Gaonu County () was an ancient Chinese

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

under the jurisdiction of

Shang Commandery Shang Commandery ( zh, c=上郡, l=Upper Commandery) was a historical commandery of China. It was located in modern-day Northern Shaanxi. The commandery was established during the reign of Marquess Wen of Wei. In 328 BC, it was annexed by the Q ...

in present-day northern

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

. The county was established in the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...

, during the reign of

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( ...

. Iterations of Gaonu County continued until the latter Eastern Han period, albeit interrupted by rebellions and invasions. The location of Gaonu County corresponds to present-day

Baota District Baota District (), is a district in Yan'an, Shaanxi, China. The district has an area of , and a permanent population of 497,085 as of 2019. Baota District serves as Yan'an's administrative center, hosting the city's government offices. The distric ...

and

Ansai District Ansai () is a district of the city of Yan'an, Shaanxi province, China. It has a total area of and a population of 172,900 people. Part of the Loess Plateau, the district has an average elevation of . Its postal code is 717400, and its Serial Num ...

within

Yan'an Yan'an (; ), alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several counties, including Zhidan (formerly Bao'an ...

. During the Qin dynasty and the

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 warr ...

, Gaonu County served as an important regional center within present-day Yan'an.

History

In 328 BCE, the Qin state took land corresponding to present-day

from the Wei state. Subsequently, during the rule of Emperor

Qin Shihuang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( ...

, the area was organized as Gaonu County beginning in 221 BCE, and was placed under the jurisdiction of the

. In 206 BCE, following the collapse of the Qin, Gaonu County was taken by forces belonging to

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (, –202 BC), born Xiang Ji (), was the Hegemon-King (Chinese: 霸王, ''Bà Wáng'') of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period (206–202 BC) of China. A noble of the Chu state, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dynas ...

during the

Chu–Han Contention The Chu–Han Contention ( zh, , lk=on) or Chu–Han War () was an interregnum period in ancient China between the fallen Qin dynasty and the subsequent Han dynasty. After the third and last Qin ruler, Ziying, unconditionally surrendered t ...

. However, just six months later, armies belonging to Emperor Gaozu of the

retook Gaonu County. From 177 BCE to 117 BCE, invading

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

forces invaded the Shang Commandery numerous times as part of the Han–Xiongnu War, and Gaonu County changed hands several times. During the Qin dynasty, general Meng Tian supervised the construction of roads in Gaonu County which led northward to present-day

Yulin Yulin may refer to the following places in China: Cities and prefectures *Yulin, Guangxi (玉林市), a prefecture-level city in Guangxi *Yulin, Shaanxi (榆林市), a prefecture-level city in Shaanxi * Yulin Prefecture (鬱林州), a prefecture b ...

and

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...

. The '' Commentary on the Water Classic'', written by Li Daoyuan, has a passage which says that Gaonu County has a form of "combustible" water, which would turn out to be

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

. This was corroborated in the later ''

Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang The ''Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang'' () is a book written by Duan Chengshi in the 9th century. It focuses on miscellany of Chinese and foreign legends and hearsay, reports on natural phenomena, short anecdotes, and tales of the wondrous an ...

'', written by

Duan Chengshi Duan Chengshi () (died 863) was a Chinese poet and writer of the Tang Dynasty. He was born to a wealthy family in present-day Zibo, Shandong. A descendant of the early Tang official Duan Zhixuan (, ''Duàn Zhìxuán'') (-642), and the son of Duan ...

, which states that Gaonu County was known to have "greasy" water which was burned for use in lamps. In 9 CE, Gaonu County was renamed to Pingli County (

simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

: 平利县;

traditional Chinese A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

: 平利縣;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: ''Pínglì Xiàn''). Shortly afterwards, during the early Eastern Han period, it was renamed Gaonu County. However, near the end of the Eastern Han period, Gaonu County would be permanently abolished.

Demographics

A census carried out during the final years of the

Western Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

period counted 52,752 people in Gaonu County.

References

{{coord missing, Shaanxi Former counties of China Baota District History of Shaanxi