Political Subdivision: Commanderies and Counties

Division into commanderies and counties can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 B.C.). However, it was not until Qinshihuang conquered the other six states that the idea of political subdivision was officially implemented nationwide. Commanderies and counties emerged as dominant units of local government after the Qin (221-206 B.C.) and Han (206 B.C. - A.D. 220) dynasties. The commandery, headed by the governor, was the highest level of local government under the central government. Administrative divisions under a commandery were called counties, headed by county magistrates. This hierarchical relationship between counties, com- manderies, the central government, and the emperor constituted a pyramid-like power structure. In this structure, the central government vertically oversaw local affairs and exercised oversight over the performance of local officials, and local chief administrators were appointed and removed directly by the emperor and might be subject to rotation. The introduction of this structure fundamentally changed the landscape of local government dominated by self-contained, separate fiefdoms that had existed since the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 B.C.), and broke the aristocracy's monopoly of government positions. It heralded the emergence of the bureaucratic class in place of the aristocracy and was crucial to strengthening centralization and maintaining national unity.

This political subdivision system provided an institutional basis for "grand unity" in ancient China that led to the establishment of a unified country. It has had a far-reaching impact on China's local administration, and China's current administrative division system has evolved from its ancient predecessor.

郡縣制

郡縣制起源于春秋時(shí)期，秦始皇統(tǒng)一六國(guó)后正式推行全國(guó)，秦漢以后成為地方最基礎(chǔ)的行政管理制度?？?，是在中央政府管理下的最高一級(jí)的地方行政機(jī)構(gòu)，設(shè)郡守為最高行政長(zhǎng)官?？h，是郡的下級(jí)行政機(jī)構(gòu)，設(shè)縣令為最高行政長(zhǎng)官。縣、郡、中央政府與皇帝之間等級(jí)分明，構(gòu)成了一個(gè)金字塔式的權(quán)力結(jié)構(gòu)。在郡縣制中，中央垂直管理地方，地方行政長(zhǎng)官由皇帝直接任免，并在一定任期內(nèi)進(jìn)行流換?？たh制從根本上改變了西周以來(lái)分封割據(jù)的狀況，打破了貴族勢(shì)力對(duì)政府職務(wù)的壟斷，成為官僚政治取代貴族政治的標(biāo)志， 對(duì)于加強(qiáng)中央集權(quán)，維護(hù)國(guó)家統(tǒng)一具有重要意義。

郡縣制是大一統(tǒng)國(guó)家的制度基石，推動(dòng)古代大一統(tǒng)國(guó)家的建立。郡縣制對(duì)中國(guó)地方行政制度影響深遠(yuǎn)，中國(guó)現(xiàn)行的行政區(qū)劃制度就是在傳統(tǒng)郡縣制的基礎(chǔ)上演變和發(fā)展來(lái)的。