Zhou (country Subdivision) - History

History

Further information: History of the political divisions of China

Zhou were first mentioned in ancient Chinese texts, notably the "Tribute of Yu" (禹貢, Yǔ Gòng) section of the Classic of History. 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 (郡, pinyin: jùn). The Tang also added another level on top: the circuit. 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 Republic of China abolished zhou altogether, leaving the word only in the names of cities such as Guangzhou and Hangzhou. The People's Republic of China recycled the name, using it to refer to the autonomous prefectures granted to various ethnicities.

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