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24-715: Ancient Chinese sources describe Shangdang as an “upland location in the mountains”. The east and southeast areas included the Taihang Mountains on the borders of Hebei and Henan Provinces. In the south west lay Mount Wangwu and the Zhongtiao Mountains . To the west were the Taiyue Mountains ( 太岳山 ) with Mount Wuyun ( 五云山 ) to the north. King Wuling of Zhao (r. 325–299 BCE) is reported to have said to his son: “Zhao’s territory encompasses Changshan Commandery and Shangdang Commandery. To

48-651: A Chinese mountain range running down the eastern edge of the Loess Plateau in Shanxi , Henan and Hebei provinces. The range extends over 400 kilometres (250 mi) from north to south and has an average elevation of 1,500 to 2,000 metres (4,900 to 6,600 feet). The principal peak is Mount Xiaowutai (2,882 metres (9,455 feet)). The Taihang's eastern peak is Mount Cangyan in Hebei; Baishi Mountain forms its northern tip. The Taihang Mountains were formed during

72-452: A hidden treasure, a precious fu (符, a military seal) on Mount Chang (常山, modern Mount Heng ), and promised a reward for whoever recovered it first. While all others returned empty-handed, only Wuxu grasped his father's true meaning – the strategic terrains there served as a perfect basis for a military campaign against the state of Dai , whose lands were considered the true prize. This event led Jianzi to name Wuxu as his successor, instead of

96-605: Is the third longest railway tunnel in China. Many references to this range in “Fanshen” by William Hinton, with their significance in the Chinese Socialist revolution. This article related to a mountain or hill in China is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zhao Xiangzi Zhao Wuxu ( Chinese : 趙毋卹 ), also known by his posthumous name as the Viscount Xiang of Zhao (趙襄子),

120-649: The Jurassic . Brown forest and Cinnamon soils are found here. The name of Shanxi Province , meaning "west of the mountains", derives from its location west of the Taihang Mountains. The name of Shandong Province (east of the mountains) originally applied to the area east of the Xiao Mountains , but by the Tang dynasty it refers to the area east of the Taihang Mountains; this entity evolved into

144-497: The Partition of Jin by the states of Wei , Zhao and Han in 403 BCE, each one occupied a portion of Shangdang Prefecture with their respective capitals located in the territory. The area became the front line in the conflict that followed between these three states given its strategic position. Officials responsible for defending these three frontier prefectures were given the title Shŏu (守 literally guardian ) and addressed by

168-860: The State of Qin because of its location on the border with Qin. From the time of King Huiwen of Qin (r. 338–311BCE), Qin’s power grew and the state expanded eastwards across the Yellow River . By the time of King Zhaoxiang of Qin ’s reign (306–250 BCE) Qin already effectively controlled the entire western part of Shangdang Prefecture. In 262 Qin attacked Han’s Shangdang Prefecture whereupon records show: “A Han official Feng Ting (冯亭) arrived as an emissary to King Xiaocheng of Zhao and said: ‘Our state cannot defend Shangdang, it has been overrun by Qin. Han wants peace with Zhao and does not desire occupation by Qin. 17 of our cities are willing to pay homage to Zhao, Great King, help our government and people.’ King Xiaocheng

192-712: The Yuan dynasty records show that Liu Futong ( 刘福通 ) led an uprising which crossed the Taihang Mountains and burned Shangdang. The first battle between the Communists and the Kuomintang after World War II, the Shangdang Campaign , was fought in the region of Shangdang. 36°N 113°E  /  36°N 113°E  / 36; 113 Taihang Mountains The Taihang Mountains ( Chinese : 太行山 ; pinyin : Tàiháng Shān ) are

216-830: The Lu District (潞州) with the Nie River (涅水) rising in the north west then flowing south into the turbid waters of the upper Zhang River (漳水). Thereafter the river flowed through the Chang Ping Pass (长平关) into the Lu District before arriving first at Gaoping (高平) then joining up with the Qin River (沁水). All of the conflicts between Han, Zhao and Wei occurred in this area, predominantly in the Túnliú , Niè and Zhǎngzĭ areas with territory frequently changing ownership. For example Zhangzi changed hands at least three times. During

240-505: The Spring and Autumn period, some scholars suggest that Zhao Xiangzi (襄子) “rushed to Zhangzi” thereafter gaining control of the area for Zhao. Later on, in 370 BCE, Zhao attacked the State of Zheng and thereafter Han, retaking Changzi and showing that by this time Han had retaken control of the area. In 359 BCE, Zheng, by then a Han vassal retook Túnliú , Niè and Zhǎngzĭ . A decade later in 349 BCE Zhao seized territory belonging to Jin in

264-523: The Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) Shangdang Prefecture again became Lu Prefecture ending the use of the name although successive generations still governed Shangdang County. Only in 1529 CE during the reign of the Ming Jiajing Emperor did Shangdang County become Changzhi County and the former name cease to officially exist. Shangdang continued to be used as a name for the location since during

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288-702: The Zhao capital Handan . The Battle of Changping which broke the power of Zhao and left Qin the major power in China took place in Shangdang between 262 and 260 BCE. After Qin Shi Huang ’s 221 BCE unification of China Shangdang became one of the 36 Qin prefectures with control over Changzhi. During the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE–8 CE) Shangdang possessed 14 counties with a total population of 337,766 people divided between 73,798 households (户 hù ). In

