A Study On The Adjustment Of Administrative Divisions In Hedong Dao During The Tang Dynasty

The adjustment or change of administrative division is a complex and important academic topic, which directly or tortuously affects the central-local government relationships and state-society relationships in a certain historical period, and it also reflects the central authority’s intention or action. The adjustment of administrative division in different historical period shows distinctive characteristics. With the hand-down documents and epitaph data, we systematically analyzed the establish or abolish of the states and counties, their levels rise or down, and the jurisdiction of the military governor expand or narrow in different periods of Tang Dynasty. This study intended to ascertain the thread of the changes of the administrative division in Hedong Dao during the Tang Dynasty, which may deepen the understanding of the influence by the change of political situation.This paper consisted of six chapters, and all of them were focused on the adjustment of administrative division in Hedong Dao during the Tang Dynasty.The first chapter discussed the evolution of political situation in Hedong Dao and the adjustment of administrative division in early Tang Dynasty, demonstrating the change of Tang central government’s jurisdiction in Hedong Dao during Wude (武德)years. We supposed that the power struggles between Li Yuan(李渊)and Liu Wuzhou(刘武周)had an important influence on Hedong Dao’s political situation and administrative settings. We further analyzed the characteristics of the adjustment of administrative divisions in Hedong Dao during the Wude years based on the relevant data, and found out that set up large number of states and counties in this period was a wartime expedient. When the political situation became stable, they attempted to combine the prefectures. Taizong (太宗)followed up with the combine policy, reasonably planed the establishment of states and counties in Hedong Dao, which made them more stable.The second chapter discussed the level ascension of states and counties in Hedong Dao in Wuzhou Dynasty. Wu Zetian(武则天) established Bingzhou(并州)as the north capital, since Bingzhou was her hometown, and has special geographical position. So she used the capital history for reference, and strengthened the north defense forces and promoted the national fusion.The third chapter discussed the formation of three military governors in Hedong Dao after An-Shih rebellion, including Hedong military governor(河东方镇),Hezhong military governor(河中方镇)and Zelu military governor(泽潞方镇).The selection of Jiedushi in the three military governors and their relationships were also introduced. The central government set up three military governors in Hedong Dao since the important geographical location of Taiyuan(太原), Luzhou (潞州)and Puzhou(�'�州), and their functions in counterinsurgency. To consolidate the authority of the three military governors in Hedong Dao, the central government had different standards for Jiedushi and different functions required in different periods, which presented a civilian tendency gradually. Long-term civilian caused their forces declined, which pave the way for Li Keyong(李克用),who entered and governed this area in later Tang. Through the comparative analysis of the characteristics, the relationship between the three military governors in Hedong Dao were composed of checks and balances.The fourth chapter discussed administrative adjustment of Hedong Dao in Dezong (德宗) period. We suggested that the administrative adjustments of Hedong Dao in late Jianzhong (建中)years was a epitome of Dezong’s military policy. The jurisdiction of Mingzhou (洺州) under Zhaoyi military governor(昭义镇) not only detered Heshuo military governors (河朔藩镇),but also helped to balance the three military governors of Hedong Dao. Moreover, establishing Jinci military governor(晋慈镇)can not only restrict Li Huaiguang’s forces, but also control the traffic arteries among Hezhong, Hedong and Zhaoyi. However, the Jinci military governor was too small and dense, so finally was abolished. Hedong military governor made the biggest contribution in cutting Heshuo and insurgency, but didn’t enlarge its jurisdiction. The direct reason is that Ma Sui(马燧)didn’t do his best in Jingyuan rebellion. And the fundamental reason may be that he worried that if Hedong army expand too fast,the central government may suspect, and he would end like Li Huaiguang.The fifth chapter discussed administrative adjustment of Hedong Dao in Wuzong(武宗)period. We suggested that set up Datong military commissioner (大同都团练使)was a countermeasure to resist Uighur(回鹘), which actually weaken the strength of Hedong military governor. The jurisdiction of Zezhou(泽州) under Heyang military governor(河阳)was the first time to allot the states of Hedong Dao to other administrative divisions after An-Shih rebellion. This not only hit the increasingly domineering of Zhaoyi, but also conducive to defend Luoyang.The sixth chapter discussed the political situation and the adjustment of administrative divisions in Hedong Dao after Xizong(僖宗)period. We suggest Li Keyong take office of Hedong, which changed the balance of power in the three military governors directly. It triggered a series of changes of the administrative divisions in Hedong Dao, and also had impact on the adjacent administrative divisions in Guannei Dao and Hebei Dao.The paper also discussed the two cases related to this topic. The first one is a review on the Hedong army. We also made the corrections of the Hedong army by the further interpretation of the historical data. The second one is the study of "guan","yi" and "dian" in Hedong Dao during the Tang Dynasty based on Ru Tang Qiu Fa Xun Li Xing Ji and Wang Wu Tai Shan Xing Ji. I hope it can help to understand the traffic of Hedong Dao in Tang and Five Dynasties.