Donglai Commandery ( zh, 東萊郡) was a historical Chinese commandery on the

Jiaodong Peninsula 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. Geog ...

, existing from

Han dynasty 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 ...

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

. Donglai Commandery was likely established during

Emperor Jing of Han Emperor Jing of Han (Liu Qi (劉啟); 188 BC – 9 March 141 BC) was the sixth emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty from 157 to 141 BC. His reign saw the limiting of the power of the feudal kings/princes which resulted in the Re ...

's reign on the lands of Jiaodong Commandery. In late

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 ...

dynasty, its territory included 17 counties and marquessates, namely Ye (掖), Chui (腄),

Pingdu Pingdu () is the largest county-level city of Qingdao sub-provincial city, Shandong Province, China. It is located in the east of the Shandong Peninsula (Jiaodong Peninsula), the heart of peninsula. It borders Yantai and Weifang, and it has an ...

(平度), Huang (黃),

Linqu Linqu County () is a county, originally known as "Pianyi", located in the southwest of Weifang and the middle of Shandong Peninsula, Shandong Province, China. Linqu also has the name Zhuxu County. It covers an area of and governs 937 villages whic ...

(臨朐), Qucheng (曲成), Muping (牟平), Dongmu (東牟), Zang (脏), Yuli (育犁), Changyang (昌陽), Buye (不夜), Dangli (當利), Luxiang (盧鄉), Yangle (陽樂), Yangshi (陽石), and Xuxiang (徐鄉). In 140 AD during Eastern Han, the number of counties and marquessates was 13, including Huang, Muping, Jian (惤), Qucheng, Ye, Dangli, Dongmu, Changyang, Luxiang, Gelu (葛盧), Changguang (長廣), Qianzou (黔陬), and Buqi (不其), the last three of which were formerly part of

Langya Commandery 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. F ...

. During the

Jian'an Era Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220. Liu Xie was a so ...

of early 3rd century, Qianzou was transferred to the newly established Chengyang Commandery. Also during Jian'an Era, Changguang Commandery was established on the territory of Donglai and

Beihai Beihai (; Postal romanization: Pakhoi) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Guangxi, People's Republic of China. Its status as a seaport on the north shore of the Gulf of Tonkin has granted it historical importance as a port of internation ...

, covering 6 counties, although by 213 AD the commandery would have been dissolved, and the counties merged back into their respective original commanderies. Changguang Commandery was later restored in 277 AD. In 280 AD, after the unification of Jin dynasty, Donglai administered 6 counties. 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 sacke ...

, 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.V ...

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 and

Southern Yan The Southern Yan (; 398–410) was a Xianbei-led dynastic state during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms in China. Its territory roughly coincided with modern Shandong. Its founder Murong De was a son of Murong Huang and brother of Murong Jun and Mu ...

, 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 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. The commandery was eventually abolished in early Sui dynasty.''

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 au ...

'', Chapter 30. In Sui and Tang dynasties, Donglai Commandery became the alternative name of

Lai Prefecture Laizhou or Lai Prefecture was a ''Zhou (country subdivision), zhou'' (prefecture) in history of China, imperial China, centering on modern Laizhou, Shandong, China. It existed (intermittently) from 585 until 1376. The modern city Laizhou, created ...

. In 692, several counties were separated to form the new Deng Prefecture, later also known as Dongmu Commandery. In 742, the commandery's reduced territory covered 4 counties: Ye, Changyang, Jimo and Jiaoshui (膠水, formerly Changguang).'' New Book of Tang'', Chapter 38.

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 Commanderies of the Sui dynasty