The Supervisor of the Palace Writers (Ch'ung-shu Chien 中书监) was a third grder in the Wei, Tsing and Liu-sung Dynasties, and came up to grade 2 in the C h'en regime. His associate, the palace Writer(C h'ung-shu Ling) was classified as a third grade official in allthe dynasties just mentioned. In T'ang, the office of the Supervisor of the Palace Writers was abolished, and the prefect was promoted to grade 2. In Sung he was ranked at grade 1A, one of the hightest officials of the state. At the same time, his Assistants (shih-lang 侍郎) were raised from grade 5 in the Wei dynasty to grade 3A in the T'ang Dynasty.

The origin of the prefect of the Palace writers was rather lowly. He was first recognized as the Prefect of the confidential Secretaries (Mi-shu-ling秘书令 )serving Ts'ao-ts'ao, the powerful General Minister in the last days of the Han period, and father of the founder of the Wei Dynasty. By T'ang times the Palace Secretariat(Ch'ung-shu中书 ) was one of the three most authoritative departments (Sheng 省) of the government.

The office of the Palace Attendants (Shih-ch'ung侍中 ) was filled in Ch'in times by clerks of the Chancellor (Cheng-hsiang shih 丞相史). In Wei,Tsing and during the epoch of division between north and south they were third graders. By T'ang times the number of the Palace Attendants was reduced to two, who becane the heads of the Department of Court Attendabce (Men-hsia Sheng门下省), anked at grade 2a, In the Sung Dynasty they were promoted to grade 1A. Similarly, the ranks of their Assistants and other functionaries were promoted throughout the period.

The Grant Secretariat (Nei-kuo 内阁), Inner Cabinet or Inner Hall) was first wstablished in the Ming Dynasty. Its members were at first drawn from among the resders-in-waiting (Shih-tu 侍读), the Expositors-in-waiting(Shih-chiang侍讲 ),the Compilers(hsiu-chuan 修撰 and Pien-hsiu 编修), and the Correctors(Chien-t'ao 检讨)of the Hanlin Academy( Han-lin-yuan翰林院), all lowly ranking officials. Later on, Higher officials of the Academy were recruited as the Grand Scretariats (Nei-kuo Ta Hsueh-shih 内阁大学士, Great Academicians of the Inner Hall), But throughout the dunasty they ranked at grade 5A, except those with special dignitary titles.

The Ch'ing government first instituted two Manchu Grand Secretaries of grade 1A and two Chinese counterparts of grade 2A, They were all soon reclassified at grade 2A, but finally changed to grade 1A in the year 1730 A.D. They exercised the power of the Chancellery in combination.

The Grand preceptor（T'ai-she太师）, the Grand Tutor(T'ai-fu太傅) and the Grandgardian(T'ai-pao太保) of the Emperor were functional officials in the ancient states of Shang and Chou. In the former Han Dynasty the higuest honor was attributed to the offices, which, however , were frequently left vacant. If filled, they had neither functions nor power. Something even the titles themselves were scraped from the book. Yet the name of the offices persisted to the Ch'ing Dynasty , though seldom conferred on Anyone.

The same fate befell the offices of the Junior Preceptor (Shao-she少师) the junior tutor, the Junior Guardian, the Grand Precetor of the Heir Apparent (T'ai-tze T'ai-she太子太师), the Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent, the Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent, the Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent and so on.

The Grand Precetor, the Grand Tutor and the Grand Guardian combined were designated in antuquity as the three Dukes(Kung公) in recognition of their high digity. Han at first followed the usage of Ch'in in naming the chancellor and the Commander-in-chief (Tai Wei 太尉) as the two Dukes. Later on, with the change of official titles, the Commander-in-chief, the High Minister of the Masses (Shu-t'u司徒 , Previously the Chancellor) and the High Minister of Works(Shu-k'ong司空, Previously the Imperial Clerk Grandee) were called the three Dukes, also known as the three High Ministers (Shu司). They had the highest authority in the realm and were all functional officials. In Sui all three offices were intermittently left vacant. The bureaucracies under them were retained in the beginning, but finally were all abolished. In T'ang and sung, all these three offices became merely titular titles, to be conferred occasionally on specially meritorious ministers, but without their original responsibility and authority. After the Yuan Dynasty, even the titles themselves fell into abeyance.

