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Abstract
Ningbo in the southeastern Chinese province of Zhejiang emerged as a city during the Tang dynasty (618–907), and was known at that time as Mingzhou. On the question where the administrative, political and economic center of the Ningbo region was located between 738 and 821 the various source materials either remain silent or tell very different stories. In this study I re-visit and discuss the three main theories using textual analysis combined with archaeological evidence. On the basis of textual and recent archaeological evidence this study argues that today’s location of Ningbo at Sanjiangkou was the political, economic and cultural center of Eastern Zhejiang over 400 years earlier than previously thought. This clearly demonstrates the geographical and economic importance of the location at Sanjiangkou and the political stability of the region from the end of the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420).
List of Abbreviations of Primary Sources:
| BSZ | = | Baoqing Siming zhi 寶慶四明志 |
| JNFZ | = | Jiaqing Ningbo fu zhi 嘉慶寧波府志 |
| JTS | = | Jiu Tangshu 舊唐書 |
| KNFZ | = | Kangxi Ningbo fu zhi 康熙寧波府志 |
| MNFZ | = | Mingdai Ningbo fu zhi 明代寧波府志 |
| NBSZ | = | Ningbo shi zhi 寧波市志 |
| QNFZ | = | Qingdai Ningbo fu zhi 清代寧波府志 |
| QST | = | Qiandao Siming tujing 乾道四明圖經 |
| QYZ | = | Qianlong Yinxian zhi 乾隆鄞縣志 |
| SYSL | = | Song Yuan Siming liuzhi 宋元四明六志 |
| XTS | = | Xin Tangshu 新唐書 |
| YJT | = | Yuanhe junxian tuzhi 元和郡縣圖志 |
| YNFZ | = | Yongzheng Ningbo fu zhi 雍正寧波府志 |
| YSZX | = | Yinzhou Shanshui Zhi xuanji 鄞州山水志選辑 |
Notes on Contributor
Dr. Thomas Hirzel is a historian and a linguist who joined the School of International Communications at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) in September 2020 as Assistant Professor in Digital Humanities and Chinese Studies. He also holds the roles of Associate Director of the Digital Heritage Centre at UNNC and of Research Lead of the Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies Research Priority Area in Ningbo Studies. Thomas is a China scholar with an expertise in the analysis of Chinese primary sources and archival research. His research interests are: The Socio-Economic and Cultural History of Ningbo and the Lower Yangzi Region, Maritime History, Chinese Cultural Heritage and Digital Humanities, Chinese Art History, and Translation and Intercultural Communication in Chinese GLAMs.
Notes
1 I am indebted to two anonymous readers for their helpful comments.
2 Some Chinese historians do the same and call it “Da Gouzhang district” 大句章縣 to distinguish it from the pre-589 Gouzhang district. To call it “Large Gouzhang district” would be misleading as it was one of seven categories to classify districts indicated by the prefix (shang 上). Charles O. Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China (Taipei: SMC Publishing Inc., 1985, reprint 1995), 240 (entry 2492).
3 Kangxi Ningbo fu zhi 康熙寧波府志 (hereafter KNFZ), Li Tingji 李廷機, 1683, juan 1, in Qingdai Ningbo fu zhi 清代寧波府志 (QNFZ), Ningbo Shi difangzhi bianzuan weiyuanhui 寧波市地方志编纂委員會 (Ningbo: Ningbo chubanshe, 2011), 1:124; Qiandao Siming Tujing 乾道四明圖經 (hereafter QST), eds. Zhang Jin 張津 et al., completed in 1169, juan 1, in Song Yuan Siming liuzhi 宋元四明六志 (hereafter SYSL), Ningbo Shi difangzhi bianzuan weiyuanhui 寧波市地方志編篡委員會 (Ningbo: Ningbo chubanshe, 2011), 1:35; Jiaqing Ningbo fu zhi 嘉慶寧波府志 (JNFZ), ed. Zhang Shiche 張時徹, 1560, juan 1, in Mingdai Ningbo fu zhi 明代寧波府志 (MNFZ), Ningbo Shi difangzhi bianzuan weiyuanhui 寧波市地方志编纂委員會 (Ningbo: Ningbo chubanshe, 2011), 1:94.
