Liang () was a

traditional Chinese A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examp ...

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

centered on present-day

Kaifeng Kaifeng ( zh, s=开封, p=Kāifēng) is a prefecture-level city in east-Zhongyuan, central Henan province, China. It is one of the Historical capitals of China, Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and ...

. It was held by various powers over the course of Chinese history. It generally comprised modern

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 ...

with a small part of

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

Ancient China

Liang (sometimes as , ''Liángzhōu'') 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 originally recorded in the '' Yu Gong'' or ''Tribute of Yu'' section of the ''

Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' ( zh, p=Shūjīng, c=書經, w=Shu King) or the ''Classic of History'', is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China, a ...

''. By the time of the ''

Erya The ''Erya'' or ''Erh-ya'' is the first surviving Chinese dictionary. The sinologist Bernhard Karlgren concluded that "the major part of its glosses must reasonably date from the 3rd century BC." Title Chinese scholars interpret the firs ...

'', it had been replaced among the list of the nine major provinces of China. Nevertheless, it was usually included among the lists of the Twelve Provinces in the reigns of the mythological figures of

Emperor Yao Emperor Yao (; traditionally c. 2356 – 2255 BCE) was a legendary China, Chinese ruler, according to various sources, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Ancestry and early life Yao's ancestral name is Yi Qi () or Qi (), clan ...

and

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun ( zh, c=帝舜, p=Dì Shùn) was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 229 ...

. It included the upper Han River basin west of the

Huaxia ''Huaxia'' is a historical concept representing the Chinese nation, and came from the self-awareness of a common cultural ancestry by ancestral populations of the Han people. Etymology The earliest extant authentic attestation of the ''H ...

homeland.

State of Liang

The

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

s of Liang (, ''Liángbó'') possessed the

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

Ying ().

Yang Bojun Yang Bojun (; 1 September 1909 − 1992) was a Chinese philologist best known for his ''Chunqiu Zuozhuan Zhu'' (), an annotated commentary of the ancient Chinese historical text and Confucian classic ''Zuo Zhuan''. The work took him more than tw ...

, "

Zuo Zhuan The ''Zuo Zhuan'' ( zh, t=左傳, w=Tso Chuan; ), often translated as ''The Zuo Tradition'' or as ''The Commentary of Zuo'', is an ancient Chinese narrative history traditionally regarded as a commentary on the ancient Chinese chronicle the '' ...

17th Year of Xigong", Zhonghua Publishing 1990, p372 Their capital was located south of

Hancheng Hancheng () is a city in Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China, about 125 miles northeast of Xi'an, at the point where the south-flowing Yellow River enters the Guanzhong Plain. It is a renowned historic city, containing numerous historic ...

Shaanxi Shaanxi is a Provinces of China, province in north Northwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions of Inner Mongolia to the north; Shanxi and Henan to the east; Hubei, Chongqing, and Sichuan to the south; and Gansu and Ningxia to t ...

. During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, they were involved in various alliances against the hegemony of Jin. In 642 BC, the count constructed a new capital for his realm only to have it seized by Qin upon its completion. The State of Liang collapsed from internal problems in 641 BC, and Duke Mu of Qin annexed the area completely.

Wei Kingdom

The

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

s of Liang (, ''Liángwáng'') were the lords of Wei. Descending from the Bi () branch of the Ji (), the Zhou royal family, they came to be known as the Wei family () after Bi Wan conquered that land for Jin. In 344 BC, they were forced to move the capital from Anyi to Daliang (lit. "Greater Liang", now

) to escape attacks from Qin. In 344 BC, Marquess Hui declared himself independent of the Zhou and styled himself "King of Liang". His successors carried on the title until Liang's conquest by Qin in 225 BC but are generally known as the "Kings of Wei" today. * Wei Ying, King Hui (r. 344–319 BC) * Wei Si or He, King Xiang (r. 319–296 BC), son of King Hui * Wei Chi, King Zhao (296–277 BC), son of King Xiang * Wei Yu, King Anxi (277–243 BC), son of King Zhao * Wei Zeng or Wu, King Jingmin (243–228 BC ), son of King Anxi * Wei Jia, King Jia (228–225 BC), son of King Jingmin

Han Principality

The princes of Liang () bore the same title in Chinese as the Wei kings but are generally translated differently into English to reflect their changed status following the creation of the title of

emperor of China Throughout Chinese history, "Emperor" () was the superlative title held by the monarchs of imperial China's various dynasties. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was the " Son of Heaven", an autocrat with the divine mandat ...

