Pingyuan Commandery ( zh, 平原郡) 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, existing from

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

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

. It was centered around present-day northwestern

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

province. The commandery was carved out of the Jibei Kingdom during

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

's reign. Pingyuan administered 19 counties and marquessates in late

Western Han The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and a warring int ...

, including Pingyuan (平原), Ge (鬲), Gaotang (高唐), Chongqiu (重丘), Pingchang (平昌), Yu (羽), Ban (般), Leling (樂陵), Zhu'e (祝阿), Yuan (瑗), Eyang (阿陽), Luoyin (漯陰), Li (朸), Fuping (富平), Ande (安德), Heyang (合陽), Louxu (樓虛), Longpou (龍哣), and An (安). In Eastern Han, Pingyuan twice became a kingdom or principality. It was granted to Liu Sheng (劉勝), son of Emperor He in 106, and to Liu Shuo (劉碩), brother of Emperor Huan in 148.''

Book of Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Late ...

'', Chapter 7. The kingdom was abolished in 206 and Pingyuan was administered as a commandery again. Pingyuan consisted of 9 counties, namely Pingyuan, Gaotang, Ban, Ge, Zhu'e, Leling, Shiyin (濕陰), Ande and Yanci (厭次) in 140 AD. In late Eastern Han, a new principality, Leling, was created, and Leling and Yanci counties were transferred to the new principality. After Han dynasty, the commandery was successively held by

Cao Wei Wei () was one of the major Dynasties in Chinese history, dynastic states in China during the Three Kingdoms period. The state was established in 220 by Cao Pi based upon the foundations laid by his father Cao Cao during the end of the Han dy ...

, Jin and

Liu Song Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern dynasties (南朝宋) in historiography, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasti ...

dynasties. During Emperor Ming of Song's reign, it was conquered by

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...

. It was abolished in early

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

. In Sui and Tang dynasties, Pingyuan Commandery became the alternative name for De Prefecture. It administered 6 counties in 742: Ande, Changhe (長河), Pingyuan, Pingchang, Jiangling (將陵) and Anling (安陵).

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