Devlog · Geography (II) · Qin

Greetings, scholars!

Last entry we looked at how Jiuzhou is put together; this entry we start from Guanzhong and talk about Qin.

Qin's territory spans three provinces—eight commanderies and fifty-seven places in all. Six commanderies sit in Yongzhou, running from Guanzhong all the way south of the Qinling. One more, Sanchuan Commandery, reaches out east of Hangu Pass, and one, Shangjun, reaches into Bingzhou. This entry moves by direction: first the gate, then Xianyang inside its box, and then a trip east, a trip north, a look west, and a trip south—and finally the substance of this state and its neighbors.

Qin's root is Guanzhong. In taking up the goods of the world, the "Biographies of the Money-makers" in the Records of the Grand Historian first sets out Guanzhong's four boundaries:

From Qian and Yong in Guanzhong east to the Yellow River and Mount Hua, rich soil and fertile fields for a thousand li.

Qian is the Qian River, Yong is Yongcheng, the Yellow River is the Yellow River, and Hua is Mount Hua. These four names enclose the piece of land Qin lies on. Mountains on every side, and one plain in the middle.

[II. The Heartland in the Box: Xianyang Commandery]

Xianyang Commandery holds ten places, the most completely laid out of any commandery on the map.

Xianyang city, Qian County, Mei County, Lantian, Gaoling, Chencang, Zhouzhi, Yunyang, and Shang County, plus the Hangu Pass that leads east.

Xianyang city sits in the middle as the capital, and Hangu Pass in the east is the gateway. The other eight run east and west along the Wei River, strung into the road that carries Qin from west to east.

Each name on that road has its own origin. Qian County was the first stop of the move east: the "Basic Annals of Qin" in the Records of the Grand Historian records that in the fourth year of Duke Wen of Qin he "reached the meeting of the Qian and the Wei," and also that "in former times Zhou enfeoffed our early Qin Ying here." Shang County was Shang Yang's fief: the "Biographies of Lord Shang" records that after he broke Wei, "Qin enfeoffed him with fifteen towns in Yu and Shang, and he was titled Lord Shang." Gaoling was the title of the Lord of Gaoling: the "Biographies of the Marquis of Rang" records that King Zhao of Qin's "younger brother by the same mother was called the Lord of Gaoling, and the Lord of Jingyang." Lantian is a battle: the "Hereditary House of Chu" records that in 312 BC Chu, to avenge Zhang Yi's deception of Chu, raised the whole state's troops to attack Qin and fought all the way to Lantian—the closest Chu ever came to Xianyang.

Since Qin's founding, the moves of the capital, the reforms, the enfeoffments, and the campaigns have all left names along the two sides of this road.

[III. East Through the Pass: Sanchuan Commandery]

East through Hangu Pass, Qin holds one more piece of land in Yuzhou, called Sanchuan Commandery.

Sanchuan is where the Yi River, the Luo River, and the Yellow River come together, and the Luoyang basin is right here. Of its nine places, Luoyi city is where the Zhou king lives—the Zhou house is still here this year, yet Luoyi already sits inside the Sanchuan Commandery we assigned to Qin. The name Shan County comes from the old story of the Duke of Zhou and the Duke of Shao "dividing Shan to govern."

The weight of this land is in the first step east. The "Biographies of Chu Lizi and Gan Mao" records that in 307 BC Gan Mao led troops and took Yiyang, and from then on Qin had a footing outside Hangu Pass. Mengjin is on the bank of the Yellow River and is a crossing: the "Basic Annals of Zhou" records that when King Wu attacked Zhou, the eight hundred lords met at Mengjin—this is the place; only with it did Qin have a road to cross the Yellow River northward.

Hangu Pass held Guanzhong, and Sanchuan Commandery pushed Qin's borders out to the east.

[IV. North: Xihe and Shangjun]

Going northeast from Guanzhong, the Yellow River runs from north to south and draws a boundary along Qin's edge. The river's west bank is Xihe Commandery, and further north is Shangjun.

Xihe Commandery has seven places; its seat is Xiayang city, facing a crossing across the Yellow River called Longmen Ferry. The "Tribute of Yu" in the Book of Documents, on Yu's taming of the waters, says "he led the river from Jishi, and reached Longmen"—that is this stretch of river. When Qin and Wei want to cross, this is mostly where they go. This land originally belonged to Wei: the "Biographies of Sunzi and Wu Qi" records that Wu Qi held Xihe for Wei, held it so well that Qin did not dare look east; now it has all come to Qin.

From Shang Yang onward, Qin's official learning has been law. Of the map's four academies, the Legalist academy is set here.

Shangjun has five places, reaching into Bingzhou, on the northern Shaanxi plateau, cut by ravines, with little land that can be farmed and few roads that can be walked. A frontier commandery cannot be dense in any case, so it is laid out sparsely.

[V. West: Longxi and Beidi]

Going west from Xianyang, past the Qian River and over one more mountain, is Longxi Commandery.

Longxi Commandery holds four places, the fewest of any tier on the map. Long Pass is wedged on Mount Long, and only past it have you entered Longxi.

