Songzhou

This article is about the historical prefecture in the border area of modern Henan, Anhui and Shandong. For other historical prefectures, see Songzhou (disambiguation).

Songzhou or Song Prefecture (宋州) was a zhou (prefecture) in imperial China centering on modern Shangqiu, Henan, China. It existed (intermittently) from 596 to 1006. Songzhou was established in 596, during the Sui dynasty, with its administrative seat at Suiyang County (modern Shangqiu, Henan). This region got its name because of the Song state which existed in the Zhou dynasty, from 11th century to 3rd century AD. Historically, the founder of Liu Song dynasty, Emperor Wu of Song adopted this as the name of his country.

Historic Shangqiu city, which used to be the administrative seat of Songzhou

During the Tang dynasty, Suiyang County was renamed Songcheng County (宋城縣). After the Tang collapsed, Emperor Taizu of Song used be a military leader stationed in Songzhou, thus his dynasty also adopted this name, which was later known as the Song dynasty.

In 1006 Songzhou was elevated to Nanjing Yingtian Prefecture (南京應天府) and as one of four capitals of Northern song dynasty.

Geography

The administrative region of Songzhou in the Tang dynasty is in the border area of modern eastern Henan, northern Anhui and southwestern Shandong. It probably includes parts of modern:

• Under the administration of Shangqiu, Henan:
  • Shangqiu: Liangyuan District and Suiyang District
  • Minquan County
  • Sui County
  • Ningling County
  • Zhecheng County
  • Yucheng County
  • Xiayi County
• Under the administration of Heze, Shandong:
  • Shan County
  • Cao County
• Under the administration of Suzhou, Anhui:
  • Dangshan County

References

• Shi Weile, ed. (2005). Zhongguo Lishi Diming Da Cidian (中国历史地名大词典) [Large Dictionary of Chinese Historical Place Names] (in Chinese). China Social Sciences Press. p. 1352. ISBN 7-5004-4929-1.