- published: 09 Mar 2012
- views: 3167123
Zhou (州) were historical political divisions of China. Formally established during the Han Dynasty, zhou continued to exist until the establishment of the Republic of China—a period of over 2000 years. Zhou were also previously used in Korea (Korean: 주, ju), Vietnam (Vietnamese: châu), and Japan (Hepburn: shū).
Zhou is typically rendered by several terms in the English language:
The Tang Dynasty also established fǔ (府, "prefectures"), zhou of special importance such as capitals and other major cities. By the Ming and Qing, fǔ became predominant divisions within Chinese provinces. The word fǔ (府) was typically attached to the name of each prefecture's capital city, thus both Chinese and Western maps and geographical works would often call the respective cities Hangzhou-fu, Wenzhou-fu, Wuchang-fu, etc.
A political division is a geographic region accepted to be in the jurisdiction of a particular governmental entity. The particular government entity varies as each organizes its operations by further divisions (subdivisions of the state) to further its tasks and satisfy its responsibilities.
On the large scale, a political division is typically a sovereign state (colloquially referred to as "country"), while on a smaller scale political divisions (sometimes called administrative divisions) include:
Other names for such units in various contexts include "Subnational entity", "administrative unit", "administrative area", "province", "district" and "regional government". Overall, all such distinctions are also called subnational entities by the United Nations. It is common to see political divisions drawn out on political maps.
Division or divider may refer to:
Wang Lequan (born December 1944) is a Chinese politician, most notable for being the regional leader in Xinjiang for sixteen years. Wang served as Xinjiang's Communist Party Secretary, the region's top political office, between 1994 and 2010. From 2004 to 2012 Wang served as a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China. From 2010 to 2012 Wang became a Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission. He retired from active politics in 2012. In 2013 he became the President of the China Law Society.
Wang Lequan was born in Shouguang, Shandong in December 1944. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1966. He was a post-graduate at the Central Party School of the CPC Central Committee. Wang ran the Communist Youth League in Shandong Province in the mid-1980s and became vice governor of Shandong in 1989.
Wang was the Secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Committee from 1994 until 2010. As Secretary, he was responsible for implementing modernization programs in Xinjiang. He encouraged industrialization, development of commerce, and investments in roads and railways. He furthered the development of the oil and gas fields in the region, link-up of pipelines from Kazakhstan to eastern China. On the other hand, he constrained local culture and religion, substituted Mandarin for Uyghur language in primary schools; restricted or banned, among government workers, the wearing of beards and headscarves, fasting and praying while on the job.