Research On The Zongguan Fu Of Jingxiang Areas In Northern Zhou And Sui Dynasty

The system of Zongguanfu(总管府)was first created in the Western Wei Dynasty.It was an important local military system during the Zhou and Sui Dynasties.The Jingxiang(荆襄)region was a frontline area for the confrontation between the various regimes in the late Northern and Southern Dynasties to the early Sui dynasty,and also a strategic location for the operation of the Jiangnan region after the unification of the Sui dynasty.From the Western Wei dynasty to the Sui dynasty,the layout of the Jingxiang Zongguanfu evolved in a series of ways.This evolutionary development is an important clue to an in-depth understanding of the political situation and changes in local institutions during the Zhou and Sui periods.In the 22nd year of Taihe(498),the Northern Wei captured the five counties north of the Han River in Southern Qi,forming the Jingzhou Governorate with Rangcheng as its center.After the split of the Northern Wei Dynasty,Western Wei largely inherited the Northern Wei Jingzhou Governorate area and birthed the system of Jingzhou Zongguanfu on this basis.The Western Wei gradually occupied a large area of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in the Southern Dynasty between the fifteenth year of Datong(549)and the first year of Emperor Gong(554).And a new post of Dazongguan(大总管)of Jingzhou was created as the highest military governor of the region.This master’s thesis postulates that the first Dazongguan of Jingzhou was created in the second year of Emperor Gong of the Western Wei Dynasty(555),before the full implementation of the Dazongguanfu(大总管府)in the first year of Wucheng of the Northern Zhou Dynasty(559).This is earlier than the year of the formal and full implementation of the system of the Zongguanfu system(559),namely the first year of Wucheng in the Northern Zhou.At the same time,the names of more than fifty states under the jurisdiction of the Dazongguanfu of Jingzhou were confirmed.From the first year of Baoding of the Northern Zhou Dynasty(561)to the first year of Dading(581),the administration of Zongguanfu of Jingxiang region in the Northern Zhou Dynasty went through three stages:from unification to division,from division to unification,and from division again.The first split occurred in the first year of the Baoding reign when the former Jingzhou Dazongguanfu split into the four Zongguanfu of Jingzhou,Xiangzhou,Anzhou,and Jiangling.The change from division to union occurred in the fourth year of Baoding(564)when the four Zongguanfu were placed under Xiangzhou,and this marked the first southward shift of the military and political center of gravity of the Zhou-Sui Jingxiang region,namely from Rangcheng to Xiangyang.Another split occurred in the first year of the Jiande of the Northern Zhou(572)when the three Zongguanfu of Jingzhou,Anzhou,and Jiangling regained their independence.All three changes were closely related to the political situation and the internal and diplomatic strategies of the Northern Zhou.At the beginning of the Sui dynasty,Xiangyang’s position as a military and political center was further consolidated by the important role played by the Xiangzhou Zongguanfu in the suppression of the Sima xiaonan(司马消难)Rebellion.After Sui pacified Chen in the ninth year of Kaihuang,the military and political center of gravity in the Jingxiang region shifted southwards for a second time,namely from Xiangyang to Jiangling.Meanwhile,the Jingzhou Zongguanfu,which was based in Jiangling,became one of the four major Zongguanfu of the Sui dynasty.In the first year of the Da Ye(605),Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty abolished the Administration of Zongguanfu,bringing to an end the history of Zongguanfu of Jingxiang in the Zhou-Sui period.