Qing Province

Qingzhou
Chinese	青州
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qīngzhōu

Qingzhou ^[I] or Qing Province was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China dating back to c. 2070 BCE that later became one of the thirteen provinces of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). The Nine Provinces were first described in the Tribute of Yu chapter of the classic Book of Documents, with Qingzhou lying to the east of Yuzhou and north of Yangzhou. Qingzhou's primary territory included most of modern Shandong province except the southwest corner.

History

Ancient times

The territory takes its name from the Tribute of Yu wherein Yu the Great wrote: "Between the sea and Mount Tai there is only Qingzhou".^[II] In around 5,000 BCE the area was the cradle of Dongyi culture^[1] and later, during the Xia and Shang dynasties, home to the Shuangjiu (Chinese: 爽鸠; pinyin: Shuǎngjīu), Jize (Chinese: 季则; pinyin: Jìzé), and Pangboling (Chinese: 逄伯陵; pinyin: Pángbólíng) clans.

Zhou dynasty

At the beginning of the Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 BCE), Jiang Ziya enfeoffed territory to the Marquess of Qi (齐侯), from which the State of Qi developed.^[2]

Han dynasty

In 106 BCE, Emperor Wu formally divided the Han Empire into 13 provinces^[3] and appointed a Regional Coordinator (Chinese: 刺史; pinyin: cìshǐ; also translated as Inspector) in Qingzhou.^[1] With the coming of the Eastern Han dynasty in 25 CE, the seat of a local administration moved from Qingzhou to the former Qi capital of Linzi (present-day Linzi District, Zibo, Shandong).

Tang dynasty

During the Tang dynasty (618–907), Qingzhou held jurisdiction over the seven counties of Yidu (益都), Beihai (北海), Linqu (临朐), Linzi (临淄), Qiancheng (千乘), Bochang (博昌) and Shouguang (寿光) with the administrative centre based in Yidu County.

Northern Song dynasty

The administrative centre of Qingzhou remained in Yidu County during the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) with the number of counties reduced to six by the removal of Beihai County.

Notes and references

This article is partly based on a translation of 青州 in the Chinese Wikipedia

1. ^ The Variant Chinese character "靑" (Qīng) is often used in old documents in place of "青".
2. ^ “海岱惟青州”, Hǎi Dài wéi Qīngzhōu

1. "Introduction to Qingzhou (青州城市概況)" (in Chinese). Qingzhou Government Website. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
2. China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization. City University of Hong Kong Press. 2007. ISBN 978-9629371401.
3. Hucker, Charles O. (2008). A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China. Beijing University Press. ISBN 9787301134870. p.14