Chapter 3 Section 2 Origin of Administrative Divisions

China's cultural traditions are deeply rooted, and everything has a very long history. It is said that in the era of the Yellow Emperor, there was an act of dividing administrative regions.Therefore, Ban Gu's "Hanshu·Geography" said at the beginning: "In the past, in the Yellow Emperor, boats and chariots were built to help the poor, and they traveled all over the world. Fang ruled thousands of miles, divided the states into wilderness, and gained a country of hundreds of miles." The Yellow Emperor has always been regarded as the ancestor of the Chinese nation. Naturally, the invention rights of many things must be attributed to him, and all laws and regulations must also be initiated by him.However, the Yellow Emperor was probably only the leader of the tribal alliance in the primitive society. In the clan society of blood relationship, it was naturally impossible to formulate administrative divisions that reflected the geographical relationship.On the contrary, the actual actions of the descendants to divide the administrative regions became the basis of the legend about the division of states in the Yellow Emperor's paintings.The size of Qin County is based on "a large area of ​​a hundred miles", so the legend of the Yellow Emperor "gaining a country of hundreds of miles" came into being.

"Geography" went on to say: "Yao was flooded, Huaishan Xiangling, the world was cut off, and he was divided into twelve states. Yu was made to control the water. The water and soil were leveled, and the system was changed. Five clothes were listed, and the soil was used as a tribute." It's just a legendary figure, and the matter of the division of Huaye into states is not very reliable, and most people may agree.However, many people believed in Dayu's reorganization of Kyushu.In particular, the "Shangshu", which is listed among the Thirteen Classics, has a text in "Yu Gong", which describes the scope of Kyushu in detail and the division of the five services, which is naturally easy to convince people.Therefore, many local chronicles in ancient and modern times, when describing the historical evolution of the region, all trace back to Kyushu in the era of Dayu.In fact, "Yu Gong" was also a false entrustment of people in the Warring States Period. Kyushu was just a utopian idea popular at that time. In addition to "Yu Gong" Kyushu, the above-mentioned "Zhou Li", there are also "Erya", "Lu Shi "Spring and Autumn" also has its own Kyushu system.

Not only was it impossible for Kyushu to emerge in the era of Dayu, but administrative divisions did not emerge immediately after the emergence of the state.The Xia and Shang dynasties' documents are insufficient to examine, and their state system can be ignored for the time being.Even from the perspective of the political system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, there is no trace of administrative division.In order to rule the vast conquered areas, the political system implemented at the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty was feudalism. Feudalism is the feudal state and the founding of the country. Give it to Doctor Qing, and Doctor Qing can further entrust his own children and retainers. "Zuo Zhuan" said that this system is "the emperor builds the country, and the princes establish the family."Therefore, in the territory of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the three basic geographical levels of Tianxia-Country-Family were formed.

During feudal lordship, a grand ceremony of granting land and people was held, so once the country was established, the land and the people had nothing to do with the emperor.The corresponding obligations of the enfeoffed princes are only paying tribute, making pilgrimages, and assisting in conquests.Therefore, Ouyang Xiu, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, said: "Since more than three dynasties, no one has ruled without dividing the land." In order to maintain the status of "co-lord of the world", it can only adopt the policy of dividing the land and governing the region.This is the situation.Therefore, when later generations praised the superiority of the feudal system, Liu Zongyuan of the Tang Dynasty pointed out brilliantly: "Feudalism is not the will of saints, but it is also powerful." ("On Feudalism")

Because the emperor, feudal lords, and great officials are all rulers of the land, the world, the country, and the family all have relatively independent status. The Zhou Dynasty was actually a society of comprehensive separation of powers, without any form of administrative division.The regional differences in this period only existed between the country and the country.The country is the city, the city is the suburbs, and the suburbs are the fields.The people in the country are the rulers and are called "countrymen"; those who live in the outskirts are called "savages" and are the ruled.The difference between the country and the country is not the difference in administrative divisions, but the difference in systems inside and outside the city-state, which varies from person to person.

