Jiangxia Commandery ( zh, 江夏郡) was a Chinese
commandery that existed from
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
to
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
. Its territories were located in present-day eastern
Hubei
Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...
province.
History
Jiangxia Commandery was established during the reign of
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), born Liu Che and courtesy name Tong, was the seventh Emperor of China, emperor of the Han dynasty from 141 to 87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years – a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi ...
. In the
Western Han dynasty, the commandery consisted of 14 counties: Xiling (西陵), Jingling (竟陵), Xiyang (西陽), Xiang (襄), Zhu (邾), Dai (軑),
E (鄂),
Anlu
Anlu () is a county-level city in east-central Hubei province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Xiaogan. The siege of De'an took place here during the Song-Jin Wars.
Administrative divisions
Two subdist ...
(安陸), Shaxian (沙羨),
Qichun
Qichun County () is a county of eastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of Huanggang City.
Qichun County has been a major historical center of traditional Chinese medicine. It is known in China as the "P ...
(蘄春), Meng (鄳), Yundu (雲杜), Xiazhi (下雉) and Zhongwu (鍾武). The total population in 2 AD was 219,218 individuals, in 56,844 households. During the
Eastern Han
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
period, Xiang and Zhongwu counties were abolished, while Pingchun (平春) and Nanxinshi (南新市) were added. By 140 AD, the population had grown to 265,464, in 58,434 households.
As the Han dynasty fell, Jiangxia was divided between
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 ...
and
Eastern Wu
Wu (Chinese language, Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' < Eastern Han Chinese: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in historiography as Eastern Wu or Sun Wu, was a Dynasties of China, dynastic state of China and one of the three major sta ...
. The seat was moved first to Shiyang (石陽, formerly part of Xiling County), and then to Anlu. In 221,
Sun Quan
Sun Quan (; 182 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumous name, posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of Eastern Wu, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime established by hi ...
added 4 counties of Jiangxia under his control to the newly formed Wuchang Commandery (武昌郡), with E as its seat. When
Jin dynasty reunited China (280 AD), Jiangxia had 7 counties, namely Anlu, Yundu, Quling (曲陵), Pingchun, Meng, Jingling and Nanxinshi. The population was 24,000 households. Later, the commandery was further divided, and the seat was moved to Xiakou (夏口, in present-day
Yunmeng County), where northern refugees from
Runan were accommodated. In 464, the population was 23,810 individuals in 5,072 households. The commandery was abolished in early
Sui dynasty
The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...
.
In Sui dynasty and early
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
, Jiangxia Commandery became an alternative name of
E Prefecture. The commandery administered 6 counties: Jiangxia (present-day
Wuchang),
Wuchang, Tangnian (唐年),
Puqi (浦圻),
Hanyang, and Chachuan (汊川). In 742, it had a population 84,563 individuals, in 19,190 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 41.
References
Commanderies of the Han dynasty
Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420)
Commanderies of the Southern dynasties
Commanderies of the Sui dynasty
{{China-hist-stub