佛祖統紀 32.4

32.4

The rise of territories: Emperor Ku had the Nine Provinces (Ji, Yan, Qing, Xu, Yang, Jing, Yu, Liang, and Yong). Shun had twelve provinces (because the land of Ji Province was vast, he additionally established the three provinces of Bing, You, and Ying). Yu of the Xia regulated the waters and land, distinguishing the Nine Provinces. The Zhou largely enfeoffed states, amounting to some one thousand eight hundred states. In the Spring and Autumn period, there were one hundred and twenty-four states appearing in the classics and commentaries. Down to the Warring States period, the Seven Heroes were unified into the Qin. Chagrined by the defects of the Zhou enfeoffment, they abolished the marquises and established governors, dividing all under heaven into thirty-six commanderies. When they pacified the Hundred Yue in the south, they further established the four commanderies of Minzhong, Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang. The two Han dynasties governed by thirteen provinces (Emperor Wu of the Han established inspectors for the thirteen divisions). The Jin had nineteen provinces. The Tang had ten circuits, and later fifteen, with observation commissioners, having altogether three hundred and twenty-eight commandery-prefectures and one thousand five hundred and seventy-three counties. The Song dynasty in the Yuanfeng era promulgated the *Jiuyu zhi* (Record of the Nine Realms) composed by Li Dechu and others, divided into twenty-three circuits (shown on the map), with altogether two hundred and ninety-five commanderies and one thousand one hundred and thirty-one counties. The loose-rein prefectures beyond the pale of civilization are not included.