Yunzhong Commandery ( zh, 雲中郡) 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. Its territories were located between the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups ...

and

Yin Mountains The Yin Mountains, also known by several other names, are a mountain range stretching across about of northern China. They form the southeastern border of the Gobi Desert and cross the Chinese provinces of Inner Mongolia and Hebei. Among othe ...

, and correspond to part of modern-day Hohhot, Baotou and

Ulanqab Ulanqab or Ulan Chab (; mn, ''Ulaɣančab qota''; Mongolian cyrillic.Улаанцав хот) is a region administered as a prefecture-level city in south-central Inner Mongolia, China. Its administrative centre is in Jining District, which w ...

prefectures in

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 commandery was created during

King Wuling of Zhao King Wuling of Zhao () (died 295 BCE, reigned 325 BCE – 299 BCE) reigned in the State of Zhao during the Warring States period of Chinese history. His reign was famous for one important event: the reforms consisting of "Wearing the Hu (styled) A ...

's reign after a successful campaign against the Linhu (林胡) and Loufan (樓煩) peoples. After the establishment of

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 ...

, the commandery became the frontier between Han and 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 early Han dynasty, the region saw frequent Xiongnu raids. However, from Emperor Wu's reign onwards, it became an important base of military operations in the wars against the Xiongnu. In 127 BC, it was from Yunzhong that General

Wei Qing Wei Qing (died 106 BC), courtesy name Zhongqing, born Zheng Qing in Linfen, Shanxi, was a Chinese military general and politician of the Western Han dynasty who was acclaimed for his campaigns against the Xiongnu, and his rags to riches life ...

led a 40,000-men strong cavalry force and conquered the modern

Hetao Hetao () is a C-shaped region in northwestern China consisting of a collection of flood plains stretching from the banks of the northern half of the Ordos Loop, a large northerly rectangular bend of the Yellow River that forms the river's entir ...

and

Ordos Ordos may refer to: Inner Mongolia * Ordos City, Inner Mongolia, China **Ordos Ejin Horo Airport * Ordos Loop of the Yellow River, a region of China **Ordos Plateau or "the Ordos", land enclosed by Ordos Loop *Ordos Desert, in Inner Mongolia *Ordos ...

regions. In 2 AD, the commandery administered 11 counties, namely Yunzhong (雲中), Xianyang (咸陽), Taolin (陶林), Zhenling (楨陵), Duhe (犢和), Shaling (沙陵), Yuanyang (原陽), Shanan (沙南), Beiyu (北輿), Wuquan (武泉) and Yangshou (陽壽). The population totaled 38,303 households, or 173,270 people. During Eastern Han, 3 counties were abolished, while 3 new counties were added from

Dingxiang Commandery Dingxiang Commandery ( zh, 定襄郡) was a historical commandery of China. It was located in the southern part of modern Hohhot and Ulanqab prefectures in Inner Mongolia. The commandery was separated from Yunzhong during Emperor Gaozu of Han's r ...

. In 140 AD, the population was 5,351 households, or 26,430 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.''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang ...

'', Chapter 14.

References

{{Han dynasty provinces Commanderies of the Han dynasty