Governor - Lion

An official title in old China. In the Han dynasty, a procurator was placed in each state to supervise the districts and provinces. However, since they were not administrative chiefs, they did not have a fixed position and were constantly moving around within their jurisdiction. At first, their official rank was lower than that of the district governor, but because they had real power, their status gradually rose, and eventually they became warlords in charge of military and civil affairs as the governors of a state, marking the beginning of the division of the country into the Three Kingdoms (Wei, Wu, and Shu). As the states were gradually subdivided during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the power of the governors also weakened, and although governors of the Tang dynasty were the governors of a state, the area of ​​the state was very small, with jurisdiction over only five counties on average. During the Song dynasty, the governors of states were the prefects of the prefectures, and governors were simply used as a title for military officers with no actual position.

[Miyazaki City]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

旧中国の官名。漢代に郡・国を監督するため、州ごとに置かれた検察官。ただし行政長官でないから定位置をもたず、つねに管内を移動していた。その官位も初めは郡の太守より低かったが、実権のあることからしだいに地位が高まり、やがて一州の長官として軍事・民政をつかさどる軍閥と化し、三国（魏(ぎ)・呉(ご)・蜀(しょく)）に分裂する端緒を開いた。南北朝の間に州がしだいに細分されるとともに刺史の権力も弱体化し、唐の刺史は一州の長官とはいえ、州の面積は甚だ小さく、平均5県を管轄するにすぎなかった。宋(そう)代には州の長官は知州であり、刺史は実職のない武官の単なる肩書として用いられた。

［宮崎市定］

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