1
志第二十八百官五
Monograph 28: The fifth installment on the bureaucracy of state.
2
州郡县乡亭里匈奴中郎将乌桓校尉护羌校尉王国宋卫国列侯关内侯四夷国百官奉
Provinces and commanderies, counties and rural townships, wards and hamlets, the Herald to the Xiongnu, the Protector of the Wuhuan, the Protector of the Qiang, princely kingdoms, the domains of Song and Wei, full marquisates and marquisates-within-the-passes, tributary states beyond the inner realm, and the stipends paid to officials.
3
外十二州，每州刺史一人，六百石。 本注曰：秦有监御史，监诸郡，汉兴省之，但遣丞相史分刺诸州，无常官。 孝武帝初置刺史十三人，秩六百石。 成帝更为牧，秩二千石。 建武十八年，复为刺史，十二人各主一州，其一州属司隶校尉。 诸州常以八月巡行所部郡国，录囚徒，考殿最。 初岁尽诣京都奏事，中兴但因计吏。
Beyond the metropolitan region lay twelve provinces, each overseen by a single regional inspector at the six-hundred-picul grade. Commentary: Under the Qin, supervising clerks watched over the commanderies; the Han at first abolished the office and merely dispatched secretaries from the chancellor’s staff on rotating inspections of the provinces, with no standing appointment. Emperor Wu initially appointed thirteen regional inspectors, each at the six-hundred-picul salary level. Under Emperor Cheng the title was changed to regional shepherd, with pay raised to two thousand piculs. In Jianwu 18 the office reverted to inspector; twelve men each governed one province, while the remaining province fell under the Colonel Director of Retainers at the capital. Each province customarily made an autumn circuit of its commanderies and kingdoms, examining jail populations and rating administrative performance. Earlier, inspectors had journeyed to the capital at year’s end to deliver their reports; after the restoration this duty devolved on the accounting clerks who came up with the tribute tallies.
4
皆有从事史、假佐。 本注曰：员职略与司隶同，无都官从事，其功曹从事为治中从事。
Each staff included attendant secretaries and provisional aides. Commentary: The complement mirrored that of the Colonel Director of Retainers, except that there was no attendant for capital cases; the merit-clerk attendant was titled attendant for internal administration.
5
豫州部郡国六，冀州部九，兗州部八，徐州部五，青州部六，荆州部七，扬州部六，益州部十二，凉州部十二，并州部九，幽州部十一，交州部七，凡九十八。 其二十七王国相，其七十一郡太守。 其属国都尉。 属国，分郡离远县置之，如郡差小，置本郡名。 世祖并省郡县四百余所，后世稍复增之。
Yuzhou oversaw six commanderies and kingdoms; Jizhou nine; Yanzhou eight; Xuzhou five; Qingzhou six; Jingzhou seven; Yangzhou six; Yizhou twelve; Liangzhou twelve; Bingzhou nine; Youzhou eleven; Jiaozhou seven—ninety-eight units in all. Twenty-seven were chancellors serving princely fiefs; seventy-one were grand administrators of ordinary commanderies. Dependent states were headed by chief commandants as well. A dependent state was carved from outlying counties of a commandery; it was somewhat smaller than a full commandery and usually retained the original commandery designation. The founding emperor merged away over four hundred commanderies and counties; succeeding reigns slowly added others back.
