History of the political divisions of China

This article talks about the history of the political divisions of China.

ummary

Provinces under the Tang Dynasty

The Emperor Taizong of Tang (r. 626-649) set up 10 circuits in 627 as an additional level of administration on top. These were originally meant to be purely geographic and not administrative (some being enormous), the prefecture being the true, human-manageable, administrative division. Emperor Xuanzong added five circuits in (or until) 733, bringing the number up to 15 circuits.

The Tang Dynasty also created "jiedushi", who were military governors governing frontier areas susceptible to foreign attack. The Jiedushi system was eventually generalized to other parts of the country as well, and in effect merged with the circuits. The Jiedushi slowly strengthened their own power in their respective circuits or area, these would become a source of rebellion and warlordism, that tore the country apart provoking the fall of the Tang empire and starting the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. The Song Dynasty that emerged out of this crisis abolished "jiedushi", and named its first-level division "lu", which is also translated as "circuits":

Hence, under Tang dynasty we had :
* LV1: Circuits (道 "dào", 10 from Taizong to Xuanzong, 15 since Xuanzong), subdivised into...
* LV2: Prefectures (larger: 府 "fǔ"; regular: 州 "zhōu"), themselves subdivised into...
* LV3: Counties ( _zh. 縣/ _zh. 县 "xiàn") (also translated as "districts")

Provinces under the Yuan Dynasty

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:

* LV1: Provinces (行中書省 "xíngzhōngshūshěng")
* LV2: Circuits (道 "dào")
* LV3: Prefectures (larger: 府 "fǔ"; regular: 州 "zhōu")
* LV4: Counties (縣 "xiàn") (also translated as "districts")

Compare with the actual provinces of mainland China at Political divisions of China#Province.

Levels:
* Greater administrative areas (大區 dàqū)
* Provinces (省 "shěng")
* Prefectures (專區 "zhuānqū")
* Counties (縣 "xiàn")
* District public offices (小區 xiǎoqū)
* Townships (鄉 xiāng)

1950s

In 1952 the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui and Sichuan were restored. Pingyuan and Chahar were split into their surrounding provinces. Nanjing, old capital of the Republic of China, was deprived of municipality status and annexed by Jiangsu province. In 1953 Changchun and Harbin were elevated to municipality status.

In 1954 a massive campaign to cut the number of provincial-level divisions was initiated. Of the 14 municipalities existing in 1953, 11 were annexed by nearby provinces, with only Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin remaining. The province of Liaoning was formed out of the merger of Liaodong and Liaoxi, while Suiyuan and Ningxia disappeared into Inner Mongolia and Gansu.

The greater administrative area level was abolished in 1954.

The process continued in 1955 with Rehe being split among Hebei, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, and Xikang disappearing into Sichuan. In that same year Xinjiang became the second autonomous region of China, and plans for a third, Tibet Autonomous Region, were initiated. Qamdo territory was put under the planned Tibet Autonomous Region.

In 1957 two more autonomous regions were added, Ningxia (split back out of Gansu) and Guangxi (which was previously a province). In 1958 Tianjin was annexed by Hebei, leaving only two municipalities, Beijing and Shanghai.

1960s and 1970s

In 1965 Tibet Autonomous Region was established out of the formerly self-governing Tibet region, plus Qamdo territory. In 1967 Tianjin was split back out as a municipality.

1980s and 1990s

Starting in the 1980s, prefecture-level cities and county-level cities began to appear in very large numbers, usually by replacing entire prefectures and counties. Hainan was split out of Guangdong and set up as a province in 1988.

In 1997 Chongqing became the fourth municipality of China. In that same year Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule and became the first special administrative region. Macau became the second in 1999.

In the 1990s, there has been a campaign to abolish district public offices as a level. By 2004 very few remain.

In the meantime, most prefectures have become prefecture-level cities.

Levels:
* LV 1: Provinces (省 "shěng")
* LV 2: Prefectures (地区 "dìqū")
* LV 3: Counties (县 "xiàn")
* LV 4: Townships (乡 xiāng)

ee also

*Physiographic macroregions of China‎

References

External links

* [http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/hbgovernment-u.html Summary of terms]
* [http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/china_admin_1971.jpgMap showing the provincial boundaries of the PRC in 1971]