Chapter 2 Section 1 wedge

One day in 221 BC, King Yingzheng of Qin, who had just unified the world, held an imperial meeting with far-reaching historical significance in the capital Xianyang.There were two items on the agenda at the meeting: the first item was the Yidi Number, and the second item was the customization system. Yingzheng was originally only the monarch of Qin, but now that the six kingdoms have been destroyed and the world is united, King Qin has become the supreme ruler of the world, so the title will naturally be upgraded.Yingzheng believed that he had done more than the Three Emperors and the Five Emperors, so he named himself the "First Emperor", and all the officials shouted long live. This first item on the agenda did not take much trouble.This year will naturally change from the twenty-sixth year of Qin Wangzheng to the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shihuang.

The second item on the agenda has sparked a big debate.Some people headed by Prime Minister Wang Wan advocated restoring the feudal system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, but Li Si firmly opposed it, thinking that doing so would cause chaos in the world in the future, and only the system of prefectures and counties could guarantee the country's peace.Qin Shihuang clearly stood on Li Si's side, so he decided not to set up a feudal ruler and "divide the world into thirty-six counties" ("Historical Records Qin Shihuang Benji"), and established a strict and complete system of counties governing counties across the country. Administrative division system.

This imperial meeting is an extremely important milestone in Chinese history.The adoption of the title of emperor indicated the establishment of imperial autocracy, and the choice of county system marked the emergence of a centralized state. This meeting was tantamount to declaring that China would become a centralized state under imperial autocracy.The so-called imperial autocracy refers to a form of separation of powers between the emperor and the ministers represented by the prime minister in the central power.In this form, imperial power is basically free from any constraints.After the Qin Dynasty, the autocracy of imperial power became stronger and stronger. From the Han to Song Dynasties, the imperial power overwhelmed the power of the ministers. After the Ming Dynasty, the emperor joined the head of state and the head of government as one, and the autocratic imperial power reached its peak.

The so-called centralization refers to a form of decentralization between the central government and local governments.The central government divides the national territory into different levels of administrative management areas, sets up local governments in each division, and assigns or grants certain administrative, military, financial, judicial and other powers to the local governments.In the 2,000 years after the Qin Dynasty, the degree of centralization also gradually strengthened.Although there were several setbacks during the period, extreme local decentralization occurred, resulting in a situation of division and separatism, but the new unified dynasty that followed ensued a higher degree of centralization.Administrative divisions were originally the administrative areas of local governments. After the Song Dynasty, they had been transformed into administrative divisions of central officials, and the centralization system had reached its peak.Therefore, after the Yuan Dynasty, the split situation no longer appeared.

Although Qin Dynasty II died, Qin Shihuang failed to realize his dream of establishing a unified empire for all generations, but the centralized state of imperial autocracy established by him has continued. The administrative division system in which the county system is the expression form has also been followed by the past dynasties. From the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the form of administrative divisions has undergone various and complicated changes. These changes are not only a sign of the mutual growth and decline of centralization and decentralization, but also a sign of the degree of economic development and a manifestation of cultural and regional differences, and sometimes even military operations. the result of.All changes in the administrative district are naturally man-made, but at the same time they cannot get rid of the constraints of the geographical environment.

Administrative divisions not only have variability, but also stability.The administrative divisions of any dynasty are inherited from the previous dynasty and then modified, and there can be no creation out of thin air.The inherited part is called "Yan", and the transformed part is called "Revolution". Therefore, the study of historical administrative division changes in the past belongs to the category of evolutionary geography. In our country, the importance of administrative divisions has been recognized very early."Zhou Li", which is listed in the Thirteen Classics, has a few sentences at the beginning of each chapter: "Only Wang Jianguo, who distinguishes the right position, embodies the country's economics, and sets up officials and divisions, thinking that the people are the best." It means that when Zhou Tianzi established a state, he first determined the geographical location, then demarcated the areas between the country and the country, and finally carried out the work of setting up official positions to complete the measures for managing the people.

"Zhou Li", also known as "Zhou Guan", was written by people in the Warring States Period (or believed to be the Western Han Dynasty), but it was falsely entrusted as the work of Zhou Gong, the younger brother of King Wu of Zhou, so it became a Confucian classic. The term "tiguojingye" was later used as an elegant name for the division of administrative regions.Obviously, local officials can only be dispatched if administrative divisions are established first. There are six counties, and there are guards, lieutenants, and supervisors in each county." During the Warring States period, people had already realized the importance of embodying the country's economy.After the establishment of the unified empire of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the central government regarded the division of administrative regions as a top priority.Therefore, most of the official histories of the past dynasties have a special chapter on "Geography Chronicles" (or "Country and Country Chronicles", "State and County Chronicles"), which is regarded as the actual record of the administrative divisions of the dynasty.After the Tang Dynasty, there were many compilations of national geographic general chronicles and local chronicles.There are also chapters such as "State and County Code", "Geographical Briefing", and "Fang Yu Kao" in some works that specifically discuss laws and regulations, so that we have a large amount of literature that we can use today to explore the real appearance of administrative division changes.