Jinan was established in early Western Han dynasty under the Qi Kingdom of Liu Fei, son of Emperor Gaozu.
[1] In late Western Han dynasty, the commandery consisted of 14 counties and marquessates: Dongpingling (東平陵), Zouping (鄒平), Tai (臺), Liangzou (梁鄒), Tugu (土鼓), Yuling (於陵), Yangqiu (陽丘), Banyang (般陽), Jian (菅), Zhaoyang (朝陽), Licheng (歷城), Xiao (猇), Zhu (著) and Yicheng (宜成).
[2] For much of Eastern Han, Jinan was a nominal kingdom/principality and served as the fief of various members of the imperial clan, with the first being Liu Kang, son of Emperor Guangwu, in 39 AD.
In 140 AD, the territory consisted of 10 counties, including Dongpingling, Zhu, Yuling, Tai, Jian, Tugu, Liangzou, Zouping, Dongzhaoyang (東朝陽) and Licheng.
[4] The commandery then consisted of 6 counties, namely Licheng, Zhaoyang, Zhu, Tugu, Fengling (逢陵) and Pingling (平陵).