Author: Professor Guo Shengbo, Jinan University
In the border area of Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan provinces today, during the Tang and Song dynasties, Luzhou was part of the Luzhou Governor’s Office and the Luzhou Southern Border Pacification Office, which successively established nineteen military prefectures and over fifty military counties. However, the geographical records from the Tang and Song dynasties regarding their evolution and locations are not precise enough, often leaving later historians at a loss. In the 20th century, the renowned historical geography expert Tan Qixiang began to address this issue, focusing primarily on verifying the “Luzhou Yi ethnic group” and merely listing some data regarding the geographical locations of various prefectures【1】. In the later volumes of the “Historical Atlas of China” edited by him, fourteen Luzhou military prefectures were marked with fixed points, while the remaining ones were still unmarked, and the fixed points for military counties were few and far between. In 1998, Liu Tong published a monograph titled “Research on the Military Prefectures and Counties of the Tang Dynasty”, which also studied the geographical locations of Luzhou military prefectures, but did not go beyond Tan’s work and did not address military counties. Additionally, some scholars have compiled historical geography reference books, such as Pu Xiaorong’s “Evolution of Sichuan’s Administrative Regions and Current Explanations”, Jia Daqian’s edited “Historical Dictionary of Sichuan” (Sichuan Education Press, 1993 edition), and Shi Weile’s edited “Dictionary of Historical Place Names in China”, which provide different explanations for the geographical locations of these military prefectures, but unfortunately lack textual verification. This author will conduct a detailed examination of the establishment and evolution of Luzhou military prefectures and counties based on the rarely used Tang and Song literature and data, and will discuss the fixed points established by various scholars.
1Establishment and Evolution of the Administrative System The Luzhou Governor’s Office was originally the Luzhou General Governor’s Office, established in the third year of the Wude era of the Tang Dynasty (620 AD). In the seventh year, the General Governor’s Office was changed to the Governor’s Office. In the late Tang Dynasty, the military governor gradually usurped the powers of the governor, but the Luzhou Governor’s Office remained until the end of the Tang Dynasty, primarily because it still bore the responsibility of managing military prefectures. It was not until the third year of the Qian De era of the Song Dynasty that the governor was officially abolished and elevated to a superior prefecture【2】, which governed military prefectures in the name of border prefectures.1
Establishment of Luzhou Military Prefectures
Luzhou military prefectures were first established in the second year of the Yifeng era of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (677 AD). In that year, six prefectures were established in the Luzhou mountainous area, namely Xue, Yan, Gong, Feng, Na, and Zhe, but initially, Xue, Yan, Gong, and Na were all regular prefectures, while Feng and Zhe were military prefectures. In the second year of the Tian Shou era of Wu Zhou (691 AD)【3】, the Luzhou Yushui Yi people were established as the military prefecture of Si’e. In the first year of the Zai Chu era【4】, the military prefecture of Shun was established. In the first year of the Jiu Shi era (700 AD), the military prefectures of Yu and Yue were established. The historical records do not state the year of establishment for Yue Prefecture; according to its proximity to the border county of Rong Prefecture, it should have been established from the border county rather than from the Luzhou mountainous area, and its inhabitants were closely related to the Yushui Yi people of Yu Prefecture, so it is suspected that Yue Prefecture and Yu Prefecture were established in the same year (Yu Prefecture was separated from Jiang’an County of Luzhou). In the first year of Dazhu, the military prefecture of Neng was established. In the second year of the Xiantian era of the Tang Dynasty (713 AD), Xue, Yan, Gong, and Na were first downgraded to military prefectures (as recorded in the “New Tang Records”). In the first year of the Tianbao era (742 AD), Xue Prefecture was changed to Huangchi Prefecture, Yan Prefecture to Luoyang Prefecture, Gong Prefecture to Yinzong Prefecture, and Na Prefecture to Duning Prefecture. In the first year of the Qian Yuan era (758 AD), the prefectures were restored to military prefectures, and Yue Prefecture was transferred to the Luzhou Governor’s Office. These several prefectures were not listed in the “Tongdian: Prefectures and Counties” and the “New Tang Records”, indicating that they were likely military prefectures. It is relatively rare in the Tang Dynasty for military prefectures to be changed to military prefectures, and these four prefectures were likely able to be changed because they had previously been regular prefectures.
