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卷三十九 志第十九: 地理二

Volume 39 Treatises 19: Geography 2

Chapter 43 of 舊唐書 · Old Book of Tang
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Treatise 23, Offices and Ranks, Part 2
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The Three Preceptors
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There was one post each for the Grand Preceptor, the Grand Tutor, and the Grand Protector. These were called the Three Preceptors, all of the senior first rank. In early Later Han, the Grand Tutor was assigned a staff for his office. Under the Zhou and Sui, the Three Preceptors had no office staff; new appointees received their investiture at the Department of State Affairs. Emperor Yang of Sui abolished the offices of the Three Preceptors. They were restored in the Wude era, following the Sui arrangement. The Three Preceptors were mentors whom the emperor was to emulate; they generally held no executive authority, and only those of exceptional moral stature were appointed. When no one qualified, the posts were left unfilled.
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The Three Dukes
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There was one post each for the Grand Commandant, the Minister of Education, and the Minister of Works. These were called the Three Dukes, all of the senior first rank. From the Wei and Jin through Northern Qi, each of the Three Dukes maintained an office staff. Early Sui likewise provided office staff, but the staff was soon abolished; new appointees were invested at the Department of State Affairs, and the Tang continued the practice. In early Wude, Prince Qin (the future Emperor Taizong) held one of these offices; thereafter when imperial princes were named to the Three Dukes they did not manage affairs, and at sacrifices a stand-in performed the ritual duties. The Three Dukes were counsellors charged with deliberating on state policy. They were to assist the emperor in harmonizing cosmic order and governing the state; their charge was so broad that no single functional title could name the office. At major sacrifices the Grand Commandant served as secondary offerer, the Minister of Education presented the meat tray, and the Minister of Works performed the sweeping and purification.
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The Department of State Affairs
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The central secretariat of the Department of State Affairs was renamed the Central Terrace in 662, the Wenchang Terrace in 689, and restored to its former name at the beginning of the Shenlong restoration (705).
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宿
The Department of State Affairs oversaw twenty-four bureaus. The six ministers each directed four bureaus. Director of the Department of State Affairs: one post. Senior second rank. During the Wude era Prince Qin held the post; thereafter it was left permanently vacant. The Director was to oversee all officials and set the court's moral standard. Under him were six ministers: Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Works. All routine business was brought together for collective decision. Left and Right Vice Directors of the Department: one post each, junior second rank. In 662 they became the Left and Right Rectifiers; in 689 the Wenchang Left and Right Chancellors; in 713 the Left and Right Chief Ministers; in 742 the titles reverted to Left and Right Vice Directors. They supervised the six ministers, maintained administrative discipline, and served as the Director's deputies. With no Director appointed, the Vice Directors in practice presided over the secretariat. When the censors found impropriety they could also impeach the Vice Directors. Left and Right Assistant Directors: one post each. The Left Assistant Director held senior fourth rank, upper grade. The Right Assistant Director held senior fourth rank, lower grade. Under the Longshuo reform they became the Left and Right Overseers of Protocol; the original titles returned in 670; in 689 they were raised to junior third rank; in 692 they reverted to fourth rank. The Left Assistant Director oversaw the various bureaus, supervised internal discipline, audited the twelve bureaus of Personnel, Revenue, and Rites, and shared adjudication of central secretariat business. If the Right Assistant Director's post was vacant, he handled both portfolios. The Right Assistant Director oversaw the twelve bureaus under War, Justice, and Works. If the Left Assistant Director's post was vacant, the Right Assistant Director handled both sides. When the censors found impropriety they could also impeach the Assistant Directors. Left and Right Bureau Directors: one post each. Both held junior fifth rank, upper grade. Established under the Sui; abolished in early Wude. Restored at the beginning of the Zhenguan era (627). In 662 they were renamed Left and Right Assistant Duties; the original title returned in 670. The Left Bureau Director assisted the Left Assistant Director, maintained the secretariat document registers, investigated discrepancies, and managed overnight duty rotations. If the Right Bureau Director's post was vacant, he handled both sides. Left and Right Bureau Assistant Directors: one post each. In 689 the Empress established one Left and one Right Bureau Assistant Director. Abolished at the beginning of the Shenlong restoration; later reinstated. The Bureau Directors and Assistant Directors each assisted the twelve bureaus, enforced compliance, audited violations, and maintained the secretariat's document tallies.
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宿 簿 退 使 簿 退 便 宿 使 滿 使 簿殿 簿 簿 簿 使簿 使 使 宿 調 使 殿殿 滿 滿 使 祿 便 調 調 綿 調調 調 使 殿 調 使 簿 調 綿 綿 使 使 祿 祿 祿 使 簿 殿輿使 使 使 調 輿 祿 簿 退 西 使 宿 殿 滿 退 簿 簿 簿 Я 簿 使 使 使使使使 使 滿 使使使 使 使使 使使 使使 使 宿 使 簿 輿 輿簿 使 簿 簿 調 祿 殿 西使使 西 便
In general the central secretariat upheld the regulations governing all bureaus and the protocols for officials, to maintain sound governance and disseminate state policy. Communications from superior to subordinate took six forms: ordinances, edicts, investiture documents, orders, instructions, and dispatches. The emperor issued ordinances, edicts, and investiture documents. The crown prince issued orders. Imperial princes and princesses issued instructions. Communications from the Department to prefectures, prefectures to counties, and counties to townships were all called dispatches. Subordinate communications upward also took six forms: memorials, reports, formal letters, personal communications, commoners' petitions, and official documents. Memorials were addressed to the emperor. Close ministers could also submit reports. Formal letters and personal communications were directed to the crown prince, though they could also be used toward one's seniors; they were not standard administrative forms. Official paperwork by all ranked officials was called a dispatch document. Commoners submitted petitions. Inter-bureau inquiries took three forms: notifications, impeachment reports, and transfers. A notification meant communicating a matter for coordination; an impeachment report meant exposing misconduct; and a transfer meant shifting a matter to another bureau. Transfers required co-signature by all officials with joint jurisdiction. Every matter received by capital and provincial bureaus was date-stamped at issuance and assigned a deadline. When the Department implemented imperial ordinances and edicts, a processing deadline was set and recorded once the dossier was complete. Urgent matters had to be completed the same day. Deadlines for prefectural statistical reports reaching the capital varied with the scope and volume of the business. When capital bureaus sent dispatches, transfers, notifications, or documents to the prefectures, transmission had to go through the central secretariat. Completed documents were sealed in vermilion by the auditing office, inscribed at the top with the date, and filed in the archive. For documents requiring official seals, the seal officer verified that the contents matched before sealing, and every use was logged. At month's end the records were deposited in the archive. One Department official each day held overnight duty. The central office updated the duty roster and rotated assignments. Officials throughout the empire reported at dawn and withdrew at noon; after hours the duty officer handled affairs. Offices with heavy workloads were exempt from this rule. The volume of imperial ordinances, edicts, and statistical reports nationwide. Deadlines for secretariat dispatches and proclamations typically ran to year-end. Capital bureaus submitted their returns to the central secretariat on the first day of the fourth month. For prefectures, the supervising