ from Taishou in any manner.

Society

Wu was the home of the four clans of Wu. In

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu o ...

, the four clans were pillars of Emperor

's rule. Wu and Huaisi region's lords together formed two main power blocs of Eastern Wu. Lu Yun, a nobleman of Wu commandery in Jin dynasty, described his native commandery as a culturally and politically advanced region comparable with

Zhongyuan Zhongyuan (), the Central Plain(s), also known as Zhongtu (, lit. 'central land') and Zhongzhou (, lit. 'central region'), commonly refers to the part of the North China Plain surrounding the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River, centere ...

. His assertion was validated by the fact that in the

records of the three kingdoms The ''Records or History of the Three Kingdoms'', also known by its Chinese name as the Sanguo Zhi, is a Chinese historical text which covers the history of the late Eastern Han dynasty (c. 184–220 AD) and the Three Kingdoms period (220� ...

, 28 individuals from Wu commandery were biographized making Wu the most prolific source of historically important figures during the three kingdom period. In Han dynasty, Wu had become known for its economic wealth. The 3rd century intellectual Zuo Si had written a rhymed prose concerning Wu commandery. Through his prose, researchers had discovered Wu's prosperous agriculture. On the other hand,

Chen Shou Chen Shou (; 233–297), courtesy name Chengzuo (), was a Chinese historian, politician, and writer who lived during the Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty of China. Chen Shou is most known for his most celebrated work, the ''Records of the ...

's records indicated a flourishing commercial society in 3rd century Wu commandery. During the rule of Eastern Wu, the government planned military-led plantations in Wu commandery. The aim was to provide a logistic base for the armies on the mission of border defense (against

Cao Wei Wei (Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

). The

Disaster of Yongjia The Disaster of Yongjia () refers to an event in Chinese history that occurred in 311 CE (5th year of the ''Yongjia'' era of the reign of Emperor Huai of Jin, hence the name), when forces of the Xiongnu-led Han Zhao dynasty captured and sacke ...

forced numerous northern nobles to flee from their homeland. These northern lords later settled down in Wu, Kuaiji and other southern commanderies. However, the four clan's economic, political and social hegemony in Wu was not threatened by Northern immigrants during Jin dynasty.

References

{{Han dynasty provinces Former commanderies of China Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) Commanderies of the Sui dynasty Commanderies of the Southern dynasties

History

Subordinate counties

Functionaries

Society

See also

References