Jiāoshuǐ

Jiaoshui was the county at the seat of the later Pingdu Prefecture in the Shandong peninsula, not the city of Laizhou itself. Under the Yuan it belonged to Dengzhou. The early Ming reorganisation first retained the county, then transferred it to Laizhou Prefecture in 1376. In 1389 the court established Pingdu Prefecture and absorbed Jiaoshui County into its administration. Weixian and Changyi became its subordinate counties.

The change of name and rank preserved an administrative centre while expanding the territory for which its officials were responsible. The surrounding country opened into broad plains, with the Jiaoshui watercourse to the west and the Daze hills to the north. River routes also changed: the development of the Jiaolai waterway altered the connections of older channels towards the coast. Across Ming and Qing records, the older Jiaoshui name consequently survived within the historical geography of Pingdu, whose town and surrounding farmland continued under the new prefectural designation.