6
凡州所监都为京都，置尹一人，二千石，丞一人，每郡置太守一人，二千石，丞一人。 郡当边戍者，丞为长史。 王国之相亦如之。 每属国置都尉一人，比二千石，丞一人。 本注曰：凡郡国皆掌治民，进贤劝功，决讼检奸。 常以春行所主县，劝民农桑，振救乏绝。 秋冬遣无害吏案讯诸囚，平其罪法，论课殿最。 岁尽遣吏上计。 并举孝廉，郡口二十万举一人。 尉一人，典兵禁，备盗贼，景帝更名都尉。 武帝又置三辅都尉各一人，讥出入。 边郡置农都尉，主屯田殖谷。 又置属国都尉，主蛮夷降者。 中兴建武六年，省诸郡都尉，并职太守，无都试之役。 省关都尉，唯边郡往往置都尉及属国都尉，稍有分县，治民比郡。 安帝以羌犯法，三辅有陵园之守，乃复置右扶风都尉，京兆虎牙都尉。 皆置诸曹掾史。 本注曰：诸曹略如公府曹，无东西曹。 有功曹史，主选署功劳。 有五官掾，署功曹及诸曹事。 其监属县，有五部督邮，曹掾一人。 正门有亭长一人。 主记室史，主录记书，催期会。 无令史。 阁下及诸曹各有书佐，干主文书。
Where a province’s seat of supervision was the capital region, a single metropolitan intendant at two thousand piculs and one deputy were appointed; elsewhere each commandery had one grand administrator at two thousand piculs and one assistant. On border commanderies charged with defense, the assistant was redesignated chief clerk. Chancellors of princely kingdoms followed the same rule. Each dependent state placed one chief commandant at the “comparable to two thousand piculs” grade, plus a single assistant. Commentary: Commanderies and kingdoms were responsible for governing the populace, recommending talent, encouraging good service, adjudicating litigation, and suppressing crime. Each spring they made a circuit of subordinate counties to promote agriculture and silk production and to aid the destitute. In autumn and winter they dispatched incorruptible subordinates to review prisoners, align sentences with the code, and grade performance. At the close of the year clerks carried the annual accounts to their superiors. They nominated candidates for the filial-and-incorrupt quota at the rate of one man per two hundred thousand registered persons. A commandant oversaw military readiness and police functions; Emperor Jing renamed the post commandant of the commandery. Emperor Wu further assigned one commandant to each of the three capital adjuncts to control traffic in and out of those regions. Frontier commanderies appointed agricultural commandants to manage military colonies and grain production. Chief commandants of dependent states were added to administer surrendered non-Chinese peoples. After the restoration, in Jianwu 6, commandery-level commandants were eliminated and their powers folded into the grand administrator’s office, ending the empire-wide autumn drills. Interior pass commandants were dropped; frontier areas often kept commandants and dependent-state commandants, sometimes with split counties whose magistrates ruled populations comparable to a full commandery. When the Qiang revolted and the three adjuncts had to secure the imperial mausolea, Emperor An restored the Right Fufeng commandant and the Jingzhao “tiger-teeth” commandant. Each administration staffed the usual bureaus with clerks and secretaries. Commentary: The bureau system paralleled the central ministries, minus the eastern and western personnel offices. A merit-clerk secretary handled selections and service records. A steward of the five bureaus oversaw the merit office and the remaining bureaus. Five route inspectors watched the dependent counties, each supported by a bureau clerk. The main gate was guarded by a single ward head. The master of records maintained correspondence and enforced meeting schedules. The post of order-clerk was omitted. Under the gate and in every bureau document assistants handled the written work.
7
属官，每县、邑、道，大者置令一人，千石：其次置长，四百石； 小者置长，三百石； 侯国之相，秩次亦如之。 本注曰：皆掌治民，显善劝义，禁奸罚恶，理讼平贼，恤民时务，秋冬集课，上计于所属郡国。
Below them, each county, noble town, or barbarian circuit of the first rank had a magistrate at one thousand piculs; middle-sized units had a chief at four hundred piculs; chancellors of marquisates were paid on the same stepped scale. Commentary: These officials governed the people, honored virtue, curbed vice, heard cases, kept the peace, timed corvée and taxes to the seasons, held autumn and winter reviews, and forwarded accounts to the parent commandery or kingdom.
