#长文创作激励计划#
From ancient times to the present, the development and changes of every country will bring about the replanning and division of certain territories, especially the ancient county system, where they perform their own duties and jointly protect every inch of their own land.
As the wheel of history continues to advance, modern China has finally opened up its own era after a short period of gunpowder, and in order to facilitate the management of various cities and regions, the Chinese government has also set up corresponding provincial, municipal and county levels.
At the same time, with the frequent foreign policy, many Southeast Asian countries, especially Japan, under the influence of the inheritance and imitation of mainland culture, have also brought back the management methods at the provincial, municipal and county levels.
But surprisingly, although Japan has copied the culture of the mainland, it has used the wrong division of regions and city management, which has also led to their unique understanding of provinces, cities, and prefectures.
First, the continuation of the system
As we all know, during the Qing Dynasty, China began to implement the method of "mastering the art of mastering and controlling the country".
But what I don't know is that China, as one of the four ancient civilizations, has become the object of study and pursuit of Western countries very early, especially Japan, which is only across the river, and has taken advantage of its geographical advantages to become China's most remarkable students.
First of all, in terms of system, China's territory during the Qin Dynasty was very vast, and the rulers at that time continued to fight in the south and north in order to achieve the unification of the whole country, even in the relatively close Japan, so the county system handed down during the Qin Dynasty and directly concentrated the jurisdiction and commercial management power of the countryside became the first national management system for Japan to learn from.
In the Sui and Tang dynasties, Japan began to comprehensively study China's politics and economy, and established its own special system following the example of the Tang Dynasty.
From the late 3rd century to the end of the 5th century, the Yamato regime unified Japan, and under the influence of Chinese culture, it also began to imitate the Tang Dynasty's "Guo-County-Li" three-level administrative unit, dividing the country into three administrative units: "Guozo, County Lord, and Inazhi".
Because in "Guo-County-Li", Guo is the name of the Zhou Dynasty's fiefdom of the princes, and "County" and "Li" are the administrative units established by the Qin Dynasty.
Therefore, the Yamato regime of Japan also followed the example of China and set "Guozao" as a state subordinate to the imperial court, and the "county lord" as a county subordinate to Guozao.
2. Reform of the system
The development of history and the alternation of the times have always brought about a series of influences and changes, especially Japan, which has been emulating our own, has vividly demonstrated the reform of this system.
In terms of management mode, the central government takes the "three provinces" as the center, and the local governments mainly take the "province-prefecture-county" three levels, and jointly coordinate and cooperate, providing a solid guarantee and foundation for the management of the state.
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At the local level, Japan also followed the example of the Tang Dynasty in dividing the country into seven "provinces", and further down there are still three administrative divisions of "country-county-li".
Third, the unique factors of Japan's administrative level
However, when Japan continued to continue the administrative management system of various eras on the mainland, there was a thing that surprised everyone, that is, the good administrative management hierarchy was reversed in Japan, especially the prefectures in Japan are larger than cities, and the administrative level is higher than that of cities.
1. Historical reasons
Japan and the Tang Dynasty have always maintained very close exchanges and ties, especially in the inheritance of cultural history, and Japan and the Tang Dynasty have sent envoys to each other many times to study.
In the face of the strong national strength of the Tang Dynasty, Japan transmitted the advanced production technology and culture of the Tang Dynasty back to China, and even its Kyoto was built in imitation of the pattern of Luoyang City in the Tang Dynasty.
As the main figure, Japan was still under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Tang Dynasty, and in order to better control the various forces of Japan in its own hands, the Tokugawa shogunate controlled a quarter of the land of the entire country at that time, and at the same time gave the remaining three-quarters of the land to more than 200 lords.
Later, with the development of the times, China's domestic strength was gradually replaced by the West, and Japan, as the most loyal to us, began to defect and learn from the West.
More than 200 clan lords loyal to the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan at that time also turned their allegiance to the emperor and opposed the shogun, and eventually, under pressure from many parties and constant conflicts between the clan lords, the Tokugawa shogunate officially fell.
As we all know, there is a war and reform, so after the defeat of the Tokugawa shogunate, Japan took it a step further, and that was the Meiji Restoration.
The Meiji Restoration made a major adjustment in terms of administrative divisions, abolishing the power of more than 200 feudal lords and re-establishing more than 70 prefectures.
