Shanggu Commandery ( zh, 上谷郡) was a

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 ...

in imperial China 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 ...

. It was located in present-day

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, an ...

and

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. The commandery was established by the state of

Yan Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed inde ...

for the defense against the

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 ...

. In

Western Han dynasty 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 ...

, it administered 15 counties, including Juyang (沮陽), Quanshang (泉上), Pan (潘), Jundu (軍都), Juyong (居庸), Goumao (雊瞀), Yiyu (夷輿), Ning (寧),

Changping Changping or Chang Ping, may refer to: Transportation *Changping station (Beijing Subway) (昌平), a subway station on Changping line of Beijing Subway. Located in Beijing. *Changping line (昌平线), a subway line of Beijing Subway *Changping r ...

(昌平), Guangning (廣寧), Zhuolu (涿鹿), Qieju (且居), Ru (茹), Nüqi (女祈) and Xialuo (下落). Guangyang Commandery was merged into Shanggu in Emperor Guangwu of Han's reign, but was restored in 96 AD, and two former Shanggu counties – Jundu and Changping – was transferred there. Later during Eastern Han, only 8 counties remained, namely Juyang, Pan, Ning, Guangning, Juyong, Goumao, Zhuolu and Xialuo. The total number of households was 36,008 in 2 AD, while the population was 117,762. In 140 AD, the population was 51,204, and the households numbered 10,352.''

Book of Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...

'', Chapter 113. In early Eastern Han, some of the Wuhuan people settled within the empire's northern borders. Ning County in Shanggu became the seat of an office known as the "Colonel protecting the Wuhuan" (護烏桓校尉), which was in charge of relationships with the Wuhuan and Xianbei tribes and had the rank equivalent to that of a commandery's Grand Administrator (太守). A seasonal market was also established there. During Emperor Wu of Jin's reign, a new Guangning Commandery was established. Shanggu had 2 counties and 4,070 households, while Guangning administered 3 counties and 3,950 households. During the

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

era, the area was successively held by

Later Zhao The Later Zhao (; 319–351) was a dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity. The Jie were most likely a Yeniseian people and spoke next to Chinese one of the Yeniseian languages.Vov ...

Former Yan The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...

Former Qin The Former Qin, also called Fu Qin (苻秦), (351–394) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese history ruled by the Di ethnicity. Founded by Fu Jian (posthumously Emperor Jingming) who originally served under the Later ...

and Later Yan. Later, Shanggu became part of

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

until the Xiaochang era when it was lost during the Rebellion of Six Garrisons (六鎮之亂). It covered 2 counties – Pingshu (平舒) and Juyong – and had 3,093 households. 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 ...

. In Sui and

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

dynasties, Shanggu Commandery became an alternative name for Yi Prefecture (易州). It consisted of 6 counties: Yi (易), Rongcheng (容城), Suicheng (遂城),

Laishui Laishui County () is a county in central Hebei province, China, bordering the Municipality of Beijing to the north and in the basin of the Juma River. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Baoding and contains its norther ...

(淶水),

Mancheng Mancheng District () is a district of west-central Hebei province, China, in the eastern foothills of the Taihang Mountains. It is administratively part of Baoding prefecture-level city, of which the Mancheng is a northwestern suburb. Mancheng is ...

(滿城) and Wuhui (五回). The population was 258,779 in 742 AD, in 44,230 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 Qin dynasty Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) Commanderies of the Sui dynasty Wuhuan