8
凡县主蛮夷曰道。 公主所食汤沐曰邑。 县万户以上为令，不满为长。 侯国为相。 皆秦制也。 丞各一人。 尉大县二人，小县一人。 本注曰：丞署文书。 典知仓狱。 尉主盗贼。 凡有贼发，主名不立，则推索行寻，案察奸宄，以起端绪。 各署诸曹掾史。 本注曰：诸曹略如郡员，五官为廷掾，监乡五部，春夏为劝农掾，秋冬为制度掾。
Counties whose population was chiefly non-Chinese were termed circuits. Revenue manors bestowed on princesses were called noble towns. Units with ten thousand households or more rated a magistrate; smaller ones had a chief. Marquisates were administered by chancellors. These arrangements descended from Qin practice. Each county-level unit had one assistant magistrate. Populous counties fielded two police commandants; smaller ones had one. Commentary: The assistant supervised paperwork. He oversaw granaries and jails. The commandant handled theft and robbery. When a crime lacked a named perpetrator, he followed clues, rooted out accomplices, and opened the investigation. Each county likewise staffed bureau clerks and secretaries. Commentary: County bureaus echoed commandery models; the steward of the five bureaus doubled as court clerk over five rural circuits, shifting in warm months to agricultural promotion and in cold months to legal compliance.
9
乡置有秩、三老、游徼。 本注曰：有秩，郡所署，秩百石，掌一乡人； 其乡小者，县置啬夫一人。 皆主知民善恶，为役先后，知民贫富，为赋多少，平其差品。 三老掌教化。 凡有孝子顺孙，贞女义妇，让财救患，及学士为民法式者，皆扁表其门，以兴善行。 游徼掌徼循，禁司奸盗。 又有乡佐，属乡，主民收赋税。
Each township appointed a salaried headman, three moral elders, and roving patrol officers. Commentary: The salaried headman, named by the commandery at one hundred piculs, directed a whole township; very small townships made do with a single county-appointed bailiff. They were to know who was virtuous or vicious, who should serve corvée first or last, who was rich or poor, how much tax each owed, and to keep assessments fair. The three elders led moral education. Filial children, chaste widows, donors, rescuers, and scholars who set an example had commendatory plaques hung on their gates to inspire the community. Patrol officers patrolled the countryside and suppressed spies, thieves, and robbers. Township aides assisted with tax collection.
10
亭有亭长，以禁盗贼。 本注曰：亭长，主求捕盗贼，承望都尉。
Every roadside ward had a ward head whose duty was to suppress banditry. Commentary: Ward heads tracked down thieves and reported to the county commandant.
11
里有里魁，民有什伍，善恶以告。 本注曰：里魁掌一里百家。 什主十家，伍主五家，以相检察。 民有善事恶事，以告监官。
Each hamlet had a chief; households were grouped in tens and fives so that conduct could be reported upward. Commentary: A hamlet chief oversaw roughly one hundred households. Leaders of ten and five households watched one another in a mutual-surveillance grid. Good or bad behavior was relayed to the supervising magistrate.
12
边县有障塞尉。 本注曰：掌禁备羌夷犯塞。 其郡有盐官、铁官、工官、都水官者，随事广狭置令、长及丞，秩次皆如县、道，无分士，给均本吏。 本注曰：凡郡县出盐多者置盐官，主盐税。 出铁多者置铁官，主鼓铸。 有工多者置工官，主工税物。 有水池及鱼利多者置水官，主平水收渔税。 在所诸县均差吏更给之。 置吏随事，不具县员。
Frontier counties posted commandants for barriers and passes. Commentary: They guarded against Qiang and Yi incursions through the frontier defenses. Commanderies rich in salt, iron, crafts, or waterworks set magistrates, chiefs, and assistants scaled to the workload, paid like county officials, without an independent territory, drawing clerks from the standard pool. Commentary: Salty regions established salt bureaus to levy salt duties. Iron-rich areas placed iron bureaus to oversee smelting and minting. Industrial centers added craft bureaus to tax manufactures. Where ponds and fisheries flourished, water bureaus regulated irrigation works and fishing levies. Clerk labor was rotated among nearby counties to staff these offices. Such posts were ad hoc and did not count toward the county’s authorized headcount.
13
使匈奴中郎将一人，比二千石。 本注曰：主护南单于。 置从事二人，有事随事增之，掾随事为员。 护羌、乌桓校尉所置亦然。
A single Herald to the Xiongnu held rank comparable to two thousand piculs. Commentary: He guarded the interests of the Southern Shanyu’s court. Two staff attendants were standard; extra aides and clerks were added when duties required. The Protectors of the Qiang and Wuhuan were organized on the same pattern.
