Local Government in China under the Ch’ing

This book attempts to analyze the structure and function of local government at the 'zhou' and 'xian' levels during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). These lowest levels of administration dealt directly with the everyday activities of the people. However, Chu never clearly identifies them beyond referring to them as "department" (zhou) and "district" (xian). 'Zhou' in its modern usage commonly refers to a state or prefecture, however in former times I assume it referred to a sub-prefecture administration (possibly a region consisting of many towns and villiages within a prefecture). 'Xian' can be considered a county (the same as in the modern usage).