Shi Huangdi Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary dynasty in Chine ...

. Their capital was generally at Suiyang in present-day

. The

Qin Empire The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first 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 engaged in a series ...

was a unitary state following legalist policies but, upon establishing its Han successor,

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (2561 June 195 BC), also known by his given name Liu Bang, was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning from 202 to 195 BC. He is considered by traditional Chinese historiography to be one o ...

reïnstituted the previous fiefs and granted high titles to relatives and allies. In 202 BC, he created his general

Peng Yue Peng Yue (; died April 196 BC), courtesy name Zhong, was a Chinese military general who lived during the late Qin dynasty and early Han dynasty. He was a prominent ally of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu), the founding emperor of ...

the first prince of Liang. Within five years, however, Peng was arrested on false charges of treason and executed. His title was then given to the emperor's son

Liu Hui Liu Hui () was a Chinese mathematician who published a commentary in 263 CE on ''Jiu Zhang Suan Shu ( The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art).'' He was a descendant of the Marquis of Zixiang of the Eastern Han dynasty and lived in the state ...

. As Liang was a rich and important patch of territory, its princes were powerful and prominent: many met with untimely deaths either because they began to covet the imperial throne or because they were feared to do so. A famous example apart from Peng Yue was Emperor Jing's younger brother Liu Wu, whose minions executed ten of the emperor's ministers for standing in his way. After the death of Liu Wu in 144 BC, his realm was divided among his five sons. Liu Pengli, the prince of Jidong, became a notorious

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

and had his lands confiscated by Emperor Jing. *

(r. 202–197 BC), a Han general *

(r. 196–181 BC), son of Emperor Gao * Liu Yi, Prince Huai (r. 178–169 BC), 2nd son of Emperor Wen * Liu Wu, Prince Xiao (r. 168–144 BC), 3rd son of Emperor Wen * Liu Mai, Prince Gong (r. 144–137 BC), 1st son of Liu Wu * Liu Xiang, Prince Ping (r. 137–97 BC), son of Liu Mai

Empire

The Liang Empire was established by 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 ...

general Xiao Yan in AD 502. It was named for the titles duke of Liang (, ''Liánggōng'') and prince of Liang () which Xiao had the Empress An bestow upon him in her position as regent for the teenage Emperor He. Despite the title, his capital and court were at

Jiankang Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was the capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (265–420), Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Ch ...

(within modern

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

Sui Kingdom

A new and independent kingdom of Liang () was declared in 619 by Shen Faxing, a Sui general in the lower

Yangtze 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 ...

. Despite the name, his capital was at

Piling A pile or piling is a vertical structural element of a deep foundation, driven or drilled deep into the ground at the building site. A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from th ...

(modern

Changzhou Changzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu, China. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, and Jinling. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Zhen ...

) and he only ever controlled areas of present-day

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

and

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

before his territory was conquered by the agrarian rebel Li Zitong (under the title Emperor of Wu).

Tang Principality

The title of prince of Liang () was revived in AD 690 under the

empress dowager Empress dowager (also dowager empress or empress mother; ) is the English language translation of the title given to the mother or widow of a monarch, especially in regards to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese monarchs in the Chines ...

Wu Zetian Wu Zetian (624 – 16 December 705), personal name Wu Zhao, was List of rulers of China#Tang dynasty, Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and later in her own right. She ruled as queen consort , empress consort th ...

's new Zhou dynasty in order to honor her half-nephew

Wu Sansi Wu Sansi (died August 7, 707), known posthumously as Prince Xuan of Liang (), was a Chinese prince and politician of the Tang and Wu Zhou dynasties. Wu Sansi served as a chancellor and imperial prince during the reign of his aunt, Empress Wu Zetia ...

. He was demoted to a lesser principality after her death in 705 but restored as prince of Liang posthumously two years later.

Yuan Principality

The title of prince of Liang () was revived a fourth time under the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

as a hereditary

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

for one of the sons of

Kublai Khan Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...

. The Princes of Liang served as the Yuan viceroys of Yunnan. By far the most famous was

Basalawarmi Basalawarmi (, , died January 6, 1382), commonly known by his hereditary noble title, the Prince of Liang, was a Yuan dynasty prince and loyalist who fought against the Ming dynasty. He was a descendant of Khökhechi, the fifth son of Kublai Kha ...

(d. 1382), who continued his family's fight against the Ming long after the fall of Khanbalik in 1368.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liang Zhou dynasty Provinces of ancient China