14
护乌桓校尉一人，比二千石。 本注曰：主乌桓胡。
One Protector of the Wuhuan held rank comparable to two thousand piculs. Commentary: He supervised the Wuhuan tribes on the northern frontier.
15
护羌校尉一人，比二千石。 本注曰：主西羌。
One Protector of the Qiang held rank comparable to two thousand piculs. Commentary: His brief covered the western Qiang peoples.
16
皇子封王，其郡为国，每置傅一人，相一人，皆二千石。 本注曰：傅主导王以善，礼如师，不臣也。 相如太守。 其长史，如郡丞。
Imperial princes received kingdoms built on commanderies, each staffed with a tutor and a chancellor at two thousand piculs. Commentary: The tutor instructed the prince in virtue with the deference due a teacher rather than a minister. The kingdom chancellor corresponded to a commandery grand administrator. The kingdom chief clerk matched a commandery assistant magistrate.
17
汉初立诸王，因项羽所立诸王之制，地既广大，且至千里。 又其官职，傅为太傅，相为丞相，又有御史大夫及诸卿，皆秩二千石，百官皆如朝廷。 国家唯为置丞相，其御史大夫以下皆自置之。 至景帝时，吴、楚七国恃其国大，遂以作乱，几危汉室。 及其诛灭，景帝惩之，遂令诸王不得治民，令内史主治民，改丞相曰相，省御史大夫、廷尉、少府、宗正、博士官。 武帝改汉内史、中尉、郎中令之名，而王国如故，员职皆朝廷为署，不得自置。 至成帝省内史治民，更令相治民，太傅但曰傅。
Early Han princes inherited Xiang Yu’s sprawling kingdoms, some stretching a thousand li across. Their governments copied the capital: grand tutor, chancellor of state, censor-in-chief, and ministers at two thousand piculs—a full court in miniature. The central government named only the chancellor; princes chose their own censor-in-chief and subordinates. Under Emperor Jing the great kingdoms of Wu and Chu rose in revolt and nearly toppled the dynasty. After their defeat Emperor Jing stripped princes of civil authority, transferred rule to imperial clerks, downgraded the chief minister to “chancellor,” and eliminated replica ministries such as justice, finance, clan affairs, and the academy. Emperor Wu renamed the kingdom interior clerk, capital commandant, and chamberlain for the guard to match Han titles, yet appointments for every office now came from the center, not the prince. Emperor Cheng abolished the kingdom interior clerk and transferred civil government to the chancellor, while the grand tutor was shortened to “tutor.”
18
中尉一人，比二千石。 本注曰：职如郡都尉，主盗贼。 郎中令一人，仆一人，皆千石。 本注曰：郎中令掌王大夫、郎中宿卫，官如光禄勋。 自省少府，职皆并焉。 仆主车及驭，如太仆。 本曰太仆，比二千石，武帝改，但曰仆，又皆减其秩。 治书，比六百石。 本注曰：治书本尚书更名。 大夫，比六百石。 本注曰：无员。 掌奉王使至京都，奉璧贺正月，及使诸国。 本皆持节，后去节。 谒者，比四百石。 本注曰：掌冠长冠。 本员十六人，后减。 礼乐长。 本注曰：主乐人。 卫士长。 本注曰：主卫士。 医工长。 本注曰：主医药。 永巷长。 本注曰：宦者，主宫中婢使。 祠祀长。 本注曰：主祠祀。 皆比四百石。 郎中，二百石。 本注曰：无员。
Each kingdom appointed one capital commandant at rank comparable to two thousand piculs. Commentary: His portfolio matched a commandery commandant’s, with chief responsibility for theft and robbery. The household included one chamberlain for the palace guard and one steward of chariots, each at one thousand piculs. Commentary: The chamberlain commanded the king’s senior retainers and rotating gentleman guards, on the model of the metropolitan Chamberlain for the Palace Revenues. From the privy treasurer on down, those duties were folded into his office. The steward managed carriages and teams, paralleling the grand coachman at court. The post had been the grand coachman at “comparable to two thousand piculs”; Emperor Wu shortened the title to steward and cut the salary grades across the board. Kingdom document clerks held rank comparable to six hundred piculs. Commentary: They were the old “masters of writing” staff of the imperial secretary, retitled for service in a princely household. Household grandees ranked at six hundred piculs. Commentary: There was no statutory headcount. They carried the prince’s