The periphery of the city formed in ancient times is also the place where big cities gather now, but it is only the periphery, and the scale of the city is smaller than that of the present periphery.

The periphery of the city formed in ancient times is also the place where big cities gather now, but it is only the periphery, and the scale of the city is smaller than that of the present periphery. Why? In fact, your problem comes down to the evolution of a city. On this issue, let's talk about the evolution of China's administrative districts, population and cities and their reasons:

The evolution of administrative districts, population and cities in China can be basically divided into three stages, each of which has its own characteristics. The main reason for the evolution is economy, but politics and military also played a great role. This paper makes a brief introduction to this.

The first stage before Tang dynasty

Administrative divisions The ancient administrative divisions in China were formed early and changed greatly. The western Zhou dynasty implemented the enfeoffment system, and the local government adopted the method of enfeoffment to establish the country. Except for a piece of land directly managed by Wang Ji, Zhou Wang ruled other parts of the national territory through the hierarchical enfeoffment system. The foundation of enfeoffment is blood relationship, and the purpose of establishing vassal States is to defend the royal family, obey the emperor's orders, pay tribute on schedule, and follow the battle. After the mid-Spring and Autumn Period, some vassal states became strong and began to develop centralization. Newly developed land or land seized from private hands is no longer fenced, but directly managed by officials sent by the monarch. The early state management model based on blood relationship began to give way to administrative divisions. The emergence and development of administrative divisions is the adjustment of superstructure to adapt to the improvement of productivity. During the Warring States period, the county system and the enfeoffment system went hand in hand. After Qin unified the six countries, the county system officially became the unified administrative system of the whole country. Qin Shihuang practiced the county system throughout the country. Except for Gyeonggi area, which is managed by the central government, the rest areas are divided into 36 counties. By the end of Qin dynasty, there were about 50 county-level administrative regions. According to incomplete statistics, there were thousands of counties in the Qin Dynasty. The implementation of the county system is the direction of historical development, but the implementation of the single county system in the immature conditions of the Qin Dynasty is also one of the important reasons for its rapid demise. "The fastest change is people's thoughts, and the slowest change is people's thoughts." The rulers of the Qin dynasty ignored the strength and interests of the old nobles. The peasant uprising in Qin Dynasty was used by the old aristocrats, and Xiang Yu resumed the enfeoffment system. However, it is obviously out of date to completely return to the system of enfeoffment and restore the feudal regime. Xiang Yu's practice is against the historical trend, so his failure is also rapid and inevitable. The establishment and long-term rule of the Western Han Dynasty were all due to the administrative system. The Western Han Dynasty adopted a parallel administrative system of counties and countries, and also implemented a two-level system, namely, counties (countries) and counties (countries, cities and roads). Counties and counties were inherited by the Qin Dynasty, which is the requirement of historical development, and the enfeoffment system is a compromise to the old nobles. The coexistence of counties and countries in the Western Han Dynasty was determined by the social situation at that time. This eclectic administrative division is conducive to social stability and economic development. The change of administrative divisions in the Eastern Han Dynasty is characterized by the change from the two-level system to the three-level system, that is, the county (country) county (city, state and road) system. In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the state was only a supervision area, not an administrative area. Officials ignored the people and could not interfere in local administration. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in order to suppress the Yellow turban insurrectionary uprising and strengthen local power, the state was changed from a prison area to an administrative area. The administrative divisions of the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties have not changed much, but it should be pointed out that the counties in the Western Jin Dynasty began to be classified according to the population. This method of dividing administrative divisions in the Western Jin Dynasty had a considerable impact on later generations.

From the establishment of the Xia Dynasty to the turn of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China experienced 16 centuries of slavery, and the social productive forces developed greatly: the application of copper and iron; Niu Geng was promoted; Water conservancy has also made great progress; Commerce, handicrafts and the rise of a large number of cities and so on. All these are mutually causal with population growth. According to Huangfu Mi's The Emperor's Century, there were 6.5438+0355 million people around 265.438+040 BC, 6.5438+0372 million people around 65438+0060 BC and 6.5438+0885 million people in 684 BC.

