Circuit (political division)

A circuit ( ; Chinese: dào; Japanese: dō) was a historical political division of Tang China and Japan and Korea. In Korean, the same word () is translated as "province".

 China 

Emperor Taizong divided China into parts which were called "circuits".Chen, Jack W. (2000).  The Poetics of Sovereignty: On Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, p. 37 citing Robert des Rotours,  "Les grands fonctionnaires des provinces en Chine sous la dynastie des T'ang," T'oung Pao Second Series, Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (1927), pp. 223-225.

The organization of government and geography in Tang China were merged into provinces (dao ) which were ten natural regions.Qian, Nu and George Oakley Totten. (1982).  Traditional Government in Imperial China: A Critical Analysis, pp. 100-101; Richard, Louis. (1908).  Comprehensive geography of the Chinese Empire and dependencies, p. 471.  In part, Tang history is about the changing balance between the provinces and a strong central government.Perry, John Curtis and  Bardwell L. Smith. (1976).  Essays on Tʻang Society: The Interplay of Social, Political and Economic Forces, p. 118.

 Japan 

During the pre-modern era, Japan was divided into a central region and seven provincial regions or "circuits",Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). Goki-shichidō" in Japan Encyclopedia, p. 255. including
 , 7 provinces (kuni)
 , 6 provinces
 , 8 provinces
 , 8 provinces
 , 8 provinces
 , 15 provinces 
 , 13 provinces

In the mid-19th century, the northern island of Ezo was settled, and renamed .

Hokkaido did not develop as a "circuit" in the traditional way.  It became a prefecture. It had a name that was different from the other prefectures because of the suffix -dō.

 Korea 
After the late-10th century, the province (do) was the main subdivision of Korea.

Related pages
 Prefectures of Japan
 Provinces of Japan

References

Category:History of China
Category:History of Japan
Category:History of Korea