明清省制經歷了從明初廢行省、設三司,到后來設置巡撫、總督,以及督撫地方行政化的演進過程。因之,從明中葉開始,督撫由不參與地方政府祭祀,轉變為參與祈雨、祈晴等祈禳活動,進而逐漸參與并主導地方常祀。乾隆十六年正式確立了督撫的儀式地位,此后,督撫通過編纂行省祀典、主導春秋常祀與朔望行香,在儀式上進一步確定其與布政使、按察使等地方大吏的統屬關系。在祭祀層級方面,明末以降先后出現都城隍、省城隍等名號及與布政司、按察司相對應的神廟,乾隆時期某些省份甚至出現系統創制省級神祇名號的舉措,不過,這些實踐并未被升格為禮制。這表明,從行政維度來看,行省的創設已有數百年之久,但遲至20世紀初,行省在禮儀維度的地位仍非無可爭議。

The provincial institution of the Ming and Qing dynasties underwent an evolutionary process from the abolition of the branch secretariat and the establishment of the three provincial offices at the beginning of the Ming, to the subsequent establishment of xunfu(grand coordinator in the Ming and governor in the Qing) and zongdu(supreme commander in the Ming and governor-general in the Qing, often called dufu together with xunfu) as well as the transformation of dufu from envoys of the court to local officials since the mid-Ming. As a result, from the mid-Ming onwards, dufu changed from being not entitled to participate local sacrifices, to participating occasional rituals such as rain making or sunny day praying, and then gradually becoming engaged in and even hosting regular local sacrifices. The ritual status of dufu was officially set up in 1751. Since then, dufu further established their dominance upon local high-ranking officials such as provincial administration commissioners or surveillance commissioners at rituals by compiling books of provincial sacrifices and hosting local regular spring and autumn rituals, and leading the incense offering at the first and fifteenth days of the lunar months. When dufu were gradually engaged in local sacrifices, changes also took place at to objects of the provincial sacrifices. Titles of capital and provincial city gods were invented, and temples corresponding to provincial administration commission and surveillance commission were also erected since the late Ming. During early Qianlong reign, there were even initiatives in some provinces to systematically create titles for provincial deities, although such practices were not codified by the court. This shows that, seen from the administrative dimension, the provincial institution had been adopted for centuries, but their status in the ritual dimension was still not indisputable and had yet to be established.