Administrative divisions of the Yuan dynasty

During its existence, its territory was divided into the Central Region (腹裏) governed by the Central Secretariat (Zhongshu Sheng) and places under control of various provinces (行省) or Branch Secretariats (行中書省), as well as the region under the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (Xuanzheng Yuan).

[1] Below the level of provinces, the largest political division was the circuit (道), followed by lù (路), fǔ (府) and zhōu (州).

These provinces or Branch Secretariats were set up before or during the invasions of certain regions outside the Yuan, such as Japan, Vietnam and Burma.

While no modern equivalents remain, the political functions of the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs might have been analogous to the India Office in London during the British Raj.

To emphasize its importance for Hangzhou, the capital of the former Southern Song dynasty, a branch (行) Xuanzheng Yuan was established in that city in 1291.