The Prefect of the Masters of Writing, the Palace Attendants and the Prefect of the Palace Writers had all reached the top level of the official hierachy in the T'ang Dynasty. But it was also in this dynasty that they began to lose power and become titular. First, because Emperor T'ai-chung had been appointed before ascending the throne to the office of the Prefect of the Masters of Writing. No official dared assume that office. The other two offices were also relieved of their responsibilities.

All the threee offices just mentioned were nominal in early Sung, but were abolished in 1172A.D. The Yuan government restored the office of the Prefect of the Palace Writers as the nominal Chancellery, chief, and, as a rule, appointed the Imperial Heir Apparent to the office. The actual work of administration was done by officials of lower ranks.

Ming ministers once proposed to the founder of the dynasty, Ming T'ai-chu, to follow the Yuan practice of appointing the Heir Apparent to the office of the Prefect of the Palace Writers. This proposal was not accepted. There-after the office of the Prefect of the Palace Writers, following that of the Masters of Writing and the Palace Attendants were forever eliminated.

Emperor Wen ofHan divided the country into one dozen or so Regions (Chou州), and commissioned the clerks of the Chancellery each to inspect government administration in one Region. The Inspectors were therefore emissaries. Emperor Wu however instituted the offices of Department Probing Clerks, sometimes translated as Regional Inspectors (P'u-tz'u shih部刺史), and filled them with persons other than the Clerk of the Chancellery. later on, the Inspectors became established local administrators

The T'ang government frequently employed officials of different department to discharge the responsibilities of the Chancellery. The officials thus employed were given the additional title of Equivalent Controllers of State Affairs (T'ung ping chang shih同平章事). Their duties were not defined, and they were not hierarchically ranked in the bureaucracy. The same practice was followed by the Sung government. In the Yuan Dynasty, however, the Controllers of State Affairs (Ping chang cheng shih平章政事)became hierarchically established officials, ranking ay grade 1B. They were no longer temporary commissioners.

Ministers and other court officials of the Sung government were frequently sent to inspect local administration, to be known as the Deputy Inspector of Military and Administrative Affairs of a Certain Prefecture or District (Ch'uan-chih mou-Fu-chun Fu -shih 权知某府军府事, Ch'uan-chih mou-Chou-chun Chou -shih权知某州军州事 ). Or they might be simply designated as Inspectors of the Army (Chih-chun知军),or Inspecting Supervisors (Chih-chien 知监). Even the power of a local magistrate was brought under the supervision of a court emissary.

The Ming government copied the formula of the Sung local government by instituting the Supervisors of Prefectures (Chih-Fu)知府,the supervisors of districts(Chih-Chou知州), and the Supervisors of Counties (Chih-Hsien知县). But then they were counted as established officials within the hierarchy of officialdom, and not just ad hoc court emissaries. The same development took place with the Assistants of these Supervisors.

Ming emperors often commissioned the presidents, the Vice-presidents and the Consultant Censors (ch'ien Tu-Yu-shih签都御史)of the Central Censorate (Tuch'a yuan都察院), or the Presidents and Assistants of the Six Boards, or to oversee (Hsun fu巡抚) local affairs. They were peripathetic officials, holding, besides their ranks in the court, no other ranks in the hierarchy. In the Ch'ing Dynasty, the General-Directors of provincial aries became Governor-Generals or Viceroys ranking at grade 1B, and the Provincial O verseers became the Governors ranking at grade 2A. They became local officials, but retained their old names of commission and formalistically their titular positions in the court.

The army organization of the ming government did not provide for the offices of generals, colonels and captains. Instead, members of the officers of the lower echelon often possessed civil rather than military ranking.

