Tianshui Commandery ( zh, 天水郡), known as Hanyang Commandery ( zh, 漢陽郡) during the Eastern Han dynasty, 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 in eastern

Gansu Gansu is a provinces of China, province in Northwestern China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeastern part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibetan Plateau, Ti ...

. The modern city of

Tianshui Tianshui is a prefecture-level city in Gansu province, China, and is the province's second-largest city (behind the provincial capital Lanzhou). Located in the southeast of the province, the city strides along the upper reaches of the Wei River a ...

receives its name from the commandery.

History

The commandery was established from lands of Longxi and

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 huntin ...

commanderies in 114 BC. In 2 AD, the commandery had 16 counties: Pingxiang (平襄), Jiequan (街泉), Rongyidao (戎邑道), Wangyuan (望垣), Hanjian (罕幵), Mianzhudao (綿諸道), Ayang (阿陽), Lueyangdao (略陽道), Ji (冀), Yongshi (勇士), Chengji (成紀), Qingshui (清水), Fengjie (奉捷), Long (隴), Huandao (豲道) and Langan (蘭干). The total population was 261,348 (60,370 households). The name was changed to Hanyang in 74 AD. The Eastern Han census in 140 AD documented a population of 130,138 (27,423 households), and the number of counties was 13. The name "Tianshui" was restored during the

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

. In 280 AD, it administered 6 counties and the population was 8,500 households. During the

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

, it was split into Tianshui and Hanyang commanderies. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, Tianshui Commandery was an alternative name for Qin Prefecture. The commandery administered 6 counties, and had a population 52,130 households.'' Book of Sui'', Chapter 29.

References

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