Xuzhou (ancient China)

This article is about the ancient Chinese province. For the modern city in Jiangsu province, seeXuzhou.

Xuzhou
Traditional Chinese	Từ Châu
Simplified Chinese	Từ Châu
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Xúzhōu

Xuzhouas a historical toponym refers to varied area in different eras.

Ordinarily, it was a reference to the one of theNine Provinceswhich modern Xuzhou inherited.

History

Pre-Qin era

XuzhouorXu Provincewas one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China mentioned in Chinese historical texts such as theTribute of Yu,EryaandRites of Zhou.

TheYu Gong[Tribute of Yu] records: "The Sea, Mount Dai (ancient name ofMount Tai), and theHuai Riverserved as the boundaries of Xuzhou. "While the definition of Xuzhou is more brief inErya:"Where is located in the east ofJi River".Based on these descriptions, the ancient Xuzhou covered an area that roughly corresponds to the regions in modern southeastern Shandong (south of Mount Tai) and northern Jiangsu (north of the Huai River).

Han dynasty

Chinese provinces in thelate Eastern Han dynasty period,189 CE.

In 106 BCE, during the reign ofEmperor Wu(r. 141–87 BCE) in theWestern Han dynasty(206 BCE – 9 CE), China was divided into 13 administrative divisions or provinces (excluding the capitalChang'anand sevencommanderiesin its vicinity), each governed by acishi(Thứ sử;Inspector). 11 of them were named after theNine Provincesmentioned in the historical textsClassic of HistoryandRites of Zhou.Xuzhou was one of the 11, and it covered parts of modernJiangsu(north of theYangtze River) and southeasternShandong.In theEastern Han dynasty(25–220 CE), Xuzhou's capital was set up at Tan (Đàm;present-dayTancheng County,Linyi,Shandong).

Three Kingdoms period and Jin dynasty

During theThree Kingdomsperiod (220–280), Xuzhou was a territory of the state ofCao Wei(220–265), and its capital was moved to Pengcheng (Bành thành;present-dayXuzhou,Jiangsu).The area of Xuzhou shrunk slightly as its southern border withSun Wu.

After the fall of theWestern Jin(265–316) due to theWu Hu uprising,the Jin remnants fled to southern China from the north and established the Eastern Jin (317–420). To govern the people from northern who relocated in the south of the Huai River, while its area shrunk again. Its capital was variable, it moved to Xiapi (Hạ Bi;present-daySuining County,Jiangsu), Shanyang (Sơn dương;present-dayHuai'an District,Jiangsu), Guangling (Quảng Lăng;present-dayYangzhou,Jiangsu) and Jingkou (Kinh khẩu;present-dayZhen gian g,Jiangsu) at different stages. Since its capital moved to the south of the Yangtze River, where had never been a part of its area, Xuzhou became amigrated province.

Sixteen Kingdoms and Southern and Northern Dynasties period

In theSixteen Kingdomsperiod, Xuzhou was divided between, or came under the administration of, various kingdoms:

• TheLater Yankingdom (384–409) set up Xuzhou's capital at Huangjin'gu (Khăn vàng cố;present-dayZhangqiu,Shandong), and moved it to Liyang (Lê dương;east of present-dayXun County,Henan), and later to Juancheng (Quyên thành;north of present-dayJuancheng County,Shandong).
• TheSouthern Yankingdom (398–410) set up Xuzhou's capital at Jucheng (Cử thành;present-dayJu County,Shandong), which administered parts of southeastern Shandong.
• TheLater Qinkingdom (384–417) set up Xuzhou's capital at Xiang (Hạng;south of present-dayShenqiu County,Henan), which administered the regions east of present-dayShangqiu,Taikang County,Shangshui Countyin Henan province, as well asBozhou,Woyang CountyandMengcheng CountyinAnhuiprovince.

In 408, during reign of theEmperor An(r. 397–419) of the Eastern Jin, Liu Yu recaptured the former territory in the north of the Huai River, the Xuzhou was renamed as North Xuzhou, whose south border next to the Huai River while capital was Pengcheng, in 411.Meanwhile, the migrated Xuzhou remained.

In 421, during the reign ofEmperor Wu(r. 420–422) of theLiu Song dynasty(420–479), North Xuzhou was restored as Xuzhou, while South Xuzhou instead of the former migrated Xuzhou comparatively.

In 433, during the reign ofEmperor Taiwu(r. 424–452) of theNorthern Wei(386–535), Xuzhou's capital was established at Jiyang County (Tế dương huyện;northeast of present-dayLankao,Henan).It was disbanded in 467 during the reign of Emperor Xianwen (r. 465–471).

In 473, as the original area was captured by Northern Wei, Liu Song set up the new Xuzhou whose capital was located in Yan County (Yến huyện;present-dayFeng Yang,Anhui).

Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties

During the reign ofEmperor Huizong(r. 1333–1370) in theYuan dynasty(1279–1368), Xuzhou became an administrative division known as "Xuzhou Circuit" (Từ Châu lộ) after 1348, with its capital in Pengcheng.

During the reign of theHongwu Emperor(r. 1368–1398) in theMing dynasty(1368–1644), the name "Xuzhou" was restored, and the administrative division governedPei CountyandFeng Countyin Jiangsu, andDangshan CountyandXiao CountyinAnhui.

Xuzhou became "Xuzhou Prefecture" (Từ Châu phủ) in theQing dynasty(1644–1912) during the reign of theYongzheng Emperor(r. 1722–1735) and it administered the modern city ofXuzhouandSuqianin Jiangsu, andSuzhou,Xiao County and Dangshan County in Anhui.

As other alternative toponym

Pre-Qin era

• An area in the east ofLu state:Zhu (Chu;in the southeast of present-day Shandong). "Xu" (Từ) was "Zhu", the Chinese character's variant sometimes in ancient China.
• An area ofQi state:Xue (Tiết;south of present-dayTengzhou,Shandong). In 340 BCE, Xiapi (Hạ Bi) was moved to Xue, then the latter renamed Xuzhou.
• An area of Qi state originally, captured by Yan and Zhao later: Shuzhou (Thư châu;present-dayDacheng,Hebei).

Jurchen Jin dynasty

During the reign ofEmperor Taizong(r. 1123–1135) of theJurchen-ledJin dynasty (1115–1234),"Ansu Military Division" (An túc quân trí) whose capital at Ansu County (An túc huyện;present-dayXushui County,Hebei) was renamed Xuzhou. It administered the area in present-day eastern Xushui County. It was renamed "AnsuPrefecture"(An Túc Châu) in 1151 during the reign ofWanyan Liang(r. 1150–1161).