Yingchuan Commandery ( zh, 潁川郡) was a Chinese

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

from 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 ...

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

, located in modern central

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. The name referred to the Ying River, which flowed through its territory. The commandery was established by the

state of Qin Qin (, , or ''Ch'in'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. It is traditionally dated to 897 BC. The state of Qin originated from a reconquest of western lands that had previously been lost to the Xirong. Its location at ...

after it conquered Hán. The seat was Yangdi (陽翟, modern

Yuzhou, Henan Yuzhou ( zh, s=禹州, w=Yü-chou, p=Yǔzhōu) is a county-level city in the central part of Henan, People's Republic of China. Yuzhou City, referred to as "Jun", was called Yangzhai, Junzhou and Yingchuan in ancient times, and also called Xiadu, ...

), which, according to legend, was the capital of

Yu the Great Yu the Great or Yu the Engineer was a legendary king in ancient China who was credited with "the first successful state efforts at flood control", his establishment of the Xia dynasty, which inaugurated Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic ru ...

, and was the capital of the Warring States era

State of Han Han was an ancient Chinese state during the Warring States period. Scholars frequently render the name as Hann to clearly distinguish it from China's later Han dynasty. It was located in central China (modern-day Shanxi and Henan) in a region ...

. After the establishment of Hàn dynasty, it originally became Xin, King of Hán's fief. However, Xin was soon moved to

Taiyuan Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

, and the commandery was restored. In 2 AD, it administered 20 counties: Yangdi, Kunyang (昆陽), Yingyang (潁陽), Dingling (定陵), Changshe (長社), Xinji (新汲), Xiangcheng (襄城), Yan (郾),

Jia JIA or Jia may refer to JIA * Japan Institute of Architects * Juína Airport IATA code * Jacksonville International Airport, a medium-to-large airport in the U.S. city of Jacksonville, Florida * Jetstream International Airlines, now known as PSA ...

(郟), Wuyang (舞陽), Yingyin (潁陰), Chonggao (崇高), Xu (許), Yanling (傿陵), Linying (臨潁), Fucheng (父城), Cheng'an (成安), Zhouchengxiu (周承休), Yangcheng (陽城), and Guanshi (綸氏). The population was 2,210,973, in 432,491 households. In eastern Han dynasty, the commandery administered 17 counties. The population was 1,436,513 in 140 AD, in 263,440 households. During

Emperor Xian of Han Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last Emperor of China, emperor of the Han dynasty#Eastern Han (25–220 AD), Eastern Han dynasty of China. He reigned from ...

's reign, the imperial court was moved to Xu, the home city of

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 ...

, as did the seat of the commandery. In

Jin dynasty Jin may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), major state of the Zhou dynasty, existing from the 11th century BC to 376 BC * Jin dynasty (266–420) (晉朝), also known as Liang Jin and Sima Jin * Jin (Later Tang precursor) ...

, Xiangcheng Commandery was formed from the southern part of Yingchuan. 9 Counties remained in Yingchuan. According to the ''

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, ...

'', the commandery had 28,300 households. In

Northern Wei 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 Dynasties of China, impe ...

, several new commanderies was established in the area. They were administered by Ying Prefecture (潁州, established in 535), later renamed Zheng (鄭州), and in

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties of China's ...

, again to Xu (許州). In Sui and Tang dynasties, the original commanderies were abolished and Yingchuan Commandery became an alternative name of Xu Prefecture. It administered 9 counties, and in 741, the population was 487,864, in 73,347 households.''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', Chapter 28.

References

{{Han dynasty provinces Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) Commanderies of the Sui dynasty