Geographic Research Of Xiang, Zhen, Li In The Three Gorges In The Ming Dynasty

The Yangtze River's Three Gorges,which is a special place full of wonders,has a long history.And it runs through the East and the West of China,serving as the main artery which connects the East and the West part of China.With the completion of the Three Gorges Project,the water line of the Three Gorges Conservation Area is about to reach 175 meters.As a result,the geographic interest which once embodied the trace of brilliant civilization of the Three Gorges Conservation Area will be partly submerged by water.Facing the current situation,the present research which forms part of the project-"Historical Atlas of the Yangtze River's Three Gorges" is being conducted. The present thesis mainly focuses on geographic research of administrative organizations at grass roots level including Xiang(an administrative organization), Zhen(an administrative organization approximately equals to town),Li(an administrative organization smaller than Xiang and Zhen) which are below the county level in the Three Gorges Conservation Area in the Ming Dynasty.It hopes to provide detailed and accurate geographic information for the project-"Historical Atlas of the Yangtze River's Three Gorges".The first part of the thesis explains the reason of carrying out the research and highlights the academic value and practical significance of doing it.The second part focused on the explanation of the concepts of "Xiang","Zhen" and "Li" in the Ming Dynasty."Zhen" was once called "Caoshi",then "Caoshizhen";its function was first mainly the military stronghold,then it changed into the economic function;and it eventually formed the concentration of population and distribution center for the exchange of merchandise."Xiang" was the administrative unit at the grass roots level in Qin and Han Dynasty;it gradually reduced to a purely geographical concept."Li" was the only statutory administrative unit at the grass roots level which was below the county level in the Ming Dynasty."Xiang" differed from "Li" in terms of the number of population and the traditional geographic and surrounding factors.It was reported that "Xiang—Du—Li/Tu" three administrative levels system was the main type of administrative organization in southern part of China,while "Xiang—She/Tun" two administrative levels in northern part of China.However,the administrative level system in the Three Gorges Conservative Area is Xiang—Li two administrative level. The third part of the thesis carries out careful verification on the Yangtze River's Three Gorges Conservative Area.To delimit the Yangtze River's Three Gorges Conservative Area,the author of the present thesis adopts Lan Yong's edition which is presented in the book History and Geography of the Three Gorges to the present discussion. According to Professor Lan Yong,the Three Gorges Conservative Area is composed of Chongqing Fu,Kuizhou Fu and Jingzhou Fu with their lower administrative levels separately in the Ming Dynasty.Chongqing Fu(administrative region) consisted of Baxian county,changshouxian county,Qijiangxian county,Nanchuanxian county, Zhongzhou county,Fengduxian county,Dijiangxian county,Fuzhou county;Kuizhou Fu(Administrative region) included Fengjiexian county,Wushanxian county, Daningxian county,Yunyangxian county,Wanxian county,Liangshanxian county, kaixian county;and Jingzhou Fu(administrative region) was composed of Yilingzhou county,Guizhou county,Xingshanxian county,Badongxian county.