The Spring and Autumn Period is a period of great changes in the history of China, when slavery began to disintegrate and feudalism began to sprout. In the late spring and autumn period, the productivity has been greatly improved and the population has increased obviously. According to historical records, the population of this period can reach more than 25 million. From the 5th century BC to the 7th century AD, it took about 1090 years, and the population of China increased from 20 million to more than 60 million, which set foot on the first high step of China's population development curve and experienced the first big change in population distribution, which made the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River always change with population as the center. Let's briefly describe it below.

The population in the Warring States period was estimated to exceed 20 million, and it may exceed 30 million at the peak, which is about 1/5 higher than that in the Spring and Autumn Period, and 4/5 of them are located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. During the Warring States period, the transition from slavery to feudalism was basically completed, and the improvement of productivity and economic development promoted the population growth. However, during the Warring States period, the population growth was not fast, mainly because the continuous war suppressed the population growth. After Qin's reunification, it originally created conditions for the development of population, but Qin Shihuang's barbaric policy of "subjugating the country to slavery" and abuse of people's power caused a great retrogression in economy and population, and the peasant uprising and the dispute between Chu and Han both hindered the development of population. After the Qin dynasty destroyed the six countries, the total population was about 20 million, which was reduced to180,000 in the early Han dynasty. Compared with the peak in the Warring States period, the reduction rate reached 40%. This is the first catastrophe for the population of China. During the Western Han Dynasty, the rulers adopted a series of measures to promote economic and population development. By the time of "the rule of Wenjing", the population of the whole country had reached more than 30 million, which increased to 38 million in the early years of Emperor Wu and 65 million in the years of Emperor Ping. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, social contradictions became increasingly acute. Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty and launched a war against the Huns. Coupled with years of disasters, the population of China has dropped by half in just two or three decades. The north, especially the Central Plains, is devastated, while the south is relatively calm. A large number of refugees moved south, and the population of China increased in the south and decreased in the north. Compared with the year of 140, the proportion of population in the Yellow River basin, the Yangtze River basin and the Pearl River basin changed from 83: 16: 1 in AD 2 to 63: 33: 4. The Eastern Han Dynasty lasted for nearly 200 years, and the population gradually recovered, exceeding 70 million in A.D. 180. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the war, the three kingdoms regime, the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties regime, the population dropped sharply. At the time of the war in the Central Plains, the south was not ravaged by the war, the economy was developed, and refugees moved south. Fan Wenlan estimated that the population of South China reached 20 million in General History of China. During the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, the total population of China fluctuated around 40 million. At this time, the population gap between north and south is very small.

From its birth to the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were 26 cities. Geographically, it is mainly concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the upper reaches of the Huaihe River, with the most concentrated in southern Shanxi, northern Henan and eastern Henan. At this time, the city was small in scale and simple in function. By the end of this century, despite the annexation war between governors, there were still 140 princes' first cities. Under the patriarchal clan system in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the relationship between cities at all levels in the country can be regarded as the relationship between all parts of the human body, and the size and grade of cities can strengthen the patriarchal clan system and political relations. Basically, a three-level city network with political functions has been formed in the country, that is, the king city ranks first and is the political center of the patriarchal clan system in the country; The vassal state city ranked second, which was the stronghold of clan system and consanguineous politics in a region of Zhou Dynasty. The capital of Dafu Qing is the third level, which is the clan political stronghold of Zhou Dynasty. This hierarchical relationship can be regarded as a proof of the top-down hierarchical scale relationship with politics as the center in China's history.

