Langya Commandery ( zh, , ) was a

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

in historical China from

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first Dynasties in Chinese history, dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin (state), ...

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, located in present-day southeast

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizati ...

and northeast

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

. The commandery was established in

on the former territories of Qi. From Qin to early

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

, parts of Langya were separated to form three new commanderies,

Jiaodong The Shandong (Shantung) Peninsula or Jiaodong (Chiaotung) Peninsula is a peninsula in Shandong Province in eastern China, between the Bohai Sea to the north and the Yellow Sea to the south. The latter name refers to the east and Jiaozhou. G ...

, Chengyang and Jiaoxi. From 181 BC to 180 BC, Langya briefly served as the fief of Liu Ze (劉澤), who became the king of

Yan Yan may refer to: Chinese states * Yan (state) (11th century – 222 BC), a major state in northern China during the Zhou dynasty * Yan (Han dynasty kingdom), first appearing in 206 BC * Yan (Three Kingdoms kingdom), officially claimed inde ...

after the

Lü Clan Disturbance The Lü Clan Disturbance (, 180 BCE) refers to a political upheaval after the death of Empress Lü Zhi An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of impe ...

. Later, the commandery's borders gradually expanded as marquessates split from nearby kingdoms were added to the commandery. In late Western Han, Langya covered 51 counties and marquessates, by far the most numerous among all commanderies. After the establishment of Eastern Han, Chengyang was merged into Langya. In 41 AD, the territory was converted to a kingdom/principality and granted to Liu Jing (劉京), son of the

Emperor Guangwu Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han (Later ...

. Jing's descendants held the kingdom until 217 AD, when the last prince of the lineage was killed by

Cao Cao Cao Cao () (; 155 – 15 March 220), courtesy name Mengde (), was a Chinese statesman, warlord and poet. He was the penultimate Grand chancellor (China), grand chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty, and he amassed immense power in the End of ...

and Langya was converted back to a commandery. In 140, Langya administered 13 counties, namely Kaiyang (開陽), Dongwu (東武), Langya (琅邪), Dongguan (東莞), Xihai (西海), Zhu (諸), Ju (莒), Dong'an (東安), Yangdu (陽都), Linyi (臨沂), Jiqiu (即丘), Zeng (繒), and Gumu (姑幕). The population was 570,967. In 198, four counties (Ju, Gumu, Zhu, Dongwu) were transferred to the reestablished Chengyang Commandery. In 280, another commandery, Dongguan was separated from Langya. After the establishment of Western Jin, Langya became the fief of

Sima Zhou Sima Zhou (227 – 12 June 283), courtesy name Zijiang, was an imperial prince and military general of the Jin dynasty (265–420), Jin dynasty of China. He previously served in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. Life in Cao ...

, the fourth son of

Sima Yi Sima Yi ( ; 179 CE – 7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He formally began his political career in 208 un ...

. After the death of Zhou, Langya passed to his son Jin (覲), and then to Jin's son Rui, the future

Emperor Yuan of Jin Emperor Yuan of Jin (; 276 – 3 January 323), personal name Sima Rui (司馬睿), courtesy name Jingwen (景文), was an emperor of the Jin dynasty and the first emperor of the Eastern Jin. His reign saw the steady gradual loss of Jin territor ...

. In 280, Langya had a population of 29,500 households. Multiple new commanderies were established over the

Sixteen Kingdoms The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...

and

Northern Dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Jin dynasty (266–420)#Eastern Jin, Eastern Jin dy ...

periods. In

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

, Langya Commandery only administered 2 counties: Jiqiu and Fei (費). It was eventually abolished in early

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

. In Sui and

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

dynasties, Langya Commandery became the alternative name of Yi Prefecture. In 742, the commandery's territory covered 5 counties: Linyi, Fei, Cheng (丞),

Yishui Yishui County () is a county of south-central Shandong province, People's Republic of China, located in the foothills region of the province. It is the northernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Linyi Linyi () is a ...

(沂水) and Xintai (新泰). The population was 195,737, in 33,510 households.''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

'', Chapter 31.''

New Book of Tang The ''New Book of Tang'', generally translated as the "New History of the Tang" or "New Tang History", is a work of official history covering the Tang dynasty in ten volumes and 225 chapters. The work was compiled by a team of scholars of the So ...

'', Chapter 38.

References

{{Han dynasty provinces Commanderies of the Qin dynasty Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) Commanderies of the Northern dynasties Commanderies of the Sui dynasty