Prehistory ,
Jinzhou,
Liaoning, with the inscription "Stronghold of Youzhou". Beizhen was part of You Prefecture during the Han dynasty, when it was the size of a province. According to several ancient texts from the
Warring States period (475–221 BC), You was one of the
Nine Provinces of ancient China. Ancient Chinese histories use the Nine Provinces to describe the geographic division of China during the two earliest Chinese dynasties, the
Xia (2070–1600 BC) and the
Shang (1600–1046 BC). The "Book of Xia" in the
Classic of History from the earlier
Spring and Autumn period (771–476 BC) states that
Yu the Great, founder of the Xia dynasty, divided China into Nine Provinces—Jizhou, Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yuzhou, Liangzhou and Yongzhou—and does not mention Youzhou as one of the nine. But the
Erya from about the third century BC includes Youzhou and Yingzhou instead of Qingzhou and Liangzhou; the ''
Lü's Annals of the Spring and Autumn Annals, compiled in 239 BC, includes Youzhou instead of Liangzhou; and the Rites of Zhou'' from the middle of the second century BC includes Youzhou and Bingzhou in place of Xuzhou and Liangzhou. Subsequent texts describe as Youzhou as one of the
Twelve Provinces of Ancient China.
Sima Qian in the
Records of the Grand Historian, written from 109 to 91 BC explains that
Shun, sovereign who relinquished power to Yu the Great, felt the domain in north was too vast and created three new prefectures including Youzhou from Yanzhou. The
Book of Han, completed in AD 111, also lists Youzhou as one of the Twelve Ancient Provinces. All of these texts described Youzhou as essentially equivalent to the
State of Yan, one of the seven powers of the
Warring States era.
Han dynasty Youzhou was first instituted as an administrative unit in 106 BC during the
Han dynasty. In 106 BC,
Emperor Wu of Han organized the
Western Han dynasty into 13 province-sized prefectures, each administered by a
cishi () or inspector. You Prefecture comprised the
Shanggu,
Zhuo,
Guangyang,
Dai,
Bohai,
Yuyang,
Right Beiping,
Liaoxi,
Liaodong,
Xuantu and
Lelang Commanderies. Altogether the eleven commanderies contained 173 counties. Collectively, You Prefecture had 90 counties. Toward the end of the Han dynasty,
Yellow Turban Rebellion erupted in Hebei in AD 184 and briefly seized You Prefecture's administrative seat at Ji. The court relied on regional militaries to put down the rebellion and You Prefecture was controlled successively by warlords
Liu Yu,
Gongsun Zan,
Yuan Shao,
Yuan Xi and
Cao Cao. In 192, Liu Yu was overthrown by his subordinate Gongsun Zan. Two years later, Gongsun Zan was driven out of Ji by Yuan Shao with the help of
Wuhuan and
Xianbei allies from the steppes. After Yuan Shao lost supremacy of North China to Cao Cao in the
Battle of Guandu in AD 200, his son
Yuan Xi held You Prefecture until 204 before fleeing to the Wuhuan. Cao Cao eventually defeated the Wuhuan in AD 207 and pacified North China.
Three Kingdoms During the
Three Kingdoms, the
Kingdom of Wei founded by Cao Cao's son, controlled ten of the Han dynasty's prefectures including You Prefecture and its capital Ji. Within the jurisdiction of You Prefecture were eleven commanderies, Fanyang, Yan Principality, Beiping, Shanggu, Dai, Liaoxi, Liaodong, Xuantu, Lelang, Changli and Daifang, which collectively ruled 60 counties.
Jin dynasty In the
Western Jin dynasty (265–316), You Prefecture had seven commanderies and 34 counties. The Western Jin expanded the number of counties from 19 in 265 to 31 in 291. When
Liu Yuan ruled the kingdom of
Former Zhao, the You Prefecture of Former Zhao was based in present-day Lishi,
Shanxi. During the late Northern Wei, many groups rose in rebellion against the dynasty in and around Youzhou. Wang Huiding's rebellion of 494 lasted one month. In 514,
Shramana Liu Shaozeng led a Buddhist rebellion in You Prefecture. In 528 Wei troops under
Erzhu Rong's subordinate, Hou Yuan, retook the city from rebel leader Han Lou. In 534, the Northern Wei split in half along the Yellow River into the
Western Wei and
Eastern Wei, which controlled You Prefecture. The Eastern Wei continued for 16 years before it was replaced by the
Northern Qi. Though Northern Qi held only half the territory of the Northern Wei, it had 105 prefectures.
Sui and Tang dynasty The
Sui dynasty united China in 589 and did not use prefecture as a unit of administration. All prefectures were converted to commanderies. You Prefecture was renamed
Zhuo Commandery or Zhuojun, one of 190 commanderies in Sui China. The
Tang dynasty re-adopted the prefecture but used it as replacement for commandery. Zhuojun reverted to You, which in 640 was one of 360 prefectures of the dynasty. The capital of You Prefecture remained in Ji. The Tang also instituted 10 frontier command garrisons called
jiedushi. The
Fanyang Jiedushi was based in Ji and became one of the
"three revolting garrisons of Hebei" after the
Anshi Rebellion. After the war, the
Lulong Jiedushi retained semi-independence from Tang.
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period to Liao dynasty In the
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960), the warlord
Liu Rengong established his base in Youzhou and declared himself "King of Yan" (). His regime was ultimately toppled by the
Later Tang (923–936).
Shi Jingtang, founder of the
Later Jin (936–947), submitted to the
Khitans of the
Liao dynasty (907–1125) and ceded the
Sixteen Prefectures (You was one of the sixteen) to them. In 938 the Khitans established a secondary capital in You Prefecture and named it Nanjing Youdu Prefecture (). In 1012 it was renamed Xijin Prefecture () and later renamed to
Yanjing (). The name "Youzhou" was never used again. ==See also==