Complex sentence: The term "fanzhen" literally means "buffer town", and refers to the strategic settlement of troops in locations along the empire's border areas, which during the Tang dynasty came under the control of provincial military commissioners, otherwise known as "jiedushi".
Split into simpler sentences: The term "fanzhen" literally means "buffer town", and refers to the strategic settlement of troops in locations along the empire's border areas. During the Tang dynasty these settlements came under the control of provincial military commissioners, otherwise known as "jiedushi".