过去2200年中国县级政区设置的时空过程与格局

Spatio-temporal process and pattern of the establishment of county-level administrative divisions in China in the past 2200 years

行政区划历史沿革既是历史地理学的重要研究内容,也是政治地理学的重要组成部分。行政区划变迁过程研究是行政区划史的基础,复原和分析历史上长时段政区演变的全过程,是探索地方行政制度变迁规律和治理能力的基础支撑。从历代正史地理志等原始史料出发,梳理了过去2200余年(221 BC—2021年)中国县级政区设置的长时段演变过程和空间格局变动特征。研究表明:①中国历代县级政区的数量总体上呈增长趋势,但变化很平稳,唐代与清代是增设县数量较多的朝代,达到两个历史峰值。明清尤其近代以来,增量持续增加,体现了边疆开发与县制扩展的历史进程。②历史时期统县政区的管辖幅度(辖县数量)主要呈不断缩小的趋势,由秦代统县政区平均辖县21.3个下降到2021年的8.5个。③过去2200年县级政区的设置呈空间扩展趋势,西晋、辽宋金等时期亦有局部向内收缩。历代县的设置主要以黄河中下游地区为中心起点逐渐向外扩展,各区域内部的县级政区的分布密度亦持续增加。④黄河中下游地区(今河南、河北南部及山东等地)长期为县级政区分布高密度区,成都平原、关中盆地及山西汾河流域等地的县级政区分布密度也较高。⑤过去2200年县级政区设置重心在南北和东西方向上的变动幅度都大约为3°,均位于当前中国几何中心的东南方向。历代县级政区设置重心变化具有显著的地理意义,基本上与历史时期人口/经济重心的迁移过程相吻合。

The historical evolution of administrative divisions is an important part of historical geography and political geography.The research of the change process of administrative units is the basis of the history of administrative divisions,and the restoration and analysis of the whole process of the evolution of administrative divisions over a long period of time in history is the basic support for exploring the law and governance ability of local administrative system change.Based on the original historical documents such as the official history and geographical records of past dynasties,this paper combs the characteristics of the long-term evolution process and spatial pattern change of China's county-level administrative units in the past 2200 years(221BC-2021).The research results show that:(1)The number of county-level administrative units in Chinese history generally shows an increasing trend,but the total number is basically stable.The Tang and the Qing dynasties had a large number of counties,reaching two peaks.Since the Ming and Qing dynasties,especially since modern times,the number of county-level administrative units has continued to increase,which reflects the historical process of border development and county system expansion.(2)In the historical period,the scope of jurisdiction(the number of counties under the jurisdiction of administrative units that govern county)mainly shows a shrinking trend.The average number of counties under the jurisdiction of the administrative units that govern county decreased from 21.3 in the Qin Dynasty to 8.5 in 2021.(3)In the past 2200 years,the establishment of county-level administrative divisions shows a trend of spatial expansion,but there was partially inward contraction in the Xijin,Liao,Song and Jin dynasties.The counties in the historical periods mainly started from the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and gradually expanded outward.The density of counties within each region continued to increase.(4)The middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River(Henan,Southern Hebei,Shandong and other places)have long been high-density regions with counties.The density of counties in the Chengdu Plain,Guanzhong Basin and Fenhe River Basin is also relatively high.(5)In the past 2200 years,the center of gravity of county-level administrative divisions has changed by about 3°in the northsouth and east-west directions,both of which are located to the southeast of the current geometric center of China.The changes in the center of gravity of the county-level administrative divisions in Chinese history is of great geographical significance,which is basically consistent with the migration process of the population/economic center of gravity in the historical periods.