dudu 都みやこ督ただし, (area) commander-in-chief

Commanders-in-chief (dudu 都みやこ督ただし), full designation dudu zhuzhou junshi 都みやこ督ただし諸しょ州しゅう軍事ぐんじ, were high military commanders in charge of the military forces of a wide area or of the whole empire. Their bureau or the jurisdiction was called area command (dudufu 都と督とく府ふ). The title was introduced in the late Eastern Han period 東ひがし漢かん (25-220 CE) by the warlord Yuan Shao 袁紹 (d. 202 CE). There were also area commanders-in-chief (da dudu 大だい都と督とく). During the early Wei period 曹魏 (220-265) the commanders-in-chief were receiving the reports not only of the regional inspectors (cishi 刺史しし), but also of the civilian administration. In the Shu 蜀しょく漢かん (221-263) and Wu 吳ご (222-280) empires, commanders-in-chief were only appointed in critical areas. Both the Southern Dynasties 南朝なんちょう (420~589) and the Northern Dynasties 北朝ほくちょう (386-581) made use of the title, yet the designation was occasionally replaced by that of zongguan 總そう管かん. The office was not joined to a certain rank, because it was temporary (jiajie 假かり節ふし) or endowed with special warrants (shi chijie 使つかい持じ節ぶし, chijie 持じ節ぶし).

The Tang dynasty 唐とう (618-907) finally created three levels of area commands, whose highest commanders had three different ranks (2B, 3A, 3B). The office itself was a permanent one. The title was bestowed on native chieftains in the northeastern, northern and southwestern border regions, as a precursor of the title of pacification commissioner. From the Kaiyuan reign-period 開ひらき元もと (713-741) on the military power was given into the hands of military commissioners (jiedushi 節度せつど使し), and the title of commander-in-chief was only honorific.

The Song dynasty 宋そう (960-1279) bestowed the titles of dudu 都みやこ督ただし, da dudu 大だい都と督とく and xia dudu 下した都と督とく, mainly to princes, who then controlled the military forces of one prefecture. They reported to the civilian prefects. The title was also concurrently held by the Counsellor-in-chief as the nominal highest commander of imperial forces.

The Yuan dynasty 元もと (1279-1368) created the jurisdiction of the Qincha qinjun dudu fu 欽察親おや軍ぐん都と督とく府ふ "*Commander-in-chief of the Qibčaq Guards" (see Yuan-period military), with an army command of three area commanders-in-chief (da dudu, rank 2A) executed by fierce Turkish Qibčaq (Chinese transliteration Qincha) troops. In the early Ming period 明あきら (1368-1644), there was the institution of the Area Command of the Five Armies (wuju dudu fu 五ご軍ぐん都と督とく府ふ) around the capital, with a left and right commander-in-chief (zuo dudu 左ひだり都と督とく, you dudu 右みぎ都と督とく, rank 1A). The title gradually lost its function and became merely honorific. It was abolished after the end of the Ming, but was revived in the early Republican Era for provincial military commanders.