Shanyang Commandery ( zh, 山陽郡) 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 southern
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.
In 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 ...
, Shanyang was part of the
Liang Kingdom
Liang (梁國) was a kingdom/principality in Han dynasty. Its territories was located within the modern Henan, Anhui and Shandong provinces.
History
Shortly before the establishment of the Han dynasty, the Qin-era Dang Commandery (碭郡) was gra ...
. In 144 BC, Liang was split into five kingdoms among the sons of
King Xiao, with
Liu Ding
Liu Ding (; born 1976, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province) is a Chinese artist and curator based in Beijing. Liu’s artistic practices range from installation, painting, photography, and theatre set design and production, whereas his professional skills ...
gaining Shanyang. Ding died in 136 BC, posthumously known as the King Ai (哀) of Shanyang, and the territory was converted into a commandery.
['' Book of Han'', Chapter 14.]
In 97 BC,
Emperor Wu granted Shanyang to his son Liu Bo (劉髆) as the Changyi Kingdom (昌邑國). Bo ruled for 11 years and was known as the King Ai (哀) of Changyi. His successor
Liu He was selected as the new Han emperor by regent
Huo Guang
Huo Guang (; died 68 BC), courtesy name Zimeng (子孟), was a Chinese military general and politician who served as the dominant state official of the Western Han dynasty from 87 BCE until his death in 68 BCE. The younger half-brother of the re ...
in 74 BC, and the kingdom was converted to a commandery.
In 2 AD, it administered 23 counties and marquessates, including Changyi (昌邑), Nanpingyang (南平陽), Chengwu (成武), Huling (湖陵), Dongniang (東嬢), Fangyu (方與), Tuo (橐), Juye (鉅野), Shanfu (單父), Bo (薄), Duguan (都關), Chengdu (城都), Huang (黃), Yuanqi (爰戚), Gaocheng (郜成), Zhongxiang (中鄉), Pingle (平樂), Zheng (鄭), Xiaqiu (瑕丘), Zixiang (甾鄉), Lixiang (栗鄉), Quxiang (曲鄉) and Xiyang (西陽). The total population was 801,288 individuals, or 172,847 households.
After the establishment of the
Eastern Han dynasty, a number of counties and marquessates were merged. In 140 AD, the commandery administered 10 counties, namely Changyi, Dongmin (東緡), Juye, Gaoping (高平), Hulu (湖陆), Nanpingyang, Fangyu, Xiaqiu, Jinxiang (金鄉) and Fangdong (防東). The population was 606,091 individuals, or 109,898 households.
In
Jin dynasty, Gaoping Principality (高平國) was established on the lands of Shanyang Commandery.
['']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 14. The region became the Gaoping Commandery from
Liu Song dynasty onwards.
References
{{Han dynasty provinces
Commanderies of the Han dynasty