Hangzhou or Hang Prefecture (589–1129) was a zhou (prefecture) in imperial China located in modern northern Zhejiang, China, around modern Hangzhou.[6] The prefecture was called Yuhang Commandery from 607 to 621 and from 742 to 758.[7] Hang Prefecture was the capital of the Wuyue kingdom (907–978), inside which it was known as Xi Prefecture (Western Prefecture), and during its last years of the kingdom, as Qiantang Prefecture.
In 587, the southern Chen dynasty (557–589) created Qiantang Commandery (錢唐郡), which administered four counties. When the northern Sui dynasty (581–618) conquered the Chen dynasty in 589, Qiantang Commandery was renamed to Hang Prefecture.
During the transition from Sui to Tang, the warlord Shen Faxing first held Yuhang Commandery in the confusion following the assassination of Emperor Yang in 618. In 620, he was defeated by the warlord Li Zitong, who took over his territory.
During Tang and Wuyue (622–978)
The Leifeng Pagoda in the late 1910s before its collapse in 1924. It was built in 975 during the reign of the Wuyue king Qian Chu.
The Tang dynasty (618–907) did not occupy the prefecture until December 611, when the Tang army under Li Fuwei destroyed Li Zitong's defense in Yuhang. The Tang renamed Yuhang Commandery to Hang Prefecture.
In 653, the woman rebel leader Chen Shuozhen attacked Hang Prefecture and took Yuqian.
In the late Tang dynasty, the rebel Huang Chao briefly occupied Hang Prefecture twice, first in 878 and later in 880. In the late 870s, local militias were formed to resist the rebel Wang Ying, and among the soldiers were Hang Prefecture natives Dong Chang and Qian Liu.
In 882, warlord Liu Hanhong, who was based in neighboring Yue Prefecture, wanted to take over Hang Prefecture from Dong Chang. He was soundly defeated by Dong Chang's force led by Qian Liu. In 886, Dong Chang promised Hang Prefecture to Qian Liu if he could destroy Liu Hanhong; Qian Liu did just that, capturing Liu Hanhong and taking over his territory. In 887, Qian Liu took over Hang Prefecture while Dong Chang went to Liu Hanhong's former base in Yue Prefecture. (Qian Liu later attacked and killed Dong Chang in 896.)
Qian Liu began a series of massive construction projects in Hang Prefecture in 890. These include the fortification of city walls and the construction of a dam to control the Qiantang River. After the Tang dynasty collapsed in 907, Qian Liu remained independent throughout the ensuing Five Dynasties period, even though like before he continued to pay tributes to the imperial courts in Kaifeng Prefecture (or Henan Prefecture during Later Tang).
^ abcThis estimate is based on the assumption that household figures is more reliable than population figures from Song dynasty censuses. For conflicting views on Song dynasty census figures, see Pritchard, Earl H. (1963). "Thoughts on the Historical Development of the Population of China". The Journal of Asian Studies. 23 (1): 3–20. JSTOR2050630. and Li Baozhu (李宝柱) (1982). 宋代人口统计问题研究 [A Study on the Song Dynasty Census Problem]. Journal of Peking University (Philosophy and Social Sciences) (in Chinese). 19 (4): 67–77.
^《杭州市志》第二节 唐至清代行政首官 [History of Hangzhou City Chapter 2: Chief Administrators from Tang to Qing]. Hangzhou City Government (in Chinese).
Shi Weile, ed. (2005). Zhongguo Lishi Diming Da Cidian (中国历史地名大词典) [Large Dictionary of Chinese Historical Place Names] (in Chinese). China Social Sciences Press. ISBN7-5004-4929-1.
