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16-535: Raozhou or Rao Prefecture (饒州) was a zhou (prefecture) in imperial China centering on modern Poyang County , Jiangxi , China in northeastern Jiangxi at the southeastern shore of the Poyang Lake . In the Yuan , Ming and Qing dynasties it was known as Raozhou Prefecture (饒州路 or 饒州府). This Chinese location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to

32-562: A legal and governmental system borrowed from the Chinese. Though these units did not survive as administrative structures beyond the Muromachi period (1336–1573), they did remain important geographical entities until the 19th century. The seven circuits spread over the islands of Honshū , Shikoku , and Kyūshū : In the mid-19th century, the northern island of Ezo was settled, and renamed Hokkaidō ( 北海道 , "North Sea Circuit") . It

48-457: A lower-tier administrative division, comparable to the county ( simplified Chinese : 县 ; traditional Chinese : 縣 ; pinyin : xiàn , also translated as "districts"). They were used only in the fringes of the empire, which were either inhabited primarily by non-Han Chinese peoples or too geographically isolated from the rest of the Han centers of power. The system fell into disuse after

64-624: Is a historical and modern administrative unit in Japan . The primary level of administrative division of Korea under the Joseon and in modern North and South Korea employs the same Chinese character as the Chinese and Japanese divisions but, because of its relatively greater importance, is usually translated as province instead. Circuits originated in China during the Han dynasty and were used as

80-676: The Osaka and Kyoto Prefectures . In the People's Republic of China , zhou today exists only in the designation " autonomous prefecture " ( Chinese : 自治州 ; pinyin : zìzhìzhōu ), administrative areas for China's designated minorities . However, zhou have left a huge mark on Chinese place names , including the province of Guizhou and the major cities of Guangzhou , Fuzhou , Hangzhou , Lanzhou , and Suzhou , among many others. Likewise, although modern Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese provinces are no longer designated by zhou cognates,

96-563: The Republic of China era, circuits still existed as high-level, though not top-level, administrative divisions such as Qiongya Circuit (now Hainan province). After the Nationalists had successfully reunite China in 1928, all circuits were replaced with committees or simply abandoned. In 1932, administrative circuits ( Chinese : 行政督察區 ; pinyin : xíngzhèng dūchá qū ) were reintroduced and lasted until 1949. In 1949, after

112-493: The collapse of the Western Jin dynasty . The administrative division was revived in 627 when Tang Emperor Taizong made it the highest level administrative division and subdivided China into ten circuits. These were originally meant to be purely geographic and not administrative. Emperor Xuanzong added a further five, and slowly the circuits strengthened their own power until they became powerful regional forces that tore

128-582: The country apart during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period . During the Song and Jin dynasties, circuits (“dao”) were renamed lu ( 路 ), both of which mean "road" or "path". Dao were revived during the Yuan dynasty . Circuits were demoted to the second level after the Yuan dynasty established provinces at the very top and remained there for the next several centuries. The Yuan dynasty also had lu (sometimes translated as "route"), but it

144-551: The founding of the People's Republic of China , all of the administrative circuits were converted into zhuanqu ( Chinese : 专区 ; pinyin : zhuānqū ) in 1949 and renamed diqu ( Chinese : 地区 ; pinyin : dìqū ; lit. 'prefecture') in the 1970s. During the Asuka period (538–710), Japan was organized into five provinces and seven circuits, known as the Gokishichidō (5 ki 7 dō), as part of

160-533: The history of China is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Zhou (country subdivision) Zhou is typically rendered by several terms in the English language : The Tang dynasty also established fǔ ( 府 , "prefectures"), zhou of special importance such as capitals and other major cities. By the Ming and Qing, fǔ became predominant divisions within Chinese provinces. In Ming and Qing,

176-482: The next level down, the commanderies or jùn ( 郡 ). The Tang also added another level on top: the circuit or dào ( 道 ). 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

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192-760: The older terms survive in various place names, notably the Japanese islands of Honshu and Kyushu , the Korean province Jeju-do , and Lai Châu in Vietnam. 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

208-531: The word fǔ ( 府 ) was typically attached to the name of each prefecture's capital city, thus both Chinese and Western maps and geographical works would often call the respective cities Hangzhou -fu, Wenzhou -fu, Wuchang -fu, etc. After the Meiji Restoration , fu was also used in Japanese for the urban prefectures of the most important cities; today, it is still used in the Japanese names for

224-404: 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. Circuit (administrative division) A circuit ( Chinese : 道 ; pinyin : dào or Chinese : 路 ; pinyin : lù ) was a historical political division of China and

240-526: Was simply the Chinese word used for the Mongolian administrative unit, the cölge . The Yuan lu had little to do with the circuits ( lu ) in the Song and Jin dynasties and were closer in size to prefectures. Under the Qing , they were overseen by a circuit intendant or tao-tai ( Chinese : 道臺 ; pinyin : dàotái ). The circuit intendant of Shanghai was particularly influential. During

256-491: 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

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