Yanmen Commandery was an administrative subdivision (''jùn'') of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Zhao Zhao may refer to: * Zhao (surname) (赵), a Chinese surname ** commonly spelled Chao in Taiwan or up until the early 20th century in other regions ** Chiu, from the Cantonese pronunciation ** Cho (Korean surname), represent the Hanja 趙 (Chine ...

established BC and of northern imperial Chinese dynasties until AD758. It occupied lands in what is now

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...

and

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

. Its first seat was at

Shanwu Youyu County, also known by its Chinese name Youyuxian, is a county under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Shuozhou, in the northwest of Shanxi Province, China. It borders Inner Mongolia to the north and west. History Shanw ...

(near present-day Youyu,

); its later seats moved southeast to the more defensible sites at

Yinguan Shuocheng District, formerly Shuo County, is the main urban district of the prefecture-level city of Shuozhou in Shanxi province, China. History Shuocheng is the site of the ancient Chinese frontier post of Mayi and its territory was previously ...

(within present-day

Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, in 2010, a pop ...

) and

Guangwu Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han (Later ...

(near present-day

Daixian Dai County, also known by its Chinese name Daixian, is a county in Xinzhou, Shanxi Province, China. Its county seat at Shangguan is also known as Daixian. The county has an area of and had a population of 178,870 at the time of the 2020 ...

Name

The name derives from Yanmen Pass in

Dai County Dai County, also known by its Chinese name Daixian, is a county in Xinzhou, Shanxi Province, China. Its county seat at Shangguan is also known as Daixian. The county has an area of and had a population of 178,870 at the time of the 2020 ...

. Yanmen, meaning "Wild Goose Pass". or "Wildgoose Gate", takes its name from the wild

geese A goose ( : geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (the grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (the black geese). Some other birds, mostly related to the she ...

that migrate through the area.

History

Zhao Kingdom

Yanmen Commandery was first established around 300BC during China's

Warring States Period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

by the

's King Yong, posthumously known as the Wuling ("Martial-&-Numinous") King.. It covered territory in what is now northern

and southern

.. He created Yanmen Commandery along with its companion commanderies of Dai and

Yunzhong Yunzhong Commandery ( zh, 雲中郡) was a historical commandery of China. Its territories were located between the Great Wall and Yin Mountains, and correspond to part of modern-day Hohhot, Baotou and Ulanqab prefectures in Inner Mongolia. The ...

to consolidate his conquests from invasions of the

Loufan Loufan may refer to: * Loufan (tribe) (樓煩), a Xiongnu-associated nomadic tribe; see Loufan County, Shanxi Province, China * Loufan Commandery (樓煩郡, part of modern Xinzhou), former commandery in what is now Xinzhou Prefecture, Shanxi, Chi ...

( t s ''Lóufán'') and " forest nomads" or "barbarians" ( ''Línhú'') in 306 and 304BC. He protected these new lands by raising earthen walls along their northern border,.. close to what is now

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the capital of Inner Mongolia in the north of the People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrative, economic and cultural center.''The N ...

. Garrisons and forts were also placed at strategic spots within the new territory, such as Yanmen Pass between the northern plains and the

Hutuo Valley The Hutuo River is a major river in northern China and an important member of Hai River system. It derives from Wutai Mountain in Shanxi province and flows through the Taihang Mountains to reach the North China Plain, and meets the Ziya River n ...

. In the mid-3rd centuryBC, the Yanmen governor

Li Mu Li Mu (; died 229 BC), personal name Zuo (繓), courtesy name Mu (牧), was a Chinese military general of the State of Zhao during the Warring States period. He was named by Chinese historians as one of the four greatest generals of the late W ...

, relocated there under the command of

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shan ...

used these interior defenses and drills the commandery's citizens to minimize casualties to good effect when he lured more than 100,000

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

horsemen into the heart of the commandery before defeating them with 160,000

chariots A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...

, cavalry, and archers..

