Wei Commandery ( zh, 魏郡) was a historical
commandery of China, located in modern southern
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 northern
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
.
The commandery was created during
Emperor Gaozu of Han
Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was E ...
's reign, with its seat at
Ye. In late
Western Han, it administered 18 counties, namely Ye (鄴), Guantao (館陶), Chiqiu (斥丘), Sha (沙), Neihuang (內黃), Qingyuan (清淵), Wei (魏), Fanyang (繁陽), Yuancheng (元城), Liangqi (梁期), Liyang (黎陽), Jipei (即裴), Wushi (武始), Hanhui (邯會), Yin'an (陰安), Ping'en (平恩), Hangou (邯溝) and Wu'an (武安). The population was 909,655, or 212,849 households in 2 AD. By 140 AD, four counties (Jipei, Wushi, Hanhui, Hangou) had been resolved, whereas a new county, Quliang (曲梁), was added. The population was 695,606, or 129,310 households.
In late Eastern Han dynasty, Wei Commandery became the center of the Wei Kingdom, fief of
Cao Cao
Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...
, who expanded the commandery, increasing the total number of counties to 29. New official posts, Colonel of the East (東部都尉) and Colonel of the West (西部都尉) were created to assist in administering the territory. After the establishment of the
dynasty, these areas became new commanderies Yangping (陽平) and Guangping (廣平), respectively. At the unification of
Jin dynasty in 280 AD, the commandery had 8 counties, and a population of 40,700 households.
Under the
Eastern Wei which moved the capital to Ye, Wei Commandery was briefly renamed Wei Yin (魏尹), similar to how
Jingzhao was named during the Han dynasty. 13 counties were recorded in the ''
Book of Wei
The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to ...
'', namely Ye (鄴), Linzhang (臨漳), Fanyang (繁陽), Lieren (列人), Changle (昌樂), Wu'an (武安), Linshui (臨水), Wei (魏), Pingyi (平邑), Yiyang (易陽), Yuancheng (元城), Chizhang (斥章) and Guixiang (貴鄉), with a total population of 438,024, or 122,613 households. The commandery was abolished in early
Sui dynasty.
In Sui and
Tang dynasties, Wei Commandery became an alternative name of Xiang Prefecture (相州, centered around modern-day
Anyang) until 742. Afterwards, the name was applied to Wei Prefecture (魏州) to the north of Xiang.
['' New Book of Tang'', Chapter 39.]
References
{{Han dynasty provinces
Commanderies of the Han dynasty
Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420)
Commanderies of the Northern dynasties