中国城市沿革 History of Chinese “Cities”
宪法中规定，中华人民共和国的行政区域划分如下：
It is stated in the Constitution that the administrative division of the People’s Republic of China is as follows:
（一）全国分为省、自治区、直辖市;
(1) The country is divided into provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government;
（二）省、自治区分为自治州、县、自治县、市;
(2) Provinces and autonomous regions are divided into autonomous prefectures, counties, autonomous counties, and cities;
（三）县、自治县分为乡、民族乡、镇。直辖市和较大的市分为区、县。自治州分为县、自治县、市。
(3) Counties and autonomous counties are divided into townships, nationality townships, and towns. Municipalities directly under the Central Government and other large cities are divided into districts and counties. Autonomous prefectures are divided into counties, autonomous counties, and cities.
自治区、自治州、自治县都是民族自治地方。
All autonomous regions, autonomous prefectures and autonomous counties are national autonomous areas.
城市和农村按居民居住地区设立的居民委员会或者村民委员会是基层群众性自治组织。
The residents committees and villagers committees established among urban and rural residents on the basis of their place of residence are mass organizations of self-management at the grass-roots level.
居民委员会、村民委员会的主任、副主任和委员由居民选举。居民委员会、村民委员会同基层政权的相互关系由法律规定。
The chairman, vice-chairmen and members of each residents or villagers committee are elected by the residents. The relationship between the residents and villagers committees and the grass-roots organs of state power is prescribed by law.
可见中国行政区划应为“省-县-乡”三级，行政村为基层自治组织。此外，常见的自然村为自然聚落。
It can be seen that China’s administrative divisions are at three levels: “province-county-township”, with the administrative village being the grassroots self-governing organisation. In addition, the natural villages are natural settlements.
但是，现在的普遍实际使用的却是“省-市-县-乡”四级结构，多了一级宪法里没有规定的“市”。
However, it is now common practice to use a four-tier structure of “province - city - county - township”, with an additional level of “city” not provided for in the constitution.
这也给OpenStreetMap的编辑者们带来了困扰：中国的“市”是一个广域行政区，但OpenStreetMap上的“城市”却就是一个点。
This has also confuse the editors of OpenStreetMap: a “city” in China is a wide administrative area, but a “city” on OpenStreetMap is a node.
古代 Ancient Times
如果从词源上考究，英语里city一词来源于拉丁语的cīvitātem，指的是聚落，和town是同义的，后来在14世纪早期分离开来，中古英语里赋予其“有城墙的城市，首都或大教堂的城市”的含义。
If we look at the etymology, the English word ‘city’ comes from the Latin ‘cīvitātem’, meaning membership in the community. ‘city’ is synonymous with ‘town’, and was later separated in the early 14th century and in the Middle English it means ‘a walled town, a capital or cathedral town’.
而中文里的“市”原意为“集市”，是进行交易的场所。而对应中古英语里city的意思的中文单词应该是“城”，即有城墙的聚落。
The Chinese word ‘市’ means market, a place for trading. So the Chinese word for the Middle English word ‘city’ should be ‘城’, i.e. walled settlement.
近代 Early Modern Times
近代以来西学东渐，中国开始学习西方的行政制度。1905年, 清政府派出专使分赴欧洲、日本各国，考查中央与地方的政治制度。在清朝晚期的1909年，清政府颁布了一套基于西方行政制度的行政区划制度《城镇乡地方自治章程》。
In the early modern period, there was an eastward spread of western culture. In 1905, the Qing government sent envoys to Europe and Japan to study the central and local political systems. In the late Qing Dynasty, in 1909, the Qing Government promulgated a system of administrative divisions based on the Western administrative system, the Statute of Local Self-Government for Towns and Villages.
其中规定：
It is stipulated that :
以府厅州县治城厢为“城”，城厢以外的市镇村庄屯集等，人口满五万以上的为“镇”，不满五万的为乡。
the capital of prefecture or county is city (城), and that outside the city, the markets (市, 集), towns and villages with a population of 50,000 or more are called “towns”, while those with a population of less than 50,000 are called “townships”.
此时，清朝的行政区划体系为：省-府（州、厅）-县三级，市此时仍为“集市”的意思。
At this time, the administrative system of the Qing dynasty consisted of three levels: province - prefecture(府、州、厅) - county, and the city still meant ‘marketplace’.
这一《章程》也是中国现今行政区划体系基石之一“城乡二元体系”的奠基者。
This Statute is also the foundation of the ‘urban-rural duality system’, one of the theories underlying China’s current administrative division system.
辛亥革命后，江苏省于1911年11月召开了临时省议会，会上通过了推行地方自治的《江苏暂行市乡制》，它用“市”这一名称统一取代了“城”“镇”。
After the 1911 Revolution, the Provisional Provincial Assembly of Jiangsu Province was held in November 1911, at which the Provisional Municipal and Rural System of Jiangsu was adopted to promote local self-government, it replaced “city(城)” and “town(镇)” with the name “city(市)”.