embassies to the capital, presented the congratulatory jade token at New Year audiences, and traveled on mission to other kingdoms. At first they carried credentialed staffs; later that emblem was dropped. Ushers were graded at four hundred piculs. Commentary: They guarded the ritual regalia—the capping cap and the long court headdress—used when the king received investiture or held court. The corps once numbered sixteen; later it was trimmed. A director of ritual and music headed the princely orchestra and ceremonies. Commentary: He supervised the household musicians. A captain of the guardsmen commanded the standing watch. Commentary: He led the palace guard contingent. A chief physician oversaw the medical staff. Commentary: He managed drugs and treatment for the household. A warden of the “everlasting lane” policed the inner quarters’ corridors. Commentary: The post was held by a eunuch who directed maidservants in the harem wing. A director of sacrifices arranged the princely ancestral rites. Commentary: He handled offerings at the princely shrines. These specialist heads all drew pay comparable to four hundred piculs. Gentlemen of the household guard stood at two hundred piculs. Commentary: Their numbers were not fixed by statute.
19
卫公、宋公。 本注曰：建武二年，封周后姬常为周承休公； 五年，封殷后孔安为殷绍嘉公。 十三年，改常为卫公，安为宋公，以为汉宾，在三公上。
The chapter next treats the Dukes of Wei and Song, fiefs honoring the ancient dynastic lines. Commentary: In Jianwu 2 the emperor enfeoffed Ji Chang, heir of the Zhou royal house, as duke charged with continuing Zhou’s blessing; in Jianwu 5 he enfeoffed Kong An, scion of the Yin (Shang) line, as duke tasked with linking Yin’s residual glory to the Han. In Jianwu 13 Ji Chang became Duke of Wei and Kong An Duke of Song, honored as ritual “guests” of the Han and seated above the three excellencies.
20
列侯，所食县为侯国。 本注曰：承秦爵二十等，为彻侯，金印紫绶，以赏有功。 功大者食县，小者食乡、亭，得臣其所食吏民。 后避武帝讳，为列侯。 武帝元朔二年，令诸王得推恩分众子土，国家为封，亦为列侯。 旧列侯奉朝请在长安者，位次三公。 中兴以来，唯以功德赐位特进者，次军骑将军； 赐位朝侯，次五校尉； 赐位侍祠侯，次大夫。 其余以BD4A附及公主子孙奉坟墓于京都者，亦随时见会，位在博士、议郎下。
A full marquis took his stipendiary county as his marquisate. Commentary: The rank continued the Qin twentieth grade—the complete marquis—with gold seal and purple cord, as the highest reward for service. The greatest meritorious lords drew an entire county; lesser ones drew only a township or a ward, and might treat the households within that endowment as personal dependents. Later the title was softened to “full marquis” to avoid the taboo on Emperor Wu’s personal name (from “complete” marquis). In the second year of Yuanshuo, Emperor Wu allowed kings to "extend favor" by subdividing domains for younger sons; the court packaged those parcels as full marquisates. Earlier, full marquises who maintained residences in Chang’an and answered periodic court summons stood immediately beneath the three excellencies in order of precedence. After the restoration only nobles honored with the “specially advanced” grade for outstanding merit ranked next after the general-in-chief of chariots and cavalry; those given the courtesy rank of “court marquis” followed the five colonels of the guard; and holders of the “attendant-sacrifice marquis” designation stood just after ordinary grandees. Everyone else—cadet imperial kinsmen who stayed at court by privilege, plus descendants of princesses assigned to tend imperial tombs in the capital—might be summoned to selected audiences, always seated below the erudits and advisory gentlemen.
