Jiangnan Province Explained

Jiangnan, formerly romanized as Kiangnan, was a historical province of the early Qing dynasty of China. Its capital was Jiangning (now Nanjing), from which it is sometimes known as Nanjing or Nanking Province. Established in 1645 during the Qing conquest of Ming,[1] it administered the area of the earlier Ming province of Nanzhili, reaching from north of the Huai Riverat the time the course of the Yellow Riverto south of the Yangtze River in East China.[2] Its territory was later divided into the separate provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui[3] during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1736–1795),[4] although the exact timing is disputed, with Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville's map of 1734 showing the province still extant as "Kiang-nan". The earliest that the province's partition could have happened was 1667.[5] Under the Republic and People's Republic of China, an area of Jiangsu also became the provincial-level municipality of Shanghai.

Administrative divisions

According to the "General History of Jiangnan" (Chinese: 江南通志, Jiangnan Tongzhi) in the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries,[6] Jiangnan Province consisted of 16 full prefectures (fu) and 8 independent subprefectures or autonomous counties (zhou). After 1661, its provincial governor was assisted by lieutenant governors who each oversaw half of the prefectures. The "Right" administration (Chinese: 右布政使) was based in Suzhou and oversaw Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, and Ningguo Prefectures. The "Left" administration (Chinese: 左布政使) was based in Jiangning (now Nanjing) and oversaw the rest. After a series of changes, this division eventually became the basis for the separate provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui at some point under the Qianlong Emperor.

Administrative divisions in Chinese and varieties of romanizations
Now Jiangsu & ShanghaiNow Anhui
Administrative divisiontraditional Chinesesimplified ChineseAdministrative divisiontraditional Chinese[7] simplified Chinese
Jiangning Fu江寧府江宁府Anqing Fu安慶府安庆府
Suzhou Fu蘇州府苏州府Huizhou Fu徽州府徽州府
Songjiang Fu松江府松江府Ningguo Fu寧國府宁国府
Changzhou Fu常州府常州府Chizhou Fu池州府池州府
Zhenjiang Fu鎮江府镇江府Taiping Fu太平府太平府
Huai'an Fu淮安府淮安府Luzhou Fu廬州府庐州府
Yangzhou Fu揚州府扬州府Fengyang Fu鳳陽府凤阳府
Xuzhou Fu徐州府徐州府Yingzhou Fu潁州府颖州府
Taicangzhou太倉州太仓州Chuzhou滁州滁州
Haizhou海州海州Hezhou和州和州
Tongzhou通州通州Guangdezhou廣德州广德州
Lu'anzhou六安州六安州
Sizhou泗州泗州

Each of these were further divided into counties (xian), some of which were attached to the prefectural seats. Lower levels were not centrally appointed by the imperial government, but were overseen by the county, prefectural, and provincial administration.

See also

Notes

  1. .
  2. .
  3. Tao . Jiang . Tao Jiang . 2009 . 清代江南省分治问题——立足于 《清实录》 的考察 . zh . Qing History Journal . 2 . CNKI .
  4. Fu . Linxiang . Fu Linxiang . 2008 . The Partition of Jiangnan, Huguang and Shaanxi Provinces and the Change of the Provincial System at the Beginning of the Qing Dynasty . Journal of Chinese Historical Geography . 2 . CNKI .
  5. "康熙元年,安徽設巡撫。三年,分江北按察使往治。五年,揚州、淮安、徐州復隸江南。六年,江南更今名,改左布政使為安徽布政使司,駐江寧。右布政使為江蘇布政使司,治蘇州。統江寧、蘇州、常州、松江、鎮江、揚州、淮安府七,徐州直隸州一。" in .
  6. Web site: 江南通志 (四庫全書本)/卷001 . Wikisource . zh . 15 April 2019 .
  7. Web site: 江南通志 (四庫全書本)/卷002. Wikisource. zh. 2019-04-15.