Runan Commandery ( zh, 汝南郡) was a Chinese

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 ...

from

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 ...

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

, located in modern

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

and

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

provinces. The name referred to its location to the south of Ru River (汝水), a historical river that flowed into the

Huai The Huai River (), formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in China. It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins in China, and like them runs from west to east. ...

. Runan was part of the Huaiyang Kingdom in early

Western Han 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 war ...

dynasty. In 156 BC, Runan was granted to Liu Fei, son of the reigning Emperor Jing as a principality. A year later, Fei's fief was changed to Jiangdu (江都), and Runan became a commandery. In late Western Han dynasty, it administered 37 counties, Pingyu (平輿), Yang'an (陽安), Yangcheng (陽城), Liqiang (郦強), Fubo (富波), Nüyang (女陽), Tongyang (鮦陽), Wufang (吳房), Ancheng (安成), Nandun (南頓), Langling (朗陵), Xiyang (細陽), Yichun (宜春), Nüyin (女陰),

Xincai Xincai County (; postal: Sintsai) is a county in the southeast of Henan province, China, bordering Anhui province to the northeast and east. It is the easternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Zhumadian. Xincai was one of t ...

(新蔡), Xinxi (新息), Quyang (灈陽), Qisi (期思), Shenyang (慎陽), Shen (慎), Zhaoling (召陵), Yiyang (弋陽), Xiping (西平),

Shangcai Shangcai County () is a county in the south of Henan province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zhumadian Zhumadian (; postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, China. It border ...

(上蔡), Qin (浸), Xihua (西華), Changping (長平), Xilu (宜祿), Xiang (項), Xinqi (新郪), Guide (歸德), Xinyang (新陽), Anchang (安昌), Anyang (安陽), Boyang (博陽), Chengyang (成陽) and Dingling (定陵). In 2 AD, the population was 2,596,148, in 461,587 households. In 140 AD during

Eastern Han 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 ...

dynasty, the commandery administered 37 counties and had a population of 2,100,788, in 404,448 households. Two new commanderies, Yiyang and Ruyin (汝陰) was separated from Runan under

Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest so ...

and

Emperor Wu of Jin Emperor Wu of Jin (; 236 – 16 May 290), personal name Sima Yan (), courtesy name Anshi (安世), was the grandson of Sima Yi, nephew of Sima Shi and son of Sima Zhao. He became the first emperor of the Jin dynasty after forcing Cao Huan, ...

, respectively. In 280 AD, Runan Commandery retained 15 counties with the population was 21,500 households, while the three commanderies together had a population of 46,700 households. During Emperor Hui's reign, two new commanderies, Xincai and Nandun, were established in the region. Under Northern Wei, the commandery consisted of 8 counties, and the '' Book of Wei'' recorded a population of 37,061, or 15,889 households. The commandery was abolished in early Sui dynasty. Runan was part of Yu Prefecture until

Northern Zhou Zhou (), known in historiography as the Northern Zhou (), was a Xianbei-led dynasty of China that lasted from 557 to 581. One of the Northern dynasties of China's Northern and Southern dynasties period, it succeeded the Western Wei dynasty a ...

dynasty, during which the prefecture was renamed Cai (蔡州). Later during 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, Runan Commandery became an alternative name of Cai Prefecture. In 741 AD, the prefecture consisted of 10 counties, and the total population was 460,205, or 87,061 households.'' New Book of Tang'', Chapter 28.

References

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