Қытайдың тарихи әкімшілік-саяси бөліністері: Чжоу жүйесі

Historical administrative and political division of China

Zhou were historical administrative and political divisions of China. Formally established during the Han dynasty, zhou existed continuously for over 2000 years Zhou were also once used in Korea (주, ju), Vietnam and Provinces of Japan (Japan).

Zhou were first mentioned in ancient Chinese texts, notably the Yu Gong or Tribute of Yu, section of the Book of Documents. All agreed on the division of China into nine zhou, though they differed on their names and position. These zhou were geographical concepts, not administrative entities. The Han dynasty was the first to formalize the zhou into actual administrative divisions by establishing 13 zhou all across China. Because these zhou were the largest divisions of the China at the time, they are usually translated as "provinces". After the Han dynasty, however, the number of zhou began to increase. By the time of the Sui dynasty, there were over a hundred zhou all across China. The Sui and Tang dynasties merged zhou with the next level down, the commanderies or jùn (lang=zh). The Tang also added another level on top: the circuit or dào (lang=zh). Henceforth, zhou were lowered to second level status, and the word becomes translated into English as "prefecture". Thereafter, zhou continued to survive as second or third level political divisions until the Qing dynasty. The People's Republic of China recycled the name, using it to refer to the autonomous prefectures granted to various ethnicities.