Yuan Provincial System (Xingsheng)

Timeline

1. 1264–1279Dadu · North ChinaKublai Khan made the Branch Secretariat the highest local institution, successively establishing the Shaanxi, Gansu, Henan-Jiangbei, Jiangzhe, Jiangxi, and Huguang provinces, bringing Jin-era prefectures and counties into a unified system, with provincial heads appointed by the center from Mongol, Semu, and Han officials.
2. c. 1280–1320China proper · ChinaIn the mid-Yuan, a regular pattern of eleven provinces (including the Eastern Expedition Province) took shape; the provinces, Pacification Commissions, and Surveillance Commissions formed a three-commission system, working with the relay stations and maritime grain transport to achieve cross-regional tax transfers and military-civil coordination.
3. 1341–1350Henan-Jiangbei Province · HenanAfter the Shun Emperor's accession in 1341, the era name was changed to Zhizheng; the provinces bore heavy river works and relief duties; in 1344 the Yellow River breached its banks in Henan, sharply increasing fiscal pressure. Provincial Han troops and popular uprising forces grew in strength, planting institutional seeds for the 1351 Red Turban Rebellion.
4. 1360–1368Yingtian Prefecture · JiangsuIn the 1360s, the Red Turbans and Ming armies swept the provinces; after the Ming dynasty was established in 1368, the Branch Secretariats were abolished and replaced by Provincial Administration Commissions, ending the xingsheng as the Yuan's highest local authority, though the territorial framework was inherited by later dynasties.