De Prefecture

For the Liao dynasty prefecture in modern Inner Mongolia, see De Prefecture (Liao dynasty).

De Prefecture, also known by its Chinese name De Zhou or Dezhou, was a prefecture (zhou) of imperial China with its eponymous seat at Dezhou, now part of northwestern Shandong Province, China. It existed intermittently from 589 until 1913.^[1]

De Prefecture
Chinese	德州
Literal meaning	Virtuous/Manly Prefecture
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dé Zhōu Wade–Giles Tê Chou

History

In the 9th century, during the late Tang, De Prefecture made up part of the territory of the de facto independent Chengde jiedushis. In the early 10th century, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Era, one of them—Wang Rong—ruled the short-lived Kingdom of Zhao.

Geography

The administrative region of De Prefecture in the Tang dynasty was within modern northern Shandong and southeastern Hebei. It probably included parts of modern:

• Under the administration of Dezhou, Shandong:
  • Dezhou
  • Pingyuan County
• Under the administration of Hengshui, Hebei:
  • Jing County
• Under the administration of Cangzhou, Hebei:
  • Wuqiao County

See also

• Pingyuan Commandery