Up to now, China has a total of more than 290 prefecture-level cities under its jurisdiction. Prefecture-level cities evolved from the regions of that year, and regions evolved from special districts. In the 1950s and 1960s, there were more than 100 special districts under the jurisdiction of the country. For the title of the special area, I believe that everyone will certainly not be unfamiliar. For example, Handan Special District, Tianjin Special District, Kaifeng Special District, etc., the status of the special district is more complicated, which has evolved step by step from modern and modern history. So, in 1983, why did many special districts and regions in China become prefecture-level cities? Today, we will talk about the reform of administrative divisions in the 1980s.
First of all, we need to talk about the administrative divisions in ancient China, because administrative divisions evolved step by step. During the reign of the Zhou Dynasty, the imperial court adopted a system of sub-fiefs, and a large number of dukes, marquises, and counts were awarded everywhere. Once the rule of the imperial court collapsed, the princes of various places began to divide themselves militarily, resulting in the great chaos of the Spring and Autumn Warring States period. The Qin Dynasty unified the whole country, and there was a great controversy about whether to adopt the sub-feudal system or the county system. Eventually, the Qin Dynasty adopted a system of counties and counties, dividing the country into 36 counties, with a number of counties under the jurisdiction of one county. During the reign of the Han Dynasty, the county system was further improved.
But as the number of counties increased, the imperial court did not know much about the places. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Han Dynasty divided the country into 13 states, such as Jingzhou, Yuzhou, and so on. Please note that the state is a supervisory district, not an administrative district. With the change of the times, there were 15 provinces in the Tang Dynasty and 23 roads in the Song Dynasty, which belonged to the supervision areas. However, it began to gradually intervene in local administration and became a semi-supervisory and semi-administrative region. After the Yuan Dynasty unified the whole country, due to the unprecedented vast territory, the Yuan Dynasty faced problems in various aspects in terms of administrative management. Eventually, the Yuan Dynasty introduced the Xingzhongshu province system, dividing the country into 10 provinces. Since this time, China's administrative divisions have been formally established as three levels of administrative divisions of provinces, prefectures and counties.
During the reign of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the provincial system continued to be used, but the administrative division was further improved. We take Henan Province as an example, henan province has jurisdiction over Kaifeng Province, Henan Province, Zhangde Province, Huaiqing Province, Weihui Province, Guide Province, Nanyang Province, Chenzhou, Xuzhou, Gwangju and other places. Each prefecture and prefecture has several counties under its jurisdiction. Each province shall set up high-ranking officials such as inspectors, envoys, envoys, and admirals, and each province shall set up officials such as prefects, tongzhi, tongjue, and push officials, and each county shall set up officials such as zhixian, county clerks, and chief bookkeepers. It is crucial that the superior has absolute right to evaluate the subordinate.
Until the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the hierarchical pattern of administrative divisions had not changed much. In 1912, the Qing Dynasty, which had ruled for more than 200 years, collapsed, and subsequently, China entered the period of beiyang warlord rule. Since this time, the administrative divisions of our country have undergone great changes, the divisions at the prefectural level have been abolished, and the provinces directly administer the counties in various places. Therefore, in some film and television dramas, there are plots of provincial officials directly receiving county-level officials. However, each province has at least a few dozen counties under its jurisdiction, and sometimes hundreds of counties. Relying on the provincial government organs was simply not busy, and in 1928, after the end of the Northern Expedition, the regime at that time introduced the system of supervision zones. In 1930, each province was divided into supervision districts, which were sent as the dispatch agencies of the provincial government organs, and the supervision areas belonged to the semi-supervision and semi-administrative organs.
Fast forward to the late 1940s, when much of the country had been liberated. After the founding of New China, great changes have taken place in China's administrative divisions. At that time, each province was divided into several special districts, such as Henan Province, which had Kaifeng Special District, Luoyang Special District, Shangqiu Special District, and Nanyang Special District under its jurisdiction. Each special district has a few to a dozen counties under its jurisdiction, for example, Shangqiu Special District has 12 counties under its jurisdiction. The status of the special district is similar to that of the current prefecture-level city, but the jurisdiction is larger than the current prefecture-level city, which is roughly equivalent to two or three prefecture-level cities. Each district has a special district office and a special district commissioner, please note that the special district is not a complete administrative division.
Special districts are quasi-administrative divisions, because special districts belong to the dispatch agencies of provincial government organs, and are not standard first-level administrative divisions. The zone was used for more than 30 years, and in 1949, the districts of each region began to be established. In 1970, the special districts in various parts of the country were changed to regions. Please note that the reform from a district to a district is only a word difference. However, it has evolved from quasi-administrative divisions to standard administrative divisions, and in 1975, in a new round of provisions, the districts officially became first-level administrative divisions, under the management of provincial government organs, responsible for the management of the counties and states under their jurisdiction, and this administrative division lasted for more than 10 years.
In 1978, China began reform and opening up, and the economy began to develop rapidly. Especially in the southeast coastal area, the economic development is very fast. In order to better adapt to economic development, many areas of coastal provinces began to reform into prefecture-level cities. The change from a region to a prefecture-level city is another step towards a standard administrative division. With the deepening of reform, the regions under the jurisdiction of China's inland provinces have begun to be reformed into prefecture-level cities. In 1983, many areas in China were successively reformed into prefecture-level cities. Note, however, that not all districts have been converted to prefecture-level cities. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a situation in which prefecture-level cities and regions coexisted.
For example, in Henan Province, Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Kaifeng and other areas have been reformed into prefecture-level cities, while Shangqiu, Zhoukou and other places are still regions. It was not until the beginning of the 21st century that the various regions under the jurisdiction of China's provinces were basically reformed into prefecture-level cities. As of now, there are still some areas that have not been reformed, and the reasons for this are very complicated. Seriously speaking, since the regional reform has become a prefecture-level city, it is conducive to the economic development of various regions. Because prefecture-level cities have greater autonomy, they are able to plan and develop their economies according to their actual conditions.
Finally, let's talk about the evolution of prefecture-level cities. At that time, the special districts and regions were larger than the current prefecture-level cities, for example, the Kaifeng area managed a total of 11 counties. In 1983, during the reform of the prefecture-level city, the Kaifeng area was abolished. Six counties in the west are assigned to Zhengzhou City, and five counties in the east are assigned to Kaifeng City. Such a situation is not unique, for example, Pingdingshan City, Luohe City and other local cities, are divided from the original area. There are many more stories about the adjustment of China's administrative divisions, and in future articles, the author will talk to you slowly.