在这时，市的含义已经从“市场”变成“大型人类聚落”，但仍非是一个行政区划。
By this time, the meaning of a city (市) had changed from ‘market’ to ‘large human settlement’, but it was still not an administrative division.
中华民国早期时，中国行政区划体系仍为省-道-县三级。
In the early Republic of China, China’s administrative division system was still three-tier: province - prefecture(道) - county.
在1921年，广州市政厅颁布了《广州市暂行条例》，该《条例》规定：广州市为地方行政区域，直隶于省政府，不入县的行政范围。这是“市”作为行政区划的开始，此时“市”与“县”同级。
In 1921, the Guangzhou City Council issued the Provisional Regulations of Guangzhou, which stated that Guangzhou City was a local administrative region, directly subordinate to the provincial government and not part of the county administration. This was the beginning of the “city(市)” as an administrative division, at this point “city” is at the same level as “county”.
1928年时，国民政府制定《市组织法》，规定市分为“特别市”和“普通市”，其中“特别市”与“省”同级，“普通市”与“县”同级。
In 1928, the National Government enacted the Municipal Organization Law, which divided “city” into “special city” and “common city”, with “special city” being on the same level as “provinces” and “common city” being on the same level as “counties”.
现代 Modern Times
之后，这个制度大体上没有变化，直到中华人民共和国在成立后颁布宪法（见文章开头），撤销专区，增加乡，行政区划体系变为省-县-乡，只允许自治州作为省-县之间的行政区划。
After that, the system remained largely unchanged until the People’s Republic of China promulgated the Constitution (see the beginning of this article) after its foundation, which abolished the prefectures and added townships, changing the system of administrative divisions to province-county-township and allowing only autonomous prefectures to act as administrative divisions between provinces and counties.
但是中国的县太多了，导致这个制度刚推出就宣告失败。这时中华人民共和国将中华民国时的“行政督察区”“道”改名为“专区”，但仅作为省级政府的派出机构，而不是一个完整的行政区划。
But there are too many counties in China that the system failed as soon as it was introduced. At this time the People’s Republic of China renamed the “administrative inspectorates”(prefecture level) of the Republic of China as “prefectures”(专区, “special region”), but only as a detached agency of the provincial government, not a complete administrative division.
宪法同时也规定了“较大的市”可以作为第二级行政区划管辖“县”，但并未说明“较大的市”的标准。因此，实际上许多城市都管辖着县，这种城市被称为“省辖市”，但并无法律承认该名称。
The Constitution also provides that ‘large cities’ may govern ‘counties’ as a second level of administrative division, but does not specify the criteria for ‘large cities’. So, in practice many cities govern counties, such cities are known as ‘cities directly under the provincial government’, but there is no law recognized that name.
这之后，行政区划体系实际上变成了省/自治区/直辖市-自治州/省辖市/专区-县/市辖区/市-乡。
After this, the system of administrative divisions actually became: province (“autonomous region”, “municipalitiy directly under the central government”) - “autonomous prefecture”, “city directly under the provincial government”, “prefecture” - county (“district”, “city”) - “township”.
由于宪法规定的行政区划体系过于不符合实情，所以导致了行政区划的管理缺位，这也是中国行政区划混乱的开端。这时候，由于宪法规定了“市”可以管辖“县”，“市”们开始了扩大的历程。
The constitutional system of administrative divisions was too unconventional and so led to a lack of administration of administrative divisions, which was the beginning of chaos in China’s administrative divisions. At this time, as the constitution provided that “cities” could govern “counties”, the “cities” began their journey of expansion.
1978年，专区更名为地区。1983年，全国行政区划改革启动，“地区”开始大规模的转换为“市”，因此原本第二级行政区划的“省辖市”的称呼逐步被“地级市”所代替。
In 1978, the name of prefecture(专区) was changed to prefecture(地区). In 1983, when the national reform of administrative divisions was launched, the “prefecture(地区)” began to be converted into “cities” on a large scale, so that “city directly under the provincial government”, which had been the name of second level of administrative divisions, was gradually replaced by “prefecture-level cities”.
宪法中的“市”为了与其区分，被人们改称“县级市”。进入21世纪后，“市”已经成为“地级市”的代称。
The word ‘city’ in the constitution was changed to ‘county-level city’ in order to distinguish it from the ‘prefecture-level city’. In the 21st century, “city” has become a synonym for “prefecture-level city”.
结论 Conclusion
从“市场”开始，到“较大的人类聚落”，再到“第三级行政区划”，最后变成“第二级行政区划”，“市”的含义一直在不断的扩大，但这些含义依然共存在我们的生活里。它们的共存也是中国的OpenStreetMap贡献者们感到困惑的原因。
From ‘market’, to ‘larger human settlement’, to ‘third-level administrative division’ and finally to ‘second-level administrative division’, the meaning of ‘city(市)’ has continued to expand. The meaning of “city” has been constantly expanding, but these meanings still coexist in our lives. Their co-existence is also a source of confusion for OpenStreetMap contributors in China.
OpenStreetMap
