Chinese Modern History: The Qing Dynasty Last Regal Dynasty Of China

Order 100% Plagiarism free paper

Provinces were the largest political and administrative units in the Chinese system, composed (moving down the administrative ladder) of prefectures, counties, and townships. (Provinces were roughly the size of states in the United States, and Chinese counties and townships were roughly equivalent to their U.S. counterparts.) In the ping (1644-1912), there were eighteen provinces within (i.e., south of) the Great Wall, a sporadic 2,000-mile structure huilt at various times in the Chinese past to try to keep the Other out. Provincial boundaries had largely been set in Ming times (1368— 1644); many of their names reflected their geographical situation (e.g., Hubei [north of the lake] and Hunan [south of the lake], Shandong [east of the mountains] and Shanxi [west of the mountains]). Provinces were the largest native place to which Chinese could claim residence, and thus they were still a source of connections—even though much weaker than connections formed in the village, town, county, or prefecture. As such, they were an important part of the constellation of attributes making up the Chinese identity.