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, located in what is now central
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 ...
province.
The commandery was established in the
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), ...
, possibly as Linzi Commandery (臨菑郡). In early Western Han dynasty, it became part of the Qi Kingdom under Liu Fei, son of
Liu Bang
Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Emper ...
, and his descendants. In 165 BC, Liu Ze (劉則), the grandson of Fei and reigning King of Qi, died without issue and the Han court divided the kingdom among the sons of Fei. Linzi Commandery became the fief of Liu Jianglü (劉將閭) and retained the name "Qi", although it was only a fraction of Fei's Qi Kingdom. In 127 BC, Liu Cichang (劉次昌) died without issue, and the territory became directly administered by the Han central government as the Qi Commandery. In late Western Han dynasty, the commandery consisted of 12 counties and marquessates: Linzi (臨淄), Changguo (昌國), Li (利), Xi'an (西安), Juding (鉅定), Guang (廣), Guangrao (廣饒), Zhaonan (昭南), Linqu (臨朐), Beixiang (北鄉), Pingguang (平廣) and Taixiang (臺鄉). The total population in 2 AD was 554,444, in 154,826 households. The seat was Linzi, capital of the
Warring States era
The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...
Qi state.
In Eastern Han dynasty, Qi was the fief of Liu Zhang (劉章), nephew of
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 ...
, and his descendants until 206 AD. In 140 AD, there were 6 counties, namely Linzi, Xi'an, Changguo, Linqu, Guang and Banyang (般陽), with a total population of 491,765 (64,415 households).
In
Cao Fang
Cao Fang () (232–274), courtesy name Lanqing, was the third emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. He was an adopted son of Cao Rui, the second ruler of Wei. Cao Fang ruled from 239 to 254 as a nominal emperor bef ...
, adopted son of
Emperor Ming of Wei
Cao Rui () (204 or 206 – 22 January 239), courtesy name Yuanzhong, was the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. His parentage is in dispute: his mother, Lady Zhen, was Yuan Xi's wife, but she later remarri ...
. After the foundation of
Western Jin
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
, Qi was granted to
Sima You
Sima You (246 – 27 April 283), courtesy name Dayou, was an imperial prince of the Western Jin dynasty of China. He was the second son of Sima Zhao, a regent of the Cao Wei state during the Three Kingdoms period, and Zhao's wife Wang Yuanji.
...
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 ...
, Qi administered 9 counties, including Linzi, Changguo, Yidu (益都), Panyang (盤陽), Pingchang (平昌), Guangrao, Xi'an, Anping (安平) and Guangchuan (廣川). According to the ''
Book of Wei
The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to 5 ...
'', the population was 82,100, in 30,848 households. The commandery was 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, Qi Commandery became an alternative name of Qi Prefecture (齊州). In 741, there were 6 counties, namely Licheng,
Zhangqiu
Zhangqiu () is one of 10 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, East China. The district has an area of 1721.29 square kilometers, 20 towns, 908 villages and the permanent resident population w ...
, Linyi (臨邑), Linji (臨濟), Changqing (長清) and Yucheng. The population was 365,972, in 62,485 households.''
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 ...