Chinese provinces in the late Eastern Han dynasty period, 189 CE.

Yan Province or Yanzhou was one of the Nine Provinces of ancient China, a list of regions compiled by Yu the Great when he toured the land after stopping the Great Flood and succeeding Emperor Yao.

In the Shang Shu, translated by Martin Palmer, Yu's report on Yanzhou is as follows:^[1]

Yanzhou Area: between the Ji and Yellow River. Nine rivers returned to their proper way. Leixia is an area of lake once again and functioning properly. Yong and Ju rivers flows into it. Mulberry bushes grow here now – people have settled here from the hills to cultivate the fields. Soil: rich and dark. Grass – good; woodlands healthy. Tax: middling. Fields: upper middling. Note – over the past thirteen years productivity has risen. Tribute: dyes, silks – in special coloured containers. Route: via the Ji and Ta rivers into the Yellow River.

— Confucius, translated by Martin Palmer, Shang Shu

During the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), Yanzhou covered roughly present-day southwestern Shandong, eastern Henan, and the northwestern corner of Jiangsu. The name is reflected in the modern city of Yanzhou, Jining, Shandong.

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