Langya Commandery ( zh, , ) was a
commandery in historical China from
Qin dynasty to
Tang dynasty, located in present-day southeast
Shandong and northeast
Jiangsu.
The commandery was established in
Qin dynasty on the former territories of
Qi. From Qin to early
Han dynasty, parts of Langya were separated to form three new commanderies,
Jiaodong
The Shandong (Shantung) Peninsula or Jiaodong (Chiaotung) Peninsula is a peninsula in Shandong Province in eastern China, between the Bohai Sea to the north and the Yellow Sea to the south. The latter name refers to the east and Jiaozhou.
...
,
Chengyang and
Jiaoxi.
From 181 BC to 180 BC, Langya briefly served as the fief of Liu Ze (劉澤), who became the king of
Yan after the
Lü Clan Disturbance. Later, the commandery's borders gradually expanded as marquessates split from nearby kingdoms were added to the commandery. In late Western Han, Langya covered 51 counties and marquessates, by far the most numerous among all commanderies. After the establishment of Eastern Han, Chengyang was merged into Langya. In 41 AD, the territory was converted to a kingdom/principality and granted to Liu Jing (劉京), son of the
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 ...
. Jing's descendants held the kingdom until 217 AD, when the last prince of the lineage was killed by
Cao Cao and Langya was converted back to a commandery. In 140, Langya administered 13 counties, namely Kaiyang (開陽), Dongwu (東武), Langya (琅邪), Dongguan (東莞), Xihai (西海), Zhu (諸), Ju (莒), Dong'an (東安), Yangdu (陽都), Linyi (臨沂), Jiqiu (即丘), Zeng (繒), and Gumu (姑幕). The population was 570,967.
In 198, four counties (Ju, Gumu, Zhu, Dongwu) were transferred to the reestablished Chengyang Commandery. In 280, another commandery, Dongguan was separated from Langya. After the establishment 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 i ...
, Langya became the fief of
Sima Zhou
Sima Zhou (227 – 12 June 283), courtesy name Zijiang, was an imperial prince and military general of the Jin dynasty of China. He previously served in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period.
Life in Cao Wei
Sima Zhou was born ...
, the fourth son of
Sima Yi
Sima Yi ( ; 179 CE – 7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
He formally began his political career in 208 un ...
. After the death of Zhou, Langya passed to his son Jin (覲), and then to Jin's son Rui, the future
Emperor Yuan of Jin. In 280, Langya had a population of 29,500 households.
Multiple new commanderies were established over the
Sixteen Kingdoms
The Sixteen Kingdoms (), less commonly the Sixteen States, was a chaotic period in Chinese history from AD 304 to 439 when northern China fragmented into a series of short-lived dynastic states. The majority of these states were founded by ...
and
Northern Dynasties periods. In
Northern Wei, Langya Commandery only administered 2 counties: Jiqiu and Fei (費). It was eventually abolished in early
Sui dynasty.
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) ...
dynasties, Langya Commandery became the alternative name of
Yi Prefecture. In 742, the commandery's territory covered 5 counties:
Linyi,
Fei, Cheng (丞),
Yishui (沂水) and
Xintai (新泰). The population was 195,737, in 33,510 households.
['']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.['']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 ...
'', Chapter 38.
References
{{Han dynasty provinces
Commanderies of the Qin dynasty
Commanderies of the Han dynasty
Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420)
Commanderies of the Northern dynasties
Commanderies of the Sui dynasty