Jincheng Commandery

Jincheng Commandery 金城郡
Former subdivision of Western Han → Eastern Han → Cao Wei → Western Jin → Southern dynasties
60 BCE–583
Capital	Fuli 覆離 (60 BCE – 25 CE) → Yuzhong 狄道 (25 CE – 583)
Historical era	Imperial China
• Split from Longxi Commandery	60 BCE
• Abolished in the Sui prefectural reform	583
Today part of	Central-western Gansu (Lanzhou–Yuzhong basin)

Jincheng Commandery (金城郡) was an administrative division of imperial China in what is now central Gansu. Situated on the upper Yellow River west of the Liang heartland at Tianshui, it guarded the eastern gateway of the Hexi Corridor and the pasturelands south of the Qilian Mountains. Created under the Western Han in 60 BCE, it became a strategic prize in the Three Kingdoms period, contested by rival states and Qiang tribes.

Han administration

The Book of Han lists eleven counties at foundation; a 2 CE census recorded 46 110 households and 185 282 individuals. Principal counties were Fuli (覆離, seat), Yuzhong (狄道), Lintao (臨洮), Jiyang (冀陽) and Huixing (會興). In 25 CE the restored Eastern Han moved the seat east to Yuzhong to counter Qiang incursions.

Three Kingdoms period (190s – 280)

Early turmoil

Repeated Qiang uprisings after 184 weakened Han control. In 211 the Liang warlords Ma Chao and Han Sui drew troops and grain from Jincheng for their coalition against Cao Cao at Tong Pass.

Shu–Wei contest (214 – 228)

Ma Chao, after joining Liu Bei in 214, received the nominal title “General Pacifying the West” over Jincheng, but actual authority remained with the inspector of Liang loyal to Cao Wei. In 228 a joint Qiang–Han uprising killed Administrator Su Ze and declared for Shu Han during Zhuge Liang’s first northern expedition. Wei general Xiahou Mao retook Yuzhong within a month and executed rebel leader Shen Yi, restoring Wei rule.

Late Three Kingdoms

Wei fortified Yuzhong and organised Qiang auxiliaries; the commandery did not change hands again before Jin reunification in 280.

Jin and Southern dynasties

Under the Western Jin (280) Jincheng governed eight counties with about 30 000 households. Raids by Qiang leaders such as Yao Xiang and Yao Chang devastated the area, and many Han settlers fled east. By 471 only 8 000 households remained under the Liu Song register. The commandery survived in name until 583, when the Sui dynasty converted it to Yuzhong Prefecture (渝州).

Economy and society

Irrigated terraces along the Tao and Huang rivers produced wheat, hemp and fodder; state horse-studs at Lintao supplied cavalry mounts, and bronze foundries operated near the Tao River ford.

Archaeology

• Eastern-Han bricks stamped 金城宮 have been excavated in Lanzhou’s Qilihe district.
• Tombs at Yuzhong contain painted wooden figurines in Qiang attire alongside Han lacquer coffins, illustrating cultural exchange.

See also

• Liang Province Rebellion
• Battle of Tong Pass (211)
• Zhuge Liang’s northern campaigns

Bibliography

• Ban Gu. Book of Han.
• Fan Ye. Book of Later Han.
• Chen Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms.
• Fang Xuanling (ed.). Book of Jin.
• de Crespigny, Rafe. Northern Frontier: The Three Kingdoms in Liangzhou. Canberra, 2010.

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