Pei Commandery ( zh, 沛郡) was a Chinese

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 ...

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 ...

Northern Qi Qi, known as the Northern Qi (), Later Qi (後齊) or Gao Qi (高齊) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and one of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties during the ...

dynasty. Its territory was located in present-day northern

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

and northwestern

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

, as well as part of

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 ...

and

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

. Pei was established in early Western Han on an area formerly known as Sishui Commandery (泗水郡) during the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

, and received its name from Pei County,

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (2561 June 195 BC), also known by his given name Liu Bang, was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning from 202 to 195 BC. He is considered by traditional Chinese historiography to be one o ...

's home county. The seat was at Xiang (相), in modern

Huaibei Huaibei () is a prefecture-level city in northern Anhui Province (China), Province, China. It borders Suzhou, Anhui, Suzhou (Anhui) to the east, Bengbu to the south, Bozhou to the west, and the provinces of Henan to the northwest and Jiangsu to ...

. The commandery was part of the vassal Kingdom of Chu during its early years, however, during Emperor Jing's reign, the imperial forces defeated Chu in the Rebellion of Seven States and revoked the territory. In 117 BC, part of Pei was split off to form the new Linhuai Commandery. In 2 AD, the commandery consisted of 37 counties: Xiang (相), Longkang (龍亢), Zhu (竹), Guyang (穀陽), Xiao (蕭), Xiang (向), Zhi (銍), Guangqi (廣戚), Xiacai (下蔡),

Feng Feng may refer to: *List of surnames written Feng, several Chinese surnames as transliterated from Mandarin **Féng (surname) ( 冯 féng 2nd tone "gallop"), very common Chinese surname **Fèng (surname) ( 鳳 fèng 4th tone "phoenix"), relatively ...

(豐), Dan (鄲), Qiao (譙), Qi (蘄), Zhuan (颛), Zheyu (輒與), Shansang (山桑), Gongqiu (公丘), Fuli (符離), Jingqiu (敬丘), Xiaqiu (夏丘), Xiao (洨), Pei, Mang (芒), Jiancheng (建成), Chengfu (城父), Jianping (建平), Cuo (酇), Li (栗), Fuyang (扶陽), Gao (高), Gaochai (高柴), Piaoyang (漂陽), Ping'e (平阿), Dongxiang (東鄉), Lindu (臨都), Yicheng (義成) and Qixiang (祈鄉). The population was 2,030,480, or 409,079 households. During Eastern Han, the commandery was converted to a principality nominally held by an imperial

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

. A number of counties were merged in early Eastern Han, and in 140 AD, the principality administered 21 counties, including Xiang (相), Xiao, Pei, Feng, Guyang, Qiao, Xiao, Qi, Zhi, Dan, Jianping, Linsui (臨睢), Zhuyi (竹邑), Gongqiu, Longkang, Xiang (向), Fuli, Hong (虹), Taiqiu (太丘) and Zhuqiu (杼秋). After

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 ...

dynasty was founded,

Cao Pi Cao Pi () (late 187 – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the ...

followed

's example and created a new commandery, Qiao Commandery, which was named after his father's home county. In 280 AD, Pei and Qiao had 9 and 7 counties respectively. The former had 5,096 households, while the latter had 1,000. Under the

Northern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

, the commandery was further divided several times before being abolished in

.''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' () is the official history of the Sui dynasty, which ruled China in the years AD 581–618. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, ...

, Chapter 30.''

References

{{Han dynasty provinces Commanderies of the Han dynasty Commanderies of the Jin dynasty (266–420) Commanderies of the Northern dynasties