History and Culture of Ancient China (Volumes 1 and 2)

Author: Lao Gan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: "The Establishment of Qin Commanderies and Its Comparison with Han Commanderies" is a study on the Qin commandery system. Han commanderies were inherited from Qin commanderies, with many changes and reforms. The Book of Han·Geography provides notes on various commanderies, but it overlooks too many details and contains obvious errors. Many scholars have discussed Qin commanderies over the years, yet for some reason, they all made this significant oversight, and no one noticed it. This is the omission of Heyin Commandery. Heyin Commandery could not have been abolished from the Warring States period to the Han dynasty, yet scholars discussing Qin commanderies have always overlooked it. Since the Warring States period, Ye in Heyin has been an important city of the State of Wei. When Mencius met King Hui of Wei, King Hui said, "If Heyin suffers a famine, move its people to the east of the Yellow River and transport grain from the east of the Yellow River to Heyin. The same should be done if the east of the Yellow River suffers a famine." Heyin and the east of the Yellow River were indeed two important commanderies of the State of Wei. During the Han dynasty, Heyin, the east of the Yellow River, and Henan were known as the "Three Rivers," and they were all important strategic points throughout the Han period. This is why the geographical location, population, and wealth of Heyin must be taken into account. Since scholars studying the Qin system have always included Heyin in Shu Commandery, this is impossible. When Qin conquered the six states and established commanderies and counties, the boundaries of the commanderies still followed the old boundaries of the six states. This was because each state had its own tax system, and the archives of each commandery were centralized in the commandery seat, making it more convenient to follow the old boundaries. Heyin belonged to Wei, and Dong Commandery belonged to Qi. The old systems of the two states were different, and there was no reason to abolish the fertile Heyin and forcibly include it in Shu Commandery. Therefore, there must have been a Heyin Commandery during the Qin dynasty. With the addition of Heyin Commandery to the new theory, the numbers of other commanderies will also need to be reconsidered and adjusted.