4 Baoqing Siming zhi 寶慶四明志 (hereafter BSZ), ed. Hu Ju 胡榘, completed in 1227, juan 1, in SYSL, 2:25; JNFZ juan 1, in MNFZ 1:93, 105, 113, and 115; KNFZ juan 1, in QNFZ 1:114, 124, 129, and 131.
5 Y.-T. Tang et al., “Aligning Ancient and Modern Approaches to Sustainable Urban Water Management in China: Ningbo as a ‘Blue-Green City’ in the ‘Sponge City’ Campaign,” Journal of Flood Risk Management 11/4 (2018): e12451.
6 JNFZ juan 1, in MNFZ 1:94ff., 105, 113, and 115; KNFZ juan 1, in QNFZ 1:115 and 125; and QST juan 1, in SYSL 1:35.
7 Although it briefly changed its name into Yuyao commandery 餘姚郡 in 742. JNFZ juan 1, in MNFZ 1, 94 and 100; QST juan 1, in SYSL 1:35; Jiu Tangshu 舊唐書 (hereafter JTS), Liu Xu 劉昫 (887–946) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975, reprint 2019), 40.1590; in 758 it was again named Mingzhou (JTS 40.1590) and QST juan 1, in SYSL 1:35. KNFZ juan 1, in QNFZ 1:126 and JNFZ juan 1, in MNFZ 1:94 provide 756 as date for the change in name and KNFZ juan 1, in QNFZ 1:115 and JNFZ juan 1, in MNFZ 1:100 provide it as 757.
8 JNFZ juan 1, in MNFZ 1:105 and 113ff.
9 JTS 16.486; Tang huiyao 唐會要, comp. Wang Pu 王溥 (922–982) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1960, reprint 2017), 71.1273; Taiping huanyu ji 太平寰宇記, ed. Yue Shi 樂史 (930–1007), late tenth century, exact date unknown (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2016), 98.1959.
10 Gong Liefei 龚烈沸, Ningbo gujin fangzhi luyao 寧波古今方志錄要 (Ningbo: Ningbo chubanshe, 2001), 3.
11 Endymion Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual (Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London: Harvard University Press, 2013, 3rd edition), 211.
12 Gong, Ningbo gujin fangzhi luyao, 4.
13 Peter K. Bol, “The Rise of Local History: History, Geography, and Culture in Southern Song and Yuan Wuzhou,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 61 (2001): 38.
14 Yoshinobu Shiba, “Ningpo and Its Hinterland,” in The City in Late Imperial China, ed. William G. Skinner (Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1977), 392.
15 Xu Chao 許超 et al., “Tangdai Mingzhou chuzhi diwang kaobian” 唐代明州初治地望考, Dongnan wenhua 2016.1: 93.
16 Although Fu Xuancong 傅璇琮, ed., Ningbo tongshi 寧波通史 (Ningbo: Ningbo chubanshe, 2009), 1:188 claims that Gouzhang district moved its administrative seat from Chengshan to Xiaoxi only in 589, local gazetteers show (for example KNFZ juan 1, in QNFZ 1:113 and 131) that this had already happened before 420 CE.
17 In the local gazetteers Yinjiang river often refers to this tributary of the Fenghua River, but it can also refer to the Yong River (JNFZ juan 5, in MNFZ 1:530) or the Fenghua River (QST juan 2, in SYSL 1:64).
18 Fu, Ningbo tongshi, 1:189.
19 KNFZ juan 1, in QNFZ 1:124 and 129.
20 Ningbo shi zhi 寧波市志 (hereafter NBSZ), ed. Yu Fuhai 俞福海 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1995), 1:4ff.; Qianlong Yinxian zhi 乾隆鄞縣志 (hereafter QYZ), Qian Daxin 錢大昕, compiled 1785, 1.25.
