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The Liao dynasty was an empire established by the Khitans. This article discusses the provincial system that existed within the Liao dynasty from the early 10th century until the fall of the empire in 1125, in what is now North China, Northeast China and Mongolia. ==Overview== The expansion of the Liao dynasty in the 10th century eventually necessitated some sort of administrative division. During the reign of the first Liao emperor Abaoji, he informally divided his lands into a northern region and a southern region; the third emperor, Shizong, formalized this arrangement in 947.〔Twitchett and Tietze, p. 77〕 The northern section was mostly (but not entirely) inhabited by the Khitan and other nomadic tribes, while the southern half was largely inhabited by sedentary peoples, such as Han Chinese and Po-hai. Each region had its own capital and its own system of law. The northern region was originally governed mostly through a traditional Khitan system of tribal government, but a second system was set in place〔Hucker, p. 54〕 that dealt with sedentary people living within its borders. The government of the southern region, in contrast, adopted many Chinese institutions and legal systems. As time went on and the Liao consolidated their hold over their sedentary possessions, the southern region was eventually split into four provinces (called circuits).〔Wittfogel and Chia-sheng, p. 37〕 This meant that, by the middle of the 11th century, the Liao Empire was divided into a total of five circuits. The names of their capitals are listed below: The high-ranking officials of each circuit would travel to the emperor's camp twice a year and discuss matters of the state. Each capital, except for the Supreme Capital, was governed by a regent, who was normally a member of the imperial family.〔Hucker, p. 53〕 The governors of the southern provinces enjoyed a degree of power but were still under the firm control of the emperor and his advisers, who were mainly from the Northern Region. In addition, the southern governors were barred from having any effective command over the military; the emperor and his court were careful to reserve this power for themselves.〔Twitchett and Tietze, p. 80〕 Below the regents, government officers tended to be of the same ethnic background as the populations they ruled over; generally speaking, officials in the north were largely Khitan, while those in the south were not.〔Wittfogel and Chia-sheng, p. 446, states that most southern officials were Chinese. For an overview of the government offices that existed in both the northern and southern regions of the Liao empire, see Hucker, pp. 53-5〕 Although there were several exceptions, circuits were usually subdivided into prefectures, which were then themselves subdivided into counties ruled by magistrates. The powers of the prefects and magistrates varied depending on the region and time period; in several situations some of their functions were assumed by officials of the circuit level or the central government. In general, however, prefects were responsible for the collection of taxes and management of regionally stationed military forces, while magistrates dealt with village leaders and made sure the laws of the government were being carried out on a local basis.〔Wittfogel and Chia-sheng, pp. 448-9〕 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 Liao dynasty」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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