bureau verified the figures and forwarded them to the auditing officer. The auditing officer reviewed them. After joint signature and sealing, they were attached to the statistical ledger and forwarded to the central secretariat. On the first day of the sixth month the central registrar convened all bureau clerks for cross-verification. Concealment, omission, or discrepancy was recorded in merit evaluations. Chief clerks: six posts, junior ninth rank, upper grade. There were eighteen document clerks, thirty-six writing clerks, six ward captains, and fourteen custodians. Document clerks maintained dossiers and registers; ward captains and custodians inspected the gates, storehouses, halls, and furnishings. Ministry of Personnel. Minister of Personnel: one post, senior third rank. In 662 the title became Director of Appointments and Grand Master of Splendor; in 689 Heavenly Offices Minister; after the Shenlong restoration (705) it reverted to Minister of Personnel. Vice Ministers: two posts. Senior fourth rank, upper grade. In 607 Emperor Yang assigned one Vice Minister to each of the six ministries to assist the minister, all at senior fourth rank. Under the Tang code, Vice Ministers of all ministries were set at senior fourth rank, lower grade, except the Vice Minister of Personnel, who remained at senior fourth rank, upper grade. Under the Longshuo reform the title became Junior Director of Appointments and Vice Grand Master of Splendor; it was restored in 670. In 668 one additional Vice Minister was added to both Personnel and War. The Minister and Vice Ministers administered policies for appointing officials, granting enfeoffments, and conducting merit evaluations empire-wide. They supervised four bureaus: Personnel, Enfeoffments, Meritorious Service, and Merit Evaluation. They coordinated bureau duties and implemented issued regulations. All capital and provincial bureau business under their jurisdiction was verified for correctness. The annual selection and appointment cycle convened in the first month of winter. Candidates within five hundred li reported in the first ten-day period; within a thousand li, the middle period; beyond a thousand li, the last period. The Minister and Vice Ministers divided selection into three boards. The Minister chaired the Minister's Board; the two Vice Ministers headed the Central Board and Eastern Board. Candidates were assessed by four talents and three measures of actual achievement. The four talents were physique, speech, calligraphy, and judgment. Those who excelled in any of these had merit to draw upon. The three realities were virtue and conduct, talent and employment, and labor and effect; virtue was weighed against talent, talent against labor, and labor had to be verified before promotion or demotion. Comparing candidates' merits determined retention or dismissal, set the balance of appointments, curbed corruption, advanced the capable, and then matched qualifications to proposed posts. Fifth rank and above: names went to the Chancellery and Secretariat for imperial appointment. Sixth rank and below: appointments were fixed by qualifications and duties. Those of notable talent eligible for remonstrator, supplementation censor, or investigating censor also had names sent to the Chancellery and Secretariat for edict appointment. Those with distinguished service records and high evaluation grades could receive cross-rank appointments; otherwise not. Candidates not of pure-stream origin could not be assigned to pure-stream offices. If qualifications did not match a post or the assignment was unsuitable, up to three alternative assignments were permitted. Technical officials were designated by their home bureau and registered with Personnel. Officials in the same bureau who jointly audited matters could not be assigned relatives within the greater mourning circle. Imperial kin, related kin, and military merit holders could also be assigned as bureau assistant directors. Proposed appointments required rank registers and selection rosters sent to the Secretariat first. When rank exceeded the proposed post the assignment was marked 'acting'; when rank fell short it was marked 'holding'. When the three boards finished, each board's roster passed the Left and Right Vice Directors. Central and Eastern Board rosters passed the Minister before going to the Secretariat. The supervising secretary read, the vice chamberlain reviewed, the attendant-in-chief examined, then the roster was submitted; upon imperial approval appointments were issued. If the Vice Directors or Secretariat rejected an appointment, it was reassigned; some cases were resubmitted after rejection. The great selection ended in late spring; candidates in military service took calligraphy and judgment tests in the army, sealed and sent to Personnel. Some submitted credentials in spring and assembled later, called the spring selection. Those of outstanding merit with edicts for immediate appointment could be selected off-cycle within one hundred days. Thus the nine streams of rank were fixed and administrative gaps remedied — the system for managing officials was complete. Personnel Bureau Directors: two posts, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Under Longshuo, Director of Appointments Grandee; Xianheng and Guangzhai followed Sui titles. Bureau Assistant Directors: two posts. Both junior sixth rank, upper grade. Thirty document clerks, sixty writing clerks, eight ward captains, and twelve custodians. One Director managed the ranks and grades of all civil officials empire-wide. Rank sequence comprised twenty-nine grades from senior first through ninth, each with upper and lower subdivisions; honorary officials from fourth rank down and ninth rank up rotated duty at Personnel. Rotation duty lasted forty-five days. When the central secretariat or bureaus needed personnel, honorary officials from War and Personnel were assigned. After two or more rotations they could enter selection. Failures were listed by rotation, not exceeding five or six cycles. Rank sequence could derive from enfeoffment, imperial kinship, merit, inherited privilege, filial piety recommendations, labor evaluations, or restoration after dismissal — all per statute, with no false claims. Advancement to third or fifth rank required special edict; otherwise not. When office was equal, enfeoffment took precedence; when enfeoffment was equal, age did. Capital regular attendees included fifth-rank functional officials and above, eighth-rank attendance officials and above, bureau assistant directors, investigating censors, and Court of Imperial Sacrifices academicians. Attendance officials: from the two departments, from Attendant-in-Chief and Secretariat Director downward, all were attendance officials. Bureau chiefs, clear-expectation officials, and clear officials from fourth rank down through eighth rank up. Daily, two sixth-rank clear officials waited on duty at court. Attendance and guard officials were exempt. Clear-expectation appointments of fourth rank and below required matching talent and office; improper advancement was not permitted. Functional officials on court attendance or sick leave could not exceed permitted periods. At seventy officials should retire; if still vigorous they could handle limited duties. Officials or co-resident relatives within the greater mourning circle engaged in crafts or commerce, or those with chronic illness or alcohol abuse, could not enter office. Officials of clear repute were recommended by name; fifth rank and above received measured promotion through the Chancellery; sixth rank and below Personnel graded for transfer. Second- and third-grade recommendees of fifth rank and above received slightly preferential appointment dates. Sixth rank and below could enter selection when terms expired, without dismissal limits. Lingnan and Qianzhong held a southern selection every three years via a supplement commissioner. All officials empire-wide had fixed establishment quotas. All bureaus had fixed rotation duty numbers. All bureaus had ranked rotation officials. Inside and outside officials had leave regulations and travel orders. Registers, records, merit rewards, and evaluation grades were divided among bureau assistant directors. One Director managed minor selection, also nine grades, called the acting office. Outside the nine streams, this was the outside-stream selection, also called minor selection. Examination and appointment procedures broadly matched inside-stream selection. Personnel, War, Rites, Merit Evaluation, central secretariat, Censorate, Secretariat, and Chancellery were the front eight bureaus; the rest were rear acting offices. Outside-stream candidates required writing and calculation skills plus familiarity with current affairs. Excellence in one