Although in the late nineteenth century, Japan had to reduce the number of prefectures to forty-three in order to facilitate jurisdiction, each prefecture still had the status of a first-class administrative district.
2. Economic reasons
With the Meiji Restoration, and Japan gradually learning from the advanced science and technology of the West, it soon entered a period of rapid development.
Especially in the early twentieth century, Japan became one of the world's leading economic powers, but with the establishment of Japan's economic power, its population growth and regional boundaries have also become difficult problems.
In particular, the population of small towns was increasing, and it was difficult for the government after the Meiji Restoration to manage the country with only 43 prefectures.
Therefore, it had to carry out another rectification of the national division in a timely manner, that is, to re-establish the county that had been reduced according to the needs of population growth, and continue to let it maintain the status of a first-class district.
In many other areas, there was also a lot of population growth, but in order to better distinguish between prefectures and other administrative regions, the Japan government at that time did not shake the status of prefectures, but re-established cities that were relatively small from prefectures as the main body of management.
All in all, in Japan, although they imitated the management systems of many Chinese dynasties, they did not fully put them into practice, and even made actions that are difficult for us to understand.
3. Cultural reasons
The development of each country will have its own civilization and heritage, especially as Japan, which has its own independent economy and history, its development and rise will be even more expected.
Japan's ability to humbly learn from foreign cultures and continue to integrate them into its own national realm has been evident since the Qin Dynasty when the mainland governed Japan, and in the Sui and Tang dynasties, this relationship of mutual borrowing and inheritance became even more prominent.
However, after all, there are differences in culture and understanding between Japan and China, and the differences in national conditions will eventually lead to differences in administrative divisions between them.
Japan is also able to judge the situation, turn the wind in a timely manner, and learn more advanced culture and methods.
Although China has been following the pace of the world, the tiger always has a nap, and asking the government to close off the country eventually led to the rapid rise of Western countries, and the 5,000-year-old big country is in a backward situation, which also gives Japan the opportunity to choose the right country to learn from.
Therefore, this situation has led to the fact that although Japan has the characteristics of continuing China, it has established its own unique administrative divisions.
4. Political factors
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan was in an era of rapid rise, and many of its cultural, economic, and even political factors had Chinese overtones, which would also put pressure on the Japan government at that time.
After all, every individual country does not want to be controlled by other countries, nor does it want to lose its own colors and copy all others.
Therefore, in the face of its powerful self, the Japan government has made a firm determination to break away from China's back and create its own era.
Therefore, the powerful Japan government continued the three-level administrative division management of the Tang Dynasty, and changed the clan to a prefecture, so that it could continue to play the role of a clan.
IV. "Prefecture-City" with Japan Characteristics
The existing administrative district names "prefecture" and "city" in Japan are both products of modern times, while Japan's "province" is closer to the original meaning of "province" in the Tang Dynasty, which shows the profound influence of Tang culture on Japan.
However, although there is an administrative division of prefectures and cities in Japan, from the perspective of their national conditions and understanding of prefectures and cities, the two are not too closely related, and there is no direct subordination.
The "county" is not the superior of the "city", the two have equal legal status, and the county government can only advise or guide the municipalities within its territory, but cannot issue administrative orders to them.
In short, Japan's "prefectures" are more akin to China's "provinces" as first-level administrative regions.
epilogue
In summary, there are many reasons why Japan's prefectures are larger than cities, and the administrative level is higher than that of cities, and can even be traced back to the needs of history and administration.
Prefectures, as larger administrative units, assume broader governance functions, while cities, as smaller administrative units in Japan, are concentrated in smaller areas to provide more sophisticated public services to others.
This administrative structure not only contributes to the efficient allocation and management of resources, but also reflects Japan's different needs for regional development in different historical periods.
In any case, Japan's unique administrative division system and unique management system not only help us better understand Japan's history and cultural heritage, study the historical evolution of Japan's social development, but also allow us to more carefully interpret the way Japan operates in modern society.
It is even possible to ensure that all localities can manage resources more effectively, provide comprehensive public services for their development, and ensure social stability and prosperity through a rational division of labor and cooperation between counties and cities.
References:
Prefectures are larger than cities: Why are prefectures higher in Japan than cities?
Global Intelligence Agent 2021-10-15