Qin Empire

Under the Qin, Yanmen was one of the commanderies which made up the principal divisions of the empire. Its seat was at

, south of present-day Youyu in

. Its territory ran from present-day

Hequ Hequ () is a county in the northwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west and Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is under the administration of Xinzhou Xinzhou, ancient name Xiurong (秀荣), is a prefecture-le ...

Wuzhai Wuzhai () is a county of northwestern Shanxi province, China. It is under the administration of Xinzhou City. Climate Wuzhai has a monsoon-influenced, humid continental climate (Köppen ''Dwb''), with cold and very dry winters, and warm, humid sum ...

, and Ningwu Counties in the south to

's Huangqi and Dai Lakes in the north; its eastern border was near Mount Heng. The Zhao wall was connected to those of the other former states as part of the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against Eurasian noma ...

. This territory was divided into:

Western Han Empire

Under the Han, Yanmen Commandery maintained its seat at Shanwu.. It was part of the realm of Dai, used as an appanage of the imperial kings and a title of rebels like

Han Xin Han Xin (; 231/230–196 BC) was a Chinese military general and politician who served Liu Bang during the Chu–Han Contention and contributed greatly to the founding of the Han dynasty. Han Xin was named as one of the "Three Heroes of the e ...

and Chen Xi. Han-era Yanmen included the Qin-era counties above, excluding Xincheng and Wangtao, with the addition of:

Eastern Han Empire

Under the

Eastern 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 warr ...

, the commandery seat was moved to

, present-day Xiaguancheng Village southeast of

Wei Kingdom

During China's

Three Kingdoms Period The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the We ...

Wei Wei or WEI may refer to: States * Wey (state) (衛, 1040–209 BC), Wei in pinyin, but spelled Wey to distinguish from the bigger Wei of the Warring States * Wei (state) (魏, 403–225 BC), one of the seven major states of the Warring States per ...

moved the commandery seat to

, southwest of present-day

. The district is recorded as having 12,600

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...

s around AD285.

Eastern Wei

During China's Northern and Southern Dynasties Period, Eastern Wei had the commandery seat at

in what is now

. During the 540s, the district is recorded having 30,434 people living in 6,328

Sui Empire

Under the Sui, Yanmen Commandery was abolished in 583, then revived in 607. It was recorded as having 42,502

s in 609.

Tang Empire

Under the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) ...

, Yanmen Commandery was part of

Hedong Circuit __NOTOC__ Hedong (, unless otherwise noted) may refer to these places in China: Districts * Hedong District, Sanya, in Sanya, Hainan * Hedong District, Linyi, in Linyi, Shandong *Hedong District, Tianjin, in Tianjin Subdistricts * Hedong Subdistri ...

until it was abolished and replaced by

Dai Prefecture Dai Prefecture, also known by its Chinese name Daizhou, was a prefecture (''zhou'') of imperial China in what is now northern Shanxi. It existed intermittently from AD585 to 1912. Its eponymous seat Daizhou was located at Shangguan in Dai Coun ...

in 618, although it was temporarily restored between 742 and 758. During the Tang, the name was retained as an

honorary title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...

: the generals

Tian Chengsi Tian Chengsi (705– March 4, 779), formally the Prince of Yanmen, was a Chinese military general, monarch, and politician. He served as a military general in the rebel state of Yan, who later submitted to and became a general of Tang Dynasty, ...

, Tian Xu, Tian Ji'an, and

Wang Zhixing Wang Zhixing (758– August 21, 836),Academia Sinicabr>Chinese-Western Calendar Converter./ref>''Old Book of Tang'', vol. 17, part 2. courtesy name Kuangjian and formally the Prince of Yanmen, was a general of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty. ...

were created "Prince" or "King of Yanmen" (''Yànménwáng''). In 882, Yanmen Defense Command (''Yanmen Jiedushi'') was also briefly established to oversee local defense. It had its seat at present-day

. In 883, its name was changed to Daibei.

Governors

* centuryBC

* Wang Ju (王據)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . {{Han dynasty provinces Former commanderies of China Commanderies of the Qin dynasty Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) Commanderies of the Sui dynasty