The Nine Provinces were first described in the Tribute of Yu chapter of the classic Book of Documents, with Qingzhou lying to the east of Yuzhou and north of Yangzhou.

[1] During the Xia and Shang dynasties, it was home to the Shuangjiu (爽鸠, Shuǎngjīu), Jize (季则, Jìzé), and Pangboling (逄伯陵, Pángbólíng) clans and the state of Pugu.

Following the Duke of Zhou's c. 1040 BCE successful campaign against the Dongyi states allied with the revolting Three Guards and the rebellious Shang prince Wu Geng, the captured territory of Pugu was granted to Jiang Ziya as the marchland of Qi.

[2] In 106 BCE, Emperor Wu formally divided the Han Empire into 13 provinces[3] and appointed a Regional Coordinator (Chinese: 刺史; pinyin: cìshǐ; also translated as Inspector) in Qingzhou.

In Eastern Han, Qing Province consisted of 5 commanderies, namely Pingyuan, Jinan, Beihai, Qiansheng, Donglai, and the kingdom/principality of Qi.