Changsha Commandery
Changsha Commandery was the first imperial Chinese commandery in Hunan. Established by the late Qin dynasty and abolished when the Sui dynasty ended the commandery tier, it governed the lower Xiang River basin and the eastern slopes of the Nan Mountains. Its seat, Linxiang, lay on the west bank of the Xiang within modern Changsha; earthworks and bricks stamped **長沙宮** mark the site.
Predecessor kingdom
During early Western Han the territory was granted to King Wu Rui as the semi-autonomous Changsha Kingdom. When the Wu-Rui line ended in 157 BCE, the kingdom was dissolved and reverted to direct rule as Changsha Commandery.Geography and administrative layout
The Book of Han lists 18 counties; a 2 CE census records 71 802 households. By 140 CE warfare and migration had reduced this to 12 counties and c. 41 000 households.Principal Western-Han counties:
- Linxiang ✪
- Liyang
- Xiangyin
- Lingling
- Chengling
- Qiyang
- Leiyang
- Guiyang
- Yanling
- Zhuyuan
- Anren
- Yiyang
- Xiayang
- Yunyang
- Zhaoling
- Lanshan
- Wuling
- Yongxing
History
Qin and Western Han (210 BCE – 9 CE)
After the Qin conquest of Lingnan, Changsha Commandery was founded to secure the Xiang valley. Under the Western Han, the former Changsha Kingdom became the direct-ruled commandery, prospering on rice, iron and lacquer.Xin interlude and Eastern Han (9–220 CE)
Wang Mang renamed it Bo-Chang Commandery. The Eastern-Han court restored the old name, but repeated Yao uprisings disrupted river traffic.Warlord era and Three Kingdoms (208–280 CE)
After 215 Sun Quan split off six southern counties to create Lingling Commandery, leaving twelve centred on Linxiang.Western Jin and Six Dynasties (280 – 589 CE)
- 280 CE — Western Jin reunified China; ten counties, 32 000 households.
- Refugees during the Yongjia chaos brought registers to 55 300 households by 464 CE.
- Under the Liang dynasty Linxiangʼs brick walls were rebuilt; the site gained the by-name "South Changsha" when newer prefectural seats shifted slightly north-east.