The Scale of the State and the Logic of Spatial Governance in the Qing Dynasty
The scale is a significant variable influencing state governance.In the Qing Dynasty,its enormous scale contradicted sharply with its limited governmental capacity,and this tension affected political system design and the functioning of mechanisms at all levels.The limited scale of the government affected the extent to which the Qing Dynasty could exercise control over its vertical space,which resulted in its hesitation on whether to bring local administrative divisions below the county level under direct central governance.Likewise,China was greatly affected by the enormous scale in its territory and population size in the Qing Dynasty.It entered the stage of the early modernization due to Western influence after the mid-Qing period.After it,the Qing Dynasty strived to maintain the existing institutional framework while making internal adjustments.This included dispatching lower-ranking officials to areas outside county seats,exploring administrative structures below the county level to alleviate governance dilemma,and gradually expanding the number of civil and quasi-civil servants outside a streamlined government framework.In terms of horizontal spatial expansion,the"heterogeneity"and"unbalance"brought by the enormous scale placed heavy burdens on governance.This led to efforts to standardize local administrative systems,which also explained the internal motivation for extending the prefecture and county system in border areas.However,the drive for uniformity had limits,and it was needed to be adapted to the actual conditions of various regions.This gave birth to the unique administrative divisions such as the"Ting".In response to the"burden of scale",the Qing Dynasty developed a dynamic system that scientifically classified political regions,linked them with official transfers,promotions,and local governance.This system ensured the effective use and reasonable allocation of limited bureaucratic resources,reshaped the central-local power balance,and influenced the direction of official spatial mobility in the Qing Dynasty.
万方数据
维普