21 NBSZ 1:44.
22 JNFZ juan 16, in MNFZ 3:1438ff.; KNFZ juan 1, in QNFZ 1:113 and 131; YNFZ juan 2, in QNFZ 5:3624; NBSZ 1:3.
23 Dushi Fangyu Jiyao Yutu Yaolan 讀史方輿紀要與圖要覽, Gu Zuyu 顧祖禹, 1831 edition, 7 vols., 130 juan plus four supplementary juan of maps, digitized and published online by Bayrische Staatsbibliothek Muenchen. Stable Link: https://ostasien.digitale-sammlungen.de/search?q=%E8%AE%80%E5%8F%B2%E6%96%B9%E8%BC%BF%E7%B4%80%E8%A6%81&searchType=free, [last accessed 26 October 2020], vol. 6, 92.35; Mingzhou Xinian lu 明州繫年錄 digitized and published online by Harvard-Yenching Library Chinese Local Gazetteers Digitization Project. Stable Link: https://listview.lib.harvard.edu/lists/drs-462474752, [last accessed 26 October 2020], 1.13.
24 NBSZ 1.44.
25 According to recent archaeological excavations the exact location of the old city of Gouzhang was at the modern village of Wangjiaba 王家壩村 in the town of Cicheng 慈城鎮 that belongs to the Jiangbei district of Ningbo city 寧波市江北區. See Wang Jiehua 王結華, “Cong Gouzhang dao Mingzhou – Ningbo zaoqi gang cheng fazhan de kaoguxue guancha 從句章到明州—寧波早期港城發展的考古學觀察,” in Lishi shiye xia de gang cheng hudong: shoujie ‘Gang tong tianxia’ guoji gangkou wenhua luntan wenji 歷史視野下的港城互动：首届’港通天下’國際港口文化論壇文集, eds. Ningbo Zhongguo gangkou bowuguan 寧波中國港口博物館 et al. (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2018), 89.
26 Ibid.
27 BSZ preface, in SYSL 2:3.
28 BSZ juan 12 and 13, in SYSL 3:625 and 687. During the Song period, one li had a length of 565.2 m. The definition of the li 里 as a length measure varied throughout Chinese history but after 624 until 1929 it was generally defined as 360 bu 步 with one bu equaling 5 chi 尺, with one chi amounting to 31.4 cm during the Song period, one li had a length of 565.2 m. See Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, 554ff. (Box 81 and Table 103).
29 Yuanfeng Jiuyu Zhi 元豐九域志, Wang Cun 王存, presented 1080, published 1085 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984, reprint 2019), 1:214.
30 QST juan 2 in SYSL 1:61; JNFZ juan 19, in MNFZ 3:1439.
31 NBSZ 1:44.
32 Yongzheng Ningbo fu zhi 雍正寧波府志 (hereafter YNFZ), Cao Bingren 曹秉仁 et al., 1731, juan 2, in QNFZ 5:3624; Siming Tuoshan tujing 四明它山图经, Yao Xie 姚燮 (1805–1864), in Yinzhou Shanshui Zhi xuanji 鄞州山水志选辑 (hereafter YSZX), Ningbo Shi Yinzhou Qu difangzhi bianzuan weiyuanhui 寧波市鄞州區地方志編纂委員會 (Ningbo: Ningbo chubanshe, 2009), 1:131.
33 Xu Chao 許超 et al., “Zhejiang Sheng Ningbo Yinjiang gucheng kaogu de zhuyao shouhuo yu chubu renshi” 浙江省寧波鄞江古城考古的主要收穫與初步認識, Nanfang wenwu 南方文物 2015.4: 59.
34 Simingshan Zhi 四明山志, ed. Huang Zongxi 黄宗羲 (1610–1695), juan 1, in YSZX 2:17.
35 QST juan 10, in SYSL 1:359.
36 Xu et al., “Tangdai Mingzhou chuzhi diwang kaobian”, 94.
37 Ibid.; Xu et al., “Zhejiang Sheng Ningbo Yinjiang gucheng kaogu de zhuyao shouhuo yu chubu renshi”, 56ff.
38 Chen Danzheng 陳丹正, “Sui Tang shiqi Ningbo diqu zhou xian chengzhi yange san ti” 隋唐時期寧波地區州縣城址沿革三題, Zhongguo lishi dili luncong 23.2 (2008): 108.
