Liaoxi Commandery ( zh, 遼西郡) was a
commandery in imperial China from the
Warring States period
The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...
to
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 Kingdo ...
. It was located in modern eastern
Hebei
Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and ...
and western
Liaoning, to the west of the
Liao River
The Liao River () is the principal river in southern Northeast China, and one of the seven main river systems in China. Its name derived from the Liao region, a historical name for southern Manchuria, from which the Liaoning province, Liaodon ...
.
The commandery was created by the
state of Yan
Yan (; Old Chinese pronunciation: ''*'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Its capital was Ji (later known as Yanjing and now Beijing). During the Warring States period, the court was also moved to another capital at Xiad ...
on its northern border during the Warring States period. In
Western 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 wa ...
, It administered 14 counties, including Qielü (且慮), Haiyang (海陽), Xin'anping (新安平), Liucheng (柳城), Lingzhi (令支), Feiru (肥如), Bincong (賓從), Jiaoli (交黎), Yangle (陽樂), Husu (狐蘇), Tuhe (徒河), Wencheng (文成), Linyu (臨渝) and Lei (絫). In 2 AD, the population was 352,325, in 72,654 households. In Eastern Han, its territory and population were both much reduced. Five counties remained, including Yangle, Haiyang, Lingzhi, Feiru and Linyu. In 140 AD, the population was 81,714, in 14,150 households. In 280 AD, the commandery had 3 counties, namely Yangle, Feiru and Haiyang, and a population of 2,800 households. It was eventually merged into
Beiping Commandery
Youbeiping Commandery ( zh, 右北平郡), or Beiping Commandery ( zh, 北平郡) was a commandery in imperial China from the Warring States period to Tang dynasty. It was located in present-day Hebei and Tianjin.
Youbeiping Commandery was establi ...
during
Northern Qi
Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...
.
Liaoxi Commandery was reestablished in
Sui dynasty, and later became an alternative name of Ying Prefecture (營州). It was conquered by the
Khitans
The Khitan people (Khitan small script: ; ) were a historical nomadic people from Northeast Asia who, from the 4th century, inhabited an area corresponding to parts of modern Mongolia, Northeast China and the Russian Far East.
As a people desce ...
in 696, but was restored in 717. Liucheng was the only county in the commandery, and the population was 3,789, or 997 households.
['' New Book of Tang'', Chapter 39.]
References
{{Han dynasty provinces
Commanderies of the Qin dynasty
Commanderies of the Han dynasty
Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420)
Commanderies of the Northern dynasties
Commanderies of the Sui dynasty