Zhou (political Division) Zhou Dynasty Zhou Enlai

The Tang Dynasty also established fǔ (府), which were zhou of special importance, such as capitals and other major cities. These are also translated as "prefectures" into English. Fu was borrowed into the Japanese language and is still used today as the designation of the prefectures of Osaka and Kyoto. See Prefectures of Japan.

As an administrative entity, zhou exist today only in the form of zìzhìzhou, or autonomous prefectures. These were established by the People's Republic of China as administrative areas for designated minorities. These zhou are not connected to the historical zhou described in the rest of this article.

Zhou have left a huge mark on the place nameIn geography and cartography, a toponym is a place name a geographical name, a proper name of locality, region, or some other part of Earth's surface or its natural or artificial feature. Toponymy is the taxonomic study of place names; see that articles fs of China: the province of GuizhouGuizhou ( Simplified Chinese: , Traditional: , pinyin: Gùizhōu, WG: Kuei-chou, also spelled Kweichow is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Guizhou Sheng ''Province Abbreviation(s): Qian, as well as the major cities of GuangzhouGuangzhou ( TC: ; SC: ; Hanyu Pinyin: Gungzhu; Wade-Giles: Kuang-chou; Tongyong Pinyin: Guangjhou) is the capital of the Guangdong Province in southern China. Its international name was formerly Canton after a French language corruption of "Guangdong"., FuzhouFuzhou (, Hanyu Pinyin: Fuzhou, Wade-Giles: Fu-chou, also seen as Foochow or Fuchow) is a city on the coast of China, the largest city in and capital of Fujian province. Its GDP was ¥31582 (ca. US$3800) per capita in 2003, ranked no. 21 among 659 Chinese, HangzhouHangzhou (; pinyin: Hangzhou; WG: Hang-chou) is a sub-provincial city in China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. Located 180 km southwest of Shanghai, the population in the city proper is now 1. In China, the city is well known for its beautiful scen, Zhengzhou, Lanzhou, Suzhou, Wenzhou, and many more, all owe their -zhou endings to their onetime status as zhou. The same goes for the Korean province of Jeju, as well as the cities of Gwangju, Jeonju, Naju, Cheongju, Chungju, Gongju, Shinuiju, and many more.

History

Zhou were first mentioned in several ancient texts, notably the Yugong . All of these texts divided China into nine zhou, though they differed as to what the zhou specifically were. These zhou were geographical concepts, not administrative entities.

The Han Dynasty was the first to formalize the zhou into actual administrative divisions, by establishing 14 zhou all across China. Because these zhou were the largest divisions of the China at the time, they are translated as "provinces". After the Han Dynasty, however, the number of zhou began to increase. By the time the Sui Dynasty began, there were over a hundred zhou all across China.

(See History of the political divisions of China#Ancient times for a table of zhou under the Western Jin Dynasty.)

The Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty merged zhou with the next level down, the jun, or commanderies. The Tang Dynasty also added another level on top: the circuits; from here onwards zhou were lowered to second-level status, and they are therefore translated into English as "prefectures". Zhou then continued to survive as a second- or third-level political division all the way until the Qing Dynasty.

The Republic of China abolished zhou altogether, leaving the word zhou to survive only as a fossil in the names of cities such as Guangzhou and Hangzhou. The People's Republic of China, on the other hand, has recycled the name, and now use it to refer to autonomous prefectures, or zìzhìzhou, a prefecture-level division.

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