Spatio-temporal process and pattern of the establishment of county-level administrative divisions in China in the past 2200 years
The historical evolution of administrative divisions is an important part of historical geography and political geography.The research of the change process of administrative units is the basis of the history of administrative divisions,and the restoration and analysis of the whole process of the evolution of administrative divisions over a long period of time in history is the basic support for exploring the law and governance ability of local administrative system change.Based on the original historical documents such as the official history and geographical records of past dynasties,this paper combs the characteristics of the long-term evolution process and spatial pattern change of China's county-level administrative units in the past 2200 years(221BC-2021).The research results show that:(1)The number of county-level administrative units in Chinese history generally shows an increasing trend,but the total number is basically stable.The Tang and the Qing dynasties had a large number of counties,reaching two peaks.Since the Ming and Qing dynasties,especially since modern times,the number of county-level administrative units has continued to increase,which reflects the historical process of border development and county system expansion.(2)In the historical period,the scope of jurisdiction(the number of counties under the jurisdiction of administrative units that govern county)mainly shows a shrinking trend.The average number of counties under the jurisdiction of the administrative units that govern county decreased from 21.3 in the Qin Dynasty to 8.5 in 2021.(3)In the past 2200 years,the establishment of county-level administrative divisions shows a trend of spatial expansion,but there was partially inward contraction in the Xijin,Liao,Song and Jin dynasties.The counties in the historical periods mainly started from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and gradually expanded outward.The density of counties within each region continued to increase.(4)The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River(Henan,Southern Hebei,Shandong and other places)have long been high-density regions with counties.The density of counties in the Chengdu Plain,Guanzhong Basin and Fenhe River Basin is also relatively high.(5)In the past 2200 years,the center of gravity of county-level administrative divisions has changed by about 3° in the north-south and east-west directions,both of which are located to the southeast of the current geometric center of China.The changes in the center of gravity of the county-level administrative divisions in Chinese history is of great geographical significance,which is basically consistent with the migration process of the population/economic center of gravity in the historical periods.
countycounty-level administrative divisionadministrative units that govern countythe history of Chinaspatio-temporal patternevolution characteristicsChina
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
维普