China towns were originally formed in the transitional period from slave society to feudal society, and developed in feudal society. The establishment of county system and the increase of agricultural products and handicrafts in Qin and Han dynasties promoted the development of cities.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the north was the economic center of China, and the distribution of cities was mainly in the north. Judging from the regional spatial structure of urban distribution, it is mainly concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the number of cities accounts for about 40% of the total number of cities in China. Followed by Huaihai River Basin, accounting for14%; Generally speaking, the higher the level of economic development, the denser the urban distribution. Of course, the most important city in this period was the administrative center. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, there were 1690 cities as administrative centers, which were the main bodies in the early urban system of China feudal society.

Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is an important period for the development of towns in China. Feudal economy was prosperous and the functions of cities and towns were diversified. In addition to political cities, handicraft cities and transportation cities have also emerged in large numbers. The differences in urban grades and scales have increased, and regional central cities have developed greatly. In terms of spatial distribution, not only did the center of gravity of the system shift from the Yellow River basin to the Yangtze River basin, but the distribution scope was further expanded, and the development axis of cities along the Yangtze River appeared.

At this stage, although the northern part of China was still the political and economic center of gravity, its dominant position began to decline, the war in the south decreased and the economy developed rapidly. On this point, we can get confirmation from the changes in the number of administrative districts in China in the past dynasties, and the changes in population and cities are similar to those in administrative districts.

The name of the time administrative region is North and South.

Quantity% quantity%

Qin county 34 72.3 13 27.7

Yonghe five-year state in the Eastern Han Dynasty 8.5 65.4 4.5 32. 1

County 7 1 67.6 34 32.4

County 770 65.3 4 10 34.7

Week of the first year of Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty 1 1.5 60.5 7.5 39.5

County 97 56. 1 80 43.9

Note: The north and south are bounded by the Huaihe River in Qinling Mountains, and Xuzhou in the Western Jin Dynasty crossed the Huaihe River, so the north and south are divided into half states.

Source: chinese administrative division Studies, p. 225, China Social Publishing House, 199 1 year.

It can be seen that economic factors have a decisive influence on the development of administrative areas, population and cities. It is precisely because of the final decisive role of the economy that both the north and the south are changing. Before Sui and Tang Dynasties, although the north was still the political and economic center of gravity, the economy gradually declined. With the rapid economic development in the south, the gap between the north and the south has narrowed.

The second stage is from Sui and Tang Dynasties to Ming and Qing Dynasties (before 1840).

After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, the county-level organizational system was abolished in the third year (583), and the county was directly led by the state and implemented a two-tier system. In the third year of Yang Di's great cause (607), the state was renamed as the county, from then on, the state was the county, and the county was the state. The reason why Sui made this change was that during the 160 years in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the central administrative system and the local administrative system were in a state of chaos. The three-tier system is out of proportion and loses its practical significance. The Sui Dynasty changed the three-level system to the two-level system. During the reign of Yang Di, counties (i.e. states) and counties were divided into three levels, and the division of counties was based on the size of territory, the population and the complexity of affairs. The economy of the south has surpassed that of the north, so the quantitative comparison between the north and the south has also undergone a qualitative change. In the fifth year of the Great Cause of Sui Dynasty (609), there were 92 northern counties, accounting for 48.4% of the national total, and 98 southern counties, accounting for 5l.6%% of the national total.

Most of the time in the Tang Dynasty, the state (county) county two-level system was implemented. At the same time, in the first year of Tang Dynasty (75), the county was changed to a state, and the administrative model and name of the county basically withdrew from the historical stage. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, the state was a first-class administrative region, with more than 300 states. However, in view of historical lessons, policy makers are reluctant to set up another administrative region above the state to avoid increasing the competitiveness between local and central governments. The imperial court directly faced more than 300 States, and its affairs were complicated and difficult to manage, so it gradually formed the "Tao". The formation of Tao has gone through a long process. Once it is produced, it will gradually transform into a complete administrative region and eventually become a first-class administrative region above the national level. The roads at the beginning of Tang Dynasty 10 were divided into "mountains and rivers". This 10 road is only a physical geographical division and has no administrative significance. In the middle Tang Dynasty, our jurisdiction appeared again and our power gradually increased. After a period from Tang Suzong to German, our jurisdiction has been established all over the country. Our jurisdiction is also called Dao, Zhen and Fang Zhen. , forming a real administrative division at or above the state level in the late Tang Dynasty, namely Dao (town)-Zhoufu-County. A three-level administrative division system has been formed.

