Shanggu Commandery ( zh, 上谷郡) 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 present-day
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
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.
The commandery was established by the state of Yan for the defense against the Xiongnu. 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 15 counties, including Juyang (沮陽), Quanshang (泉上), Pan (潘), Jundu (軍都), Juyong (居庸), Goumao (雊瞀), Yiyu (夷輿), Ning (寧),
Changping Changping or Chang Ping, may refer to:
Transportation
*Changping station (Beijing Subway) (昌平), a subway station on Changping line of Beijing Subway. Located in Beijing.
*Changping line (昌平线), a subway line of Beijing Subway
*Changping r ...
(昌平), Guangning (廣寧), Zhuolu (涿鹿), Qieju (且居), Ru (茹), Nüqi (女祈) and Xialuo (下落). Guangyang Commandery was merged into Shanggu in
Emperor Guangwu of Han
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 ...
's reign, but was restored in 96 AD, and two former Shanggu counties – Jundu and Changping – was transferred there. Later during Eastern Han, only 8 counties remained, namely Juyang, Pan, Ning, Guangning, Juyong, Goumao, Zhuolu and Xialuo. The total number of households was 36,008 in 2 AD, while the population was 117,762. In 140 AD, the population was 51,204, and the households numbered 10,352.''
Book of Later Han
The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Late ...
'', Chapter 113.
In early Eastern Han, some of the
people settled within the empire's northern borders. Ning County in Shanggu became the seat of an office known as the "Colonel protecting the Wuhuan" (護烏桓校尉), which was in charge of relationships with the Wuhuan and
Xianbei
The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into t ...
tribes and had the rank equivalent to that of a commandery's Grand Administrator (太守). A seasonal market was also established there.
During
Emperor Wu of Jin
Emperor Wu of Jin (; 236 – 16 May 290), personal name Sima Yan (), courtesy name Anshi (安世), was the grandson of Sima Yi, nephew of Sima Shi and son of Sima Zhao. He became the first emperor of the Jin dynasty after forcing Cao Huan ...
's reign, a new Guangning Commandery was established. Shanggu had 2 counties and 4,070 households, while Guangning administered 3 counties and 3,950 households. During the
Sixteen Kingdoms
The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...
era, the area was successively held by
Later Zhao
The Later Zhao (; 319–351) was a dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity. The Jie were most likely a Yeniseian people and spoke next to Chinese one of the Yeniseian languages.V ...
,
Former Yan
The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China.
Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...
Later Yan
Yan, known in historiography as the Later Yan (; 384 – 407 or 409) was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xianbei people, located in modern-day northeast China, during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms.
All rulers of the Later Yan declared them ...
. Later, Shanggu became part of Northern Wei until the Xiaochang era when it was lost during the Rebellion of Six Garrisons (六鎮之亂). It covered 2 counties – Pingshu (平舒) and Juyong – and had 3,093 households. The commandery was abolished in early Sui dynasty.
In Sui and Tang dynasties, Shanggu Commandery became an alternative name for Yi Prefecture (易州). It consisted of 6 counties: Yi (易), Rongcheng (容城), Suicheng (遂城), Laishui (淶水), Mancheng (滿城) and Wuhui (五回). The population was 258,779 in 742 AD, in 44,230 households.'' New Book of Tang'', Chapter 39.