The Research On The Local Dao System In Qing Dynasty

In the local administrative system of Ming and Qing Dynasty, the development of Dao (circuit) was very complex. What's more, Dao played an important role in the management of local affairs during Ming and Qing Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, the court sent Canzheng (administration vice commissioner), Canyi (assistant administration commissioner), Fushi (surveillance vice commissioner), and Qianshi (assistant surveillance commissioner) as circuit intendants to guard and patrol around the country. Later, this approach was gradually systematized, and court had set up a variety of vacancy due to the need. The creation and evolution of Dao in Ming Dynasty had a tremendous impact on Qing Dynasty. Court set up a lot of Dao which had many types and no fixed amount in Ming Dynasty. After the establishment of all kinds of Dao throughout the country, more and more local affairs became their major duty, so that the duty of Dao shifted from monitoring to administration. Dao was also shifted gradually from being supervised by Buzhengsi (administration commission) and Anchasi (surveillance commission) to being supervised by Zongdu (governor-general) and Xunfu (provincial governor), and this change was due to the gradual establishment on the status of the Dao in the local administration. All these had laid the foundation for the adjustment of Dao in Qing Dynasty, and the adjusted system was different from the one in Ming Dynasty.After the continuous adjustment in the early Qing Dynasty, the number and types of Dao that provinces set had decreased, and the situation that Fenshoudao (general administration circuit) and Fenxundao (general surveillance circuit) were set up in the same place had disappeared. Dao area covered all over the province and didn't overlap. The types of specialized Dao had also been cut down and merged, and most of the Daoyuan (circuit intendants) also patrol local affairs, which made Dao system more simple and uniform. The biggest difference on circuit system between Ming and Qing Dynasty was the setting regulation. Most of the Dao in Ming Dynasty were due to the need, so the situation that Dao's area overlapped or crossover was very common. This situation had changed after the adjustment in Qing Dynasty. All Fu (prefectures), Zhilizhou (departments) and Zhiliting (sub prefectures) belonged to a certain Dao. Dao had truly became an administrative section which below province and above prefecture. Each province had a vast territory and large population. A large number of local affairs were the direct condition of Dao's existence. Every Daoyuan who was supervised by Zongdu, Xunfu, Buzhengsi and Anchasi could control Fu, Zhilizhou and Zhiliting, which made them of great importance.The Dao in Qing Dynasty which included Fenshoudao and Fenxundao had no longer patrolled the area on behalf of the Buzhengsi and Anchasi. With the system completed, the status and role of Daoyuan became fixed. In Qianlong 18 years (1753), the court stopped conferring Daoyuan with multiple titles, and set their official rank as rank 4a. Circuit intendant had became an independent official name and no longer be referred to the secondary governor of Buzhengsi and Anchasi. In the early Qing Dynasty, the Daoyuan would follow the old selection system of Ming Dynasty, which was taken in charged by Libu (board of personnel). Later, the status and role of Daoyuan became important for the court and only the king could control their selection. After the Yongzheng period, Daoyuan were selected respectively by different entities according to different criteria.Official rank and the circumstances were the basic principle of circuit's selection in Qing Dynasty.After the adjustment of Dao system in Qing Dynasty, some unnecessary specialized Dao were abolished, leaving only the Liangchudao (grain tax circuit), Yanfadao (salt control circuit), Hedao (waterways circuit) and some other types of specialized Dao. In local administrative system of Qing Dynasty, the canal, river, salt and other types of specialized officials, had formed a comparatively independent official system. These specialized officials from all kinds of levels were specifically set up. Correlative specialized Dao as well as the Fenshoudao and Fenxundao were in a connecting position. However, the professional of their duty was evidently different from Fenshoudao and Fenxundao. The duty of certain specialized Dao which didn't patrol the area was generally not involved in local affairs, so their duty could be considered as simplex. In Qing Dynasty, the local administrative sections and the setup of officials had formed a compound multi-level mode. On the section side, there were four levels including province, Dao, Fu and county. On the official side, there were five levels including Dufu (governor-general and provincial governor), Buan (administration commissioner and surveillance commissioner), Daoyuan, Zhifu (prefect of a superior prefecture), Zhixian (county magistrate). From the late Qing Dynasty to the Qing Bureaucracy Reform, Dao (mainly referred to the Dao which had administrative section and a part of specialized Dao which patrolled areas) had a clear feature as a local administrative level. For that reason we can fully affirm their status. In the Local Bureaucracy Reform of late Qing Dynasty, court set up Xunjingdao (policemen circuit) and Quanyedao (business circuit) in every province, retaining part of the specialized Dao, and abolished Fenshoudao and Fenxundao. This was equivalent to cancel the Fenshoudao and Fenxundao between the province and prefecture, restoring to the original province, prefecture and county system. Retain some specialized Dao, and made them towards the professional officials of province which didn't involve the local administrative affairs. In the early days of Republic of China, the government abolished the Fu, so the local administrative section had become two levels including province and county. Later, the government added Dao between province and county, making it three levels including province, Dao and county. But the practicing of this system was not very long. In 1930, Dao had been completely abolished.