Le'an Commandery ( zh, 樂安郡) was a historical

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 China, located in present-day central and northern

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 ...

. The commandery was established as Qiansheng Commandery (千乘郡) during

Emperor Wu of Han Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), formally enshrined as Emperor Wu the Filial (), born Liu Che (劉徹) and courtesy name Tong (通), was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of ancient China, ruling from 141 to 87 BC. His reign la ...

's reign from part of

Qi Commandery Qi Commandery ( zh, 齊郡) was a commandery (China), commandery in historical China, located in what is now central Shandong province. The commandery was established in the Qin dynasty, possibly as Linzi Commandery (臨菑郡). In early Western ...

's territory. In late Western Han, it administered 15 counties: Qiansheng (千乘), Dongzou (東鄒), Shiwo (溼沃), Ping'an (平安), Bochang (博昌), Liaocheng (蓼城), Jianxin (建信), Di (狄), Langhuai (琅槐), Le'an (樂安), Beiyang (被陽), Gaochang (高昌), Fan'an (繁安), Gaowan (高宛) and Yanxiang (延鄉).''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' or ''History of the Former Han'' (Qián Hàn Shū,《前汉书》) is a history of China finished in 111AD, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. I ...

'', Chapter 28. In 60 AD, Qiansheng became the fief of Liu Jian (劉建), a son of Emperor Ming, who died the next year without issue. In 79, Qiansheng was granted to Liu Kang (劉伉), brother of Emperor He. The territory was renamed to Le'an in 95. Kang's grandson Hong (鴻) was the father of

Emperor Zhi The Emperor Zhi (, ''Dì Zhì''; ) was a legendary emperor of ancient China. Legend Zhi is recorded as one of the quasihistorical prehistoric rulers of ancient China between the mythological era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors a ...

. After the latter's accession to the throne, Hong was gifted a richer territory, Bohai, as his new fief, and Le'an was converted back to an imperial commandery. By 140 AD, the number of counties and marquessates in Le'an had decreased to 9: Linji (臨濟, formerly Di), Qiansheng, Gaowan (高菀), Le'an, Bochang, Liaocheng, Li (利), Yi (益), and Shouguang (壽光). In

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 ...

, Le'an became the fief of Sima Jian (司馬鑒), a son of

Sima Zhao Sima Zhao () (211 – 6 September 265), courtesy name Zishang, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. Sima Zhao capably maintained control of Wei, which had been ...

, and then Jian's son Ji (籍).''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang X ...

'', Chapter 38. After Jin dynasty, Le'an became part of

Liu Song dynasty Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. ...

until Emperor Ming's reign, when it was conquered by

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 ...

. 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 ...

Population

References

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