Research On The Changes Of Qin’s Territory During The Warring States Period

This article mainly studies the changes of Qin’s territory during the Warring States period based on the records of historical documents,supplemented by excavated literature and archaeological remains.In terms of content,the specific territorial changes of Qin during the Warring States period are divided into five periods.Within each period,the discussion is conducted based on the four geographical directions of territories,and further divided into different geographic regions for analysis.The article focuses on the examination and recovery of specific city and town affiliations,territorial expansion and contraction,and boundary changes,trying to clarify as much as possible both the changes in the time sequence and the status of the spatial sequence.The paper reiterates points that have not been given much attention in the past,and also incorporates the latest research results and proposes some new ideas.Chapter 1 discusses the changes in Qin’s territory during the period of Ligong to Xiangong.It mainly expanded towards the east of Hexi area,competing frequently with Weitil the vast area in the east of Luo River under Wei control during the time of Xiangong,.To the southern part,Qin’s control extended as far as Nanzheng County in the Nanyue Mountain range,while to the western part,it did not extend beyond today’s Tianshui.To the northern part,it did not go beyond the Qi Mountain and Jing River line.Chapter 2 discusses the changes in Qin’s territory during the period from Xiaogong to Wuwang.In views of the eastern territory,Qin mainly expanded towards the Hexi area and the"Xiaohan region".In the later reign of Xiaogong,Qin and Wei generally shared the Wei River Long Wall as the border.After the battle of Diaoyin,Qin annexedthe Hexi and Shangluo regions.During the reign of Qin Huiwen Jun,the Hangu Pass was established,and Qin occupied Yiyang in Han during the time of Wuwang8.In terms of the southern territory,Qin expanded towards Sichuan,Hanzhong,and the Shangdan Basin during the reign of Huiwen Wang.Qin eradicatedthe Shu and the Ba,and both countries’territories came under Qin’s control.After the Danyang battle and Lantian battle,Qin occupied parts of the upper reaches of the Danshui River and regions outside Wuguan,basically controlling the Hanzhong Basin.In the Qin’s northern territory,Huiwen Junseized the Shangjun of Wei in the northern Shaanxi region.After claiming kingship,Qin further annexed the central Yang and Xidu of Zhao.During the reign of Huiwen Wang,Qin also extended its territory to the Longdong region,with seized Yiqu’s twenty-five cities.In the western territory,Qin eradicated the Huanrong and took the control of the upper reaches of the Wei River during the reign of Xiao Gong,and Qin’s western territory had been relatively stable ever since.Chapter 3 discusses the changes in territory of Qin state from the 1^st to 22^nd year of Zhaoxiang Wang.In the eastern territory,the Qin annexed cities and towns in the Hedong,Henei,and Sanchuan regions of the Wei and Han states.Wei ceded its Hedong territory to Qin,and Qin occupied cities such as Anyi,Pufan,and Wei.It extended the controls to the Yuanyu Basin far in the east.After the Battle of Yi Qu,Qin’s eastern border lied in two Zhou states.For the southern territory,Qin expanded southwestward to the Dadu River basin,annexing cities such as Rang,Deng,and Yan,with controlling the Nanyang Basin.For the northern territory,in the early years of Zhaoxiang Wang,Qin’s northern border was roughly in present-day Jingbian-Suide line in northern Shanxi.In the 22^ndyear of Zhaoxiang Wang,the northern border pushing forward to the Zhongyang-Guangyan area.Chapter 4 discusses the changes in the territory of the Qin state after the 22^nd year of Zhaoxiang Wang til the 56^th year of its dynasty.In the eastern territory,Qin expanded into Sanchuan,encroached the Henei and Taiyuan areas,cut off and annexed the Han Shangdang area,and occupied the"enclave"of Tao.In the east,Qin faced Zhao in the Jizhong Basin,which penetrated deep into the southern foothills of the Taihang Mountains.And it reached as far as Xinxiang in Henan.After the Battle of Yangcheng,Qin conquered the Han cities of Yangcheng and Fushu and destroyed the Western Zhou state.After the Battle of Changping,Qin temporarily occupied the Shangdang area.In the southern territory,between the 27^th and the 30^th year of Zhaoxiang Wang,Qin conquered the cities of Yan and Ying in the Chu state,as well as in the Qianzhong and Wujun regions,gaining larger territories such as Nanyang,the Jianghan Plain,and Wushan.In the northern territory,Qin destroyed the Yiqu state such that the Longdong area was under Qin’s control.Then,Qin strengthened the defense line in Shangjun via building the Great Wall.Chapter 5 discusses the changes in the territory of the Qin State during the reigns of Zhuangxiang Wang and Wang Zheng.This can be divided into two periods:（1）from Zhuangxiang Wang to the 15^th year of Wang Zheng’s reign.In the eastern region,on the one hand,Qin ended the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,and captured Han’s Chenggao,Xingyang and Shangdang regions.Later,it also attacked the cities of Han and Wei located at the east of Three Gorges,and established Dong Commandery.On the other hand,Qin took 37 cities of Taiyuan from Zhao and took the Gao Du and Ji in Shangdang area from Wei.Meanwhile,Qin occupied the"enclave"of Hejian.In the northern region,Qin won Jiuyuan and Yunzhong from Zhao.It is not known when the northern region of Jin was captured by Qin.（2）In the 16^th year of King Zheng’s reign,Qin launched a final attack on the six eastern states.It defeated Han,Wei,Zhao,and Qi in the east,while conquered Chu in the south,and subjugated the Yue people.It also defeated Yan and Dai in the north.In the 26^th year of Wang Zheng’s reign,Qin unified the China.Appendix 1 shows an overall map of the territory of Qin of the 408 B.C.,307 B.C.,272 B.C.,and 237 B.C.Appendix 2 provides an explanation of some historical and geographical issues related to the Warring States period.