Pre Qin era , its exquisite workmanship and valuable inscripts made it China's first-class national artifact and now preserved in
China National Museum In antiquity, the region of Qingzhou is said to have been occupied by the polities of the Shuangjiu clan (爽鸠), Jize clan (季則), Zhen’e clan (斟鄂), Zhenguan clan (斟灌), Pangbo clan (逄伯), Bogu clan (薄姑), and
Ju (莒). Qingzhou is named after one of the
nine provinces that appear in the
Yu Gong geography chapter of the classic
Book of Documents composed during the
Warring States period of Chinese history (403 BC-221 BC). The history of this centuries old city dates back to ancient times twenty two centuries ago when it was part of the
Dongyi area. During the
Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, Qingzhou belonged to the state of Qi. (According to "The Hereditary House of the Grand Duke of Qi" in
Shiji, Qi’s domain extended east to the sea, west to the
river, south to
Muling and north to
Wudi. The Qi capital was first at Yingqiu and later moved to Linzi, which was close to Qingzhou.
Imperial era In 204 BCE during the
Western Han Dynasty, the county seat of Guang County was established in what is now the southwest of urban Qingzhou. In 106 BCE, the Qingzhou Inspectorate (青州刺史部) was set up, headquartered at
Linzi. In 311 during the
Western Jin,
Cao Yi abandoned Guang County and built Guanggu, which then served as the seat of the Qingzhou Inspector. In 399,
Murong De captured Guanggu and made it the capital of the state of
Southern Yan—the only location in Shandong to have served as a dynastic capital. Later
Liu Yu destroyed Southern Yan, razed Guanggu, constructed Dongyang City, and established the office of the Inspector of Northern Qingzhou there. In 412, the Chinese
Buddhist pilgrim
Faxian landed on the south of
Shandong peninsula at
Laoshan, and proceeded to Qingzhou to translate and edit the scriptures he had collected in
India. In 517, the southern outer wall of Dongyang City was expanded, forming Nanyang City. In 557, during the
Northern Qi era, the seat of Yidu County was moved to Dongyang City, and the Qingzhou prefectural seat was relocated to Nanyang City. Under the
Sui dynasty, it served as the headquarters of the Qingzhou General Governor’s Office, later changed to the seat of Beihai Commandery. In the early
Tang it again served as the Qingzhou General Governor’s Office, and was later changed back to the seat of Beihai Commandery. Under the
Song dynasty it was the administrative seat of the
Jingdong Eastern Circuit; under the
Jin it was the Yidu General Administration Office of the Shandong Eastern Circuit; under the
Yuan it was the seat of the Pacification Commission for the Eastern and Western Routes of Shandong. During the
Ming and
Qing periods, it was the seat of
Qingzhou Prefecture. From 1368 to 1377, it was the capital of
Shandong Province, before it was moved to
Jinan.
Modern era In the
Republic of China era it belonged to Yidu County. After the founding of the
People's Republic of China, it came under
Changwei District (today’s
Weifang). In 1996, the County was abolished, replaced with the Qingzhou City. In the same year the discovery of over 200 buried
Buddhist statues at Qingzhou was hailed as a major
archaeological was found. The statues included early examples of painted figures, and are thought to have been buried due to
Emperor Huizong's
Song Dynasty repression of Buddhism (he favoured
Taoism). ==Administrative divisions==