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The Tang dynasty administered the land using a hierarchical system of three descending divisions: circuit ''dào'' (道), prefecture ''zhōu'' (州), and county ''xiàn'' (縣). Prefectures have been called ''jùn'' 郡 as well as ''zhōu'' 州 interchangeably throughout history, leading to cases of confusion, but in reality their political status were the same . The prefectures were furthered classified as either Upper Prefectures (''shàngzhōu'' 上州), Middle Prefectures (''zhōngzhōu'' 中州), or Lower Prectures (''xiàzhōu'' 下州) depending on population. An Upper Prefecture consisted of 40, 000 households and above, a Middle Precture 20, 000 households and above, and a Lower Prefecture anything below 20, 000 households. The scope and limits of each circuit's jurisdiction and authority differed greatly in practice, and often individual circuit governors' powers and autonomy grew to a point that the administrative system became popularly known as the "Three Divisions of Falsehood" (虛三級). As Tang territories expanded and contracted, edging closer to the period of Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, administrative records of these divisions became poorer in quality, sometimes either missing or altogether nonexistent. Although the Tang administration ended with its fall, the circuit boundaries they set up survived to influence the Song Dynasty under a different name: ''lù'' (路). ==History== Emperor Taizong (r. 626−649) set up 10 "circuits" (道, ''dào'') in 627 as inspection areas for imperial commissioners monitoring the operation of prefectures, rather than a new primary level of administration. In the early Tang these geopolitical entities were not based on the realities of governance but rather ease of use when communicating which areas were to be monitored by the imperial commissioners. Prefects answered directly to the central government until the mid Tang Dynasty when circuits took on new governmental responsibilities. In 639, there were 10 circuits, 43 commanderies (都督府, ''dūdū fǔ''), and 358 prefectures (州 and later 府, ''fǔ''). In 733, Emperor Xuanzong expanded the number of circuits to 15 by establishing separate circuits for the areas around Chang'an and Luoyang, and by splitting the large Shannan and Jiangnan circuits into 2 and 3 new circuits respectively. He also established a system of permanent inspecting commissioners, though without executive powers. In the year 740 CE, the administrative establishments of the Tang Dynasty reached 15 circuits, 328 prefectures, and 1573 counties. Under the reforms of Emperors Zhongzong, Ruizong, and Xuanzong, these circuits became permanent administrative divisions. Circuits were assigned a number of permanent imperial commissioners of varying purposes and titles starting around the year 706 CE. The Tang Dynasty also created military districts (藩鎮 ''fānzhèn'', meaning "buffer town") controlled by military commissioners know as jiedushi, charged with protecting frontier areas susceptible to foreign attack (similar to the Western marches and marcher lords). Commanderies, (都督府, dūdū fǔ, literally "Office of the Commander-Governor"), which were border prefectures with a more powerful governor while prefecture (州, Zhōu) was the more common name for an inland secondary levels of administration. Dudu Fu was shortened to Fu, and the convention developed that larger prefectures would be named fu, while smaller prefectures would be called zhou. This system was eventually generalized to other parts of the country as well and essentially merged into the circuits. The greater autonomy and strength of the commissioners permitted insubordination and rebellion which led to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. * Circuits and Military Districts * Commanderies and Prefectures * Counties 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Administrative divisions of the Tang dynasty」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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