39 Wang, “Cong Gouzhang dao Mingzhou – Ningbo zaoqi gang cheng fazhan de kaoguxue guancha” 89; Xu et al., “Tangdai Mingzhou chuzhi diwang kaobian,” 94.
40 Wang Jiehua 王結華 et al., “Gouzhang gucheng ruogan wenti zhi tantao” 句章古城若干問題 之探討, Dongnan wenhua 2013.2: 98.
41 Xu et al., “Tangdai Mingzhou chuzhi diwang kaobian,” 95.
42 Fu, Ningbo tongshi, 1:188.
43 JTS 40.1590; The Song gazetteer below mentions a distance of 30 li.
44 QST juan 1, in SYSL 1:35.
45 In 589 the territory of the three former districts of Yinxian, Maoxian and Gouzhang were merged into one large district named Gouzhang district. In addition, the district of Yuyao was also integrated into the large Gouzhang district. In 621 Yuyao district was renamed into Yaozhou prefecture 姚州 and the large Gouzhang district (now consisting of the former districts Yinxian, Maoxian and Gouzhang) was named into Yinzhou prefecture (JNFZ juan 1, in MNFZ 1:94, 105, 113 and 115; KNFZ juan 1, in QNFZ 1:124 and 129).
46 See for example: QST juan 2, in SYSL 1:64. This example from the Qiandao Siming Tujing could indicate that in this gazetteer Yingjiang river generally refers to the Fenghua river.
47 See for example: JNFZ juan 5, in MNFZ 1:530.
48 BSZ juan 1, in SYSL 2:33.
49 BSZ juan 12, in SYSL 3:610ff.
50 BSZ juan 12, in SYSL 3:610.
51 QST juan 1, in SYSL 1:35.
52 BSZ juan 1, in SYSL 2:33.
53 BSZ juan 12, in SYSL 3:610f; Yuanhe junxian tuzhi 元和郡縣圖志 (hereafter YJT), ed. Li Jifu 李吉甫 (758–814), completed in 813 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983), vol. 2, 26.629: 鄮縣上，郭下.
54 I am grateful to an anonymous reader for pointing out to me that the Siku quanshu edition of the Baoqing Siming zhi reads differently from the edition published by Ningbo chubanshe and in Song Yuan fangzhi congkan 宋元方志叢刊 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1990). The text in the Siku quanshu says 州治鄮縣，古鄮縣在阿育王山之西，鄮山之東, which supports my reading that what is located to “the west of Eyuwang mountain” is the old seat of Maoxian district and not the current administrative seat of Maoxian.
55 QST juan 1, in SYSL 1:35; JNFZ juan 1, in MNFZ 1:95.
56 Xin Tangshu 新唐書 (hereafter XTS), eds. Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007–1072) and Song Qi 宋祁 (998–1061), completed in 1060 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975, reprint 2019), 136.4589ff.; Zizhi Tongjian 資治通鑑, Sima Guang 司馬光 (1019–1086) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1956, reprint 2018), 222.7261.
57 QYZ 1:25.
58 See also Xu et al., “Tangdai Mingzhou chuzhi diwang kaobian,” 93.
59 BSZ juan 1, in SYSL 2:33ff.
60 JTS 40.1590.
61 BSZ juan 12, in SYSL 3:610ff.
62 BSZ juan 11, in SYSL 3:558.
63 NBSZ 1:44; Fu, Ningbo tongshi, 68.
64 Shi Zuqing 施祖青, “Yinxian Baozhuang Xiang Shayan Cun ji zuo Dong Han Jin mu” 鄞縣寶幢鄉沙堰村幾座東漢，晉墓, Dongnan wenhua 1993.2: 85ff.