In the Tang Dynasty, the southern economy developed further and the economic center of gravity moved south. The south is becoming more and more important. Compared with the Sui Dynasty, there were more administrative regions than the north. For example, in the twenty-first year of Tang Kaiyuan, there were seven roads in the north and eight roads in the south. There are 14 1 Fuzhou in the north and 2 13 Fuzhou in the south. In the future, the gap will increase. At this time, the north is still the political center of gravity, and the south is the economic center of gravity.

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms is the continuation of the separatist regime in the late Tang Dynasty. The administrative divisions and local administrative management system in this period are also a continuation of the separatist regime in the late Tang Dynasty, and also a transitional period to end the separatist regime and unify the country. The administrative district setting and local administrative management system in the Northern Song Dynasty have two characteristics: first, the centralization is highly developed, and the administrative district setting and local administrative management forms cooperate with each other; Second, in view of the lessons of the separatist regime in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, the rulers took special preventive measures in administrative areas and administrative management systems. The Northern Song Dynasty, like most areas in the Tang Dynasty, adopted the administrative system of "two realities and one virtual", that is, the state and county level were solid and the road level was virtual. Counties in the Northern Song Dynasty were also classified according to their political, economic status and population. The newly created administrative region in the Northern Song Dynasty is Dao, which divides the whole country into several regions, and each Dao is equipped with a transfer envoy to collect local wealth and transfer it to the central government. The purpose of the establishment is also to prevent local separatist forces from confronting the central authorities.

The administrative system of the Yuan Dynasty was complicated. From the level, the level varies with different regions, and from the type, there are differences between the mainland and the frontier.

As a senior administrative region, provinces are a creation of the Yuan Dynasty's comprehensive practice of the previous generation. When the province was established in the early Yuan Dynasty, the original intention was also for the need of military action. Because of the long-term military action after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, after occupying a place, it often encountered stubborn resistance, so the provincial system was preserved. Moreover, because provincial officials are officials of the central government, they also promote the localization of provincial officials and the fixation of administrative regions to a certain extent, and finally form the highest administrative division. The Yuan Dynasty set up roads, prefectures, prefectures and counties under the provinces, taking population as the division standard, which was the creation of the Yuan Dynasty.

By the Yuan Dynasty, the number of administrative districts in the north and south was further expanded, with 97 roads, prefectures and governments in the north, accounting for 35.9%, and 64. 1% in the south. In the early Ming Dynasty, the administrative region basically followed the Yuan Dynasty, but in the ninth year of Hongwu (1376), the province was abolished and the Ministry of Public Affairs was established. However, due to the influence of habit, it is still customary to call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a province, which consists of prefectures and counties. The standard of division is based on the amount of money and food paid. It was the first time in the Ming Dynasty that the number of grain harvested instead of the population was used as the standard for dividing administrative divisions. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, the administrative regions of the Qing Dynasty have their own advantages and disadvantages. In the Qing Dynasty, the provinces were the highest administrative regions in the mainland, and generals were set up in the border areas. Under the provincial administrative regions, the Qing dynasty set up administrative regions such as states, prefectures and counties in the mainland, and the division standards were the same as those of the Ming dynasty. By the Qing dynasty, the economic status of the south was becoming more and more important, with tax revenue accounting for almost 70% of the world and administrative districts accounting for 79. L%, only 20.9% in the north.

The population of Sui and Tang Dynasties was the heyday of feudal society in China. Economic development and productivity have been greatly improved, and the population has reached more than 80 million one after another, climbing to the second highest level on the historical population development curve of China. On the basis of the evolution of the past few centuries, the geographical distribution of the population has undergone another mutation. The Yangtze River basin has replaced the Yellow River basin and become the center of population distribution in China. The population ratio between north and south reversed from 6: 4 to 4: 6.