of three areas placed them within the promotion period. Every three evaluations triggered transfer selection by ability; otherwise the former post was retained. Minor selection was formerly managed solely by the Director. In 737 an edict ordered that after examination, retention and dismissal were decided by the Minister and Vice Ministers. One Bureau Assistant Director adjudicated the Southern Bureau. The bureau lay south of the selection bureau, hence the Southern Bureau. Annual candidates' credentials, registers, qualifications, and evaluations passed through it for verification before the three boards. The three boards' rosters were signed there. One Bureau Assistant Director handled bureau affairs. Imperial Temple Acolyte credential tests followed the metropolitan examination system. Enfeoffments Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Under the Sui, Master of Enfeoffments Director; Wude followed. Longshuo renamed it Enfeoffments Grandee; Guangzhai changed to Enfeoffments Director. Enfeoffments Bureau Assistant Director: one post, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Chief clerks: two, junior ninth rank, upper grade. Four document clerks, nine writing clerks, four custodians. The Enfeoffments Director and Assistant Director administered state enfeoffments, of which there were nine grades. First, King: senior first rank, fief of ten thousand households. Second, Commandery Prince: junior first rank, fief of five thousand households. Third, State Duke: junior first rank, fief of three thousand households. Fourth, Commandery Duke: senior second rank, fief of two thousand households. Fifth, County Duke: junior second rank, fief of fifteen hundred households. Sixth, County Marquis: junior third rank, fief of one thousand households. Seventh, County Earl: senior fourth rank, fief of seven hundred households. Eighth, County Viscount: senior fifth rank, fief of five hundred households. Ninth, County Baron: junior fifth rank, fief of three hundred households. Famous mountains, great rivers, and capital-region counties could not be enfeoffed. Commandery dukes with surplus enfeoffments could transfer them to descendants. All state dukes received special enfeoffment. All Daoist shrines empire-wide had fixed establishment quotas. Each shrine appointed three directors, filled by those of highest moral virtue. On three-principle yuan fast days, Golden Register, Bright Truth, and similar rites were performed. Daoist priest and priestess registers were compiled every three years. External titled ladies: the emperor's paternal aunts as Grand Senior Princesses, sisters as Senior Princesses, daughters as Princesses — all senior first rank. The crown prince's daughters were Commandery Princesses, junior first rank. Kings' daughters were County Princesses, senior second rank. A king's consort was styled Consort. Senior first rank and state dukes' mothers and wives were Ladies of the State. Third rank and above mothers and wives were Ladies of the Commandery. Fourth rank mothers and wives were Commandery Ladies. Fifth rank or merit officials with third-rank enfeoffment — mothers and wives were County Ladies. Honorary officials followed functional officials. Fourth-rank merit officials with enfeoffment — mothers and wives were Township Ladies. Mothers' fief titles added 'Grand'; each followed husband or son's rank. If holding both office and enfeoffment, the higher rank applied. Internal titled ladies: a senior first rank's mother was a senior fourth rank Commandery Lady; a senior second rank's mother was a junior fourth rank Commandery Lady; senior third and fourth rank mothers were senior fifth rank County Ladies. Women did not receive separate fief titles apart from husband or son; titles followed the same pattern for Lady, Commandery Lady, County Lady, and Township Lady. Secondary sons holding fifth rank or above enfeoffed the primary mother. Without a primary mother, the birth mother was enfeoffed. Consorts of former dynasties, fifth-rank functional officials and above, third-rank honorary officials and above, and kings' and state dukes' mothers and wives attended court per husband and son's ritual. Imperial princes: two Consorts at senior fifth rank; ten Subsidiary Consorts at senior sixth rank. Heir princes, commandery princes, and senior first rank: ten Subsidiary Consorts at junior sixth rank. Senior second rank: eight Subsidiary Consorts at senior seventh rank. Senior third rank and state dukes: six Subsidiary Consorts at junior seventh rank. Fourth rank: four Subsidiary Consorts at senior eighth rank. Fifth rank: three Subsidiary Consorts at junior eighth rank. Below this rank all were concubines. Imperial five degrees of kin and three degrees of related kin — survival, death, promotion, and demotion — had registers compiled every three years. Removal and attachment regulations were recorded in the Imperial Clan Court. Meritorious Service Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Under the Sui, Meritorious Service Director; early Wude added 'central'. Longshuo renamed it Meritorious Service Grandee; restored in 670. Meritorious Service Bureau Assistant Directors: two posts, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Chief clerks: four, junior ninth rank, upper grade. Thirty-three document clerks, sixty writing clerks, four custodians. The Director and Assistant Directors administered merit grades for state officials. Twelve merit rotations reached Senior Pillar of the State, equivalent to senior second rank. Eleven rotations: Pillar of the State, junior second rank. Ten rotations: Senior Protector General, senior third rank. Nine rotations: Protector General, junior third rank. Eight rotations: Senior Light Chariot Commandant, senior fourth rank. Seven rotations: Light Chariot Commandant, junior fourth rank. Six rotations: Senior Cavalry Commandant, senior fifth rank. Five rotations: Cavalry Commandant, junior fifth rank. Four rotations: Valiant Cavalry Commandant, senior sixth rank. Three rotations: Flying Cavalry Commandant, junior sixth rank. Two rotations: Cloud Cavalry Commandant, senior seventh rank. One rotation: Martial Cavalry Commandant, junior seventh rank. Those with achievements eligible for merit offices were reviewed and confirmed, then memorialized for appointment. Merit Evaluation Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Longshuo renamed it Director of Records Grandee; restored at the beginning of 670. Merit Evaluation Bureau Assistant Director: one post, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Longshuo renamed it Records Bureau Assistant Director; restored in 670. Chief clerks: three, junior eighth rank, upper grade. Thirteen document clerks, twenty-five writing clerks, four custodians. The Director and Assistant Directors administered merit evaluation for all civil and military officials. Evaluated officials compiled annual achievements, faults, conduct, and ability; home bureau and prefectural chiefs read before assembly, fixed nine-grade evaluations, bureaus verified by quota, then sent to Personnel. Civil and military officials sent registers via capital assembly envoys, with deadlines varying by distance. Annual edict appointed two high-standing capital officials: one evaluated capital officials, one outside officials. One supervising secretary and one secretariat drafter supervised capital and outside evaluations respectively. The Director adjudicated capital evaluation; the Assistant Director outside evaluation. When inspection confirmed, achievements and faults were reported to the emperor. Capital officials gathered for public reading and annotation; outside officials annotated via assembly envoys. Evaluation used four excellences: widely known virtue, manifest purity and prudence, praiseworthy fairness, and diligent industry. Beyond excellences, twenty-seven 'bests': first, remedying omissions and filling gaps — best for close attendants. Second, weighing talent and elevating the capable — best for selection bureaus. Third, promoting the worthy and repelling the corrupt with appropriate praise and censure — best for evaluators. Fourth, ritual forms conforming to classics — best for rites officers. Fifth, harmonious music without missed rhythm — best for music officers. Sixth, prompt decisions with reasonable grant and denial — best for adjudicators. Seventh, effective command with alert guard — best for palace guards. Eighth, drilled soldiers with complete equipment — best for supervisors. Ninth, investigation finding facts with fair judgment — best for judges. Tenth, precise proofreading and clear editing — best for correctors. Eleventh, clear and keen memorializing — best for announcement officers. Twelfth, effective instruction with students completing studies — best for academy officers. Thirteenth, strict