This is the Qin people's old home. The "Basic Annals of Qin" in the Records of the Grand Historian records that their ancestor Feizi raised horses for King Xiao of Zhou, raised them well, and was enfeoffed at a place called "Qin"—only then did this clan take the name "Qin." Afterwards they moved east the whole way, Qian, Mei, Yong, Xianyang, with the last stop falling in Guanzhong. So going west from Xianyang, you walk the road the Qin people came by, in exactly the opposite direction.

Beidi Commandery has six places, its seat at Yiqu city. Yiqu was the strongest branch of the Western Rong, and lived right on Qin's northwestern edge. The city is Qin's, the camp is Yiqu's: the two are not far apart and each goes its own way. This western edge of Qin has still not truly quieted down.

[VI. South: Hanzhong, Shu, and Ba Commandery Across the Way]

Going south from Guanzhong, over the Qinling, is another world.

Hanzhong Commandery holds seven places, wedged between the Qinling and the Daba Mountains, with the Han River running through the middle. Its seat is Nanzheng city; Xun Pass guards the road south and is Qin's southern gate. The "Basic Annals of Qin" in the Records of the Grand Historian records that in 312 BC Qin defeated the Chu army at Danyang and took six hundred li of Chu's Hanzhong land. Hanzhong was what Qin seized from Chu's hands.

Further south, over the Daba Mountains, is Shu Commandery. Of its nine places, Chengdu city sits at the bottom of the basin. Shu has mountains on every side and fertile fields in the middle—a piece of good land given by heaven.

The taking of Shu is recorded in the "Biographies of Zhang Yi." In 316 BC Sima Cuo and Zhang Yi argued before King Hui of Qin over whether to strike Han first or Shu first. Sima Cuo urged taking Shu first:

Gaining its land is enough to widen the state; taking its wealth is enough to enrich the people.

King Hui of Qin listened to him, and Qin's territory gained a whole block to the south.

East of Shu Commandery, past a mountain, is Ba Commandery. Ba Commandery has four places: Jiangzhou city, Dangqu, Zhiyi, and Quren Ferry. Ba and Shu were neighbors to begin with, yet on our map one belongs to Qin and the other to Chu, facing each other across the mountains.

[VII. Qin's Substance and Its Neighbors]

Having walked these eight commanderies and fifty-seven places, Qin's outline is clear.

First the neighbors. In the "Biographies of Su Qin" in the Records of the Grand Historian, Su Qin goes to persuade King Hui of Qin, and his first sentence is:

Qin is a state of four barriers, clad in mountains and girdled by the Wei; to the east it has the Pass and the river, to the west Hanzhong, to the south Ba and Shu, to the north the horses of Dai. This is a land of heaven.

To the east are Hangu Pass and the Yellow River, to the west Hanzhong, to the south Ba and Shu, to the north the horses of Dai. The ring of provincial borders we drew follows exactly the ring Su Qin describes.

To the north are Shangjun and Xihe, up against the northern Shaanxi plateau and the Yellow River; further west, Yiqu's camps are pitched inside Beidi Commandery. The Ba and Shu to the south only came into hand recently, and Ba Commandery is still in Chu's hands.

Furthest east is Sanchuan Commandery. It belongs to Yuzhou, and Yuzhou's goods read as this one line: food 3, textiles 2, medicine 1, timber 2, stone 1, minerals 1. Grain is sufficient, but there is almost no iron. More to the point, not one pass in this commandery is its own: to the north, across the Yellow River, is Wei's Zhi Pass; stepping out east is Han's Yique Pass. The grain is in its own fields, but the gate is in someone else's hands.

Now the substance. In the goods table, Yongzhou reads as this one line: food 1, textiles 1, medicine 2, timber 1, stone 2, minerals 3. Minerals are full marks, and the other three all sit at the bottom.

These numbers are ones we deliberately pressed down. Guanzhong has mountains on every side, the land that can be farmed is only that one plain in the middle, and waterworks have not been spread out yet; the grain harvested this year cannot feed a great army. The iron in the ground, though, is more than enough; the grain has to be bought from outside.

Iron has two destinations: sell it out for grain, or forge it into weapons. Weapons need people willing to take them up. After Shang Yang's reforms, Qin laid down the rule: cut off one armored head, and be awarded one rank of nobility, plus one hundred mu of field and nine mu of house plot. A Qin man who farms now had a reason to take up a weapon.

How hard the soldiers raised this way are—the "On Military Affairs" in the Xunzi ranks the soldiers of the various states:

The skirmishers of Qi cannot stand against the armed soldiers of Wei, and the armed soldiers of Wei cannot stand against the keen soldiers of Qin.

In a fight alone, Qin's keen soldiers count as the strongest.

Guarding the box, short of grain year after year; pushing the box's gate open, which direction will the keen soldiers' blades point to first?

[VIII. What's Next]

Qin's eight commanderies and fifty-seven places are walked through. East to Sanchuan, north to Shangjun, west to Longxi, south to Shu.

Ba Commandery is in Chu's hands, facing Shu Commandery across the mountains. Next leg, we cross over from Ba Commandery and look at Chu.

Thank you, scholars, for reading.