“The Eighteen Provinces are divided into _fu_, _ting_, _chau_, and _hien_. A _fu_ is a large portion or department of a province, under the general control of one civil officer immediately subordinate to the heads of the provincial government. A _ting_ is a division of a province smaller than a _fu_, and either like it governed by an officer immediately subject to the heads of the provincial government, or else forming a subordinate part of a _fu_. In the former case it is called _chih-lí_, _i.e._ under the ‘direct rule’ of the provincial government; in the latter case it is simply called _ting_. A _chau_ is a division similar to a _ting_, and like it either independent of any other division, or forming part of a _fu_. The difference between the two consists in the government of a _ting_ resembling that of a _fu_ more nearly than that of a _chau_ does: that of the _chau_ is less expensive. The _ting_ and _chau_ of the class to which the term _chih-lí_ is attached, may be denominated in common with the _fu_, _departments_ or _prefectures_; and the term _chih-lí_ may be rendered by the word _independent_. The subordinate _ting_ and _chau_ may both be called _districts_. A _hien_, which is also a _district_, is a small division or subordinate part of a department, whether of a _fu_, or of an independent _chau_ or _ting_. “Each _fu_, _ting_, _chau_, and _hien_, possesses at least one walled town, the seat of its government, which bears the same name as the department or district to which it pertains. Thus Hiangshan is the chief town of the district Hiangshan hien; and Shauking, that of the department Shauking fu. By European writers, the chief towns of the _fu_ or departments have been called cities of the first order; those of the _chau_, cities of the second order; and those of the _hien_, cities of the third order. The division called _ting_, being rarely met with, has been left out of the arrangement--an arrangement not recognized in China. It must be observed that the chief town of a _fu_ is always also the chief town of a _hien_ district; and sometimes, when of considerable size and importance, it and the country around are divided into two _hien_ districts, both of which have the seat of their government within the same walls: but this is not the case with the _ting_ and _chau_ departments. A district is not always subdivided; instances may occur of a whole district possessing but one important town. But as there are often large and even walled towns not included in the number of chief or of district towns, consequently not the seat of a regular _chau_ or _hien_ magistracy, a subdivision of a district is therefore frequently rendered necessary; and for the better government of such towns and the towns surrounding them, magistrates are appointed to them, secondary to the magistrates of the departments or the districts in which they are comprised.