Anding Commandery ( zh, c=安定郡, l=Peaceful and Stable) was a historical

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 ...

of China, located in what is now eastern

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

and southern

Ningxia Ningxia (,; , ; alternately romanized as Ninghsia), officially the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (NHAR), is an autonomous region in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. Formerly a province, Ningxia was incorporated into Gansu in ...

History

Anding commandery was carved out of

Beidi The Di or Beidi (Northern Di) were various ethnic groups who lived north of the Chinese (''Huaxia'') realms during the Zhou dynasty. Although initially described as nomadic, they seem to have practiced a mixed pastoral, agricultural, and hunting ...

in 114 BC. Its capital was Gaoping (高平, modern

Guyuan (), formerly known as Xihaigu (, Xiao'erjing: قُ‌يُوًا شِ), is a prefecture-level city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It occupies the southernmost section of the region, bordering Gansu provin ...

, Ningxia). In late Western Han period, the commandery administered 21 counties: Gaoping (高平), Fulei (復累), Anbi (安俾), Fuyi (撫夷), Chaona (朝那), Jingyang (涇陽), Linjing (臨涇), Lu (鹵), Wushi (烏氏), Yinmi (陰密), Anding (安定), Candu (參讀), Sanshui (三水), Yinpan (陰槃), Anwu (安武), Zuli (祖厲), Yuande (爰得), Xuanjuan (眴卷), Pengyang (彭陽), Chunyin (鶉陰) and Yuezhidao (月支道). The total population in 2 AD was 143,294 (42,725 households). The Eastern Han census in 140 AD, however, documented a popolation of only 29,060 (6,094 households), and the number of counties had reduced to 8. Due to attacks by the

Qiang people The Qiang people ( Qiangic: ''Rrmea''; ) are an ethnic group in China. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognised by the People's Republic of China, with a population of approximately 310,000 in 2000. They live mainly in a ...

, the commandery's administration was relocated to

Youfufeng Fufeng ( zh, 扶風), also known as You Fufeng ( zh, 右扶風), was a historical region located in modern western Shaanxi. In early Han dynasty, the administrator of the capital Chang'an and its vicinities was known as ''You Neishi'' (右內史) ...

from 111 to 129. Anding was moved permanently to Youfufeng in 141 after another wave of Qiang attacks, and the original territories were eventually abandoned. In 280 AD, the commandery had 7 counties, with a total population of 5,500 households.''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the 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, with chancellor Fang X ...

'', Chapter 14.

References

{{Han dynasty provinces Commanderies of the Qin dynasty Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) History of Ningxia