21
诸王封者受茅土，归以立社稷，礼也。 列土、特进、朝侯贺正月执璧云。
Enfeoffed kings carried the clod of sacred soil with its tuft of ritual grass back to their capitals to found the altars of soil and grain, as canonical rite prescribed. Full marquises, specially advanced peers, and court marquises presented jade tokens at the New Year audience in the same fashion.
22
每国置相一人，其秩各如本县。 本注曰：主治民，如令、长，不臣也。 但纳租于侯，以户数为限。 其家臣，置家丞、庶子各一人。 本注曰：主侍侯，使理家事。 列侯旧有行人、洗马、门大夫，凡五官。 中兴以来，食邑千户已上置家丞、庶子各一人，不满千户不置家丞，又悉省行人、洗马、门大夫。
Every marquisate had a single chancellor whose pay scale matched the underlying county’s rank. Commentary: He ruled commoners exactly as a county magistrate would, yet he was not the marquis’s vassal minister—he answered to the throne. Tenant households forwarded only the contracted rent to the marquis, capped by registered household counts. Domestic administration relied on one household aide and one junior steward of the house. Commentary: These officers served the marquis personally and ran his private establishment. Under the old system a full marquis kept heralds, outriders who washed the horses at halts, and gate grandees—five household ministries altogether. After the restoration, marquises with at least one thousand feoffed households retained an aide and a junior steward; smaller feoffs lost the household aide, and heralds, washers, and gate grandees were cut altogether.
23
关内侯，承秦赐爵十九等，为关内侯，无土，寄食在所县，民租多少，各有户数为限。
Marquises-within-the-passes inherited the Qin nineteenth-grade title: they held no land but drew a cash-and-grain allowance charged against a host county, with yields prorated to the number of registered households.
24
四夷国王，率众王，归义侯，邑君，邑长，皆有丞，比郡、县。
Tributary kings, tribal “chiefs who lead hosts,” marquises of submission, town lords, and town chiefs each received deputy officers modeled on commandery and county assistants.
25
百官受奉例：大将军、三公奉，月三百五十斛。 中二千石奉，月百八十斛。 二千石奉，月百二十斛。 比二千石奉，月百斛。 千石奉，月八十斛。 六百石奉，月七十斛。 比六百石奉，月五十斛。 四百石奉，月四十五斛。 比四百石奉，月四十斛。 三百石奉，月四十斛。 比三百石奉，月三十七斛。 二百石奉，月三十斛。 比二百石奉，月二十七斛。 一百石奉，月十六斛。 斗食奉，月十一斛。 佐史奉，月八斛。 凡诸受奉，皆半钱半谷。
Stipends were reckoned in grain: the grand general and the three excellencies drew three hundred fifty hu a month. Officials at the “full two thousand picul” grade received one hundred eighty hu monthly. A straight two-thousand-picul salary meant one hundred twenty hu each month. The “comparable to two thousand piculs” band paid one hundred hu. One-thousand-picul posts drew eighty hu. Six-hundred-picul officials took seventy hu. The “comparable to six hundred” grade received fifty hu. Four-hundred-picul salaries came to forty-five hu. “Comparable to four hundred” meant forty hu. Three-hundred-picul posts oddly matched forty hu as well. “Comparable to three hundred” paid thirty-seven hu. Two-hundred-picul clerks drew thirty hu. “Comparable to two hundred” meant twenty-seven hu. One-hundred-picul minor officials received sixteen hu. “Dou-food” subclerks—paid by the peck—took eleven hu monthly. Assistant clerks at the bottom of the scale drew eight hu. Every grade on the schedule was normally split half in coin and half in unhusked grain.
26
赞曰：帝道渊默，冢帅修德。 寡以御众，分职乃克。 不置不监，无骄无忒。 程是师徒，宁民康国。
The summation reads: The royal path runs silent and deep; the chief ministers who stand at the high altar polish their virtue. The ruler guides the multitude through restraint; order comes only when every office keeps its brief. Leave unneeded posts unfilled and they need no overseers—then there is neither swagger among officials nor dereliction of duty. Hold this cadre of teachers and followers to the standard, and the common people find rest while the realm flourishes in peace.