First of all, Shang Yang, the county magistrate of Qin Dynasty, reformed and merged the small town into a county, and the county magistrate was the chief magistrate. At the end of the Warring States period, the State of Qin formed a two-level county system, which was adopted by many vassal states. After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he perfected the county system again and introduced the word county magistrate. The appellation of county magistrate should start from Song Dynasty. Although there was also the title of county magistrate in Song Dynasty, the county magistrate was an official in Song Dynasty, and saying "knowing the affairs of a county" or "knowing the affairs of a government" for short was a county magistrate.

According to the fourth volume of Changbian, in order to strengthen the control of the local government, the Song Dynasty ordered the west of Dali to know Guantao County, and supervised the suggestions of Wang Youzhi Wei County, Yang Zhiyong Ji County and Yu Zhi County. He often took part in the magistrate's county. From the time he went to the island, he was directly appointed by the Beijing authorities as the head of a county government, the so-called magistrate, that is, the chief executive of a county. Magistrates are different from local officials because they are sent out.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, it was stipulated that "counties with more than 10,000 households, county officials are called county orders, and those with less than 10,000 households are called dragons. The word "dragon" continued to the Three Kingdoms in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. Judging from this regulation, the difference between a county magistrate and a county magistrate lies in the number of people under its jurisdiction. Counties above 10 thousand can be called "county heads", and those below 10 thousand can only be called "county heads" In addition to the number of people under their jurisdiction, the salaries of county magistrates and county magistrates are different. The salary of a county magistrate ranges from 600 yuan to 1000 yuan, which is twice that of a county magistrate.

The word "county magistrate" has a long history. Since the establishment of this county, it can be said that there has been a "county magistrate". But in ancient China, agriculture was the pillar, and the low level of productivity led to a small population. Coupled with the war, the population is insufficient. However, there were still many people in charge of the "county order" at that time, reaching more than 10 thousand people. If this figure is not reached, there will be no county magistrate in this place, only "county magistrate".