「廳」是清代富有特色的重要行政區劃形式之一，按性質可以分為兩類：一類是不具有完整政區特徵的「派遣廳」，另一類是具有完整政區特徵的「政區廳」。派遣廳的職官體系一般僅有同知或通判等正印官，而政區廳則既有作為正印官的同知和通判之外，又有首領官和雜務官的屬官，職能與州縣相似。清代的派遣廳主要分佈在黃河沿岸、運河沿線、長江沿岸、沿海地帶，具有很強專業性；而政區廳主要分佈在清代的邊疆地帶、新開領土和內地的邊緣地帶，具有邊緣性、過渡性、農耕性、防禦性特徵。從時間來看，康熙年間乾州廳和鳳凰廳是清代政區廳設置的開端和範例。雍正、乾隆年間，廳制在西南、西北新開疆域、民族聚居、政區交界地帶廣泛推行，逐漸定制並演化為一級重要的實體政區類型。光緒、宣統年間，廳制又被進一步推廣到東北、西北地區。從地域來看，在西南地區，廳的設置是清政府加強對少數民族地區的控制過程；在西北地區，廳的設置是由軍事系統向民政系統的轉化過程。在東北地區，廳的設置則主要是移民和經濟開發的過程。廳的建置過程是清代疆域擴展、深化統一和地域開發的過程，廳制把內地的生產生活方式、制度文化推廣到邊疆民族地區或新開領土，起到了地域整合、民族融合、區域開發的作用。

The Sub-Prefecture, a distinctive form of administrative divisions in the Qing Dynasty, can be divided into two categories by its nature: one is the 「dispatched sub-prefecture」 which does not hold full features of the administrative division; the other is the 「administrative sub-prefecture」 with the complete administrative functions like prefecture or county. The dispatched sub-prefectures which held the special and professional functions mainly distributed along the Yellow River, the Grand Canal, the Yangtze River and the coastal areas. The administrative sub-prefectures with the marginal, transitional, farming and defensive nature mainly distributed in the frontier areas, newly developed territories and the fringes of hinterland in the Qing dynasty. From the perspective of time, the installation of Qianzhou Ting and Fenghuang Ting in the Kangxi Reign was the beginning and examples of administrative sub-prefectures. During the Yongzheng Reign and the Qianlong Reign, the administrative sub-prefecture system which had been broadly implemented in the newly developed territories inhabited by minority peoples and the borderland between administrative divisions in the southwest and northwest China, gradually evolved into a customized and important type of administrative division. During the Guangxu Reign and the Xuantong Reign, the administrative sub-prefecture system had been further extended to the northeast, the northwest China. From the geographical perspective, in southwest China, the installation and implementation of administrative sub-prefecture system was the method for the Qing Government to strengthen control of the ethnic minority areas. In northwest China, the installation and implementation of administrative sub-prefecture system was the transformation process of the military systems to civilian systems. In northeast China, the installation and implementation of administrative sub-prefecture system was mainly the process of immigrants and economic development. The installation and implementation process of the administrative sub-prefecture system was also the process of territorial expansion, unification deepen and regional development. It is the administrative sub-prefecture system that played the role of regional integration, national integration, and regional development by extending the advanced production methods, lifestyles, institutions from the hinterland to the newly developed territories or ethnic frontier areas.