Emperor Chien-lung of the Ch'ing Dynasty abolished in 1753 A.D. the special commissions of the army officers and made them officials in their own right. He decreed Provincial Commander-in-chief(T'i-tu提督) to rank at grade 1B, and Brigade Generals or District Commanders (Tsung-ping总兵) at grade 2A. Before this reform, an arm hierarchy had already been established early in the dynasty for officers lower than District Commanders.

In the Ming Dynasty the number of Assistants (Ts'o yu Ts'an-cheng左右参政) and Consultants (Ts'o yu Ts'-yu左右参议) of the Provincial Government Commissioner (Pu-cheng-shih布政使) and the Assistants(Fu-shih副使) and Consultants(Ch'ien-shih佥事) of the provincial Judicial Commissioner (An-Ch'a-shih按察使) was not specified. Even the titles of their commissions varied in the various circuits (Tao道) where they were sent to. The Assistants and Consultants of the Government commissioner were known as the Directors of grains, of Accounts, or of local Defense. The Assistants and Consultants of the Judicial commissioner were delegated with responsibilities to inspect schools, reorganize the militia, post stations, policing, collecting grain for the army, irrigation works, land reclamation, salt monopoly, river control, famine relief, inspecting the army and recruiting for it, policing the sea, and grain storage. Both the Assistants of the Government Commissioner and Financial Commissioner were in charge of the local garrison. They were temporarily improved officials, supposed to assist the Government commissioner and financial Commissioner, and to circuit and inspect local affairs. The Ch'ing government, however, officially appointed them as Circuit Inspectors (Tao-yuan道员), ranking at grade 4A,and abolished their staff relationship with the Provincial Commissioners.

As the need for stable diplomatic representation persisted, the government then 1908 A. D. Instituted a corps of permanent diplomatic service, with their own positions and ranks. For example the Ambassadors of the First Class (Tou Teng ch'u shih Ta ch'en头等出使大臣) were ranked at grade 1A; his counsellors (Ts'an-tsen参赞) at grade 3A; his interpreters (Tung-yu-kuan通译官) at grade 5A, etc. Secretaries of various classes and officials of the consular service were similarly graded. This constitutes another example where emissaries became permanent officials.

we may distinguish two ways by which an office becomes titular。 One way is when the responsibilities of an office are taken over by one another， and so becomes titular without responsibilities。 Another is when an official is deputed to perform duties of some other bureau， but retains the title of his original office，doing nothing in that capacity。 Let us examine example of both cases。

The Sung government before the reform of the Yuan-feng（元丰 1078-1085）period was replet with titular offices。It is not nessesary to repeat that the offices of the Three Dukes （San-Kun 三公） and the Three Masters（San-shih 三司）were merely dignitary and rarely conferred。 Even the Chansellors did not know what were their responsibilities。 Frequently the duties of the central Departments （San-seng 三省），the Six Boards and the Twenty-four Bureaus were performed by officials with irrelevant titles， while their proper officials， if they did exist， were prohibited from interfering with the work of their offices， unless given special authorization。 The perfect of the Palace Writers， the Palace Attendants，the perfect of the Master of the writing， and their assistants，high officials as they were， did not head any department or bureau， and were not impeach unless ask to do so。 In short， eight to ninety percent of the Sung officials because their official titles did not conform with reality

As mentioned above， the Government-Generals， the Governors， the Assistants and Consultants of the Provincial Government commissioner and the the Provincial Judicial Commissioner serving as Circuit Inspectors were supposed to be special court emissaries in the Ming Dynasty。 They all kept their positions and ranked in the central government，where they might never work。Their court office and ranks were therefor merely titular。

Important provincial army commanders and high officials in the Ch'ing Dynasty were frequently conferred the titles of the Grand Secretariat or the Hanlin Academy, who, however，were never expected to execute their duties in the capital. After the Taiping Rebellion leaders of the militia were sometimes conferred the titles of the officers in the regular Chinese army, but never transfer to command it. There were also titular offices.

The department of the Masters of the Writing had originally a Prefect and two Assistants。 In the T‘ang Dynasty ， as mentioned above， because Emperor Tai-tsung had been a Prefect in this department， no minister dared to accept that office。Hence the two Assistants became the actual heads of the department。In the Sung Dynasty, the office of the Prefect of the same Department, because of its high dignity, was also deliberately left vacant after the Yuan-feng reform. His two Assistants were the actual heads of this department, exercising the power of the Chancellery.

