Chapter 29 epilogue

The above chapters have analyzed the historical process of administrative division changes in the past 2000 years from several angles. Although there is no more detailed description due to space limitations, some conclusive things can be drawn from it, that is: The emergence of any system must be guided by some kind of thought, and administrative divisions are no exception.Ideas have a brewing process, and systems are gradually formed.From thought to action to becoming a custom is a long process.Ideas may be wrong, resurgences may occur, and systems may change repeatedly. The feudal princes of the Han and Jin dynasties with the same surname are typical examples.

Generally speaking, there are always certain reasons for the establishment of new systems and the reform of old systems, either due to the situation, or due to personnel needs, or for various other purposes.Not everyone knew it at the time, and even fewer people knew it in later generations.It is impossible to have a system without advantages and disadvantages. The rulers only weigh the advantages and disadvantages.Although the feudal different surnames in the early Han Dynasty were criticized by later generations, it was an unavoidable action at that time.The division of provinces in the Yuan Dynasty was also the most criticized by later generations, but it was not unreasonable at the time.

The agricultural society in ancient China was a mess, and the natural economy of each family had a stable requirement, and there was no desire for unity.Local separatism has nothing to do with the small-scale peasant economy, as long as there are no natural or man-made disasters, so the greatest function of administrative division level management is to centralize the scattered individual economies under the central government.Although the forms of administrative districts are different due to the transition of dynasties, this change from time to time is just to better perform this function.Therefore, although on the surface, the administrative divisions of the past dynasties have been abolished and abandoned, and the separation and combination are uncertain, but they are all based on the gains and losses of the previous system, without fundamental changes.Moreover, the emergence of any new system is not created out of thin air, but must have a certain predecessor or origin, and then gradually take shape, a certain scale, and then become customized.By the same token, the disappearance of any form of political district is not sudden, and it will not disappear all at once, but must have a transitional evolution process. Before disappearing, there must be a shadow, which gradually deteriorates and transforms into another form.

Furthermore, there are only a few trends in the evolution of administrative divisions in the past dynasties: 1. Those with large territory and high levels in the previous generation will be reduced and reduced in later generations.For example, the state has been reduced from a high-level administrative district to a unified county administrative district (county-level administrative district), and then downgraded to a grass-roots administrative district (county-level administrative district), and its size has become smaller and smaller. 2. The false districts in the previous generation were changed in the later generations, such as the states in the Han Dynasty and the Dao in the Tang Dynasty, all changed from virtual supervisory districts to real administrative districts. 3. Temporary measures become a formal system.The provincial system was originally a wartime measure in the early days of the Mongol and Yuan Dynasties to temporarily rule the conquered areas. Due to the long process of conquest, it was finally made into a custom. 4. The local system became the overall system. In the Tang Dynasty, Jiedushi was originally only in the border areas. During the Anshi Rebellion, Jiedushi was set up all over the border and inland, so that the Fangzhen and Taoism in the late Tang Dynasty were integrated.

Finally, if we use more succinct words to summarize the characteristics of the administrative divisions in 2000, we might as well say this: where there is creation, there must be guiding ideology; where there is reform, there must be a certain reason and basis; where there is change, there must be gradual change rather than a mutation.