Le'an Commandery ( zh, 樂安郡) was a historical
commandery in China, located in present-day central and northern
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 ...
.
The commandery was established as Qiansheng Commandery (千乘郡) during
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han (156 – 29 March 87BC), formally enshrined as Emperor Wu the Filial (), born Liu Che (劉徹) and courtesy name Tong (通), was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of ancient China, ruling from 141 to 87 BC. His reign la ...
's reign from part of
Qi Commandery's territory. In late Western Han, it administered 15 counties: Qiansheng (千乘), Dongzou (東鄒), Shiwo (溼沃), Ping'an (平安), Bochang (博昌), Liaocheng (蓼城), Jianxin (建信), Di (狄), Langhuai (琅槐), Le'an (樂安), Beiyang (被陽), Gaochang (高昌), Fan'an (繁安), Gaowan (高宛) and Yanxiang (延鄉).
['' Book of Han'', Chapter 28.] In 60 AD, Qiansheng became the fief of Liu Jian (劉建), a son of
Emperor Ming, who died the next year without issue. In 79, Qiansheng was granted to Liu Kang (劉伉), brother of
Emperor He. The territory was renamed to Le'an in 95. Kang's grandson Hong (鴻) was the father of
Emperor Zhi. After the latter's accession to the throne, Hong was gifted a richer territory,
Bohai Bohai may refer to:
* Bohai Sea, or Bo Hai, the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea
* Balhae, known as Bohai in Chinese, a former mixed Mohe-Goguryeo empire which existed from 698 to 926 in Manchuria
Locations or areas in China
* Bohai Bay, one of t ...
, as his new fief, and Le'an was converted back to an imperial commandery. By 140 AD, the number of counties and marquessates in Le'an had decreased to 9: Linji (臨濟, formerly Di), Qiansheng, Gaowan (高菀), Le'an, Bochang, Liaocheng, Li (利), Yi (益), and Shouguang (壽光).
In
Western Jin, Le'an became the fief of Sima Jian (司馬鑒), a son of
Sima Zhao
Sima Zhao () (211 – 6 September 265), courtesy name Zishang, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China.
Sima Zhao capably maintained control of Wei, which had been ...
, and then Jian's son Ji (籍).
['' Book of Jin'', Chapter 38.] After Jin dynasty, Le'an became part of
Liu Song dynasty until
Emperor Ming's reign, when it was conquered by
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 ...
. The commandery was 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 ...
.
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