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 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), ...
to
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 ...
. It was 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 ...
and northern
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 ...
.
Donghai Commandery was established in the Qin dynasty, possibly under the name Tan Commandery (郯郡). In early
Western Han
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
Rebellion of the Seven States
The Rebellion of the Seven States or Revolt of the Seven Kingdoms () took place in 154 BC against the Han dynasty of China by its regional semi-autonomous kings, to resist the emperor's attempt to centralize the government further.
Background
...
, Donghai was carved out from Chu. Later, the commandery's borders gradually expanded as marquessates split from nearby kingdoms were added to the commandery. In late Western Han, it administered a total of 38 counties and marquessates:
Tan
Tan or TAN may refer to:
Businesses and organisations
* Black and Tans, a nickname for British special constables during the Irish War of Independence. By extension "Tans" can now also colloquially refer to English or British people in general, es ...
Xiapi
Pizhou () is a county-level city under the administration of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China. As of 2006 it had a population of 163,000; it borders the Shandong prefecture-level cities of Linyi to the northeast and Zaozhuang to the northwest.
His ...
Linyi
Linyi () is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the east, Weifang to the northeast, Zibo t ...
(臨沂), Houqiu (厚丘), Rongqiu (容丘), Dong'an (東安), Hexiang (合鄉), Cheng (承), Jianyang (建陽), Quyang (曲陽), Siwu (司吾), Yuxiang (于鄉), Pingqu (平曲), Duyang (都陽), Yinping (陰平), Wuxiang (郚鄉), Wuyang (武陽), Xinyang (新陽), Jianling (建陵), Changlü (昌慮), Duping (都平). The population was 358,414 households, or 1,559,357 individuals.
A number of counties and marquessates were merged in early Eastern Han. The commandery constituted part of the Lu Kingdom during the reigns of Emperor Guangwu and Emperor Ming, until Liu Qiang (劉彊), the prince of Donghai, offered the territory back to the imperial government. In 72 AD, several counties were separated to created the new Xiapi Commandery (下邳郡). In 140, there were 13 counties, namely Tan, Lanling, Qi, Qu, Xiangben, Changlü, Cheng, Yinping, Licheng, Hexiang, Zhuqi, Houqiu, and Ganyu (赣榆). The population was 148,784 households, or 706,416 individuals.
During
dynasty, Donghai served as the fief of Cao Lin, a son of the Emperor Wen, and his son Cao Qi (曹啟). By the reunification of Jin dynasty in 280, 11,100 households remained in the commandery. In 291, a new commandery, Lanling, was established. Donghai subsequently became the fief of the prince and regent
Sima Yue
Sima Yue (司馬越) (died 23 April 311According to Sima Chi's biography in the ''Book of Jin'', Sima Yue died on the ''bingzi'' day in the 3rd month of the 5th year of the ''Yongjia'' era of Emperor Huai's reign. This corresponds to 23 Apr 311 ...
. 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 ...
Emperor Ming of Qi
Emperor Ming of Southern Qi ((南)齊明帝) (452–498), personal name Xiao Luan (蕭鸞), courtesy name Jingqi (景棲), childhood name Xuandu (玄度), was an emperor of the Southern Qi dynasty of China. He was a nephew of the Southern Qi founde ...
reestablished Donghai Commandery at Xiangben. In 549 during
Eastern Wei
Wei (), known in historiography as the Eastern Wei (), was an imperial dynasty of China that followed the disintegration of the Northern Wei dynasty. One of the Northern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period, the Eastern We ...
, a commandery centered in Ganyu was renamed Donghai, while the former commandery was renamed to Haixi (海西). Meanwhile, the former seat of Han and Jin era Donghai, Tan, was part of a new Tan Commandery. They were 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, Donghai Commandery became an alternative name of
Hai Prefecture Haizhou or Hai Prefecture (海州) was a '' zhou'' (prefecture) in imperial China seated in modern Lianyungang, Jiangsu, China. It existed (intermittently) from 549 to 1912.
During the Yuan dynasty it was briefly named Haizhou Route (海州路).
T ...
.''
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. In 742, it administered 4 counties: Qushan (朐山), Donghai (東海),
Shuyang
Shuyang () is a county in northern Jiangsu province. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suqian. Shuyang sits on the Northern Jiangsu Plains and borders the cities of Xuzhou, Lianyungang and Huai'an to the north, east ...
(沭陽) and Huairen (懷仁). The population was 28,549 households, or 184,009 individuals.''
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 ...