中国附郭县制度的两种特殊形态

Two Special Forms of Attached Counties in Traditional Chinese System

在中国传统的行政区划体系中,附郭县长期是连接高层政区、统县政区与县级政区的纽带。不论历代的县等标准如何变化,附郭县都处于较突出的地位,南宋以后,“附郭县”这一政区通名常见于各类文献中。历代附郭县的数量变迁直观反映了统县政区层级、数量与管理幅度的演变过程。双附郭县、三附郭县甚至四附郭县的多县共治形态可统称为“多附郭县”,始于隋唐、终于中华人民共和国成立,其分布呈现出从北密南稀变迁到南密北稀的特点,反映了历代经济和人口重心的移动过程。此外,历史上曾存在统县政区下不设附郭县(无附郭县)的五类情形,其中多种情况在清代均有典型案例。“多附郭县”与“无附郭县”可谓中国古代附郭县制度的两种特殊形态,“多附郭县”的置废与“无附郭县”的解决,都体现出附郭县制度在中国古代地方行政管理中的调适作用。

In the administrative division system of traditional China,the attached counties had long acted as the link between higher administrative divisions,divisions governing counties,and county-level divisions.No matter how the standard of county changed,attached counties had always occupied a prominent position.Since the Southern Song dynasty,the term of“attached county”can often be seen in various literature.The changes in numbers of attached counties during successive dynasties directly reflect the levels,numbers,and range of divisions governing counties.The form of multiple attached counties shows the change from being dense in the north while being sparse in the south to the reverse,reflecting the historical moving of economic and population barycenter.Besides,there once existed five kinds of conditions when no attached county was set under divisions governing counties,and typical cases of several conditions can be seen in the Qing dynasty.“Multiple attached counties”and“no attached county”are two special forms in the attached county system,and both of them reflect the adjustment function in local administrative management of traditional China.