rewards and punishments with battle victory — best for generals. Fourteenth, flourishing rites with purified jurisdiction — best for civil administrators. Fifteenth, detailed canonical records with rhetoric and principle — best for literary historians. Sixteenth, precise investigation with appropriate impeachment — best for censors. Seventeenth, clear audit with no concealed errors — best for auditors. Eighteenth, maintained duties with sufficient supply — best for supply supervisors. Nineteenth, fulfilled labor with no craftsman complaints — best for corvée officers. Twentieth, timely farming with completed harvest — best for garrison officers. Twenty-first, careful storage and clear disbursement — best for storehouse officers. Twenty-second, precise calendrical calculation — best for calendar officers. Twenty-third, observation, medicine, and divination with verified results — best for technical specialists. Twenty-fourth, effective inspection with unimpeded travel — best for pass officers. Twenty-fifth, undisturbed markets without fraud — best for market officers. Twenty-sixth, fat herds with prolific breeding — best for pasture officers. Twenty-seventh, quiet borders with repaired defenses — best for frontier defense. One or more 'bests' with four excellences: highest upper grade. One or more 'bests' with three excellences, or four excellences without a 'best': upper middle. One or more 'bests' with two excellences, or three excellences without a 'best': upper lower. One or more 'bests' with one excellence, or two excellences without a 'best': middle upper. One or more 'bests', or one excellence without a 'best': middle middle. Duties roughly managed, no excellence or 'best' noted: middle lower. Following personal bias with unreasonable judgment: lower upper. Neglecting public duty for private gain: lower middle. Flattery, deceit, and proven corruption in office: lower lower. Beyond standard grades, special merit, pitiable guilt, or blameworthy conduct without formal demerit — evaluators could decide provisionally at review. Transferred officials' annual evaluation dated from transfer; bureaus weighed workload, prefectures upper or lower status. Evaluation advancement had fixed limits; without achievement, quotas were not filled. Achievement exceeding limits permitted measured advancement. Outside-stream officials received four-grade evaluations by home bureau measuring conduct and achievement. Imperial kin, merit guards, and assist guards all received evaluation grades. Evaluation grades broadly had three levels. Guard commanders followed three-guards evaluation. Gatekeepers, commandants, and duty chiefs followed commanders' evaluation. Posthumous title deliberation was an ancient universal statute examining conduct for distinction. Minister of Revenue: one post, senior third rank. Under the Sui, Minister of the People; renamed Revenue in 649. Renamed Expenditure in 656, Director of Origins in 662, Earthly Offices Minister in 689; restored as Revenue after Shenlong. Vice Ministers: two posts. Senior fourth rank, lower grade. Name changes from Sui onward followed Sui ministry titles. The Minister and Vice Ministers administered land, household, transport, and fiscal policy via four bureaus: Revenue, Expenditure, Metals, and Granaries. They coordinated bureau duties and implemented regulations. All bureau business under their jurisdiction was verified. Revenue Bureau Directors: two posts, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Bureau Assistant Directors: two posts, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Director and Assistant Director titles changed with the bureau from Sui onward. Chief clerks: four, junior ninth rank, upper grade. Fifteen document clerks, thirty-four writing clerks, six ward captains, ten custodians. The Director and Assistant Director administered household registers and land allocation. The ten circuits' tribute and tax varied by local production. The realm had 315 prefectures; tributary prefectures reached 800. Forty thousand households or more: upper prefecture; twenty thousand or more: middle; below: lower. Three capitals' counties: capital counties within walls, outskirts counties outside; plus 85 prominent counties. Six thousand or more: upper county; two thousand or more: middle; one thousand or more: lower-middle; below one thousand: lower. Households: 8,187,710; population: 46,285,161. One hundred households formed a li; five li formed a township. Capitals and cities divided into wards; outskirts into villages. Each li, ward, and village had a head for supervision. Four households formed a neighbor group; five groups formed a mutual-security unit. Mutual-security chiefs enforced mutual restraint. Life stages: yellow at birth, small at four, middle at sixteen, ding at twenty-one, old at sixty. Statistical accounts compiled annually. Household registers compiled every three years. Counties reported to prefectures, prefectures to the ministry; Revenue oversaw totals. Households graded into nine asset classes; fixing in mid-year, registers in last quarter. Prefectures kept five register cycles; the ministry nine. Dual-registration households: border prefectures first, then interior, then military prefectures. If equal, whichever registered first applied. Residence rules: cramped districts could move to spacious ones; distant places to nearer ones; light-corvée districts to heavier ones. Four classes specialized in their occupations. Scholars studied civil and military arts; farmers farmed; artisans made implements; merchants traded. Artisan and merchant families could not enter scholar ranks. Salary recipients could not seize subordinates' profit. Fields: five chi per bu, 240 bu per mu, 100 mu per qing. Land was allocated by fertility and size to settle the people. Land grants and residential plots followed graded rules. Per-capita grants followed proximity. City dwellers without home-county land received grants from neighboring counties. Land receipt and return ran from the tenth through twelfth month. Grants prioritized taxed before untaxed, poor before rich, many before few. Fully allocated districts were spacious; insufficient ones cramped. Officials and merit holders received permanent estate land. Prefectures had public office land; officials had duty land. Tax and corvée had four types: rent, allocation, labor, and miscellaneous corvée. Each ding paid two shi grain rent. Allocation: local silk or cloth two zhang; cloth added one-fifth. Silk submitters added three liang cotton. Cloth submitters added three jin hemp. All were officially stamped. Each ding: two ten-day labor periods yearly; otherwise three chi cloth per day substitution. Added labor: fifteen days exempted allocation; thirty days exempted rent and allocation. Substitution and allocation collected mid-autumn, sent to prefectures last autumn. Rent collection followed local harvest timing. Collection mid-winter through first month of spring. Home prefecture delivery completed by last winter month. Submitted foreign and inner tribes also graded in nine classes. Lingnan grain tax and prefectural money tax had fixed rates. Ding households had preferential exemptions. Filial and chaste conduct reported to ministry brought gate tablets and household tax exemption. Sincere devotion with responsive efficacy received added rewards. Capital civil and military officials had guard attendants. Prefectural and county officials had white-attendants. Prefectural officials and outside supervisors had uniform-bearers. Imperial prince households received laborers per white-attendant quotas. Substantive enfeoffment used tax households. Food-enfeoffment passed to descendants. Commoners: one attendant at eighty, two at ninety, three at one hundred. Assembly envoys arrived 25th of tenth month; Revenue presented them 1st of eleventh; merit evaluation followed. New Year's Day tribute presented at court. Capital county magistrates attended court quarterly. Expenditure Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Longshuo renamed Director of Measures Grandee; restored in 670. Bureau Assistant Director: one post, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Chief clerks: two, junior ninth rank, upper grade. Sixteen document clerks, thirty-three writing clerks, one accounting clerk, four custodians. They adjudicated rent, tax, production, and transport routes. Annual output and expenditure calculated; transport and delivery followed schedules. Harmonized and market purchases balanced goods for public benefit. Gold, silver, treasures, and silk were procured via substitution and allocation. For all freight moved by land and water across the empire, porter charges were set in full, with rules tailored to load, value, and route conditions. Every frontier army had a