312-476: The area of modern-day Qinshui County , Shanxi showing that once more it had returned to Han ownership. Using the nomenclature of Tang dynasty administrative divisions, Han controlled the whole of Yi District ( 沁州 ), the western part of Lu District ( 潞州 ) and a small part of the east of Jin District ( 晋州 ). Zhao possessed Yi District ( 仪州 ) and the larger eastern part of Lu District. Shangdang also contained

336-606: The east lies the State of Yan bordering Donghu lands. In the West there is Loufang Commandery (楼烦郡) and the Han/Qin border.” The earliest written record of Shangdang is towards the end of the Spring and Autumn period (771–426 BCE) in connection with the State of Jin . At the time of Duke Ping of Jin (r. 557–532 BCE), official Xie Hu ( 解狐 ) appointed Xing Boliu ( 邢伯柳 ) as Provincial Governor of Jin’s Shangdang Region. After

360-481: The first year of Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou the Shangdang region became part of Lu Prefecture ( 潞州 ), an area to the south of modern-day Xiangyuan County . After the establishment of the Sui dynasty (581–618 CE) Huguan County was abolished and replaced by Shangdang County ( 上党县 ). The Shangdang regional ( 上党郡 ) seat of government moved to the county, taking responsibility for 10 counties and 125,057 households. In

384-624: The following Eastern Han dynasty the number of counties decreased to 13 whilst the population dropped to 127, 430 people split amongst 26,222 households. During the Three Kingdoms Period (220–280 CE) the Shangdang seat of government moved to the north of modern-day Changzhi City. By the time of the Western Jin (265–316) the area had been reduced to ten counties with a steep drop in the number of households to only 12,000. The government again moved eastwards to Lu County ( 潞县 ) to

408-448: The former heir, Bolu (伯魯). In 464 BC, Zhi Yao attacked Zheng , and Wuxu was sent to assist him. While drunk, the Zhi leader hit Wuxu with a filled wine vessel. Wuxu's men asked to kill Zhi, to which Wuxu responded, "the reason why my father sent me is that I am capable of showing restraint". Later, Zhi Yao asked Jianzi to disinherit Wuxu, but was refused. Xiangzi succeeded as the head of

432-406: The honorific title Tai Shŏu ( 太守 ) which in time came to mean provincial governor. By 265 BCE only seven warring states remained. In Shangdang, Han possessed the northern districts of Yi ( 仪州 ) and Qin ( 沁州 ) as well as half of Lu ( 潞 ) and the southern Ze ( 泽 ) districts with the other half held by Zhao and Wei. Han territory within Shangdang was the first to suffer hardship at the hands of

456-458: The house of Zhao in 458 BC. Soon, he invited the ruler of Dai, who was married to Xiangzi's sister, to a banquet where he had the Dai king assassinated. The king's consort committed suicide, and Xiangzi proceeded to conquer Dai. Later, he enfeoffed the lands of Dai to Zizhou (子周), son of the now deceased Bolu. In 454 BC, the houses of Zhi, Zhao, Han and Wei jointly divided the lands formerly held by

480-502: The houses Fan (范) and Zhonghang (中行). This act angered Duke Chu of Jin , who requested the states Qi and Lu to punish the four families. In return, the four houses attacked Duke Chu. The Duke of Jin fled to Qi and died on his way. Zhi Yao selected Jiao (驕) as the new ruler, later known as Duke Yi of Jin . Afterwards, Zhi demanded land from Zhao, Wei and Han, among which only Zhao refused. Zhi, along with his allies Han and Wei, declared war on Zhao and laid siege to Jinyang (晉陽). During

504-467: The modern-day Shandong Province, though the actual border of the province has moved considerably to the east. The Hai River system runs through the Taihang Mountains. The Red Flag Canal is located on the south edge of the Taihang Mountains. The Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan high-speed railway crosses under the Taihang Mountains via the Taihang Tunnel , which, at almost 28 kilometres (17 mi),

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528-794: The north of modern-day Lucheng, Changzhi . At the time of the Sixteen Kingdoms (304–439 CE) and Northern and Southern dynasties period Shangdang was home in succession to the territories of the Former Zhao , the Former Qin , the Western Yan , the Northern Wei and the Northern Zhou all of whom moved the seat of government until it finally returned to Huguan Town ( 壶关城 ) in modern-day Huguan County . In 578 CE,

552-662: Was a leader of the Zhao clan in the Jin state . During his tenure as clan leader of Zhao, he entered into an alliance with the Han (韓) and Wei (魏) clans, and annihilated the Zhi (知) clan in the Battle of Jinyang . Wuxu was born to a Di (翟) slave of Jianzi of Zhao (趙簡子). Despite his low status, his abilities gained the recognition of Gubu Ziqing (姑布子卿), an advisor of the house of Zhao, who recommended him to Jianzi. Gradually, Wuxu became Jianzi's favourite son. Once, Jianzi informed all his sons about

576-733: Was exultant and sent troops to Shangdang.” As a result, Han’s Shangdang Prefecture thereafter extended the entire length of the western border of the Shangdang Region. Zhao’s control over Shangdang at this early stage in the Warring States period covered Niè (涅) (the northwest of modern-day Wuxiang County ), Túnliú (屯留) (the south of modern-day Tunliu County ), Zhǎngzĭ (长子) (the south west of modern-day Zhangzi County , Chángpíng (长平) and Xuànshì (泫氏) (both in modern-day Gaoping City) along with Duānshì (端氏) (east of modern-day Qinshui County ). This borderline lay north of

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