(Redirected from Prefecture of China)
'Prefecture', in the context of
China, is used to refer to several unrelated
political divisions in both
ancient and
modern China.
In a modern context, 'prefecture-level' (地区级, abbreviated 地级, "region") is used to refer to a level of division between the
province and
county levels. The prefecture level is the
second level in the
administrative hierarchy of the
People's Republic of China. There are four kinds of prefecture-level divisions: prefectures,
prefecture-level cities,
autonomous prefectures, and
leagues.
The modern Chinese prefecture is a relatively recent creation. When the word "prefecture" is encountered in literature referring to ancient China, it refers to either the ''
xian'' or the ''
zhou'', which are two other types of administrative division.
Prefecture
'Prefectures' (地区
pinyin: dìqū) are governed by administrative offices (行政公署 ''xíngzhènggōngshǔ''), led by a head of office (行政首长 ''xíngzhèngshǒuzhǎng'') appointed by the province.
Prefecture is developed from the
Circuit, which was a level between the province level and the county level in
Qing dynasty. In 1928, the government of the
Republic of China abolished the circuit level and the
province administrated
county directly. Soon, this reform was found unfeasible because some provinces had hundreds of counties. Consequently, province was subdivided into several prefectures and regional administrative offices were set up.
At one point, prefectures were the most common type of
prefecture-level division. Today they have been mostly converted into
prefecture-level cities, and the trend is still ongoing.
There are 17 prefectures remaining in
mainland China, mostly in
Xinjiang and
Tibet.
Prefecture-level city
:''Main article:
Prefecture-level city''
Prefecture-level cities (地级市
pinyin: dìjíshì) are cities that are given prefecture status and the right to govern surrounding
counties. In practice, prefecture-level cities are so large that they are just like any other administrative division, and not
cities in the traditional sense of the word at all.
Prefecture-level cities are the most common type of
prefecture-level division in
mainland China today.
League
:''Main article:
League (Inner Mongolia)''
Leagues (盟
pinyin: méng) are the prefectures of
Inner Mongolia. The name comes from an ancient Mongolian administrative unit, which were used during the
Qing Dynasty in
Mongolia. During the
ROC rule, the leagues had status equivalent to provinces. Leagues contain
banners, equivalent to counties.
Just like prefectures, most leagues have been replaced by
prefecture-level cities. There are only 3 leagues remaining in
Inner Mongolia.
Autonomous prefecture
:''Main article:
Autonomous prefecture''
Autonomous prefectures (自治州
pinyin: zìzhìzhōu) either have over 50% of the population with
ethnic minorities or are historically resided by significant minorities. All autonomous prefectures are mostly dominated, in population, by the
Han Chinese. The official name of an autonomous prefecture includes the most dominant minority in that region, sometimes two, rarely three. For example, a
Kazakh (''Kazak'' in official naming system) prefecture may be called ''Kazak Zizhizhou''.
Like all other prefecture-level divisions, autonomous prefectures are divided into
county-level divisions. There is one exception:
Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture contains two prefectures of its own.
Under the
Constitution of the People's Republic of China, autonomous prefectures cannot be abolished. Major Chinese ching
Development zone
Development zones (开发区
pinyin: kāifāqū) were temporary prefecture-level divisions.
Chongqing was a development zone before it became a
municipality, and two development zones were set up within
Chongqing immediately after it became a municipality. These divisions were temporary and no longer exist.
Legal status
The
constitution of the People's Republic of China does not endorse any prefecture-level division, except for autonomous prefectures. Prefectures and leagues are not at all mentioned; provinces are explicitly stated to be divided directly into counties.
The constitution does not explicit endorse the existence of
prefecture-level cities; but it does mention that "
comparatively large cities" (较大的市) are divided into counties and districts. However, there are only 49 prefecture-level cities that have been designated as "comparatively large". As a result, the vast majority of prefecture-level cities do not have the constitutional basis for governing districts and counties.
The wholesale conversion of prefectures into prefecture-level cities has resulted in the phenomenon of "cities containing cities" — prefecture-level cities containing county-level cities. There is no legal basis for this, not even for the 49 "comparatively large cities". Thus, the county-level cities technically do not "belong" to the prefecture-level city, but are instead "governed on behalf" of the province by the prefecture-level city, though in practice the county-level cities do indeed belong to their governing prefecture-level cities.
Ancient sense
In the
history of the political divisions of China, the word "prefecture" has been applied onto two unrelated types of division: the ''xian'' and the ''zhou''. In general the word "prefecture" is applied onto ''xian'' for the period before the
Sui Dynasty and
Tang Dynasty; for the period after, ''xian'' are called "districts" or "counties", while "prefectures" now refer to ''zhou''.
''Xian''
:''Main article:
County (PRC and ROC)''
''Xian'' (县/縣) were first established during the
Warring States Period, and have existed continuously ever since. Today, they continue to form an important part of the
political divisions of China.
''Xian'' has been translated using several
English language terms. In the context of ancient history, "district" and "prefecture" are the most commonly used terms, while "county" is generally used for more contemporary contexts.
''Zhou''
:''Main article:
Zhou (country subdivision)''
''Zhou'' (州) were first established during the
Han Dynasty, and were abolished only with the establishment of the
Republic of China.
''Zhou'' is generally translated as "province" or "region" for the period before the
Sui Dynasty, and "prefecture" for the period from the
Sui Dynasty onwards.
The
People's Republic of China has revived the word ''zhou'' as part of the term "zizhizhou" (自治州), which is translated as "autonomous prefectures", as described above.
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