Newly-discovered Bamboo Slips and the Spatial Structure of Local Administrative Operations in the Qin and Han Dynasties

Local administration in the Qin and Han Dynasties operated in a specific spatial structure, and the newly-discovered bamboo slips help reveal its overall appearance. At the macro level, from the Warring States period to the imperial period, the territorial scope of the Qin state expanded from east to north and south, the structure gradually evolved from a small level of Zhongxiandao (“中县道”) to five nationwide levels, and the organizational form of the Qin Dynasty changed from the coexistence of the monarchy and the county system to the country as a county, and the number of county administrative districts under its jurisdiction increased from 37 to 49. The parallel and vertical management systems of the Qin Dynasty overlapped, and multiple organizational units complemented each other to create the local administrative structure in the early monarchy. At the mesoscopic level, the “capitals” of counties are the core areas for the implementation of local administrative operations in the Qin and Han Dynasties. The interior space of the county town is divided and connected by various forms of walls, doors, and roads. Within the city walls are the living and administrative areas, including the “Si” (“寺”) where the government works, the “Li” (“里”) where the common people lived together, and the trading place “Shi” (“市”). The scattered village settlements outside the city walls were restricted by the city and could not be separated from the operation of local administration. At the micro level, the “Ting” (“廷”) of the county is the central institution of administration at the end of the empire. In the ruins of the county court, there are architectural landscape groups such as office spaces, water systems, and roads; the sub-departments in the court are structurally connected with the officials outside the court. The road traffic network was the channel for local administration in Qin and Han Dynasties, reflecting the depth of imperial power in the local area.