Jiuquan Commandery
| Jiuquan Commandery 酒泉郡 | |
|---|---|
| Former subdivision of Western Han → Eastern Han → Cao Wei → Western Jin → Northern dynasties | |
| 111 BCE–583 | |
| Capital | Jiuquan 酒泉 (modern Suzhou District, Jiuquan) |
| Historical era | Imperial China |
• Founded in the Hexi Corridor by Emperor Wu of Han | 111 BCE |
• Converted to Suzhou Prefecture by the Sui dynasty | 583 |
| Today part of | Western Gansu (around modern Jiuquan) |
Jiuquan Commandery (酒泉郡) was an administrative unit in the western Hexi Corridor, occupying the oases around modern Jiuquan, Gansu. Created in 111 BCE as one of the four Hexi commanderies, it guarded the central stretch of the Silk Road and remained pivotal until the commandery system was abolished by the Sui dynasty in 583 CE.
Han period
[edit]Emperor Wu established Jiuquan together with Wuwei, Zhangye and Dunhuang to secure trade with Central Asia. According to the Book of Han, Jiuquan began with eight counties: Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Fulu, Zhangyi, Zhi, Lufu, Tiao and Anxiang; the 2 CE census records 15 700 households (73 347 persons).[1]
The commandery’s name, “Wine Springs,” referred to a spring whose water was said to smell of wine—symbolising the emperor’s reward for General Huo Qubing’s victories over the Xiongnu. A relay of fortified oasis towns, every thirty li, protected caravans and Han emigrant farmers. Copper and iron workshops at Fulu produced weapons and agricultural tools for Hexi garrisons.
Eastern Han developments
[edit]By 140 CE population had risen to 25 130 households after waves of military colonists.[2] Administrator Xun Yi (reign of Emperor Zhang) repaired the “Jiuquan Canal,” extending irrigation to new fields. Despite these efforts, Qiang and Wuhuan raiders remained a threat; stone beacon towers on the Mazong Mountains date from this period.
Three Kingdoms era
[edit]Control of Jiuquan was decisive for access to the Western Regions. After Cao Cao’s victory at Tong Pass (211) and the pacification of Liang Province (216–218), Jiuquan accepted authority of the state of Wei. Cao Pi in 224 appointed Governor Zhang Ji, who organised local Xiongnu and Di horsemen into auxiliary regiments to patrol the northern desert line.
In 228, during Zhuge Liang’s first northern expedition, Ma Su proposed a diversion toward Hexi to draw Wei troops, but Zhuge Liang judged Jiuquan too well-defended. Nevertheless, pro-Shu sympathisers among the local Di staged brief raids against Wei posts west of Jiuquan; Wei general Fei Yao suppressed them by 229.[3]
Late in the Three Kingdoms period the commandery served as Wei’s rear base for troop columns crossing the Yang Barrier into the Tarim Basin. When the Wei general Deng Ai marched against Shu in 263, records note that grain and remounts from Jiuquan reached him via Wuwei and Tianshui in ninety days.
Jin and Northern dynasties
[edit]The Western Jin reunification (280) left Jiuquan with six counties and 12 000 households.[4] In 296 the Xiongnu rebel leader Hao Dan seized Fulu and cut the Silk Road east of Suzhou, but Administrator Zhao Chong recaptured the oasis the next year.
During the Sixteen Kingdoms the region passed to Former Liang, Later Liang and Northern Liang states; Chinese sources still cite Jiuquan Commandery under these regimes, though with much reduced territory. The Northern Zhou incorporated Hexi in 557 and in 583 converted the commandery to **Suzhou Prefecture** (肅州).
Economy and trade
[edit]Jiuquan’s oasis agriculture—wheat, grapes, hemp—thrived on channel irrigation. Camel caravans carried silk, lacquerware and coins west, returning with jade, frankincense and precious metals. Administrative tablets excavated at Suzhou record tolls levied on Sogdian and Yuezhi merchants.
Archaeology
[edit]- Han-period stamped bricks reading 酒泉都尉 have been found in the Suzhou city mound.
- A 1st-century bronze mirror from Tiao County bears an inscription praising safe travel “from Longxi to the Western Regions,” indicating Silk Road traffic.
- Rock-cut fortifications on the Heishan ridge show layered repairs dating to Wei and Western Jin epochs.