In the previous article, the author talked to you about a series of stories about the adjustment of the divisions of various provinces on the mainland, such as Henan Province, Shandong Province, Jiangsu Province and so on. Today, the author talks to you about Weining County in Guizhou Province. Weining County is under the administration of Bijie City, Guizhou Province, and is a county under the jurisdiction of Bijie City. On the surface, Weining County is relatively ordinary. But in history, Weining County can be called famous. Because, Weining County has changed its place of ownership 8 times between Guizhou Province, Sichuan Province and Yunnan Province. So, what's going on?
First of all, we need to talk about the formation of mainland provinces. From the Qin and Han dynasties onwards, the mainland gradually changed from a sub-feudal system to a county system. During the reign of the Sui and Tang dynasties, prefecture and county divisions became the standard again. The situation is very complicated due to the large number of states and counties under its jurisdiction. Successive dynasties have thought of a series of methods, such as the 13 states of the Han Dynasty, the 15 roads of the Tang Dynasty, the 23 roads of the Song Dynasty, and so on. In 1279, the Yuan dynasty in the north unified the whole country and established a dynasty with an unprecedented territory.
Relying on the traditional divisions at the state and county levels, it is no longer possible to manage a huge territory. The Yuan Dynasty combined the experience of the Jin Dynasty and Shang Shutai, and after further improvement and adjustment, introduced the provincial system. The Yuan Dynasty divided the country into 10 provinces, such as Sichuan Province, Yunnan Province, Huguang Province, Lingbei Province, Henan Jiangbei Province, and so on. At first, Weining County was called Usa Province, and Usa was a name for the ethnic minority tribes in the southwest at that time. I have to say that the toast problem in the southwest region is a long-standing and difficult problem.
From the Tang and Song dynasties to the Qing Dynasty, there was no complete cure. These toastmasters were ostensibly loyal to the imperial court and undertook certain taxes. But the toastmasters controlled large tracts of arable land and population, and the imperial court had poor control over many parts of the southwest. Once against the imperial court departments, the toasts of the southwest would even unite to carry out a large-scale rebellion. At first, Usa Province was under the administration of Yunnan Province. In 1335, in the middle of the Yuan Dynasty's rule, the Yuan Dynasty, which had always been lazy, did not know why, and put Usa Province under the administration of Sichuan Province.
At the end of the Yuan dynasty's rule, there was a series of natural disasters, coupled with local oppression. Eventually, the famous Red Turban Rebellion broke out. Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born in the Red Turban Army, after more than 10 years of conquest, basically established his rule over the entire Jianghuai region. In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang declared himself emperor and established the Ming Dynasty. Subsequently, the Ming Dynasty began a series of Northern Expeditions and Western Expeditions, and the territory of the Ming Dynasty was basically stabilized. The Ming Dynasty followed the provincial system of the Yuan Dynasty, further improving and refining.
Finally, the Ming Dynasty established 2 direct subordinate provinces and 13 provinces in the north and south. In the southwest, in addition to Sichuan province and Yunnan province, the Ming Dynasty established Guizhou Province. However, during the ming dynasty, the jurisdiction of Guizhou Province was not large, and it was significantly different from the current Guizhou Province. After the Ming Dynasty pacified the southwestern regions, at first, Usa Province was under the administration of Yunnan Province. In 1383, given the important geographical location of Usa Province, it had the role of holding the three southwestern provinces. For the second time, the Ming Dynasty incorporated Usa Province into Sichuan Province and upgraded it to usa military and civilian province.
In 1414, during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, in order to strengthen the overall strength of Guizhou Province. Wusa Province, which is under the jurisdiction of Sichuan Province, was placed under the administration of Guizhou Province. This division lasted about 100 years, and by the end of the Ming dynasty, Usa Province was returned to Sichuan Province. Thus, on the map at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Usa Province was once again under the administration of Sichuan Province. In the mid-17th century, the Qing Dynasty gradually quelled the peasant rebels and the Southern Ming regimes everywhere.
After the Qing Dynasty pacified the southwest, in view of the name of Wusa Province, in the early days of the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, in 1666, the Qing Dynasty renamed Wusa Province as Weining Province, which means "Weizhen Tranquility," and was placed under the administration of Guizhou Province. The Qing Dynasty was very particular about place names, such as Umeng Province in Yunnan Province, which was renamed Zhaotong Province in the Qing Dynasty. The Kangxi Emperor reigned for 61 years, basically sweeping away all aspects of the Threat of the Qing Dynasty. In 1722, after the death of the Kangxi Emperor, the 45-year-old Yongzheng Emperor came to power.
At this time, although the northwestern Dzungars were still fighting against the Qing Dynasty, they were not enough to shake the Qing Dynasty. After the Yongzheng Emperor came to power, he focused his main energy on internal affairs and successively implemented a series of policies, such as spreading land into acres. In view of the problem of the division of the southwest region, the Yongzheng Emperor appointed the aristocratic official Ortai as the governor of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guizhou, with full responsibility for the affairs of the southwest. During his work in the southwest, Ertai demoted Weining Province in Guizhou Province to Weining Prefecture out of practical needs.
Weining Prefecture belongs to Sanzhou and is under the administration of Dading Province. At the same time, Zunyi Province in Sichuan Province was placed under the administration of Guizhou Province. So, what are directly subordinate states and scattered states? Directly subordinate to the prefectures and equal to the provinces, directly under the administration of the province. Scattered prefectures are equal to each county, under the administration of each prefecture and directly subordinate to the prefecture. Because during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, there was a situation in which ZhiXian was transferred to Zhizhou.
In 1912, after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the mainland entered a stage of warlord melee. At that time, Weining Prefecture was renamed Weining County. After entering the 1950s, with the basic end of the large-scale war, the mainland entered the stage of post-war reconstruction, resumption of production, and development and construction. In various parts of Guizhou Province, a series of special zones have been set up. Weining County has been under the management of Bijie Special District and Bijie District, and there have been changes in the division.
In the late 1970s, the mainland's economy began to develop at a sustained and high speed. In order to meet the needs of economic development, the various areas under the jurisdiction of Guizhou Province began to be adjusted to prefecture-level cities. The jurisdictions of some of the original prefecture-level cities began to be further expanded. In 2011, the Bijie district was abolished and the prefecture-level city of Bijie was established. Weining County is under the administration of Bijie Prefecture-level City and belongs to one of the counties.
As for Bijie City, the geographical location is very important, and there is a saying that "the key of Sichuan, Yunnan, and Qian, the throat of Yunnan Chu, the gateway to control Bashu, and the barrier of the Pearl River of the Yangtze River" have emerged. In recent years, with the gradual improvement of traffic, the development of Bijie City has been very rapid.
There are many more stories about the adjustment of the various regions of the mainland, and the author will talk to you slowly in future articles.