Juànchéng

Juancheng was the seat of Puzhou in the Yellow River plain of southwestern Shandong. The medieval county and the prefectural administration occupied the same place, but they were separate levels of government. In 1369, early in the Ming dynasty, Juancheng County was abolished and its territory incorporated directly into Puzhou. Puzhou in turn belonged to Dongchang Prefecture.

The change removed the county office beneath the prefectural seat while retaining the larger jurisdiction. Puzhou administered Fan, Guancheng and Chaocheng counties as well as its directly governed territory. Juancheng’s early Ming history therefore belongs to a specific administrative reorganisation of the river plain. The old name survived beyond the county’s abolition, even as the local government operated through Puzhou rather than a separate Juancheng magistracy.