Hǎizhōu

Haizhou stood in southern Liaodong, at the site of present-day Haicheng in Liaoning. In 1376 the Ming established Haizhou Guard under the Liaodong Regional Military Commission. Its place in the guard system gave the settlement a military and administrative identity on the northeastern frontier. The surrounding roads also connected it to journeys extending far beyond Liaodong.

Korean envoys travelling to the Ming court passed through Haizhou. After the capital moved to Beijing in 1421, their established overland itinerary ran from Liaoyang through Anshan and Haizhou Guard toward Dongchang Fort, Guangning and Shanhai Pass. Haizhou thus formed one stage in a chain linking the Yalu crossing with the imperial capital. The guard and the nearby post-road settlements belonged to the same corridor, though they were distinct places. Qing rule changed its administrative form: in 1653 Haizhou Guard became Haicheng County. The earlier military name survived in historical accounts of the route even as county government replaced the Ming institution.