Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BCE) The earliest written record of Shangdang is towards the end of the
Spring and Autumn period (771–426 BCE) in connection with the
State of Jin. At the time of
Duke Ping of Jin (r. 557–532 BCE), official
Xie Hu () appointed
Xing Boliu () as Provincial Governor of Jin's Shangdang Region.
Warring States period (475–221 BCE) After the
Partition of Jin by the states of
Wei,
Zhao and
Han in 403 BCE, each one occupied a portion of Shangdang Prefecture with their respective capitals located in the territory. The area became the front line in the conflict that followed between these three states given its strategic position. Officials responsible for defending these three frontier prefectures were given the title
Shŏu (守 literally
guardian) and addressed by the honorific title
Tai Shŏu () which in time came to mean provincial governor. This set the stage for the
Battle of Changping between 262 and 260 BCE, which broke the power of Zhao and left Qin the major power in China.
Later history (221 BCE–) After
Qin Shi Huang’s 221 BCE unification of China Shangdang became one of the 36 Qin prefectures with control over Changzhi. During the
Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE–8 CE) Shangdang possessed 14 counties with a total population of 337,766 people divided between 73,798 households (户,
hù). In the following Eastern Han dynasty the number of counties decreased to 13 whilst the population dropped to 127, 430 people split amongst 26,222 households. During the
Three Kingdoms Period (220–280 CE) the Shangdang seat of government moved to the north of modern-day Changzhi City. By the time of the
Western Jin (265–316) the area had been reduced to ten counties with a steep drop in the number of households to only 12,000. The government again moved eastwards to Lu County () to the north of modern-day
Lucheng, Changzhi. At the time of the
Sixteen Kingdoms (304–439 CE) and
Northern and Southern dynasties period Shangdang was home in succession to the territories of the
Former Zhao, the
Former Qin, the
Western Yan, the
Northern Wei and the
Northern Zhou all of whom moved the seat of government until it finally returned to Huguan Town () in modern-day
Huguan County. In 578 CE, the first year of
Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou the Shangdang region became part of Lu Prefecture (), an area to the south of modern-day
Xiangyuan County. After the establishment of the
Sui dynasty (581–618 CE) Huguan County was abolished and replaced by Shangdang County (). The Shangdang regional () seat of government moved to the county, taking responsibility for 10 counties and 125,057 households. In the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) Shangdang Prefecture again became Lu Prefecture ending the use of the name although successive generations still governed Shangdang County. Only in 1529 CE during the reign of the
Ming Jiajing Emperor did Shangdang County become Changzhi County and the former name cease to officially exist. Shangdang continued to be used as a name for the location since during the
Yuan dynasty records show that
Liu Futong () led an uprising which crossed the Taihang Mountains and burned Shangdang. The first battle between the Communists and the Kuomintang after World War II, the
Shangdang Campaign, was fought in the region of Shangdang. ==References==