The administrative division of the “Hequ” region went through a complicated change in times of the Northern Dynasties. The system of administrative division of the region under the rule of the North Wei Dynasty could be divided into two stages, the stage of military governorship and the stage of statecountry division. Even in time of the Sixmilitarygovernor Rebellion, only a few areas were imposed into statecounty system. In the period of the West Wei and the North Zhou Dynasty, regular administrative subdivisions in the “Hequ” region increased continuously and the government of general administration, a summit administrative organ, was introduced, forming four distributionextended hierarchies of local administrative division extending from south to north. In the early eight years of the Sui Dynasty, in addition to carrying on the fourhierarchy administrative system established in the North Zhou Dynasty, the court added the governorgeneral government and administrative subdivisions of state and county in the Hetao Plains at the southern foot of the Yin Mountains. To sum up, the process of change of administrative division in the “Hequ” region showed a timespace feature of a gradual increase in the number of regular administrative subdivisions, such as state and counties, and a continuous expansion in the range of distribution.

adminitrative division in the period of the Northern Dynasties; the “Hequ” region; the statecounty administrative system; government of general administration