Lishui Transferred to Xuanzhou, 626 CE

Background

In 620 CE, the third year of the Wude era, Lishui and Jiangning were made into Yangzhou, with Lishui under it. The gazetteer's entries for the seventh and eighth years of Wude record the restoration of Jiangzhou and then of Yangzhou, with Lishui still under the latter; in the ninth year Yangzhou moved its seat to Jiangdu.

Time and place

The gazetteer records:

九年丙戌，移扬州于江都，溧水改隶宣州。即今宁国府也。《郡纪》独称丹阳、溧阳隶宣州者误。

Translated: In the ninth year, a bingxu year, Yangzhou was moved to Jiangdu and Lishui was transferred to Xuanzhou. That is the present Ningguo Prefecture. The Junji, which names only Danyang and Liyang as under Xuanzhou, is wrong.

The entry follows the third year of Wude without repeating the era name, so "the ninth year" is the ninth year of Wude, 626 CE. The gazetteer notes that Xuanzhou is the present Ningguo Prefecture.

The standard history

The Jiu Tangshu, juan 40, "Treatise on Geography, Part 3," entry on Xuanzhou, confirms this entry and refutes the Junji:

宣州……（武德）九年，移揚州於江都，以溧陽、溧水、丹陽來屬。

Translated: Xuanzhou ... in the ninth year of Wude (626) Yangzhou was moved to Jiangdu, and Liyang, Lishui and Danyang were made over to it.

The same juan, under Lishui, also reads "land of Han Liyang; a county under the Sui; in the third year of Wude, under Yangzhou; in the ninth year, under Xuanzhou." In 626, then, Yangzhou moved its seat to Jiangdu and Lishui, together with Liyang and Danyang, passed to Xuanzhou — the standard history agreeing with the gazetteer, and showing that the Junji omitted Lishui when it named only Danyang and Liyang.

What happened

The seat of Yangzhou was moved to Jiangdu, and Lishui County passed to Xuanzhou.

Consequences

Lishui came under Xuanzhou. In 742 CE, the first year of the Tianbao era, Xuanzhou was made into Xuancheng Commandery, and the gazetteer records that Lishui remained under it as before; in 757 CE, the second year of the Zhide era, Jiangning County was made into Jiangning Commandery and Lishui passed to that instead.

Uncertainties

First, the sources disagree on the allegiance. The gazetteer notes that the Junji names only Danyang and Liyang as under Xuanzhou; the Jiu Tangshu, "Treatise on Geography," entry on Xuanzhou — "in the ninth year of Wude, Yangzhou was moved to Jiangdu, and Liyang, Lishui and Danyang were made over to it" — shows the gazetteer to be right and the Junji to be wrong (it omits Lishui).

Second, the entry does not give the counties under Xuanzhou after the transfer, and the standard history gives no month for it; this entry adds none. The confidence level is set to medium.