The department of Palace Attendance was originally headed by the Palace Attendant, assisted by two or more Assistants. The office of the Palace attendant already became titular in the T'ang dynasty. In the Sung government reform it was established that the Senior Assistant Prefect of the Masters of Writing should also be the Assistant Palace Attendant, and he acted in the capacity of the Palace Attendant. Thus the Assistant of the Department of Oalace Attendance also became the actual head official

The department of the Palace Writers was originally headed by a Perfect, assisted by two Assistants. In the Sung Yuan-feng reform the Junior Assistant of the Masters of Writing was to unite the office of the Assistant of the Palace Writers, acting as the head of the department.

In the Yuan system, the Imperial Heir Apparent was appointed to the office of the perfect of the Palace Writers, assisted by a senior and a junior Chancellor. The actual work of governing was performed by the two Chancellors. The Ming government did not established the office of the Perfect of the Palace Writers, and the two Chancellors became the heads of the Department of the Palace Writers.

Before the Assistant officials became head officials, the latter generally had already become titular. The Assistants of the three Departments just cited became head officials because the head offices were either not established, or established but left vacant, or filled by someone who did not exercise power.

By Palace Officials (Chung-chao中朝) we mean those functionaries who catered to the personal needs of the emperor, or simply his private men. Court officials were the same as state officials. Examples of palace officials becoming court officials include the following. The" Great General"(Ta-Chiang-chun 太将军) was regarded as the chief of the palac functionaries in Han times. He became a court official in the succeeding dynasties of Wei and Tsing. The Palace Attendant was also a palace functionary in Han and became one of the most powerful ministers of state in later days. The Perfect of the Palace Writers similarly began his career as the emperor's private men in the Wei dynasty.

When the officials regarded as basis of bureaucracy， which is created for him， such pattern may be called an official-oriented bureaucracy。 The opposite case would be when offices are first established and then officials are appointed to fill them。This can be called an office-oriented bureaucracy。

It is evident that in ancient China the bureaucracy was primarily office-oriented， and only rarely office-oriented。This is true even down to Ch‘in and Han times。The Chancellery came into being because of the Chancellor；the office of the Comander-in-chieif（T‘ing-we太尉I）existed because of him；and the nine Ministers(Ch'ing卿) were appointed before their ministers or court(Sze 寺) were created.

But a gradual trend towards office-oriented bureaucracy was visiable after the Wei and Tsing Dynasties. Government offices were no longer called Residences(Fu 府) as was the general practice in Han times. They came to be known as "Terraces"(T'Ai 台;an exalted designation for offices), asDepartments(Sheng 省),as court (Sze 寺) or Boards(Chien 监), suggesting the public nature of the places where the officials worked. A significent symbol of this transformation from official-oriented to office-oriented bureaucracy canbe seen in the fact that the titles of the Ministers (Ch'ing卿),were changed to that of the Ministers of courts(Sze-ch'ing寺卿). From Sui and T'ang to Ming and Ch'ing, the central government became almost completely office-oriented. And from Yuan to Ch'ing the local government was also gradually bureaucratized on an office-oriented basis. Today in China only a handful of offices, such as the traveling lodges (camps) of the Generalissimo, the military Headquarters of the Regional Commanders, and the offices of the Censors, remains structurally official-oriented.

