Circuit (道 ; Chinese: dào; Japanese: dō) was a Chinese political division, and is a Japanese one. In Korea, the same word 道 (도; Do) is translated as "Province."
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It originated in China in 627, when Emperor Taizong (唐太宗) subdivided China into ten circuits. Emperor Xuanzong (玄宗) further added 5. It was abolished as the highest administrative divisions when the Qing Empire collapsed in 1911. However, circuits still existed as high-level, though not top-level, divisions of the Republic of China, such as Qionyai Circuit (now Hainan Province). In 1928, all circuits were replaced with committees or just completely abandoned.
Circuits were the highest of the three-tier system (三級制), the next two are prefectures (州) and districts (縣). They are simultaneously inspection areas (監察區 jian1 cha2 qu1).
The newest and only remaining Japanese circuit is Hokkaido "North Sea Circuit", which has the equivalent status as a prefecture. The seven defunct circuits spread all over the other three islands:
See also Old provinces of Japan
Since the late 10th century, the Do ("Province") has been the primary administrative division in Korea. See Provinces of Korea for details.China
Japan
(For the mountain south-north reference with in and yo, see Yin Yang)Korea