The commandery was established in the
Qin dynasty, possibly as Linzi Commandery (臨菑郡). In early Western Han dynasty, it became part of the
Qi Kingdom under
Liu Fei, son of
Liu Bang, and his descendants. In 165 BC, Liu Ze (劉則), the grandson of Fei and reigning King of Qi, died without issue and the Han court divided the kingdom among the sons of Fei. Linzi Commandery became the fief of Liu Jianglü (劉將閭) and retained the name "Qi", although it was only a fraction of Fei's Qi Kingdom. In 127 BC, Liu Cichang (劉次昌) died without issue, and the territory became directly administered by the Han central government as the Qi Commandery. In late Western Han dynasty, the commandery consisted of 12 counties and marquessates: Linzi (臨淄), Changguo (昌國), Li (利), Xi'an (西安), Juding (鉅定), Guang (廣), Guangrao (廣饒), Zhaonan (昭南),
Linqu (臨朐), Beixiang (北鄉), Pingguang (平廣) and Taixiang (臺鄉). The total population in 2 AD was 554,444, in 154,826 households. The seat was
Linzi, capital of the
Warring States era Qi state. In Eastern Han dynasty, Qi was the fief of Liu Zhang (劉章), nephew of
Emperor Guangwu, and his descendants until 206 AD. In 140 AD, there were 6 counties, namely Linzi, Xi'an, Changguo, Linqu, Guang and Banyang (般陽), with a total population of 491,765 (64,415 households). In
Cao Wei dynasty, Qi was granted to
Cao Fang, adopted son of
Emperor Ming of Wei. After the foundation of
Western Jin, Qi was granted to
Sima You, brother of
Emperor Wu, and passed to his descendants until the
Yongjia era. In
Northern Wei, Qi administered 9 counties, including Linzi, Changguo, Yidu (益都), Panyang (盤陽), Pingchang (平昌), Guangrao, Xi'an, Anping (安平) and Guangchuan (廣川). According to the
Book of Wei, the population was 82,100, in 30,848 households. The commandery was abolished in early
Sui dynasty. In Sui and
Tang dynasties, Qi Commandery became an alternative name of
Qi Prefecture (齊州). In 741, there were 6 counties, namely
Licheng,
Zhangqiu, Linyi (臨邑), Linji (臨濟), Changqing (長清) and
Yucheng. The population was 365,972, in 62,485 households. ==References==