ABSTRACT
The territory of the Ming period came under the jurisdiction of the administrative and the military systems. The administrative system consisted of six ministries, provincial administrative commissions, prefectures, subprefectures and counties. It included thirteen provincial administration commissions and the north and south independent administrations (Nanzhili and Beizhili). The military system, on the other hand, was composed of the Five Chief Military Commissions, the Regional Military Commissions, the Auxiliary Regional Military Commissions and the garrisons and guards. The guards and garrisons managed the territory of the interior (i.e. of the inner garrisons and guards or zaineiweisuo, and the inland garrisons and guards or neidiweisuo). They interweaved with the administrative system, or directly managed the vast frontiers of the Ming (the border garrisons and the coastal garrisons). This managerial system had a major impact on the history of the Ming and the Qing dynasties.