supply commissioner who calculated needs for provisions, grain, and arms. Annual costs were reported to the Expenditure Bureau for audit according to standing orders. Metals Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. In 662 the title became Grand Master of Treasures; restored in 670. One Bureau Assistant Director, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Three chief clerks, junior ninth rank, upper grade. Eight document clerks, twenty-one writing clerks, one accounting clerk, four custodians. They oversaw treasury receipts and payments empire-wide, issued regulations, and maintained account books. Length: one grain-width of standard millet as one fen; ten fen one cun, ten cun one chi, one chi two cun a large chi, ten chi one zhang. Capacity: twelve hundred grains as one yue; two yue one he, ten he one sheng, ten sheng one dou, three dou a large dou, ten dou one hu. Weight: one hundred grains one zhu; twenty-four zhu one liang, three liang a large liang, sixteen liang one jin. Millet-based standards tuned bells and pipes, measured the sundial, prepared medicines, and regulated caps and robes. Public and private, palace and beyond, all used the larger measures. Treasury movements were posted in notices and tallied quarterly. Imperial-order disbursements were reviewed by the Secretariat and Chancellery first. Monthly salary authorizations passed up for review; wooden tallies matched disbursing offices. Government-private trade had fixed quantity limits. Silks and cloths differed by length, width, bolts, and cotton bundles. Ten-section grants: three silk pieces, three cloth bolts, three cotton bundles. Ten sections mixed colors: two silk cloth, two pieces, two gauze, four plain silk. Foreign guests: per ten sections, one brocade, two gauze, three plain silk, four cotton bundles. Envoys inspecting prisoners received seasonal court dress. The same applied after two years abroad. Full sets issued complete; partial sets at reduced rate. Midwinter court: fifth rank and above five silk pieces, sixth and below three; ennobled wives per husband or son. Granaries Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. In 662 Grand Master of Measures; restored in 670. One Bureau Assistant Director, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Three chief clerks, junior ninth rank, upper grade. Nine document clerks, twenty writing clerks, one accounting clerk, four custodians. They managed granaries, collected rent and taxes, and issued salary grain. Civil and military officials received grain rations twice yearly by rank. One hundred wooden tallies coordinated disbursing offices. All entitled officials and categories received rice. Retired fifth rank and above and court attendants received half pay. Immediate transfers counted prior salary toward the new allotment. Grain rent east of the capital went to Hanjia Granary, then to the capital Great Granary. Luoyang-Shanzhou by land, Shanzhou-capital by water; overseers served as commissioners. From princes down, annual crop records were registered. Charity granaries guarded against shortage; Ever-Normal Granaries stabilized prices. Minister of Rites: one post, senior third rank. The office dated from the Sui. Longshuo: Grand Constant Master of Rites; Guangzhai: Spring Office Minister; Shenlong restored the title. One Vice Minister. Senior fourth rank, lower grade. The title changed with bureau reorganizations. They governed ceremony, sacrifice, and examination policy. Four departments: Rites, Sacrifices, Provisions, Hosts and Guests. They coordinated departments and carried out orders. All jurisdiction business was reviewed there. Examinations convened mid-winter with the annual accounting envoys. Six tracks: Xiucai, five policy essays. That demanding track ended after Zhenguan. Then Mingjing, Jinshi, Mingfa, Calligraphy, Mathematics. All six required true mastery before passing. Exceptional breadth earned special recognition outside ordinary tracks. Academy students sat the same exams but needed only basic textual grasp. Suburban fast-officer tests matched Grand Temple rules. Twelve Directorate Great Completion students: brilliant Mingjing graduates, thousand-character recitation, oral exam, seven of ten essays. Each received nominal rank and remained until four classics were mastered. Rites Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. One Bureau Assistant Director, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Sui Ceremonial Affairs; Wude Rites bureau; Longshuo grand masters; Xianheng restored. Two chief clerks, junior eighth rank, upper grade. Five document clerks, eleven writing clerks, six ward captains, eight custodians. They assisted the Minister and Vice Minister. They drafted ritual codes and kept ceremony names straight. Five ritual categories comprised 152 ceremonies. First, auspicious rites: fifty-five; second, guest rites: six; third, military: twenty-three; fourth, felicitous: fifty; fifth, inauspicious: eighteen. New Year's Day at Hanyuan Hall: emperor in full regalia, palace music, imperial chariots displayed, yellow guard drawn up; dowagers, officials, envoys, and kin in court dress. The great gathering used the same arrangements. Winter Solstice followed New Year's format. Provinces did not report omens or bring tribute. The day after, officials and envoys congratulated the crown prince. On the emperor's birthday, nine-section music played; officials in informal dress. Capital officials of ninth rank and above attended on the first and fifteenth. Fifth rank and above, attendants, vice directors, censors, and doctors attended daily. Foreign courts received palace music and the yellow guard. Envoys alone received half the yellow guard. Investitures used the same display as New Year and Winter Solstice. Each rite ended with homage at the Grand Temple. Every omen was identified by name and form. Omens ranked great, upper, and middle. Before eclipse, advance notice; five drums and weapons at the Grand Earth Altar; court suspended business. Officials wore plain dress and conducted no business. Restrictions ended when the period passed. Lunar eclipses: drums at the responsible office. Ruined mountains or dried rivers: three days without business. At the equinoxes the Three Dukes inspected tombs with the Minister of Grand Harmony. Bows differed by rank and occasion. Outside hierarchy or among kin, private ritual applied. Music used five tones, eight instruments, twelve pipes, four ensembles, two dances — harmonizing society, seasons, spirits, and guests. Private households could not keep bells or chimes. Third rank and above could keep female musicians. Fifth rank: no more than three musicians. Close mourning and invested officials received bronze seals; fish tally rules applied. All of this was issued through the Chancellery. Yellow was the preferred color for dress; red, for banners. Regalia for the emperor, empress, crown prince, and those beneath them is set out in the Treatise on Carriages and Robes. Officials' caps, court tablets, parasols, curtains, and jade ornaments all differed by rank. Everyday dress was graded the same way. Mourning dress was not permitted inside government gates. Regional commanders and prefects below fifth rank might wear scarlet sash and fish tally while in office, but not after they left. Civil and military officials attending court or visiting offices were each assigned escorts according to rank. When a functional official died, funeral gifts, willow fans, and steles were allotted by regulation. Sacrifices Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Longshuo renamed the post Grand Master of Sacrificial Rites; Xianheng restored the old title. One Assistant Director, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Two chief clerks, junior ninth rank, upper grade. Five document clerks, eleven writing clerks, six ward captains, and eight custodians. The Director and Assistant Director oversaw sacrifice, astronomy, clepsydra timekeeping, national mourning days, temple taboos, divination, medicine, and Buddhist and Daoist clergy. Sacrifice fell into four categories: to Heaven, to Earth, to human spirits, and the libation offering to the sages and teachers of antiquity. There were three grades: August Heaven, August Earth, the realm's sovereign altars, and the Ancestral Temple ranked as great sacrifices. Heaven-and-Earth sacrifices always included the imperial ancestors as associated spirits. Medium sacrifices included the sun, moon, and stars; soil and grain; former emperors; sacred peaks, guardian mountains, and river-lords; the imperial soil altar and First Silkworm; Confucius and Duke Tai of Qi; and temples of former crown princes. Minor sacrifices included the Director of the Center, Director of Fate, Masters of Wind and Rain, the host of stars, mountains, forests, rivers, and