Due to the war, a large number of people in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River moved south, and the population in the south generally increased. In the first year of Chongning in the Northern Song Dynasty (1 102), there were 20 million households with a population of about 1 100 million. There are more than 8.8 million households in the north and 1 1 households in the south, which reflects the population growth caused by population migration in the north and economic development in the south from the end of Tang Dynasty to the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty. The absolute population of the south began to surpass that of the north, which was a turning point in the population distribution of China.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Nuzhen invaded the south, and the Yellow River basin witnessed the second large-scale population migration to the south in the history of China, which greatly increased the population in the south. By the Yuan Dynasty, the population in the south actually accounted for 83.7% of the national population. In the early Ming dynasty, the government adopted immigration measures, coupled with political stability and economic development, the population distribution between the north and the south tended to be even. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the national population was more than 60 million, and it increased to 1.4 to1.500 million in the middle and late period, while the war in the late Ming Dynasty halved the national population. 17 12, the Qing court adopted the method of "dividing fields into mu", abolished the poll tax and accelerated population growth. According to statistics, the population of the Qing Dynasty exceeded 200 million in 1782 and 400 million in 1834, reaching 4 1840, with a population of 4130,000, which was four times higher than the 800 million in the early Qing Dynasty. China society felt the heavy pressure of overpopulation for the first time.

The political unification of cities in Sui and Tang Dynasties will inevitably bring economic prosperity and strengthen the ties between cities. Because the domestic environment is relatively stable, agricultural production is prosperous and commerce is more developed than before, it naturally provides conditions for the development of handicraft commodity economy. This limited commodity circulation has become an important regulation mechanism, which moistens the natural economy in a trickle way and promotes the development of cities and the connection between cities. To sum up, there are three main points: first, an open business policy. Although the warehouse merchant order was promulgated in the Tang Dynasty, it still implemented an open policy in the market and commerce, not only did it not implement a monopoly system, but also implemented a tax exemption or light tax policy. In terms of circulation, lifting the ban again has greatly promoted the development of urban commerce. Second, a developed water transport network has been formed. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the economic level of the Yangtze River basin surpassed other basins and became the richest agricultural area in China, forming a situation that "the country is rich and gives it to the southeast". Correspondingly, the main stream of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal have formed a developed water transport system in the south and east of China, which has promoted the rise of cities along the canal and along the river. Third, develop overseas trade. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the maritime trade was developed, Guangzhou was the leader of the sea, Yangzhou was the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Canal, and became a river and sea port in Central China. Dengzhou (now Penglai) in Shandong Province is the gateway of North Korea and Japan to China and the main port in the north.

The Five Dynasties, the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty are important historical stages in the development of China's urban system. During this period, the development of commodity economy promoted the general strengthening of urban economic functions, the evolution of regular fairs to commercial market towns and the emergence of a large number of port and commercial cities, which gradually improved the city's hierarchical scale structure and basically formed a state-county two-level network. On the whole, however, the feudal social and economic system in this period seriously hampered the development and opening up of cities and towns, and the overall structure of the urban system showed the characteristics of "opening but not letting go".

The Ming and Qing Dynasties (before 1840) was the end of feudal society in China, and the seeds of capitalism appeared. During this period, cities, especially small towns, have greatly increased. Different types of urban functional combination structures organized by regions began to appear; The spatial structure of cities and towns is mainly manifested in the vigorous rise of towns in the south of the Yangtze River, the ups and downs of towns in coastal ports, the further finalization of the axis of cities along the Yangtze River and canals, and the expansion of the geographical distribution of cities and towns.

To sum up, since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, due to the different regional economic development, the north and the south have formed two centers of gravity, the south is the economic center of gravity and the north is the political center of gravity. In this context, the administrative regions, populations and cities in the north and south are branded with different political and economic brands.

