Wu Commandery was a

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 G ...

of imperial China. It covers parts of the contemporary Northern

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

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 ca ...

. The capital of Wu commandery was Wu (today's Suzhou). Major counties of Wu commandery include Wu (county), Yuhang county, and Huating county which later became known as Suzhou,

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, whic ...

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 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 warr ...

, Eastern Wu, 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,

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 Kingdom ...

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 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. After Emperor A ...

. When

Kuaiji Commandery Kuaiji Commandery ( Chinese: t , s , p ''Kuàijī Jùn''), formerly romanized as K'uai-chi Commandery, was a former commandery of China in the area of Hangzhou Bay. When first established, its capital was at Wu (present- ...

was divided, lands west of Qiantang river 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 t ...

. 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 Wuxing may refer to: Places in China Counties and districts *Huzhou, formerly Wuxing County, Zhejiang, China *Wuxing District (吴兴区), central district of Huzhou Subdistricts (五星街道) *Wuxing Subdistrict, Mudanjiang, in Dong'an District ...

. 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 several ...

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 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 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 offi ...

, 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 Yuan Chao (born 16 December 1974) is a Chinese judoka. He competed in the men's half-middleweight event at the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commo ...

, 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 Li Guangbi (李光弼) (708 – August 15, 764), formally Prince Wumu of Linhuai (臨淮武穆王), was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician during the Tang dynasty. He was of ethnic Khitan ancestry, who was instrumental in Tang's s ...

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 Suzhou. * Haiyan County: Still exists today under this name as a subordinate county of Jiaxing prefecture. 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. In 266, Sun Hao established the

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 ...

. * 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 p ...

. Changed its name to Jiaxing in 231 according to the decree issued by Sun Quan. * Fuchun County: Today's

Fuyang district () is one of ten urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, East China. Fuyang is located in the northwest of Zhejiang on the Fuchun River, a tributary of the Qiantang River. The city is the birt ...

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 Yixing () is a county-level city administrated under the prefecture-level city of Wuxi in southern Jiangsu province, China, and is part of the Yangtze River Delta. The city is known for its traditional Yixing clay ware tea pots. It is a pene-exc ...

, later became a part of Wuxing Commandery. *

Wuxi County Wuxi County () is a county of Chongqing Municipality, People's Republic of China, bordering Shaanxi to the north and Hubei to the northeast and east. Sitting at the upper reaches of Daning River and the southern slopes of the central Daba Mountai ...

: Still exists under this name today. Formally joined Wu commandery in 188. Abolished in 234 * Lou County: Today's

Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name There is a strong p ...

. Abolished before the year of 589. Parts of this county formed Kunshan and Xingyi county. * Yanguan County: Today's

Haining () is a county-level city in Zhejiang Province, China, and under the jurisdiction of Jiaxing. It is in the south side of Yangtze River Delta, and in the north of Zhejiang. It is to the southwest of central Shanghai, and east of Hangzhou, the p ...

. 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 Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

, 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 , the four clans were pillars of Emperor Sun Quan'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, 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 ...

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

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'' <

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 sacked ...

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