marshes, the Five Dragons Shrine, prefectural and county altars of soil and grain, and libation offerings. When the emperor personally sacrificed at a great rite, the Grand Commandant was secondary offerer and the Minister of Imperial Entertainments final offerer. When officials performed the rite by proxy, the Grand Commandant was first offerer and the Minister of Grand Harmony secondary offerer. Great sacrifices required four days of dispersed fasting and two days of strict fasting. Minor sacrifices required two days of dispersed fasting and one day of strict fasting. Before each sacrifice participants rehearsed the rite, bathed, and received bright garments. Second rank and above maintained four ancestral temples. Fifth rank and above maintained three ancestral temples. Sixth rank and below, down to commoners, sacrificed only to the founder and immediate forebear. When the state performed feng and shan, the spirit seats followed those of the Round Mound and Square Pond. Monasteries nationwide had fixed quotas; each appointed three administrators from among its most accomplished clergy. Prefectural monasteries numbered 5,358 in all—3,235 for monks and 2,122 for nuns. Each monastery had one abbot, one prior, and one chief disciplinarian. Monastic registers were compiled every three years. For edict-mandated feasts, participating clergy received government provisions. On national mourning days, two great monasteries in each capital held dispersed fasting for monks and nuns. Civil and military officials fifth rank and above, and pure offices seventh rank and above, assembled, offered incense, and withdrew. The same rule applied in prefectures and districts throughout the realm. On distant mourning anniversaries, routine work continued, but unless military affairs were urgent, no new business was begun. Otherwise the usual forms applied. Provisions Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Longshuo renamed the post Grand Master of Provisions; Xianheng restored the old title. One Assistant Director, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Two chief clerks, junior ninth rank, upper grade. Four document clerks, nine writing clerks, and four custodians. They managed sacrificial vessels, meat trays, wine and food offerings, graded their quantities, and oversaw ice storage and food supplies. Hosts and Guests Bureau Director: one post, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Sui: Director of Foreign Affairs; Wude: Hosts and Guests Bureau Director; Longshuo: Grand Master of Foreign Affairs; Xianheng restored the old title. One Assistant Director, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Two chief clerks, junior ninth rank, upper grade. Four document clerks, nine writing clerks, and four custodians. They managed the two former royal houses and foreign tribute and embassies. The two royal houses were represented by the Duke of Xi and the Duke of Jie. In all there were the states on the four sides. Since the age of tribute, through mutual destruction and punitive extinction, more than three hundred states had disappeared. Only a little more than seventy foreign states remained. Tribute protocol, banquet numbers, precedence, and travel credentials were all set out in the duties of the Court of Imperial Entertainments. Minister of War: one post, senior third rank. The Southern Dynasties called it Minister of the Five Armies; the Sui called it Minister of War. Longshuo renamed it Grand Constant Master of Arms; Xianheng restored the old title. Two Vice Ministers. Senior fourth rank, lower grade. Longshuo renamed it Vice Grand Constant Master of Arms; Xianheng restored the old title. They governed military appointments nationwide and regulations on maps, armor, and weapons. Four departments answered to them: War, Posts, Chariot, and Arsenal. They coordinated the departments and executed regulatory orders. All business under their jurisdiction, civil and military, was reviewed there. Military selection convened each year in early winter. Candidates within five hundred li of the capital reported in the first ten-day period; within a thousand li, the middle period; beyond a thousand li, the last period. The Minister and Vice Ministers divided selection into three boards. The Minister chaired the Central Board; the Vice Ministers headed the Eastern and Western Boards. Five abilities were tested: long-butt shooting, mounted and foot archery, mounted lance, foot archery, and interview. Candidates who excelled in any one could pass. Three comparative distinctions were applied. They were fierce bravery, skill and talent, and suitability for command. By assessing ability they decided who stayed or went, recorded talent, strengthened army and state, exposed fraud, and ranked merit. Then, by seniority and service, proposed appointments were matched. Fifth rank and above went to the Secretariat and Chancellery; sixth rank and below were assigned by qualification. Officers on critical garrison registers could not attend central selection; the military commissioner tested them and reported their grades. Proposed appointments, board rosters, and submitted rosters followed Ministry of Personnel rules. The great selection ended in late spring, weighing seniority, talent, and strategy for the needs of army and state. War Bureau Director: two posts, junior fifth rank, upper grade. Longshuo renamed the post Grand Master of Arms; Xianheng restored the old title. Two Assistant Directors, junior sixth rank, upper grade. Four chief clerks, junior eighth rank, lower grade. Thirty document clerks, sixty writing clerks, eight ward captains, and twelve custodians. One Director managed registers, military ranks nationwide, and guard-office quotas. Rank ordering comprised twenty-nine grades. They were the grades of generals. Details appear in the roster of ranks. Rank ordering followed the same rules as honorary civil offices. Guard headquarters nationwide numbered 594, graded upper, middle, and lower, as recorded in the guard regulations. Palace-guard officers each followed the rotation schedule. Thousand-Ox Bodyguards and the crown prince's Thousand-Ox Bodyguards were drawn from descendants of third-rank functional officials and sons of fourth-rank pure offices with upright bearing and proven martial skill. After five reviews, their home office tested them by civil or military standards and allowed them to enter selection. Fourth rank meant bureau vice ministers and the Left and Right Subscribers of the Heir Apparent. The Palace Affairs Office selected presentable candidates from the Left and Right Guard Three Guards and high noble lineage, testing them as with the Thousand-Ox Bodyguards. The Palace Service followed the same rule for presenting horses. Officers from seventh rank up to below fifth rank served five years, often up to eight; when the term ended they were screened and sent to the Ministry of Personnel. Those who failed returned to their original status. Without literary qualification, they could enter through military selection. The intimate, merit, and auxiliary guards of the Left and Right Guards and Rate Offices, together with auxiliary guards attached to other guards, were all classed as the Three Guards. Appointment followed hereditary rank: highest became intimate guards, then merit guards and Rate Office intimates, then auxiliary and Rate Office merit guards, then other guards' auxiliaries, and finally princely household arms-bearers and grooms. Rotating shifts were ordered according to how far men had to travel. Candidates whose close kin within five degrees had been executed were referred to the Ministry of War for placement above or below the usual grade. Three Guards from guards and Rate Offices in Jingzhao, Henan, Pu, Tong, Hua, Qi, Shan, Huai, Ru, Zheng, and neighboring prefectures all performed capital rotation duty. Other prefectures commuted rotation with a cash payment. The Left and Right Guards' Three Guards were organized into five armed units. Princes and nobles down the scale maintained intimate staff and household retainers under eighteen, levied at ten thousand men per contributing prefecture. After ten years of service they could sit for selective review. Men of strong literary and administrative talent went to the Ministry of Personnel; others stayed in their bureau; complete failures reverted to civilian status. Every guardsman under a guard corps bore a distinct service name. Service names ran: Left and Right Guards as Valiant Cavalry; Valiant Guards as Leopard Cavalry; Martial Guards as Bear Brigade; Awesomeness Guards as Forest of Feathers; Army-leading Guards as Sound of Archery; Golden Crow Guards as Flying Dagger. The crown prince's Guard Rate Offices used the names Superlative Charioteers, Traveler's Retinue, and Straight