本文根據張家山漢簡《二年律令》與《奏瓛書》，探討漢初郡制。論證漢 初郡守的司法權分割自廷尉，上計權分割自內史，部分人事權分割自太史； 漢初郡尉的上計權與部分人事權分割自中尉；郡守與郡尉的議請立法權與部 分人事權則是漢初二千石長官共通的權力，無分中央與地方。因此本文認為 漢初之郡的權力具有中央外派性質，其職責為代替中央諸官署監察、管辖地 方縣道官；張家山漢簡《二年律令•秩律》並無「京師二千石」與「郡二千 石」之分，〈秩律〉裡的郡守、郡尉應視為中央外派官吏。漢初之郡擁有許多 中央官署的職權，但漢初中央各官署並未在郡設置各自獨立的分支機構，郡 長官統合了各中央官署分割出來的各項職權，故漢初郡長官的權力幾乎等於 中央各官署首長的權力總和，郡幾為整個中央政府在地方的分支機構，甚具 獨立性，宛如「小中央」。然而漢初諸侯王的權力分割自皇帝，故漢廷難以干 預王國事務；漢初郡長官的權力卻分割自京師二千石，丞相、御史大夫仍凌駕於郡之上，郡的行政地位始終下於丞相、御史大夫「二府」一等，故皇帝 與二府在行政上可以有效統辖漢初之郡。漢朝皇帝方能以郡縣制箝制封建 制，建立大一統的漢帝國。漢初之郡的中央外派性質並非憑空而來，必有所 承。根據睡虎地秦簡與張家山漢簡推測整個戰國晚期至漢初之郡皆具有中央 外派的性質，此時的「地方政府」仍與一般理解的傳統中國兩千年郡縣制有 較大差異，似不為過。

Through close examination of the Zhangjiashan 張家山 bamboo strips, this article aims to throw new light on our understanding of the commandery administration during the early Western Han. It argues that the commandery governor in the early Western Han held judicial, financial and personnel powers derived from offices in central government. Such delegation of powers suggests that the institution of the commandery at that time was a representative of the central authorities tasked with supervising and governing local governments; the commandery, therefore, was an independent microcosm of the central government in local regions. As the authority of feudal kingdoms at that time came from the emperor, the central government had little power to interfere in the domestic affairs of the kingdom. The commandery, by contrast, was under the full control of the emperor and leading officials in the central government. Because of this, the emperor and prime ministers could manage the commandery, using it to supersede feudal kingdoms and so establish the unified Han empire. This article also suggests that this delegated nature of the commandery became prevalent from the late Warring States period onward, and was predominant until further reforms took place in the Western Han.Suffice it to say, the reality of local administration during this period was very different from the received image in most of the writings on the history of local government in traditional China.