Hanzhong Commandery

According to the Book of Han, Hanzhong administered ten counties at its peak.Ban Gu. Book of Han, Geography Treatise. By 2 CE, the commandery registered 53,475 households and 290,902 individuals.

The Qin court first established a commandery in Hanzhong after conquering the Ba and Shu regions during its unification campaign in the late 3rd century BCE. Hanzhong served as a buffer zone between the north and the difficult terrain of southwestern China.

During the Western Han, Hanzhong was placed under Yizhou Province and became a major grain-producing area due to its fertile basin. Its position allowed communication between the Guanzhong Plain and the Sichuan Basin via the Ziwu Pass and the Yangping Pass.

Hanzhong was also an important exile and military posting. Notably, Zhang Liang was granted a fief there during the Han founding period.

During the late Eastern Han, Hanzhong became a contested frontier between northern warlords and the governors of Yizhou. In 213 CE, the warlord Zhang Lu controlled Hanzhong as an independent theocratic state based on the Five Pecks of Rice movement. His administration was centered in Nanzheng.

In 215 CE, Cao Cao launched a successful campaign to seize Hanzhong from Zhang Lu. The victory secured the Wei state's southern border and opened the path to Shu. Cao Cao garrisoned Hanzhong and left it under the command of generals such as Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He.

In 217–219, Liu Bei of Shu Han invaded Hanzhong in the famous Hanzhong Campaign. The campaign culminated in the Battle of Mount Dingjun, where Xiahou Yuan was killed. Liu Bei captured Hanzhong in 219 and declared himself King of Hanzhong (漢中王), using it as a political base prior to his eventual declaration of emperorship.Chen Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms, vol. 36, Biography of Liu Bei.

Shu retained control of Hanzhong until the Wei invasion of 263 CE, when Zhong Hui and Deng Ai launched a two-pronged offensive through Hanzhong and the mountains into the heart of Shu. After Shu's fall, Hanzhong returned to northern control under Cao Wei and then Western Jin.

Under the Western Jin, Hanzhong retained strategic importance and was garrisoned as part of Liangzhou–Yizhou provincial defense. However, during the Disaster of Yongjia and the uprisings of the 4th century, Hanzhong became vulnerable to tribal incursions and civil war.

During the Southern dynasties, Hanzhong was often a contested border zone between the north and south. It passed between the hands of the Former Qin, Later Qin, and Northern Wei. By the time of reunification under the Sui dynasty in 589, the commandery was abolished and reorganized into Hanzhou (漢州) or Hanzhong Prefecture.

Due to its location, Hanzhong was one of the most heavily fortified regions in imperial China. Control of Hanzhong provided access to the upper Han River, which connected to the Yangtze River, and gave military forces a base to threaten either the Sichuan Basin or the central plains.

Key mountain passes leading in and out of Hanzhong included:

• Ziwu Pass (子午道) — northeast toward Chang’an
• Yangping Pass (陽平關) — eastern exit toward Wudu and Baxi
• Micang Pass — southern corridor to Bazhong and Guanghan

The Hanzhong basin was one of the most fertile grain-producing regions of inland China. It supplied Shu armies with food, timber, and river boats. State-run granaries, tanneries, and iron workshops are attested in Shu records.

• Shu-Han stamped bricks reading 漢中太守 have been found in Nanzheng
• Military relics such as crossbow parts and spearheads discovered at Mount Dingjun
• Remains of a granary complex and canal system found in the Han River floodplain

• Zhang Lu
• Hanzhong Campaign
• Liu Bei
• Zhuge Liang’s northern expeditions
• Yizhou Province

{{Reflist}}

• Ban Gu. Book of Han.
• Fan Ye. Book of Later Han.
• Chen Shou. Records of the Three Kingdoms.
• Fang Xuanling (ed.). Book of Jin.
• Tan Qixiang (ed.). Historical Atlas of China.
• de Crespigny, Rafe. Generals of the South. ANU Press, 2010.
• Yang Bin. Between Winds and Clouds: The Making of Southwest China. Columbia University Press, 2009.