Sweep for transport and clear-way units. Together they were known as guard soldiers. They were drawn from sons and grandsons of officials of sixth rank or lower and from unregistered commoners exempt from labor service. Every three years rolls were reviewed; men entered at adulthood and retired at sixty. Rotating duty again followed distance from the capital. Each guardsman was entered on a personal roster. Service on campaign, garrison, or special assignment within three years was ranked in three grades of merit. Each year on the tenth of the first month they forwarded their prefecture's seal impression and a duplicate record to their guard headquarters. When guardsmen were detailed for rotation, the militia prefecture mobilized them from the roster. Campaign, garrison, and frontier details likewise formed unit blocks. Expert archers and riders formed Cross-Cavalry units; others formed infantry, all under a chain of command. Each squad of ten had six pack animals. Father–son or brother pairs were not deployed on the same mission. Households with elderly or sick grandparents and no spare laborer were excused from campaign and rotation. In peacetime they drilled in archery and sang the Great Horn chant. When rotation cohorts mustered, prefectural officers supervised examination. Golden Crow Guards fielded horn players; other guards crossbowmen; the Forest of Feathers Army flying cavalry and ten-thousand-rider units. Every circuit maintained registered stalwart troops. Registers were updated quarterly for the Secretariat and Chancellery. Inside the frontier passes stood mustered militia; six western prefectures also kept Goguryeo and Qiang auxiliaries. Five southwestern prefectures maintained garrison militia. Shortfalls were filled by levying sturdy men from wealthy households and appointing experienced officers of proven leadership in graded ranks. Volunteers for righteous expeditions formed separate units outside recruitment camps. Field gear was issued by the operating prefecture. Shortfalls were self-supplied, with equal obligation on rich and poor. Prefectures and army offices reported mobilization rolls and equipment counts to the Ministry of War. When troops demobilized, surviving and lost men and materiel were reconciled with the ministry. Grain, transport supplies, and clothing costs for homeward columns were apportioned by local counties and prefectures. One bureau director audited registers and summed all troop movements. Eight frontier commissioners ruled their circuits; interior prefectures within those circuits obeyed them. Fuzhou's frontier command and Dengping's navy lay outside those circuits. Names of commissioners and their garrisons appear in the Geographic Treatise. Princes at the head of armies bore the title marshal; joint civil–military commanders were overall commanders. As imperial envoys they were military commissioners, with chief, vice, and adjutant. A chief commissioner bearing imperial staff carried a wooden tally to mobilize troops. Generals leading ten thousand or more men received a full staff of secretaries and granary, military, and education aides. At five thousand the marshal post was omitted. Each army had a commissioner; five thousand added a vice; ten thousand added a garrison-colony vice. Every army included granary, military, and education aides. Transocean, Gaoyang, Tangxing, Hengyang, and Pingbei armies were headed by their prefects. Each garrison post had a commissioner and vice commissioner. Garrisons of ten thousand added a marshal and granary and military staff. Below five thousand the marshal was omitted. Garrisons placed an escort officer per five hundred men, a company chief per thousand, and an overall commander per five thousand. Chief and vice commissioners of garrisons served four-year terms. Officers below overall commander rotated every two years. Escort officers turned over with their units. Garrison commissioners down the ranks traveled with personal attendants authorized by separate memorial. Imperial visits to the three capitals required Left and Right Encampments for Luoyang's southern and northern guards under their own commissioners. The same arrangement applied in the primary capital when the court was there. Generals departing for war announced at the ancestral shrine, received the battle-axe, bid Lord Tai's temple farewell, and did not sleep at home that night. Commanders in battle could punish disobedient soldiers summarily. After victory, before demobilization, commanders mustered the army, recorded rewards and costs, and reported to the Grand Temple. Triumphant marshals were welcomed with suburban rites. Victory was reported first to the Grand Temple and again at Lord Tai's shrine. One vice director oversaw military examinations and miscellaneous petitions. Military examinations each early spring accompanied the annual personnel review. Two examination tracks existed: level archery and the military examination. Examination grades and merit ranks were verified before conferral of office. One vice director managed the southern personnel ledger. Annual selections relied on resignation certificates, dossiers, seniority, and evaluation records. Only after verification here did cases go to the Three Boards. Candidates promoted to first grade received endorsement. Bureau of Appointments director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. During Longshuo the title was Grand Master of Domains. One vice director, sixth rank, upper grade. Two section chiefs, ninth rank, upper grade. Four clerks, nine recording clerks, and four custodians. Directors maintained maps, walls, garrisons, and beacon chains, measured distances among capitals and frontiers, and tracked barbarian submission. They adjudicated regional boundaries, changes to administrative seats, and frontier disputes. The empire counted twenty upper, ninety middle, and one hundred thirty-five lower garrisons. Garrison outposts totaled eleven upper, eighty-six middle, and two hundred forty-five lower. Beacon towers stood about thirty li apart on average. Along tight frontiers they were set in fortified towns. Each beacon station had a commander and assistant. City and warehouse gates required defensive guards. Bureau of Carriages director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. During Longshuo the title was Grand Master of Chariots. One vice director, sixth rank, upper grade. Three section chiefs, ninth rank, upper grade. Ten clerks, twenty recording clerks, and four custodians. They oversaw chariots, relays, pastures, and livestock registers for all public and private animals. Thirty li per relay post; one thousand six hundred thirty-nine relays and sixty-five pastures under regional supervisors. Breeding suitability and foal counts belonged to the Court of the Imperial Stud. Guards kept escort horses and offices transport oxen according to fixed quotas. Bureau of Stores director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. During Longshuo the title was Grand Master of Stores. One vice director, sixth rank, upper grade. Two section chiefs, ninth rank, upper grade. Seven clerks, fifteen recording clerks, and four custodians. Directors controlled arms and ceremonial equipment for the state, armies, and prefectures. They tracked issue and return of gear for seasonal displays, rites, and funerals, weighing repair costs before distribution. Ministry of Justice. Minister of Justice: one position, third rank, upper grade. Early Sui used Minister of the Capital Office, later Minister of Justice. Longshuo renamed it Grand Constant Minister of Punishments; Guangzhai the Autumn Office Minister; Shenlong restored the old title. One vice minister. Fourth rank, lower grade. Under Longshuo, Vice Grand Constant Minister of Punishments. The minister and vice governed national penal law, convict labor, case review, and frontier passes. Four subordinate bureaus: Punishments, Capital Office, Accounts, and Gateways. It coordinated their work and enforced their rules. All business of central and local offices was authenticated through the proper chain of command. Two directors of the Bureau of Punishments, fifth rank, upper grade. Sui used Discipline Bureau directors; Tang Wude restored Punishments directors; Longshuo renamed them Grand Masters of Punishments. Two vice directors, sixth rank, upper grade. Four section chiefs, ninth rank, upper grade. Nineteen clerks, thirty-eight recording clerks, six station chiefs, and ten custodians. Directors assisted the ministers, applied the code, and weighed harsh and mild penalties. Written law comprised four forms: statutes, orders, regulations, and formulas. The penal code held twelve chapters from General Principles through Trial and Sentencing, five hundred articles total. Administrative orders ran twenty-seven