政区·官署·省会——清代省名含义辨析

清代地方高层政区是否有正式名称,公文中存在的大量省名的含义是什么,这是两个相互关联的问题。本文首先梳理了清代各个时期法典的记载,发现这些法典均将地方高层政区称之为"省",说明"省"就是清代地方高层政区的正式名称。其次,指出公文中存在的形形色色省名,清人已经说明这是对省级行政机构(衙门)的称呼。第三,说明清人也习惯将省城简称为省。清代将地方高层政区、省级行政机构、省会均称之为"省"。

An Examination on the Significance of the Province Names in Qing Dynasty

This paper aims to make clear whether the highest administrative units at the local levels in Qing Dynasty(1644-1911) were entitled to formal names.It also tries to find the true significance of the various names of provinces in official documents and archives at that time.These are some of basic problems remaining to be resolved though the study of Qing history.Through a textual analysis of the names of the highest administrative units at the local levels recorded in the legal codes written in different periods of the Qing Dynasty,the author finds that these codes entitled the provinces to their names.Thus,from the perspective of law,the highest administrative units at the local level have legitimate claim to their names.The author also discovers that the significance of the province names appeared in official documents or archives in Qing Dynasty differed.Some refer to administrative division.But some mean the government department and the others mean a provincial capital.