Jingzhou or Jing Province was one of the

Nine Provinces The term Nine Provinces or Nine Regions (), is used in ancient Chinese histories to refer to territorial divisions or islands during the Xia dynasty, Xia and Shang dynasty, Shang dynasties and has now come to symbolically represent China. "Pro ...

of ancient China referenced in early Chinese texts such as the '' Tribute of Yu'', '' Erya'', and '' Rites of Zhou''. Jingzhou became an administrative division during the reign of Emperor Wu (r. 141–87 BCE) in the

Western Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring in ...

(206 BCE–9 CE). It usually corresponded with the modern-day provinces of

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

and

Hunan Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...

until the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

, after which it referred to the city of Jingzhou.

History

Pre-Qin era

In the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

, the Chu state covered most of present-day

and

, the areas that would form Jingzhou in a later era. The Qin state dropped the name "Chu" (楚) (literally " chaste tree") and used its synonym "Jing" (荊) instead to avoid a naming taboo, since the personal name of Qin's King Zhuangxiang (281–247 BCE) was "Zichu" (子楚; lit. "son of Chu") because his adoptive mother, Lady Huayang, was from Chu. Chu was conquered by Qin in 223 BCE in the final stages of the Qin unification campaign.

Han dynasty

In 106 BCE, during the reign of Emperor Wu in the

(206 BCE – 9 CE), China was divided into 13 administrative divisions (excluding the area under the central government's control), each governed by an Inspector (刺史). Jingzhou was one of the 13, and its land area was one of the largest, covering roughly the modern provinces of

and

, with the city of Nanyang in

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

province at its north frontier. However, Jingzhou did not have a provincial capital and was only an administrative division in name. From 188 CE onwards, during the reign of Emperor Ling in the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

(25–220 CE), Jingzhou officially became an administrative division. The ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

'' mentioned that Jingzhou had seven commanderies – Nanyang (南陽; present-day southwestern Henan), Nan (南; present-day western Hubei), Jiangxia (江夏; present-day eastern Hubei), Changsha (長沙; present-day northeastern Hunan), Guiyang (桂陽; present-day southeastern Hunan), Wuling (武陵; present-day northwestern Hunan) and Lingling (零陵; present-day southwestern Hunan) – under its jurisdiction. Before Liu Biao became the Governor (州牧) of Jingzhou during the reign of Emperor Xian, Jingzhou's provincial capital was in Hanshou county (漢壽縣; present-day Hanshou County,

Changde Changde (; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 常德區 ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. Changde, known as "Wuling" in ancient times, is located on the west side of Do ...

, Hunan). However, as remnants of the Yellow Turban rebels were still active in southern Jingzhou, the capital was moved north to Xiangyang (襄陽; present-day Xiangyang, Hubei). Liu Biao died in 208 and was succeeded by his younger son, Liu Cong, as the Governor of Jingzhou, but the latter surrendered and ceded the province to the warlord

Cao Cao Cao Cao (; ; ; 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde, was a Chinese statesman, warlord, and poet who rose to power during the end of the Han dynasty (), ultimately taking effective control of the Han central government. He laid the foundation f ...

in the same year. After the Battle of Red Cliffs in the winter of 208/209, Cao Cao managed to retain only Nanyang and Nan commanderies in northern Jingzhou, while central and southern Jingzhou was divided between the warlords

Sun Quan Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...

and

Liu Bei Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a China, Chinese warlord in the late Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty who later became the founding Emperor of China, emperor of Shu Han, one of the Three Kingdoms of ...