The third stage of modern times (1840 ——1919)

1840 After the Opium War, the administrative divisions of the Qing Dynasty changed greatly, and two main measures were taken: first, establishing provinces in Xinjiang and Northeast China, Xinjiang in the ninth year of Guangxu (1883), and Fengtian, Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces in the thirty-third year of Guangxu (1907). Second, adopt a new management system in some areas of Inner Mongolia. In the 22nd year of Guangxu (190), the Minister of Altai Affairs was established. The reason for the above changes is that China began to become a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. Under the oppression of foreign forces, feudal rulers were forced to take some reform measures, which had an impact on the establishment of administrative regions.

During the period of Beiyang government, the administrative divisions of the provincial and frontier minority areas were basically the same as those of the Qing Dynasty, but the administrative divisions below the provincial level were adjusted. 19 13 1 October, Beiyang government promulgated the local administrative organization law of each province, canceled the administrative regions such as government, ministry and state, and adjusted the secondary division of Daoxian county. After the adjustment, the Beiyang government implemented a three-level administrative system at the provincial, Taoist and county levels.

After the Opium War, foreign colonialist forces continued to infiltrate, which aggravated the already acute social contradictions in China, and natural disasters occurred frequently, with the death toll as high as150,000. 185 1 After the Taiping Rebellion, the population in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River suffered serious losses due to the destruction of the war. The population of Zhejiang and Anhui provinces decreased by 65%, that of Jiangsu Province decreased by 56%, and that of the whole country decreased by 20%. Such a huge population decline in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is unprecedented in its thousands of years of development history. Since then, the proportion of southern China in the total population of China has begun to decline. However, the great development of the population in Northeast China is remarkable, which has increased by about 4.5 times in the past 60 years, and its proportion in the national population has greatly increased from 0.5% to 5.0%, which is in sharp contrast with the Yangtze River and Yellow River basins where the population has been seriously reduced. During the period of Beiyang government, the population distribution generally followed the track of the late Qing Dynasty. Due to the low natural growth rate and the migration of a large number of people to the border areas and cities, the population development in China inland and many coastal rural areas has been at a low ebb.

After the Opium War in the city, the massive invasion of foreign capital "not only disintegrated the foundation of China's feudal economy, but also created some objective conditions and possibilities for the development of capitalist production in China" (Selected Works of Mao Zedong, Vol.4, p.589). With the rise of the industrial revolution in the capitalist world, the wave of new technology and large-scale machine production has also spread to China, making the development speed of China city faster than ever before. However, because China is in a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society, the urbanization process is very slow compared with capitalist countries. According to the research of American scholar Skinner, the urbanization level of China is about 5. L% in 1843. By 19 19, the urbanization level of China rose to 7.6%, only 2.5 percentage points higher, while the urbanization level of the world increased by 12.8 percentage points.

The development of modern cities in China has two main characteristics: one is the urban system with dual structure. China's modern urban system has changed from a unitary structure, that is, administrative central cities at all levels, to a dual structure with modern industrial and commercial cities on one side and traditional central cities on the other. In this dual structure, modern industrial and commercial cities occupy a dominant position. Second, the speed of urban development is accelerating and regional differences are obvious. With the development of capitalist industry, many emerging cities have emerged, most of which are mining or industrial and mining cities. China resources are mainly distributed in the north, and emerging cities are mostly located in the northeast and north China. Since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the development trend of China cities has been reversed, and the north has once again become the fastest urbanized area in modern China.

The development of southern capitalism is mainly in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River Delta, where conditions are good and some cities with superior geographical positions are developing very fast. In many areas with inconvenient transportation and no special resources and external economic conditions, the development of cities is not fast, or even declined.

The vast western region is the most backward region in the process of modern urbanization. Due to the lack of modern economic support, the development of most cities is in a state of stagnation, and the characteristics of pre-industrial cities are basically maintained from urban functions to spatial structures.

In a word, the evolution of administrative districts, population and cities is a regular historical process, which develops with the progress of society, and economic development is the basic reason and foundation of its evolution. At the same time, the development of administrative regions, population and cities has also promoted economic development.