Gao, Song, Changning, and Ding prefectures are not found in the ten prefectures of the “Old Tang Records” but are found in the fourteen prefectures of the “New Tang Records”, with no recorded year of establishment. The “Yuan History: Geography Records” states: “During the time of Wu Zetian in the Tang Dynasty, the border was expanded, and fourteen prefectures, five groups, and twenty-nine counties were established, with Yan Prefecture established in the local area.” It seems that all fourteen military prefectures under Luzhou in the “New Tang Records” were established during the Wu Zetian era. The “Reading History and Geography Summary” also states that Luzhou “initially governed fourteen prefectures”. However, upon examination, the “five groups” were not a system of the Tang Dynasty, and Yan Prefecture was established during the Yifeng era, not during the time of Wu Zetian. Moreover, the data in the “Old Tang Records” ends in the first year of Qian Yuan, which clearly states that at that time, there were only ten military prefectures under Luzhou, so it can be confirmed that the four prefectures of Gao, Song, Changning, and Ding were likely added after the reign of Emperor Suzong. The claims made in the “Yuan Records” and by Gu Shi are not credible. Furthermore, during the time of Emperor Suzong, military affairs were urgent, and there was no time to add military prefectures, while the Lan Prefecture established during the early years of Emperor Xianzong was not recorded in the “New Tang Records”, so it is speculated that the four prefectures recorded in the “New Tang Records” were most likely established during the Zhenyuan era, as the neighboring Rong Prefecture Governor’s Office also established a large number of military prefectures during that time. For example, in the second year of Zhenyuan (786 AD), the Jianshan Jiedushi Wei Gao requested the restoration of the three prefectures of Zong, Dun, and Yin to the Rong Prefecture (as recorded in the “New Tang Records”). Based on observations of the situation at the time, in addition to these three prefectures, a new batch of military prefectures was established in the Ma Hu area of the Rong Prefecture, such as Nan, De, Wei, Luo, Yi, Lian, Bolang, and Boling, which were also related to Wei Gao’s efforts to consolidate border defenses and manage the Nanzhao. Therefore, it is judged that the four western prefectures of Luzhou, Gao, Song, Changning, and Ding, were also established in that year, possibly considering the strategy of “multiple seals and multiple constructions” and “using the Yi to control the Yi”. In addition, the military prefecture of Bolang under Rong was separated from the military prefecture of Gong, and according to the “Taiping Huanyu Ji”, Gong Prefecture had also been subordinate to the Rong Prefecture, so it is analyzed that both prefectures were likely transferred back to the Luzhou Governor’s Office in the second year of Zhenyuan. The fourteen military prefectures and fifty-six counties recorded in the “New Tang Records” under Luzhou should reflect the situation at that time, although the number of counties is two more than the fourteen prefectures and fifty-four counties mentioned by Fan Bailu in the “Pingyi Ji” (“Yudi Jisheng” Luzhou reference) during the Xining era of the Song Dynasty, which may be due to mistakenly counting the two counties of Fude Prefecture, which had already been transferred to the Rong Prefecture Governor’s Office during the Kaiyuan era, into the Song and Ding prefectures.
The “Taiping Huanyu Ji” states that Luzhou was established in the second year of Yifeng, leading Hu Mao County. However, both “Tang Records” state that Hu Mao County belongs to Na Prefecture, and it does not record Lan Prefecture, so it can be concluded that Lan Prefecture was not established during the Yifeng era, but should have been established after the reign of Emperor Suzong. The “Reading History and Geography Summary” states: “Lin Prefecture was established in the early years of Yuanhe, and was abolished in the second year of Qian De, and the current Tang Records do not record it.” This indicates that Lin Prefecture was actually Lan Prefecture, established in the second year of Yuanhe, and the “Taiping Huanyu Ji”‘s “second year of Yifeng” is likely a mistake for “second year of Yuanhe”. According to the Tang administrative division establishment habits, each prefecture generally has no less than two counties, it is speculated that Na Prefecture was simultaneously separated from Hu Mao, Luo Lan, and Bo Luo counties to establish Lan Prefecture. The “Taiping Huanyu Ji” does not record Luo Lan and Bo Luo counties, and only in this way can the origin of the name Lan Prefecture be explained—newly established prefectures in the Tang Dynasty generally liked to select one or two characters from the names of subordinate counties as the names of the prefectures. This is the main reason the author proposes that Lin Prefecture is a mistake for Lan Prefecture. Qing scholar Yu Jiajun believed that Lan Prefecture was established in the Tang Dynasty and changed to Lan Prefecture in the Song Dynasty【5】, which does not match the records of the “Taiping Huanyu Ji”, so it is not accepted. Tan Qixiang once believed that Lin Prefecture was Neng Prefecture: “According to the Tang Records, there is no Lin name in Luzhou and Xuzhou military prefectures, and since Gu Shi’s “Summary” it has been doubted, initially unaware that Lin is a phonetic shift of Neng.” However, the “Historical Atlas of China” places Neng Prefecture in the eastern boundary of today’s Chishui City, not in the current territory of Gulin County, indicating that he later modified his viewpoint.
