Lishui Raised from County to Zhou, 1295 CE

Date and content

In 1295 CE, the first year of the Yuanzhen era, Lishui County was raised to a zhou. The gazetteer records:

成宗元贞元年乙未，升溧水为州，等为中。仍设达鲁花赤，出知州上。

Translated: In the first year of the Yuanzhen era of Chengzong of the Yuan, Lishui was raised to a zhou and ranked as a middle zhou. A darughachi was still appointed, holding rank above the prefect. This is a translation, not the words of the original.

What the change involved

After the elevation Lishui Zhou was ranked as a middle zhou. The darughachi was the Yuan supervisory officer, placed above the prefect. The gazetteer's word "still" shows that the office was not new in 1295: under 1276 it had already recorded that the Yuan appointed a darughachi at Lishui, holding rank above the county magistrate.

Consequences

Lishui passed from county to zhou. In 1329, the second year of the Tianli era, Jiankang Circuit was renamed Jiqing Circuit and Lishui went with it. The zhou lasted until 1369, the second year of the Hongwu era, when it was reduced to a county again; Lishui remained a county from then until it became a district in 2013.

Differences between the sources

The district government's "Historical Evolution" page states that in the first year of the Yuanzhen era of the Yuan (1295) Lishui County was raised to Lishui Zhou and placed under Jiqing Circuit. The gazetteer's entry for that year records only the rank and the darughachi, and does not say which circuit the new zhou belonged to; the name Jiqing Circuit in fact dates from the renaming of Jiankang Circuit in 1329. The two accounts differ, and this entry sets them side by side without choosing between them.

Uncertainties

The reason for the elevation, and whether the zhou's territory differed from that of the county, are not recorded.