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Home > History of the political divisions of China

 Contents
1 Ancient times
2 Republic of China
3 People's Republic of China
3.1 1950s
3.2 1960s and 1970s
3.3 1980s and 1990s
4 See also
This article talks about the history of the political divisions of China.


Summary of Chinese historical administrative divisions
Chinese English translation Level Syllables1 Created Abolished
T S pinyin
郡郡jùn commanderybefore 106 BC: 1st
after 106 BC: 2nd		usually 1 or 2 221 BC Tang Dynasty
縣县xiànancient: prefecture or district
modern: county		ancient: lowest
modern: 3rd		usually 1 or 2 221 BCstill exist
州州 zhoubefore 627: province
after 627: prefecture		before 627: 1st
after 627: 2nd to 3rd		usually 1, rarely 2 106 BC 1911
道道dào2 circuitbefore Yuan Dynasty: 1st
after Yuan Dynasty: 2nd		usually 2 or 3, never 1 627 Republic of ChinaThe Republic of China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: ; Wade-Giles: Chung-hua Min-kuo, Tongyong Pinyin: JhongHua MinGuo, Hanyu Pinyin: Zhonghua Minguo) is a de facto sovereign state that currently administers the island groups of Taiwan, Peng
省省sheng province1stusually 2, never 1 Yuan Dynastystill exist
市市shì1st level: municipality
2nd level: prefecture-level city
3rd level: county-level city		1st to 3rdusually 2, never 1 Republic of Chinastill exist

1 Syllables play an important role in Chinese grammar. Most of the above political divisions can only be given names of a certain number of syllables.
2 Circuits were renamed 路 ( pinyin: lù) during the Song Dynasty.

1 Ancient times

Before the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, China was ruled by a network of kings, nobles, and tribes. The rivalry of these groups culminated in the Warring States Period, and the state of Qin eventually emerged dominant.

After the state of Qin managed to subdue the rest of China under a unified Qin Dynasty in 221 BC, it was determined not to allow China to fall back into disunity. It therefore designed, based upon existing systems, the first administrative hierarchy in China, with just two levels:

All of China was divided into commanderies and counties, which were centrally ruled and tightly controlled. Nevertheless this failed to prevent the collapse of the Qin Dynasty in 206 BC. The Han Dynasty that followed inherited the system with minor modifications. After the Rebellion of the seven states the system was stabilized to be:

Throughout the Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms period and the Western Jin Dynasty, this system was kept intact.


Provinces of China under the early Western Jin Dynasty
Name Traditional
Chinese 		Pinyin Capital
Ancient name Modern location
Bingzhou 1幷州BingzhouJinyang Taiyuan, Shanxi province
Guangzhou 廣州GuǎngzhouPanyu Guangzhou
Jiaozhou 1交州JiāozhouLongbianEast of Hanoi
Jingzhou 1荊州Jingzhou Jiangling
Jizhou 1冀州JìzhouXindu Jixian, Hebei
Liangzhou 1涼州LiángzhouGuzang Wuwei
Liangzhou 梁州LiángzhouNanzheng Hanzhong
Ningzhou 寧州NíngzhouDianchisoutheast of Kunming
Pingzhou 平州PíngzhouXiangping Liaoyang
Qingzhou 1青州QingzhouLinzieast of Zibo
Qinzhou 秦州QínzhouJixianeast of Gangu
Sizhou 司州Sizhou Luoyang
Xuzhou 1徐州XúzhouPengcheng Xuzhou
Yangzhou 1揚州YángzhouJianye Nanjing
Yanzhou 1兗州YǎnzhouLinqiunorthwest of Yuncheng, Shandong
Yizhou 1益州Yìzhou Chengdu
Yongzhou 1雍州YongzhouChang'annorthwest of Xi'an
Youzhou 1幽州Youzhou Zhuoxian
Yuzhou 1豫州YùzhouChenxian Huaiyang

1 — One of the original 13 provinces of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

This changed, however, with the invasion of tribes from the north, who disrupted the unity of China and set up a variety of governments. By the time unity was finally reestablished by the Sui Dynasty, the provinces had been divided and redivided so many times by different governments that they were almost the same size as commanderies. As such, the Sui Dynasty merged these two levels together. This new merged level is translated as "prefectures" into English.

The Tang Dynasty set up circuits as an additional level of administration on top. Hence:

The circuits would eventually become a source of rebellion and warlordism, which eventually resulted in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song Dynasty that emerged out of this crisis continued with this system, but using a different Chinese word for the circuits:

The Mongols, who succeeded in subjugating all of China under the Yuan Dynasty in 1279, introduced the precursors to the modern provinces as a new level at the top:

After passing through the Ming Dynasty, China fell to the Manchus, who established rule over China as the Qing Dynasty in 1644. The Manchus applied the following system over China proper:

Manchuria, Xinjiang, and Outer Mongolia were ruled by military generals. Inner Mongolia was organized under leagues, and Tibet and Qinghai were overseen by commissioners.

There were initially 18 provinces under the Qing Dynasty. Near the end of the dynasty, Manchuria was reorganized into 3 more provinces, and Xinjiang and Taiwan were both set up as provinces, bringing the total to 23. ( Taiwan was however ceded to Japan in the Treaty of Maguan, bringing the total back down to 22.



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Topics: History Of The Political Divisions Of China, Ancient Times...

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