The preceding propositions try to identify some of the historical tendencies of the changes of Chinese officialdom， but do not claim that all offices necessarily follow these patterns。 It remains for us tosee the reason behind each of these changes。

When a ruler wants to concentrate power in his own person， he usually tries to achieve this goal by uplifting lowly but close officials to take power from high officials。 Lowly officials are trusted because their low stations constitute less an obstacle to the rule‘s will。 As they are his confidential men， it is also unlikely that they would betray him。 The action is therefore advantageous to the ruler。

When Emperor Wu of Han took the throne， he wanted to direct personally the affairs of the state。 Thus although the Three Dukes（The Chancellor，The Command-in -chief，and the Imperial Clerk Grandee）were appointed ， they were nothing but dignitaries。 Instead， the Masters of Writing were trusted and there power and influence steadily grew。

Emperor Wen of Han favored， as his father used to do， the Palace Writers。The Supervisor and the Prefect of the Palace Writers were confided with high state secrete，and thus became important officials。

The uplifting of the Palace Attendants was still more spectacular。 Having charge of the emperor‘s palanquin， wardrobe and chamber utensils at the beginning， they gained the ruler‘s confidence and thereby some say also in state affairs。

When the actual power of these officials became greater and greater，eventually it was given legal recognition by the government by raising their positions and ranks。

The development of the Grand Secretariat established in the Ming Dynasty provides another good example。Initially the grand secretaries had rather low ranking。 But as they were the confidants of the emperor， they were able to win out in competing for power with the Presidents of the Six Boards。 The Ch‘ing government recognized this fact and raised the official rank of the Grand Secretaries， given legal confirmation to their factual power。This was how low officials became high officials。

But it is against the interests of a ruler to unite high offices with important positions。 To minimize the challenge of high officials， they must be made politically functionless。 Thus the day when low officials became important and were raised to high offices was also the time they began to lose power，and to become titular themselves。 The story of the three high ministers just discussed above well illustrates this generalization。 After T'ang period they all became titular。

We may also cite the story of the Grand Secretariat in the Ch'in Dynasty as another example。 This office had become the most important state agency in the beginning of the Ch'ing period. Then the authoritarian and suspicious Emperor Yuang Cheng set up a separate Grand Council of State [Privy Council of the Emperor], or, translated literally, Military Plans Palace(Chun-chi-ch'u 军机处), which gradually assumed most of the important state affairs. Finally, only procedural and routine matters were left with the old Grand Secretariat.

Although government system is always on the move, it often lags behind actual political conditions. New situations arise and work has to be done, but they do not fit into the niche of the established bureaus. Sometimes the situations appear to be only passing affairs, and do not warrant the setting up of special offices . Instead, members of the established departments are deputized to deal with them. However, as the situations persist, the deputies actually become established officials, although they often retain the titular titles of their old positions. Eventually thesituation is legally recognized by instituting new offices and making the "deputies" officials in their own right. This is how offices of the emissaries and deputies become real offices.

We may illustrate this generalization from the development of the Governors(Tsun-fu巡抚) and Governors-General 总督) in the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties. The name Tsung-fu, literally to cruise And to soothe, was first used when the Heir apparent Yu-wen was send by Emperor T'ai-tsu of Ming to Shensi province to "condole" the people. In 1422 A.D. Emperor Cheng-tsu sent twenty-six court officials to circuit the empire and to inspect soldiers and people. Hereafter officials of the court were periodically sent to the provinces on similar missions, but all of them returned to their original positions after their mission. Later on, provincial inspection became a standardized government administration, and Tsung-fus were recruited from, or the titles bestowed on, officials of the Central Censorate. In reality, the censorate had not so many positions, and Inspectors seldom could return to it after finishing their assignment in the provinces. They were more provincial than central government officials; but this fact was not given legal recognition until the Ch'ing Dynasty.

The same is true with the Governor-Generals, Tsung-tu, the name being given to certain high court officials dispatched to oversee and command the provincial army around 1450 A. D. From a temporary device in the beginning it gradually turned into a standardized system of local government administration.

Sending delegations to foreign countries at first was regarded as an emergency affair by the Ch'ing government and, therefore, the delegates were temporarily recruited from the various departments of the Court. After the Boxer Rebellion, the Treaty of 1901 forced the Chinese government to abolish the office for Superintending the Affairs of Various Foreign Courties (Tsung-li-ko-kuo-shih-wu-ya-men 总理各国事务衙门), and in its pace to create a regular Ministry of Foreign Affairs(Wai-wu-pu外务部). The offices of the Secretary, the Under-Secretary And the various positions were specifically created for this ministry. But it was only after seven years that officials and not merely deputies.