. Cao Cao subsequently partitioned Xiangyang (襄陽) and Nanxiang (南鄉) commanderies from the two he controlled – Nanyang and Nan. The commanderies in Jingzhou were thus split between the three contending warlords: Nan, Lingling and Wuling to Liu Bei; Jiangxia, Guiyang and Changsha to Sun Quan; Nanyang, Xiangyang and Nanxiang to Cao Cao.(於是南郡、零陵、武陵以西為蜀，江夏、桂陽、長沙三郡為吳，南陽、襄陽、南鄉三郡為魏。) ''Jin Shu'' vol. 15. It was believed that the term "Nine Commanderies of Jing and Xiang" (荊襄九郡) originated from the division of Jingzhou between the three powers, since each controlled three commanderies, making nine in total. In 219, Sun Quan's general

Lü Meng Lü Meng () (178 – January or February 220), courtesy name Ziming, was a Chinese military general and politician who served under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Early in his career, he fought in several ba ...

attacked and seized Liu Bei's lands in Jingzhou, which were defended by Liu's general Guan Yu. This triggered the subsequent Battle of Xiaoting (or Battle of Yiling) of 221–222, which concluded with Liu Bei being decisively defeated by Sun Quan's general Lu Xun. Since then, the state of Shu (founded by Liu Bei) had never laid claims on Jingzhou; Jingzhou was divided between the states of Wu (founded by Sun Quan) and Wei (founded by Cao Cao's successor,

Cao Pi Cao Pi () (late 187 – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the ...

Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty

During the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu dominated China from AD 220 to 280 following the end of the Han dynasty. This period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and followed by the Jin dynasty (266–420), Western Jin dyna ...

period (220-280), Jingzhou was split between the states of Wei (220–265) and Wu (229–280). The provincial capital of the Wei-controlled Jingzhou was in Xinye (新野), Nan Commandery, and it had seven commanderies – Nanyang (南陽), Jiangxia (江夏; north of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

), Xiangyang (襄陽), Nanxiang (南鄉), Xincheng (新城), Shangyong (上庸) and Weixing (魏興) – under its jurisdiction. On the other hand, the Wu-governed Jingzhou had its administrative centre in Jiangling (江陵), Nan Commandery, with 11 commanderies – Nan (南), Jiangxia (江夏; south of the Yangtze River), Changsha (長沙), Xiangdong (湘東), Guiyang (桂陽), Linhe (臨賀), Lingling (零陵), Hengyang (衡陽), Wuling (武陵), Jianping (建平) and Yidu (宜都) – under its charge. In the Western Jin dynasty (266-316), Jingzhou's capital was designated in Xiangyang (襄陽; present-day Xiangyang,

) and it governed 23 commanderies and states.

Southern and Northern Dynasties period

During the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420-589), China was further divided into many administrative divisions so the land area in each division was reduced. The

Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (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 peri ...

(420-479) established Jingzhou's capital in Xiangyang (襄陽; present-day Xiangyang,

). The

Southern Qi 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 succee ...

dynasty (479–502) changed Jingzhou's capital to Nan commandery and made Xiangyang (renamed to Ningman prefecture 寧蠻府) the capital of another province, Yongzhou. In 497, the

Northern Wei dynasty Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an imperial dynasty of Chi ...

(386–535) set up an administrative division called Jingzhou in Rang (穰; present-day Dengzhou,

), with eight commanderies under its charge. The capital was later moved to Shanbei (山北; present-day Lushan County, Henan). The Northern Wei dynasty also established an administrative division called East Jingzhou (東荊州), with its capital in Ciyang (泚陽).

Sui dynasty

In 583, during the

(589–618), Emperor Wen abolished the commandery system and replaced it with prefectures and counties as administrative divisions. However, Emperor Wen's successor, Emperor Yang, restored the commanderies and adopted the commandery and county system used in the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

. From then on, Jingzhou no longer referred to the large province that used to cover

and

, but rather, the modern city of Jingzhou in Hubei. The city of Jingzhou was also known as Nan commandery (南郡), Jiangling commandery (江陵郡), Jiangling prefecture (江陵府), and Jingzhou prefecture (荊州府).

References

* Fang, Xuanling et al. ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, ...

'' (''Jin Shu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Jingzhou Provinces of ancient China Former prefectures of China