After the establishment of unification in the Yuan Dynasty, 10 provinces were established throughout the country, changing the road system since the Tang and Song dynasties. The impact of the Yuan Dynasty's move on China's administrative divisions was enormous. Since then, the provincial system has undergone continuous evolution and become today's provincial system, which means that the provincial system has lasted in China for nearly 800 years. Why did the provincial system of the Yuan Dynasty succeed?
First, the provinces have improved their efficiency under the premise of achieving centralization
Before the Yuan Dynasty, China's local system was a county system or a state system. In 221 BC, the Qin Dynasty unified the six kingdoms and implemented the county system throughout the country, marking the formal formation of the centralized system. Since then, China's local system has evolved on the basis of the Qin Dynasty. However, successive dynasties have had difficulty in resolving the basic contradictions of local divisions, that is, the contradiction between centralization and efficiency.
When the centralization of power is excessive, then the local administrative enthusiasm is reduced, and the administrative efficiency is greatly reduced. At the same time, the number of local officials will increase significantly, and the local bureaucracy will be redundant, which will increase the financial burden on the state. Excessive centralization of power will also lead to a decline in the ability of local governments to cope with external troubles, and it is difficult to resist the intrusion of neighboring ethnic groups. The Northern Song Dynasty is an example of excessive centralization. At the end of the dynasty, in order to suppress the peasant uprising, the imperial court would delegate power to the localities, but it also made the local separatist forces larger, resulting in the collapse of the country, and the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty fell apart.
Therefore, how to improve administrative efficiency under the condition of ensuring centralized power has become a thorny problem. The Golden State from the northeast offers a new way of thinking. At the beginning of the Jin Dynasty's destruction of the Northern Song Dynasty, Xingtai Shangshu Province was set up in Yanjing as a branch of Shangshu Province. Xingtai Shangshu Province, dispatched by Shangshu Province, had greater military and political autonomy at the local level, which was conducive to the Jin State's control of the Central Plains. After the Hailing King moved the capital to Yanjing, Xingtai Shangshu Province was abolished, but this model was passed down.
At the end of the Jin Dynasty, in order to resist the Mongol invasion, it gave the local government greater autonomy and set up Xingshangshu Province throughout the country. After the Mongol conquest of the Central Plains, they began to learn the political system of the Central Plains. During the Wokoutai period, Mongolia established Zhongshu Province in the central government as the highest administrative body in the country. In 1251, Möngke established Xingshangshu Province in Yanjing as the highest institution in Mongolia to manage Han China. In addition, Möngke also set up shangshu province in Western Asia, such as the Amu Darya River. Xingshang Shu Province is the germ of the provincial system of the Yuan Dynasty.
Provinces often held local administrative, military, financial and other powers, and had strong autonomy, which met the needs of the expansion of the Mongol Empire. Compared with the Song Dynasty, the jurisdiction of the provinces was very large, the power was also increased, and the administrative enthusiasm was increased. At the same time, the provinces are the sending agencies of the central authorities, and their main officials are from the central government, not from the localities. Qian Mu said, "Xingzhongshu Province is a central government that acts, the police station of the Prime Minister's Office. Stationed in this place to manage things. Thus the power of the province comes from the center, and he is subject to the control of the highest administrative organ of the center. From this point of view, the provincial system solves the contradiction between centralization and efficiency.
Second, the provincial system breaks the traditional division of mountains and rivers
After Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, he upgraded the original Xingshangshu Province to Zhongshu Province, becoming the highest administrative body in the country. In order to adapt to the change of form, Kublai Khan set up the Ten Roads Xuanfu Division in the Central Plains, and at the same time set up Xingzhongshu Province in Hedong, Xixia, Sichuan, Henan, Tokyo (Liaodong), Yunnan and other regions as the dispatch agency of Zhongshu Province. These governors are all officials of the central government, such as Pingzhang, and at the same time have a temporary nature.
