Qingzhou (ancient China)

This article is about the ancient Chinese province. For the modern city in Shandong province, see Qingzhou.
Qingzhou
A conjectural reconstruction of the Nine Provinces of ancient Chinese geography
Chinese青州
靑州
Hanyu PinyinQīngzhōu
Literal meaningAzure Province
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinQīngzhōu

Qingzhou 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.