Yong Province

Yong Province
"Yongzhou" in Chinese characters
Chinese	雍州
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yōngzhōu

Yongzhou (雍州) or Yong Province was the name of a province in ancient China.

Origins

In the Book of Documents, Yongzhou is mentioned as one of the Nine Provinces, but the authenticity of this claim cannot be verified.

From the Western Zhou dynasty to the Western Jin dynasty, the territory of Yongzhou originated either in the environs of the capital or on the Wei River plain. When Emperor Wu of the Western Han dynasty created the 13 inspectorates (刺史部; cishi bu), the western part of Yongzhou became part of Liangzhou Inspectorate (凉州刺史部), and its eastern part was governed by the Colonel-Director of Retainers (司隶校尉). When Emperor Wu relocated the Han capital to Luoyang, he briefly created Yong Province, but abolished it soon after.

Establishment as an Inspectorate

In the year 194, Yongzhou first appeared as a formal administrative district, with the Eastern Han government placing the commanderies of Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang and Xihai (西海) west of the Liang River as Yongzhou Inspectorate, with the inspectorate seat at Guzhang (姑臧). In the year 213, the Liangzhou Inspectorate was eliminated and the commanderies of the Three Guardians (三輔, sanfu) were absorbed as part of Yongzhou Inspectorate.

In 220 during the Three Kingdoms period, the Cao Wei government reconstituted Liangzhou Inspectorate from the eight commanderies of Yong Province west of the Liang River. Yong Province was established as the inspectorate to the east of Liang Province and the Yellow River and near the commanderies of the Three Guardians near the capital of Chang'an, with the inspectorate seat at Chang'an.

Different meanings

The situation remained the same throughout the Three Kingdoms period and Western Jin dynasty. The Former Qin dynasty suddenly shifted Yongzhou to Anding Commandery (安定郡; in present-day Zhenyuan) and Puban Commandery (蒲坂郡; in present-day Yongji). During the time of rival dynasties in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, the Northern Wei, Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties in the north referred to Yongzhou as to the environs of Chang'an with its government seat at Chang'an, while the Eastern Jin dynasty and the Southern Dynasties in the south referred to Yongzhou as the environs of Xiangyang.

Sui and Tang dynasties and deestablishment

After the reunification of China by the Sui dynasty, Yong Province's administrative centre was permanently set at Chang'an. During the Sui administrative reforms in 607 to transform the provincial system into a commandery system, Emperor Yang renamed Yong Province to Jingzhao Commandery (京兆郡). When the Tang dynasty was established, it was reverted for some time back to Yong Province, until Emperor Xuanzong converted it again to Jingzhao Prefecture (京兆府).