| Daifang Commandery | |||||||||
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 Daifang Commandery in the early 4th century. | |||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 帶方郡 | ||||||||
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| Korean name | |||||||||
| Hangul | 대방군 | ||||||||
| Hanja | 帶方郡 | ||||||||
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TheDaifang Commandery was an administrative division established by the ChineseHan dynasty on theKorean Peninsula between 204 and 220 CE. It was conquered byGoguryeo in 314 CE.
Gongsun Kang, awarlord inLiaodong, separated the southern half from theLelang Commandery and established the Daifang Commandery sometime between 204 and 220 CE to make administration more efficient. He controlled southern natives with Daifang instead of Lelang.[1]
In 238 CE, under the order ofEmperor Ming ofCao Wei,Sima Yidefeated the Gongsun family and annexed Liaodong, Lelang and Daifang to Wei.[2] A dispute over the control of southern natives caused their revolt. The armies of Lelang and Daifang eventually stifled it.
Daifang Commandery was inherited by theJin dynasty. Due to the bitter civilWar of the Eight Princes, Jin became unable to control the Korean peninsula at the beginning of the 4th century. Zhang Tong (張統) broke away from Jin in Lelang and Daifang. AfterLuoyang, the capital of Jin, was occupied by theXiongnu in 311, he went for help toMurong Hui, aXianbei warlord, with his subjects in 314.Goguryeo underKing Micheon annexed Lelang and Daifang soon after that.
The Daifang Commandery was located aroundHwanghae and its capital was Daifang County. However, the controversy over its location is not resolved yet. According to a Chinese official chronicle, theBook of Jin (晉書), it had the following seven counties (縣,xian):
