Historical Administrative Cutting of the China

In the History, the China is already cut in a centralized way, in order to keep the unity of the Empire.

Today, the country is cut in the following order:

1. Provinces, Autonomous Regions, Municipalities (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, ChongQing).
2. Under the Provinces and Autonomous Regions, they are Autonomous States, Counties, Autonomous Counties, Cities.
3. Counties and Autonomous Counties are cut in Townships, Townships of National Minorities, Towns (Zhen 镇).
4. Municipalities and Big Cities are subdivided in Districts, Counties. Autonomous States in Counties, Autonomous Counties, and Cities.

The County has appeared during the period of 'Feighting Kindoms' near 475 - 221 Av.-J.C., the key Epoch for the Chinese Nation when Confucius taught his lessons at the end of the Zhou dynasty.

The governor of a county is also the smallest grade in a national competition, classified as 7th level in the chinese mandarin system, called Sesam Mandarin for his small administrative surface, 七品芝麻官.

References

• The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China