Nínghǎi

Ninghai is the old city of Muping on the northern shore of the Shandong Peninsula, on the sunny side of Mount Mou, which gave the place its name. It lay in the ancient lands of the states of Lai and Mou before it came to Qi, and the Tang made it a county of Dengzhou. In 1131 a Ninghai Army was set up here, and in 1182 the Jin raised it to Ninghai Department, with Muping and Wendeng counties under it.

The Yuan kept the department at Muping, and in 1368 the Ming abolished Muping County and merged it into Ninghai without moving the seat. In 1376 the department was put under Dengzhou Prefecture, and the Ming also stationed the Ninghai Guard in the town, one of the garrisons of its coastal defence on the peninsula. The Qing folded the guard into the department in 1659.