Hang Prefecture

Hang Prefecture
Traditional Chinese	杭州
Hanyu Pinyin	Háng Zhōu
Yuhang Commandery (607–621, 742–758)
Simplified Chinese	餘杭郡
Hanyu Pinyin	Yúháng Jùn
Xi Prefecture (907–Before 978)
Simplified Chinese	西府
Literal meaning	Western Prefecture
Hanyu Pinyin	Xī Fǔ
Qiantang Prefecture (970s?)
Traditional Chinese	錢塘府
Hanyu Pinyin	Qiántáng Fǔ
Population
• 740s or 750s	585,963[1]
• 980	~0.9 million[2][3]
• 1085	~1 million[2][4]
• 1102	~1 million[2][5]
History
• Preceded by	Qiantang Commandery (錢唐郡)
• Created	589 (Sui dynasty)
• Abolished	1129 (Song dynasty)
• Succeeded by	Lin'an Prefecture
• HQ	Qiantang (錢唐 or 錢塘)
Contained within
• Circuit (Tang dynasty)	Jiangnan Circuit (621–733) Jiangnan East Circuit (after 733) Zhejiang West Circuit (758–907)
• Kingdom	Wuyue (907–978)
• Circuit (Song dynasty)	Liangzhe Circuit

Hangzhou or Hang Prefecture (589–1129) was a zhou (prefecture) in imperial China located in modern northern Zhejiang, China, around modern Hangzhou.^[6] The prefecture was called Yuhang Commandery from 607 to 621 and from 742 to 758.^[7] Hang Prefecture was the capital of the Wuyue kingdom (907–978), inside which it was known as Xi Prefecture (Western Prefecture), and during its last years of the kingdom, as Qiantang Prefecture.

Hang Prefecture sat at the head of the Hangzhou Bay, which opens to the East China Sea. It was also the southern terminus of the Grand Canal and the eastern terminus of the Qiantang River. During the Northern Song (960–1127) it was the capital of Liangzhe Circuit. In 1129 it became Lin'an Prefecture, which would become the capital of the Southern Song (1127–1279) in 1138.

For most of its history, Hang Prefecture administered the following 7–9 counties (縣), some of whose names changed frequently:

In 587, the southern Chen dynasty (557–589) created Qiantang Commandery (錢唐郡), which administered four counties. When the northern Sui dynasty (581–618) conquered the Chen dynasty in 589, Qiantang Commandery was renamed to Hang Prefecture.

In 606, the City Walls were built.

In 607, Emperor Yang of Sui renamed hundreds of prefectures. Hang Prefecture was renamed to Yuhang Commandery.

In 609, the Grand Canal was completed.

During the transition from Sui to Tang, the warlord Shen Faxing first held Yuhang Commandery in the confusion following the assassination of Emperor Yang in 618. In 620, he was defeated by the warlord Li Zitong, who took over his territory.

The Tang dynasty (618–907) did not occupy the prefecture until December 611, when the Tang army under Li Fuwei destroyed Li Zitong's defense in Yuhang. The Tang renamed Yuhang Commandery to Hang Prefecture.

In 653, the woman rebel leader Chen Shuozhen attacked Hang Prefecture and took Yuqian.

In the late Tang dynasty, the rebel Huang Chao briefly occupied Hang Prefecture twice, first in 878 and later in 880. In the late 870s, local militias were formed to resist the rebel Wang Ying, and among the soldiers were Hang Prefecture natives Dong Chang and Qian Liu.

In 882, warlord Liu Hanhong, who was based in neighboring Yue Prefecture, wanted to take over Hang Prefecture from Dong Chang. He was soundly defeated by Dong Chang's force led by Qian Liu. In 886, Dong Chang promised Hang Prefecture to Qian Liu if he could destroy Liu Hanhong; Qian Liu did just that, capturing Liu Hanhong and taking over his territory. In 887, Qian Liu took over Hang Prefecture while Dong Chang went to Liu Hanhong's former base in Yue Prefecture. (Qian Liu later attacked and killed Dong Chang in 896.)

Qian Liu began a series of massive construction projects in Hang Prefecture in 890. These include the fortification of city walls and the construction of a dam to control the Qiantang River. After the Tang dynasty collapsed in 907, Qian Liu remained independent throughout the ensuing Five Dynasties period, even though like before he continued to pay tributes to the imperial courts in Kaifeng Prefecture (or Henan Prefecture during Later Tang).

During the Wuyue kingdom, many Buddhist pagodas were built in Hang Prefecture. These include Baochu Pagoda (963), Liuhe Pagoda (970), and Leifeng Pagoda (975).

The inventor Bi Sheng was active in Hang Prefecture, as was Shen Kuo.

In December 1120, rebel Fang La took Hang Prefecture and held it until March 1121.^[12]

In March 1129, Zhao Gou fled the north and arrived with his followers in Hang Prefecture.

Source:^[13]

Note: From 742 to 758 Hang Prefecture was known as Yuhang (Commandery).

• Sun Zhi (孫陟)

• Shi Weile, ed. (2005). Zhongguo Lishi Diming Da Cidian (中国历史地名大词典) [Large Dictionary of Chinese Historical Place Names] (in Chinese). China Social Sciences Press. ISBN 7-5004-4929-1.
• (in Chinese) Ouyang Xiu; et al., eds. (1060). Xin Tang Shu [New Book of Tang].
• (in Chinese) Toqto'a; et al., eds. (1345). Song Shi [History of Song].
• (in Chinese) Yue Shi, ed. (980). Taiping Huanyu Ji [Universal Geography of the Taiping Era].
• (in Chinese) Wang Cun; et al., eds. (1085). Yuanfeng Jiuyu Zhi [Geography of the Nine Regions of the Yuanfeng Era].