The so-called administrative divisions are associated with a centralized state.Only when the monarch divides the territory he directly controls into hierarchical divisions, adopts a centralized governance method, and dispatches officials who are replaced regularly, such divisions can be classified as administrative divisions.The essence of administrative division is to divide the people but not the land.The scene of "Under the Putian, is it the land of the king" ("Xiaoya · Beishan") praised in the book can only be a portrayal of a centralized state, not the truth of the decentralized society of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

The centralized state was gradually formed, born out of the feudal vassal states in the early Zhou Dynasty.Correspondingly, administrative divisions have also gone through stages of germination, development, and full implementation. From the emergence of counties in the early Spring and Autumn Period to Qin Shihuang's division of the world into 36 counties, it has gone through a transitional period of about five centuries. The feudalism in the early Zhou Dynasty had gone through three or four hundred years, the royal family had gradually declined, and the power of the princes had gradually become stronger, forming a situation that Confucius said "there is no way in the world, and the conquest of ritual and music comes from the princes" ("The Analects of Confucius·Ji") .During the Spring and Autumn Period, merger wars broke out among the vassal states, and the monarch continued to concentrate power in his own hands. The land won from the war was no longer entrusted to his subordinates, but became his own directly-administered land, named counties and counties.Qin, Chu, and Jin were the first to establish counties.At first, both counties and counties were located in the border areas of the vassal states, and there was no subordinate relationship between the two.Later, the lost aristocratic fiefdoms were also transformed into counties (such as Jin), and the awareness of administrative divisions emerged.

During the Warring States period, the power was further shifted downwards, even to the point of "accompanying ministers to carry out the country's orders".The power of Doctor Qing has risen, replacing the original princes.The princes of Zhao, Han, and Wei were all officials of Jin, and the division of the three families into Jin became a sign of the beginning of the Warring States Period.Since then, the system of prefectures and counties has been generally established in various countries, and the establishment of counties has become more and more common.Due to the growing prosperity of the counties in the border areas, counties are divided into counties under the counties, so the two-level administrative division of counties under the jurisdiction of counties has taken shape.County and county magistrates are appointed and dismissed by the monarch, and cannot be hereditary; counties and counties are controlled by the monarch, and there are no rewards.In this way, the administrative division system in the form of the county system has been basically completed.Although there are exceptions at this time, one is that Qi has never established counties, but has divided the whole country into five capitals;

At the end of the Warring States period, Qin Shihuang began to annex the six countries one by one.On the newly conquered lands, Qin continued to set up new counties and abolished feudal towns. On the eve of the unification of the world, the situation of "counties and counties within the sea" had been realized.However, during the Warring States Period, counties were always set up on the frontiers and newly conquered lands, often giving people the feeling of temporary measures psychologically.There have never been prefectures in the Qin State. Therefore, after the unification of the world, what kind of local system will be adopted is still not completely certain. This is the cause of the debate at the beginning of this book.At that time, most people's minds were still imprisoned by the feudal system, and they believed that only this system was the orthodox way.Only Li Si resisted all opinions and believed that if the feudal system was restored, the enfeoffed princes would inevitably attack each other due to estrangement of relatives, leading to the demise of the dynasty.

Qin Shihuang also understood this truth, so he resolutely sided with the minority Li Si, fully implemented the system of prefectures and counties, and abolished all fiefdoms.Make the whole world truly become the territory directly under the emperor alone.Most of the people in later generations praised this wise decision, saying that Qin Shihuang's move was "dismissing the marquis and setting up guards", "abolishing the feudal title and establishing counties and counties", and it was one of the few most important events in Chinese history. Of course, the implementation of the system of prefectures and counties is not a purely personal will, but an inevitable social development, but it is an indelible achievement of outstanding historical figures to be able to foresight and make the best use of the situation.Although the local system of prefectures and counties had appeared for hundreds of years before the Qin Dynasty, the realization of a comprehensive system of prefectures and counties still required Qin Shihuang's last move.In particular, the county-level administrative districts did not simply accept the legacy of the old six countries, but underwent a new planning.The five capitals of Qi State were changed to two counties, and counties were also set up in the interior of the other five countries, and their border counties were adjusted. For example, Xihe County of Wei and Wu County of Chu were cancelled, and even the number "36" There is also a history.That's why Sima Qian solemnly recorded the important event of "dividing the world into thirty-six counties" in "Historical Records" (Figure 1).

Since then, the administrative division in 2000 has developed and changed on the basis of 36 counties.How these changes occur, what are the rules, and what effects have been caused will be explained below.

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