Nan Commandery ( zh, 南郡, "Southern Commandery") 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 ...

that existed from the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

. Its territories covered present-day central and western

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

province, as well as parts of

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

. The seat was Jiangling, present-day

Jingzhou Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (''or metro' ...

, Hubei.

History

Nan Commandery was established by

Qin Qin may refer to: Dynasties and states * Qin (state) (秦), a major state during the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China * Qin dynasty (秦), founded by the Qin state in 221 BC and ended in 206 BC * Daqin (大秦), ancient Chinese name for the Roman Emp ...

in the 29th year of King Zhao (278 BC), after Qin had conquered the Chu capital

Ying Ying may refer to: People * Yíng (嬴), a Chinese surname, the ancestral name of Qin Shi Huang, first Emperor of China in the Qin Dynasty, and some contemporary rival royal families such as the Zhaos * Yīng (应), a Chinese surname from the Z ...

. After the fall of Qin, Nan Commandery became the fief of

Gong Ao Gong Ao (; died 204 BC) was a ruler of the Kingdom of Linjiang of the Eighteen Kingdoms during the Chu–Han Contention, an interregnum between the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty. Gong Ao descended from a noble family of the Chu state in the ...

, a noble of Chu, and his son

Gong Wei Gong Wei (; died 202 BC) was a ruler of the Kingdom of Linjiang of the Eighteen Kingdoms during the Chu–Han Contention, an interregnum between the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty. Gong Wei's father Gong Ao received his fief and the title of ...

, until it was conquered by

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 Emper ...

. In 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 ...

dynasty, the commandery consisted of 18 counties: Jiangling (江陵), Linju (臨沮), Yiling (夷陵), Huarong (華容), Yicheng (宜城),

(郢), Zhi (踬),

Dangyang Dangyang () is a city in western Hubei province, People's Republic of China, lying east of the Gezhouba Dam on the Yangtze River. During the Western Han Dynasty (206-24 BC). Emperor Jing of Han established an administration in Dangyang on an ar ...

(當陽), Zhonglu (中盧), Zhijiang (枝江),

Xiangyang Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

(襄陽), Bian (編), Zigui (秭歸), Yidao (夷道), Zhouling (州陵), Ruo (若), Wu (巫) and Gaocheng (高成). The total population in 2 AD was 718,540 individuals, in 125,579 households. By 140 AD, the population had grown to 747,604, in 162,570 households. During the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

era, three new commanderies – Yidu (宜都), Jianping (建平) and Xiangyang were formed in the region, and multiple new counties were created as well. By the time when Jin dynasty reunited China (280 AD), the territory of Nan had been reduced to 11 counties, namely Jiangling, Bian, Dangyang, Huarong, Ruo, Zhijiang, Jingyang (旌陽), Zhouling,

Jianli Jianli () is a county-level city of southern Hubei Province, China, located on the northern (left) bank of the Yangtze River and bordering Hunan Province to the south. It is under the administration of Jingzhou City. The character ''jian'' (/) ...

Songzi Songzi () is a city in the southwest of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, located in the middle reach and southern bank of the Yangtze River. It is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Jingzho ...

, and

Shishou Shishou (; ) is a county-level city under the administration of the prefectural-level city Jingzhou, in the south of Hubei province, near its border with Hunan province, and is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The Swan Islet Wet ...

. The recorded population was 55,000 households. Nan Commandery briefly served as the fief of

Sima Wei Sima Wei (司馬瑋) (271 – 26 July 291), courtesy name Yandu (彥度), formally Prince Yin of Chu (楚隱王), was an imperial prince during Jin Dynasty (266–420) and was the second of the eight princes commonly associated with the War of ...

, Prince of Chu, until the outbreak of the

War of the Eight Princes The War of the Eight Princes, Rebellion of the Eight Kings, or Rebellion of the Eight Princes () was a series of civil wars among kings/princes (Chinese: ''wáng'' 王) of the Chinese Jin dynasty from 291 to 306 AD. The key point of contention in ...

in 291. In

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...

dynasty of Southern and Northern dynasties era, only 6 counties remained in the commandery, while the population had decreased further to 75,087 individuals in 14,544 households by mid-5th century. The commandery was abolished in early

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

after reunification. In Sui dynasty and early

, Nan Commandery became an alternative name of Jing Prefecture. The commandery administered 10 counties, and had a population 58,836 households.''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

'', Chapter 31.

References

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