Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.6, 2014

 

The Integration of Administrative Divisions and Local Society: A Case Study of Shan and Mao Counties during the Qin, Han and Six Dynasties

(Abstract)

 

Lin Changzhang

 

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the people of Shan and Mao Counties in Kuaiji Prefecture who resisted imperial authority were described as "shan yue" (山越) and "hai zei" (海贼) in historical records. Under the influence of household registration, settlement and the introduction of a bureaucratic system, the image of Shan County changed. By the Eastern Jin and Southern dynasties, it had become a "locality" where Buddhism and Taoism were preached and scholars lived in seclusion. The example of Mao County reflects the different ways scholars from the upper social strata would envision or selectively describe a county, depending on their different knowledge structures and standpoints. A case study of the two counties shows that despite their very different natures, "administrative divisions" became integrated with "local society" over the course of history: within the basic framework provided by county-level administrative divisions, "local society" constantly strengthened various features of these divisions, helping to develop a sense of county identity and to keep county-level administrative divisions relatively stable. Such stability would go on to shape a certain order in local society.