Jianning Commandery

Jianning Commandery (建寧郡) was a commandery of imperial China located in central Yunnan, created in 109 BCE following the Han conquest of the Dian Kingdom. It became the principal administrative division of Han-occupied Yunnan and remained active through the Han, Three Kingdoms, and Jin periods until its abolition by the Sui dynasty in 589 CE.

Geography and counties

According to the ''Book of Han'', Jianning initially governed 17 counties. By 2 CE, it recorded 37,774 households and 220,129 individuals.Ban Gu. ''Book of Han'', Geography Treatise.

Counties included Dianchi (滇池, near modern Kunming), Weiyang (味陽), Yizhou (益州), Lufu (鹵父), and Tonglai (同瀨), covering much of the Dian Lake basin, the upper Pan River valley, and the mountains east of Dali.

Han dynasty

Jianning was created after the fall of the Dian Kingdom in 109 BCE. Dianchi County served as the seat of the commandery, located on the north shore of the lake that bears the same name. The commandery became the seat of Han efforts to sinicize the southwest, with Han officials overseeing tribute extraction, copper production, and population control.

The Han court established garrison-colony (tuntian) systems and dispatched envoys into the western highlands. Bronze drums and Dian-style artifacts continued to appear in tombs alongside Han material, suggesting cultural hybridization.

In the Eastern Han period, the capital was moved east to Wei County (味縣), near modern Qujing, for better access to the eastern Sichuan frontier. The commandery was attached to Yizhou Province.

Three Kingdoms period

Following the collapse of the Han dynasty in 220 CE, Jianning became part of the territory controlled by Shu Han. During the southern rebellion led by Yong Kai (雍闓) in the 220s, parts of Jianning revolted against Shu. Yong Kai seized Jianning and declared allegiance to Eastern Wu, but Shu maintained a presence in the eastern counties.

In 225 CE, Zhuge Liang led the Nanzhong campaign to restore order in the southwest. His forces reasserted control over Jianning and other Nanzhong commanderies. After the campaign, Shu reorganized the region by creating Yunnan Commandery from Jianning’s western and southern counties. Jianning was retained as the central commandery, with its seat remaining at Wei.Chen Shou. ''Records of the Three Kingdoms'', vol. 35, Biography of Zhuge Liang.

Jianning was one of the three “core commanderies” of Nanzhong (alongside Yongchang Commandery and Zangke Commandery) under Shu rule. During this period, tribal chieftains such as Meng Huo (孟獲) were integrated into local administration through enfeoffment and hereditary titles.

Jin and Southern dynasties

Under the Western Jin, Jianning became part of the newly formed Ning Province (寧州), governing six counties. The commandery remained under nominal Jin control, but local power increasingly fell into the hands of native clans such as the Cuan (爨) family, who dominated Yunnan into the 6th century.

During the Southern dynasties, Jianning shrank in area, and many of its counties were reassigned or merged. By the time of the Chen dynasty, Jianning had become a largely symbolic jurisdiction, and in 589 it was abolished by the Sui dynasty, which replaced it with Kunzhou (昆州) and other prefectures.

Economy and trade

Jianning commanded fertile basins and copper resources. Dian Lake and the Pan River were key routes for moving goods to Sichuan and Guangxi. The commandery supplied livestock, copper, lacquer, and cloth as tribute to the Han and Shu courts.

Archaeology

* Han and Shu-era bricks stamped 建寧官 have been excavated near Qujing.
* Dian-style bronze drums and belt hooks found in Jianning tombs indicate continuing native traditions under imperial rule.
* A carved stele near Kunming commemorates a Shu administrator's reconstruction of local irrigation canals.

See also

* Dian Kingdom
* Zhuge Liang’s southern campaign
* Yunnan Commandery
* Nanzhong

References

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