There is yet another kind of deputies, who are sent out to the provinces to take over, or to weaken, the power of the established officials. A good example of this is the Sung local government, which was formally inherited from the preceding regimes, with a perfect in the Prefecture (Fu-yin 府尹), a Perfect in the District (Tz'e-shih 刺史) and a Magistrate in the county (Hsien-ling 县令). But the court then sent out a Supervisor (知) to each of these emissaries was not necessitated by new functions, but by a configuration of political power. After they became established officials, eventually they had to be recognized by law as such. This came in the Ming Dynasty, but the name of "Supervisors" was not rectified.

Why does a ruler employ officials of one agency to deprive the duties of another, and to cause the latter to became titular? The confucian ideology of name and reality can perhaps answer this question. An office without its corresponding duties is fomalistic and powerless, while exercising the power of an office without being named to it constituted a discrepancy between the name and the reality. Both devices lesson the challenge of powerful offices the throne. That was why the first emperors of the Sung Dynasty preferred to have a confusing bureaucratic system. When Emperor Shen-tsung in the middle of the dynasty wanted to increase administrative efficiency by inaugurating a government-wide reform, he either failed to perceive the subtlety of his predecessors, or felt that the regime was stable enough to permit a relaxation of such negative check and control.

The tendency for assistants to become head officials, and the latter to become titular can be explained in the same way . head officials with important matters. He can avoid this obstacle by commissioning assistant officials of lower ranking to carry out the responsibilities of their over-seeing heads. Hence the assistant officials gradually become head officials, while head officials become titular.

Palace functionaries become court officials when they are deputized to oversee the affairs of the state. Court officials become local administrators after being sent to 8interfere with local administration. When the ruler want to concentrate power in his own hands, he makes palace officials supervise government administration. After a while both are apt to take over power from those supervised, and to become real officials in their place.

Of all the tendencies mentioned above, the last one is most objectionable. When statesmen of the court are subject to palace confidants, and local administrators crouch under the control of emissaries from the capital, they are apt to lose their inetiative and energy. Nothing can be more harmful to the nation and to the welfare of the people than when the dignity of high state officials is hurt and the ability of realm administrators is thwarted by such external pressure and interference.

When Emperor Wu of the Former Han Dynasty employed palace confidants to ply with government administration, the bureaucratic system began to rapidly deteriorate. From there on, outstanding chancellors and imperial Clerk Grandees were rarely heard. If there were, like Wang-chia (王嘉) and Hsiao Wang-chih(萧望之), they met with untimely death. The situation became worse and worse in the Later Han Dynasty.

In the first years of the Ming Dynasty the record was full of laudable local administrators. After the sending of Tsun-fus and judicial commissioners became a permanent system, their number rapidly decreased. How could local officials in every minute detail?

And when the emissaries themselves became local officials, the levels of governmental hierarchy consequently increased. This was also more harmful than advantageous to the people. The more levels of local government there were, the more separated were the people from the court , and the more difficult for lower but basic local officials to communicate with the throne. In the Ming Dynasty , Supervisors of prefectures (Chih-fu知府) could directly memorialize the throne. But after the power of the tsung-fu and Tsung-tu became increasingly important in the ch'ihg Dynasty, even the Provincial Government commissioners and Judicial Commissioners were forbidden to directly send memorials to the throne expect congratulatory notes on routine ceremonial occasions.

The tendency for official-oriented to became office-oriented bureaucracy also came about in accord with the private interests of the ruler. The reason is not hard to see. An official in an office-oriented bureaucracy exists because of the office, and not vice versa. The power and status of the official concerned is therefore comparatively reduced. This evidently falls in with the interest of the ruler. On the other hand, official-oriented bureaucracy can also be regarded as a forward step in the development from rule by man by law. It is in accord, therefore, at the same time with the interests of the polity as a whole , a gain for the nation probably unforseen by the ruler.

From Sze Hsiang Yu Shih Tai, Vol .33, April 1944(in Chinese)

Translated by Joseph P. L. Jiang