Taishan Commandery ( zh, 泰山郡) 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 ...

of China in present-day

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, existing from

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 ...

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 ...

. Taishan Commandery was created in 122 BC, when the king of

Jibei Jibei Kingdom ( zh, 濟北國) was a kingdom of Han dynasty, in present-day northern Shandong and southern Hebei. The kingdom was first established on the lands of Qi Kingdom (Han dynasty), Qi in 178 BC for Liu Xingju, son of Liu Fei, Prince of ...

offered the land surrounding

Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the '' Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...

to the Han emperor. This region, together with a few counties from

Jinan Commandery Jinan Commandery ( zh, 濟南郡) was a commandery in historical China, located in what is now central Shandong province. Jinan was established in early Western Han dynasty under the Qi Kingdom of Liu Fei, son of Emperor Gaozu. In 165 BC, Liu ...

, formed the basis of Taishan Commandery. In 88 BC, Jibei was abolished, and its territories were merged into Taishan. In late Western Han dynasty, the commandery administered 24 counties: Fenggao (奉高), Bo (博), Cha (茬), Lu (盧),

Feicheng Feicheng ( zh, s=肥城, p=Féichéng) is a county-level city under the administration of Tai'an City in the west of Shandong Province, China. , the population was 992,000. Part of the Great Wall of Qi starts here and is listed on the People's ...

(肥成), Yiqiu (蛇丘), Gang (剛), Chai (柴), Gai (蓋), Liangfu (梁父), Dongpingyang (東平陽), Nanwuyang (南武陽),

Laiwu Laiwu () was a prefecture-level city in central Shandong Province, China. Bordered the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east and Tai'an to the southwest, it was the smallest prefecture-level city in the province. It had a ...

(萊蕪), Juping (鉅平), Ying (嬴), Mu (牟), Mengyin (蒙陰), Hua (華), Ningyang (寧陽), Chengqiu (乘丘), Fuyang (富陽), Taoshan (桃山), Taoxiang (桃鄉), Shi (式). The population in 2 AD was 726,604, in 172,086 households. Several of the counties were abolished in early Eastern Han. In 90 AD, Jibei Kingdom was reestablished, and 3 counties (Lu, Yiqiu, Gang) was transferred to the new kingdom. In 140, Taishan covered 12 counties, including Fenggao, Bo, Liangfu, Juping, Cha, Laiwu, Gai, Nanwuyang, Nancheng (南城, formerly part of

Donghai Commandery Donghai Commandery ( zh, 東海郡) was a historical commandery of China from Qin dynasty to Tang dynasty. It was located in present-day southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu. Donghai Commandery was established in the Qin dynasty, possibly under ...

), Fei (費, formerly part of Donghai) and Mu. The population was 437,317. After Jin reunification, Taishan administered 11 counties in 280, namely Fenggao, Bo, Ying, Nancheng, Liangfu, Shanchi (山茌, formerly Cha),

Xintai Xintai () is a county-level city in the central part of Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It is the easternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Tai'an and is located about to the southeast of downtown Tai'an. H ...

(新泰, formerly Pingyang), Nanwuyang, Laiwu, Mu and Juping, with a total population of 9,300 households.''

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. After the

Disaster of Yongjia The Disaster of Yongjia () refers to an event in Chinese history that occurred in 311 CE (5th year of the ''Yongjia'' era of the reign of Emperor Huai of Jin, hence the name), when forces of the Xiongnu-led Han Zhao dynasty captured and sacked ...

, the commandery was successively ruled by

Later Zhao The Later Zhao (; 319–351) was a dynasty of the Sixteen Kingdoms in northern China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity. The Jie were most likely a Yeniseian people and spoke next to Chinese one of the Yeniseian languages.Vov ...

Former Yan The Former Yan (; 337–370) was a dynastic state ruled by the Xianbei during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Initially, Murong Huang and his son Murong Jun claimed the Jin dynasty-created title "Prince of Yan," but subsequently, in 352, ...

Former Qin The Former Qin, also called Fu Qin (苻秦), (351–394) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese history ruled by the Di ethnicity. Founded by Fu Jian (posthumously Emperor Jingming) who originally served under the Later ...

and Southern Yan, until it was conquered by Liu Yu of the

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. ...

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 ...

conquered the region during

Emperor Ming of Song Emperor Ming of (Liu) Song ((劉)宋明帝) (9 December 439 – 10 May 472), personal name Liu Yu (劉彧), courtesy name Xiubing (休炳), childhood name Rongqi (榮期), was an emperor of the Chinese Liu Song dynasty. He became emperor after h ...

's reign. In

, 6 counties, Juping, Fenggao, Boping, Ying, Mu and Liangfu, were in the commandery, with a total population of 91,673 in 26,800 households.''

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 ...

'', Chapter 106. The commandery was abolished in

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It ruled the eastern part of northern China ...

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