After the Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Southern Song Dynasty, the four provinces of Zhuandong, Hunan, Longxing, and Fujian were set up in the south, and eleven Xuanwei Divisions were set up. In order to conquer Japan, Champa and Burma, the provinces of Zhengdong, Champa and Burma were set up. In the first 10 years of the yuan dynasty, the provinces were basically set up for military conquest, and the changes were very large. In 1286, it was stipulated that the governor of the province was no longer a capital province (Zhongshu Province), but only a certain province, which marked the beginning of the transformation of the province into a local administrative body. By the middle of the Yuan Dynasty, the number and area of provinces were also fixed, forming ten major provinces of Lingbei, Liaoyang, Henan Jiangbei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Gansu, Yunnan, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, Jiangxi, and Huguang.
The main purposes for which the Yuan Dynasty set up provinces were also different. Among them, Lingbei Province was to control the "land of Taizu Zhaoji" and prevent the Mongol kings from rebelling; the three provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Huguang, and Jiangxi were mainly to suppress the rebellious forces in Jiangnan and collect taxes at the same time; the four provinces of Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan, and Henan, As the throat of controlling the world, there were a large number of troops stationed. The provinces at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty were similar to the current military districts.
Because the establishment of the provinces of the Yuan Dynasty was closely related to military conquest, the provinces as a whole formed a pattern of "using the north to dominate the south". The capital of the province is generally located at the northern end of the province or at the throat of waterway traffic. For example, the Provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang established by the Yuan Dynasty controlled Fujian, Jiangxi provinces controlled Guangdong, and Huguang Provinces controlled Guangxi. In this way, the gateway to the Lingnan region was opened to the north, which was conducive to the military control of the Yuan Dynasty over the Lingnan region.
Since ancient times, China's administrative divisions have been divided according to the geographical situation of mountains and rivers, which is conducive to local economic and cultural exchanges, but it also enables local warlords to stand on the basis of danger. The Yuan Dynasty implemented the system of north to south, breaking the pattern of the mountain and river situation, making it difficult for local warlords to gain a foothold. For example, the Hanzhong region of Sichuan was assigned to Shaanxi Province, which made Sichuan Province lack a northern barrier.
Third, the development and regulation of the provincial system
The provincial system of the Yuan Dynasty ensured the centralization of power, improved the efficiency of local administration, and was conducive to preventing local divisions, using the needs of the Great Unification of the Yuan Dynasty. However, the provincial system of the Yuan Dynasty also had several important shortcomings, one was that the jurisdiction of the provinces was too large; the second was to excessively break the shape of mountains and rivers, which was not conducive to the development of the local economy; and the third was to deprive the power of Lufu Prefectures and counties too much, resulting in the decline of local administrative functions. Therefore, the provincial system must be continuously improved in order to continue to maintain its vitality.
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it inherited the provincial system of the Yuan Dynasty and transformed it. First of all, the Ming Dynasty increased the number of provinces, reduced the jurisdiction of provinces, and eventually formed a situation of two capitals and thirteen provinces; second, the provinces were divided into three parts: the Department of Political Envoys, the Department of Commanding Envoys, and the Department of Punishment and Envoys, collectively known as the "Three Divisions", which were in charge of the administrative, military, and judicial powers of a province. In this way, the power of the provinces was weakened; third, the boundaries of the provinces were adjusted, and the period was more in line with the shape of the mountains and rivers.
However, the Excessive decentralization of power in the Ming Dynasty once again appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty, that is, the local administrative efficiency was inefficient and the financial burden was aggravated. In order to solve this problem, the Ming Dynasty gradually set up inspectors or governors in the provinces in the later period to control the financial, military, administrative and other powers of the localities. In the Qing Dynasty, it continued to develop on this basis, making the governor the supreme local governor. Therefore, the provincial system was divided by the Ming Dynasty and eventually evolved back to centralization.
In the evolution of the Ming Dynasty, the provincial system was constantly tried and optimized, and finally a stable system was formed. During the Qing Dynasty, the interior was divided into 18 provinces, and later provinces were set up in Xinjiang, Northeast China, Taiwan and other places, which basically laid the territory of today's administrative divisions. In the process of evolution, the province continued to adapt to the development of society and adjusted, and finally continued to this day.
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