Liyang County Established, 221 BCE

Background

Qin unified the empire and applied the system of commanderies and counties. In its long discussion of the origin of the name Lishui, the gazetteer already observes that the name Lai was well known in the Spring and Autumn period, that Qin accordingly named a county after it, and that the county Qin established at Gucheng stood on the old site of Laizhu Yi.

Time and place

The gazetteer records:

秦始皇二十六年庚辰，改金陵为秣陵。始置溧阳县，属鄣郡。

Translated: In the twenty-sixth year of the First Emperor of Qin, a gengchen year, Jinling was renamed Moling. Liyang County was established for the first time, under Zhang Commandery.

The twenty-sixth year of the First Emperor is 221 BCE. The entry is recorded together with the renaming of Jinling as Moling; the seat of Liyang County is not given here, and appears only in the opening discussion, which says the Qin county kept the old site of Laizhu Yi.

What happened

In that year Qin renamed Jinling as Moling and established Liyang County, assigning it to Zhang Commandery. This was the first county-level unit in what is now the Lishui area.

Consequences

From then through the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties the area was known as Liyang, although counties such as Yongping and Yong'an were briefly carved out and soon abolished or restored. Only in 591 CE, the eleventh year of the Kaihuang era, was Lishui County carved out of northwestern Liyang and the former Danyang lands, which makes Liyang the predecessor of Lishui.

Dating basis

This entry is far earlier than the establishment of Lishui County in 591 CE, the eleventh year of the Kaihuang era. At that time Lishui did not yet exist as a county: what is recorded here concerns the Lishui area and its predecessor Liyang County. The year 221 BCE corresponds to the sexagenary year given in the source and is a later conversion.

Uncertainties

The gazetteer gives only the single sentence that Liyang County was established under Zhang Commandery, without its seat or extent. The opening discussion says that the Qin county at Gucheng kept the old site of Laizhu Yi, but that is the compiler's inference and the text itself concludes that such matters "cannot be known"; this entry does not use it to fix the county seat. The confidence level is set to medium.