Jiāzhōu

Jiazhou, centred on the hill town now called Jiaxian in northern Shaanxi, retained an administrative identity inherited from the Jin and Yuan periods. Under the Ming it belonged to Yan'an prefecture and, apart from a temporary reduction to county status, governed the neighbouring counties of Wubao, Shenmu and Fugu. Military settlement and the construction of northern defences brought additional people into its territory.

During the early Qing, the walled town and places such as Tongqin, Wulong and Xiliyu developed as centres for exchanging local produce. Administrative changes altered Jiazhou's reach. In 1725 it became directly subordinate to the province; in 1736 it was reduced to a department without dependent counties and placed under Yulin prefecture. These changes left it governing a smaller territory around its own seat. The history of Jiazhou thus combines a fortified administrative centre with a network of market settlements across the surrounding hill country.