65 Zhejiang Ningbo Shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo and Zhejiang Ningbo Shi Yinzhou Qu wenguanban 浙江寧波市文物考古研究所; 浙江寧波市鄞州區文管辦, “Zhejiang Ningbo Shi Yinzhou Qu Caigoutang Jin mu fajue jianbao” 浙江寧波鄞州蔡沟塘晉墓發掘簡報, Nanfang wenwu 2013.3: 32.
66 Zhejiang Ningbo Shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo 浙江寧波市文物考古研究所, “Zhejiang Ningbo Meixulongshan Dong Jin jinian muqun de fajue” 浙江寧波梅墟龍山東晉紀年墓群的發掘, Nanfang wenwu 2011.4: 47.
67 Zhejiang Ningbo Shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo and Zhejiang Ningbo Shi Beilun Qu bowuguan 浙江寧波市文物考古研究所; 浙江寧波市北仑區博物館, “Zhejiang Ningbo Shi Beilun xiaogang Yaoshu Dong Wu Tangdai jinian muzang” 浙江寧波北仑小港姚墅東吴，唐代紀年墓葬, Nanfang wenwu 2012.3: 60 and Zhejiang Ningbo Shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo and Zhejiang Ningbo Shi Beilun Qu bowuguan 浙江寧波市文物考古研究所; 浙江寧波市北仑區博物館, “Zhejiang Ningbo Beilun Fenghuangshan liang Jin jinian muzang fajue jianbao” 浙江寧波北侖鳳凰山兩晉紀年墓葬发掘簡報, Nanfang wenwu 2013.3: 36.
68 BSZ juan 12, in SYSL 3:610ff.
69 See also: Chenghua Ningbofu Jianyao Zhi成化寧波府簡要志, eds. Huang Runyu 黃潤玉 and Huang Pu 黃溥, juan 1, in MNFZ 8:86.
70 BSZ juan 1, in SYSL 2:33.
71 BSZ juan 11, in SYSL 3:558.
72 BSZ juan 1, in SYSL 2:33.
73 BSZ juan 3, in SYSL 2:141. 1 zhang 丈 (pole) equals 10 chi (foot) With one chi amounting to 31.4 cm during the Song period, one zhang had a length of 3.14 m. Accordingly the city wall of the “inner city” had a circumference of around 1,320 m. See Wilkinson, Chinese History: A New Manual, 555ff. (Tables 102 and 103).
74 JNFZ juan 2, in MNFZ 1:162.
75 Xuanfeng Yinxian Zhi 咸豐鄞縣志 (Ningbo: Ningbo chubanshe, 2018), juan 10: 230; BSZ juan 12, in SYSL 3:613.
76 QST juan 1, in SYSL 1:42; BSZ juan 11, in SYSL 3:558ff.
77 YJT 26.629: 鄮縣，上，郭下.
78 YJT 26.629: 句章古城，在州西一里。州 here refers to Mingzhou.
79 Ibid.: 武德八年再置，仍移理句章成，後屬明州. In 625 the district of Maoxian was re-established and the administrative seat set up at the [former seat of Yinzhou] at the city of Gouzhang which later was administered by Mingzhou.
80 JTS 148.3992f; XTS 146.4738. For the translation of the title 長史 see Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China,112 (entry 185).
81 YJT 26.629ff.
82 BSZ juan 12, in SYSL 3:610.
83 YJT 26.629: 武德八年再置，仍移理句章成，後屬明州. In 625 the district of Maoxian was re-established and the administrative seat set up at the [former seat of Yinzhou] at the city of Gouzhang which later was administered by Mingzhou.
84 Taiping huanyu ji, 98.1961.
85 Ningbo Shi wenwu kaogu yanjiusuo寧波市文物考古研究所, “Zhejiang Ningbo Tang Guoning Si dong ta yizhi fajue baogao” 浙江寧波唐國寧寺東塔遺址發掘報告, Kaogu xuebao 1995.1: 81–120.
86 Wang Jiehua et al., “Gouzhang gucheng ruogan wenti zhi tantao,” 99.
87 QST juan 1, in SYSL 1:39; YNFZ juan 2, in QNFZ 5:3618.
88 Fu, Ningbo tongshi.