Danyang Commandery Abolished and Jiangzhou Established, 589 CE

Background

Before the Sui dynasty this area was long part of Liyang County, under Danyang Commandery. In the ninth year of the Kaihuang era the gazetteer records that Danyang Commandery was abolished and Jiangzhou established, with Liyang placed under it — that is, the commandery was replaced by a prefecture as the unit above the county.

Time and place

The gazetteer records:

隋高祖开皇九年己酉，废丹阳郡置蒋州，溧［阳］隶之。

Translated: In the ninth year of the Kaihuang era of Emperor Gaozu of Sui, a jiyou year, Danyang Commandery was abolished and Jiangzhou was established, and Li[yang] was placed under it.

A character is missing after "Li" in the text, and the old gazetteer supplies "yang" in brackets, giving "Liyang was placed under it". The ninth year of the Kaihuang era is 589 CE.

What happened

Danyang Commandery was abolished, Jiangzhou was established in its place, and Liyang County was transferred to Jiangzhou.

Consequences

Two years after Liyang passed to Jiangzhou, the gazetteer records that in the eleventh year of the Kaihuang era (591 CE) the northwestern part of Liyang and the former Danyang lands were separated off to form Lishui County, still under Jiangzhou, and that this was the beginning of the county. In 608 CE, the fourth year of the Daye era, Jiangzhou in turn became Danyang Commandery, so that the two names exchanged places.

Dating basis

This entry is two years 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 its predecessor Liyang County and the prefecture and commandery above it, and the dating follows the Kangxi edition of the Lishui County Gazetteer (卷之一·邑纪).

Uncertainties

The entry is a single sentence and gives neither the seat nor the subordinate counties of Jiangzhou. The supplied character in "Li[yang]" was added by the gazetteer's editors, and this entry quotes it in that bracketed form. The confidence level is set to medium.