Explanation of the terms "rural system" and "lijia system"

In the long feudal society, due to the limitations of its ruling ability and local financial resources, the feudal state had a tradition of "imperial power not extending to the county" in the management of grassroots society.

In the vast majority of Han areas, governance at the county level is based on the establishment of an autonomous township system.

The rural system is essentially a family governance mechanism with the gentry as the backbone.

Since the political governance in ethnic minority areas implements the system of native officials and chieftains, the rural community governance in ethnic minority areas and the rural system of the Han people have their own characteristics and complement each other.

The Lijia system was the grassroots organizational form of the Ming Dynasty.

It was also one of the foundations for the Ming Dynasty government to implement the yellow registration system.

Regarding the establishment of the Lijia system, many scholars generally believe that one hundred households were divided into one li, which was custom-made, and it remained until the disintegration of the Lijia system.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty formulated the rule that one hundred households per li was to facilitate the implementation of the yellow registration system and improve local institutions. The establishment of 100 households per li did have its specific function.