Abstract: Abstract:In the early Qing dynasty, areas of Hunan province that had been ravaged by warfare underwent a process of rebuilding the tax and corvee systems that included land reclamation reallocation of taxes, and land surveys. The reform of the tax and corvee in Hengshan County in 1704 reveals the salient features of the abolition the lijia and the establishment of the ziqu system of administration. Following Governor Zhao Shenqiao's initiative, the abolishment of the lijia expedited tax collection, and Hengshan County broke the shackles of lijia rules and regulations. Adhering to the principle of no cross-regional grain distribution and setting up districts at the local level, these reforms gave birth to the geographical features of the ziqu system and remodeled the tax and corvee zoning system into seventeen zi and 437 qu. Taking the new round of land reclamation in 1714 as anopportunity, the magistrate or Hengshan county, Ge Liangchen surveyed wasteland within the ziqu administrative framework. Subsequently, ziqu became an important local unit for tax, corvee, and land registration. In the historical process of shaping this region, the administrative function of the ziqu was gradually strengthened and extended. Meanwhile, the taxes and corvee divisions at the grass roots were formalized and great strides were made in regional political organization. The new administrative terminology and concepts also profoundly affected the composition of land contracts.