Yanmen Commandery was an administrative subdivision (''jùn'') of the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of Zhao established BC and of northern imperial Chinese dynasties until AD758. It occupied lands in what is now

Shanxi Shanxi; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanised as Shansi is a Provinces of China, province in North China. Its capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-level cities are Changzhi a ...

and

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of China. Its border includes two-thirds of the length of China's China–Mongolia border, border with the country of Mongolia. ...

. Its first seat was at Shanwu (near present-day Youyu,

); its later seats moved southeast to the more defensible sites at Yinguan (within present-day

Shuozhou Shuozhou is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the northwest. It is situated along the upper reaches of the Fen River. The prefecture as a whole has an area of about and, 2010 PRC Census, ...

) and

Guangwu Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of China, emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Han dy ...

(near present-day Daixian,

Name

The name derives from

Yanmen Pass Yanmen Pass, also known by its Chinese name Yanmenguan and as Xixingguan, is a mountain pass which includes three fortified gatehouses along the Great Wall of China. The area was a strategic choke point in ancient and medieval China, con ...

's Dai County. Yanmen, meaning "Wild Goose Pass". or "Wildgoose Gate", takes its name from the wild geese that migrate through the area.

History

Zhao Kingdom

Yanmen Commandery was first established around 300BC during China's

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

by the

of Zhao's King Yong, posthumously known as the Wuling ("Martial-&-Numinous") King.. It covered territory in what is now northern

and southern

.. He created Yanmen Commandery along with its companion commanderies of Dai and Yunzhong to consolidate his conquests from invasions of the Loufan ( t s ''Lóufán'') and " forest nomads" or "barbarians" ( ''Línhú'') in 306 and 304BC. He protected these new lands by raising earthen walls along their northern border,. close to what is now

Hohhot Hohhot,; abbreviated zh, c=呼市, p=Hūshì, labels=no formerly known as Kweisui, is the Capital (political), capital of Inner Mongolia in the North China, north of the China, People's Republic of China, serving as the region's administrativ ...

. Garrisons and forts were also placed at strategic spots within the new territory, such as

between the northern plains and the Hutuo Valley. In the mid-3rd centuryBC, the Yanmen governor Li Mu, relocated there under the command of

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shando ...

used these interior defenses and drills the commandery's citizens to minimize casualties to good effect when he lured more than 100,000

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

horsemen into the heart of the commandery before defeating them with 160,000 chariots, cavalry, and archers..

Qin Empire

Under the Qin, Yanmen was one of the commanderies which made up the principal divisions of the empire. Its seat was at Shanwu, south of present-day Youyu in

. Its territory ran from present-day

's Hequ, Wuzhai, and Ningwu Counties in the south to

's Huangqi and Dai Lakes in the north; its eastern border was near Mount Heng. The Zhao wall was connected to those of the other former states as part of the

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand Li (unit), ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection agains ...

. This territory was divided into:

Western Han Empire

Under the Han, Yanmen Commandery maintained its seat at Shanwu.. It was part of the realm of Dai, used as an appanage of the imperial kings and a title of rebels like Han Xin and Chen Xi. Han-era Yanmen included the Qin-era counties above, excluding Xincheng and Wangtao, with the addition of:

Eastern Han Empire

Under 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 ...

, the commandery seat was moved to Yinguan, present-day Xiaguancheng Village southeast of

Wei Kingdom

During China's Three Kingdoms period, Wei moved the commandery seat to

, southwest of present-day Daixian in

. The district is recorded as having 12,600

household A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s around AD285.

Eastern Wei

During China's

Northern and Southern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered a ...

period,

Eastern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Eastern Wei (), was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty. One of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Nor ...

had the commandery seat at Daixian in what is now

. During the 540s, the district is recorded having 30,434 people living in 6,328

Sui Empire

Under the Sui, Yanmen Commandery was abolished in 583, then revived in 607. It was recorded as having 42,502

s in 609.

Tang Empire

Under the Tang, Yanmen Commandery was part of Hedong Circuit until it was abolished and replaced by Dai Prefecture in 618, although it was temporarily restored between 742 and 758. During the Tang, the name was retained as an

honorary title A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...

: the generals Tian Chengsi, Tian Xu, Tian Ji'an, and Wang Zhixing were created "Prince" or "King of Yanmen" (''Yànménwáng''). In 882, Yanmen Defense Command (''Yanmen Jiedushi'') was also briefly established to oversee local defense. It had its seat at present-day Daixian,

. In 883, its name was changed to Daibei.

Governors

* centuryBC Li Mu * Wang Ju (王據)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . {{Han dynasty provinces Former commanderies of China Commanderies of the Qin dynasty Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) Commanderies of the Sui dynasty