The “Taiping Huanyu Ji” lists Fude Prefecture and Gong Prefecture as military prefectures under Rong, and the Luzhou section also states: “The military prefectures of the Yuan Guan Creek are sixteen, one of which is divided into Rong Prefecture. Fude Prefecture was transferred to Rong Prefecture in the eighteenth year of Kaiyuan (AD 730).” Since Fude Prefecture was transferred to the Rong Prefecture Governor’s Office, why is it also listed as one of the sixteen military prefectures under Luzhou? From logical reasoning, there is only one possibility: Fude Prefecture was transferred back to the Luzhou Governor’s Office in the late Tang Dynasty. In the late Tang Dynasty, only during the Zhenyuan and Yuanhe periods did military prefectures undergo many changes, and in the second year of Yuanhe, the Tang Dynasty established Lan Prefecture, likely to strengthen the southern governance of Luzhou, so Fude Prefecture was likely still under Luzhou, and it is very likely that it was in that year. Moreover, Gong Prefecture is listed alongside Fude Prefecture, and since Fude Prefecture was transferred to Luzhou, it can be inferred that this list actually ends in the early years of Yuanhe, not in the early Song Dynasty. The military prefectures of Luzhou recorded in the “New Tang Records” do not include Gong Prefecture, which should be a missing entry. It can be seen that Fude Prefecture and Gong Prefecture were both transferred back to Luzhou in the second year of Yuanhe (807 AD).
Thus, during the period from the second year of Yuanhe to the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Luzhou Governor’s Office had sixteen military prefectures: Na, Zhe, Shun, Neng, Song, Lan, Xue, Yan, Gong, Feng, Si’e, Yu, Changning, Ding, Gao, and Fude, along with fifty-five military counties (as shown in Table 2). The Luzhou section of the “Taiping Huanyu Ji” stating “the military prefectures of the Yuan Guan Creek are sixteen, with fifty-six counties” has basically been confirmed【6】.
①This is the corrected number of roads in the Tang Dynasty as recorded in the “Taiping Huanyu Ji” volume 79 “Rong Prefecture Military Prefectures”.
②Fude Prefecture was abolished at the end of the Tang Dynasty and later restored.
③This is the number of roads from Luzhou to Yuzhou as recorded in the “Yuanfeng Nine Domains” volume 7 (originally miswritten as Yujing’s number of roads).
④This is the number of roads from Luzhou as recorded in the “Taiping Huanyu Ji” volume 79 “Rong Prefecture Military Prefectures”.
⑤This is the number of roads from Luzhou as recorded in the “Taiping Huanyu Ji” volume 79 “Rong Prefecture Military Prefectures”.
⑥ The name of the prefecture and the county it governs, as recorded in the “Taiping Huanyu Ji” and “Wujing Zongyao” as “Xizhou” and “Xiyuan County”, now according to the two “Tang Records”, “Yuanfeng Records”, “Yudi Jisheng” and “Song History: Geography Records”.
⑦Neng Prefecture was abolished at the end of the Tang Dynasty and later restored.
⑧ Shun Prefecture was abolished at the end of the Tang Dynasty and later restored.
⑨Song Prefecture was abolished at the end of the Tang Dynasty and later restored.
The “Yudi Jisheng” volume 166 “Changning Army” states that the Tang Dynasty abolished Neng, Shun, Song, and Feng Prefectures at the end of the Tang Dynasty. However, in the second year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1042), Luzhou reported: “Under the jurisdiction of the creek, Gong Prefecture, Ding Prefecture, Gao Prefecture, Feng Prefecture, Yu Prefecture, Song Prefecture, Na Prefecture, Yan Prefecture, and the ten prefectures of Luzhou, all of which have been granted by the Tang Dynasty and the current dynasty since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty.”【7】 The “Wujing Zongyao” volume 19 also records that Luzhou military prefectures include Feng Prefecture, “which governs three thousand Yi people in the mountains behind.” It is evident that Feng Prefecture had already been restored at the beginning of the Song Dynasty, alongside the recently transferred Yue Prefecture from Rong Prefecture to Luzhou.
The author has authorized this center to publish this article, which is a consolidation and revision of the articles “Research on the Military Prefectures and Counties of Luzhou During the Tang and Song Dynasties” published in the first issue of “Chinese Historical Geography Theory Collection” in 2011 and “Research on the Eastern Military Prefectures of Luzhou During the Tang and Song Dynasties” published in the second issue of “Guizhou Ethnic Studies” in 2001. The title is proposed by the editor.
Author Introduction:
Guo Shengbo, male, from Luzhou, Sichuan, born in 1959, professor at the Department of History and the Historical Geography Research Center of Jinan University, doctoral supervisor. His main research directions are historical geography and historical literature. He has published academic works such as “Historical Agricultural Geography of Sichuan”, “Historical Geography Research in Yi Areas”, and “A General History of Administrative Divisions in China: The Tang Dynasty Volume”.