Shang Commandery ( zh, c=上郡, l=Upper Commandery) was a historical
commandery of China. It was located in modern-day
Northern Shaanxi
Shaanbei () or Northern Shaanxi is the portion of China's Shaanxi province north of the Huanglong Mountain and the Meridian Ridge (the so-called " Guanzhong north mountains"), and is both a geographic as well as a cultural area.
It makes up the ...
.
The commandery was established during the reign of
Marquess Wen of Wei. In 328 BC, it was annexed by the
Qin state. The seat was Fushi (膚施), to the south of modern
Yulin, Shaanxi. 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 ...
, Shang was granted to
Dong Yi, a Qin general who received the title "King of Di" from
Xiang Yu. After Dong's defeat in 205 BC, the territory became part of
Han.
In late Western Han dynasty, Shang included 23 counties, namely Fushi (膚施), Dule (獨樂), Yangzhou (陽周), Muhe (木禾), Pingdu (平都), Qianshui (淺水), Jingshi (京室), Luodu (洛都), Baitu (白土), Xiangluo (襄洛), Yuandu (原都), Qiyuan (漆垣), Sheyan (奢延), Diaoyin (雕陰), Tuixie (推邪), Zhenlin (楨林), Gaowang (高望), Diaoyindao (雕陰道), Qiuci (龜茲), Dingyang (定陽), Gaonu (高奴), Wangsong (望松) and Yidu (宜都). The population was 606,658, in 103,683 households in 2 AD. By 140 AD in Eastern Han, the number of counties had decreased to 10, and the population to 28,599, in 5,169 households. Toward the end Han dynasty, the area's population decreased sharply as residents fled from invading northern nomadic peoples, and the commandery was dissolved.
In the
Sui and
Tang dynasties, the name Dingxiang Commandery was revived to refer to Fu (敷, 鄜) prefecture. Fu Prefecture in Sui dynasty administered 5 counties, and 53,489 households In 741 AD, the population was 153,714, in 23,484 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 39.
References
{{Han dynasty provinces
Commanderies of the Han dynasty
Commanderies of the Sui dynasty