sections in thirty scrolls. Twenty-seven order scrolls listed ranks, rites, taxes, granaries, passes, prisons, construction, funerals, and more — one thousand five hundred forty-six articles. Twenty-four sections of supplementary regulations. Thirty-three sections of procedural formulas. Headings followed ministries, the Censorate, courts, directorates, and armies. Statutes defined crimes and fixed punishment. Orders established institutions and administrative scope. Regulations barred violations and corrected abuse. Formulas standardized materials and measured work. Five punishments stood: beating, flogging, penal servitude, exile, and death. Each beating and flogging grade had five levels; exile three; death two methods. Sentencing also invoked the Ten Abominations, Eight Privileges, Five Hearings, and Six Corruptions. Redemption and commutation rules appear in the Treatise on Penal Law. Capital sentences required joint review by the Secretariat and Chancellery. Capital convicts wore cangue and fetters. Women and exiles or convict laborers wore cangue only. Officials of seventh rank or higher, and merit holders, were chained without cangue. Capital offices sent servitude cases upward to the Court of Judicial Review; lesser punishments they decided themselves. Cases apprehended by the Golden Crow Guard likewise went to judicial review. Capital executions in the capital required five rounds of review memorials. In the provinces the Ministry of Justice filed three review memorials. Rebellion, great sedition, or a dependent or slave killing a master required only one review. Execution days in the capital mandated frugal meals and silenced music. Capital punishment was forbidden from after Beginning of Spring through the autumn equinox. The same ban applied on sacrifice days, fasts, moons, seasonal nodes, rain, darkness, abstention days, and holidays. Exile and lesser crimes could also bring dismissal from office. If the offender died before memorial, posthumous stripping of rank was waived. Exiles could not desert spouses or slip home secretly. After six years they might enter office again. Special exiles for lesser original crimes allowed office after three years. Penal servitude meant assigned labor where convicts resided. Prisoners were inspected every five days. Interrogators related to or feuding with defendants could recuse themselves. Monthly capital prison reports went to the Ministry of Justice; amnesties gathered prisoners at the palace gate beneath the golden rooster before release. Capital Office director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. Longshuo renamed it Grand Master of Servants; Xianheng restored the old title. One vice director, sixth rank, upper grade. Two section chiefs, ninth rank, upper grade. Six clerks, twelve recording clerks, and four custodians. They assigned penal labor, provisioned prisoners, and resolved petitions of wrongdoing. They tracked free and bonded status across public and private registers. Rebellion and treason implicated the household, confiscated as palace slaves. Amnesties could step slaves to frontier households, then miscellaneous households, then commoners. Sixty-year-olds and the disabled became frontier households even outside amnesty scope; at seventy they became free commoners where they chose. Skilled confiscated persons were assigned to offices matching their talents. Craftswomen entered the Inner Palace. Unskilled remainder went to the Ministry of Revenue. Accounts Bureau director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. Under Longshuo, Grand Master of Accounts. One vice director, sixth rank, upper grade. Two section chiefs, ninth rank, upper grade. Fourteen clerks. Twenty-seven recording clerks, one accounting clerk, and four custodians. They audited salaries, fines, levies, labor, taxes, and arrears for every agency. Inner and outer officials received salaries graded by rank. Local officials' pay followed prefectural and county grade. Household taxes funded local officials' monthly pay from interest on office capital funds. Han officials in loose-rein prefectures were paid in native goods. Pass and market officers were paid by rank grade. They received lightweight annual goods as salary. Army marshals and adjutants on campaign matched capital pay scales. Frontier garrison pay followed garrison grade. The capital borrowed grain capital quarterly to the ministry; prefectures reported yearly for Accounts Bureau audit. Granaries, construction, corvée, fines, taxes, rewards, military stores, and pastures fell under the same audit. Gateways Bureau director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. Under Longshuo, Grand Master of Gateways. One vice director, sixth rank, upper grade. Two section chiefs, ninth rank, upper grade. Six clerks, thirteen recording clerks, and four custodians. They kept entry–exit registers and levies for every pass and gate. Twenty-six passes ranked upper, middle, or lower. Capital passes on relay routes were upper grade. Other relay-route passes and non-relay capital passes were middle grade. All remaining passes were lower grade. Passes divided empire from frontier, Han from barbarian, secured the terrain, and enforced prohibition. Passes inspected travelers rather than levying tolls; contraband was confiscated and offenders punished. Travelers obtained transit permits from their home office — the ministry in the capital, the prefecture in the provinces. Even outside jurisdiction, local offices issued permits when formal request documents arrived. Ministry of Works. The Minister of Works: one position at the third rank, upper grade. In the Southern Dynasties the office was known as the Ministry of Construction. Whenever major building work was required, a Minister of Construction was appointed; when the project ended, the office was dissolved. In the early Sui dynasty the post was reorganized as Minister of Works. During Longshuo it bore the title Director of Works and Grand Master of Ceremonies; under Guangzhai it became Minister of Winter Offices; Shenlong restored the earlier names. There was one vice-minister. The rank was fourth grade, lower division. During Longshuo the title was Vice Director of Works and Vice Grand Master of Ceremonies. The minister and vice-minister oversaw national policy for artisans, military colony lands, and public mountains and wetlands. It had four subordinate bureaus: Works, Garrison Colonies, Parks, and Waterways. It coordinated their responsibilities and enforced their rules and directives. All business of central and local offices passed through the appropriate bureau for review and correction. Works Bureau. Director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. During Longshuo the title was Grand Master of the Directorate of Works. There was one vice-director at the sixth rank, upper grade. Two principal clerks, ninth rank, upper grade. The staff included twelve record clerks, twenty-one document clerks, six station chiefs, and eight custodians. The director and vice-director handled the full range of engineering and building projects. They supervised moat and wall works, structural repairs, and the technical standards applied to craftsmen. Capital and Luoyang maintenance projects were assigned to the Palace Manufactories and the Directorate of Imperial Construction. Garrison Colonies Bureau. Director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. During Longshuo the title was Grand Master of Field Administration. One vice-director, sixth rank, upper grade. Two principal clerks, ninth rank, upper grade. Seven record clerks, twelve document clerks, one accounting clerk, and four custodians. They oversaw national policy on military colony farming. When frontier posts could not rely on supply lines, garrison farms were set up to increase grain reserves. They determined suitability of wet or dry land, appropriate crops, labor requirements, and harvest quotas. Each colony's corvée labor was assigned a defined quota. Nine hundred ninety-two colonies were administered by military prefectures empire-wide. Large colonies measured fifty qing; small ones twenty qing. Each colony classified its land and annual yield into three grades. Each colony was headed by a chief officer and an assistant. Capital officials of both civil and military ranks held allotments of duty land. The same applied to officials in Jingzhao, Henan, and the capital counties. Capital agencies with communal office fields allocated plots according to rank and status. Parks Bureau. Director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. During Longshuo the title was Grand Master of Parks. One vice-director, sixth rank, upper grade. Two principal clerks, ninth rank, upper grade. Four record clerks, nine document clerks, and four custodians. They oversaw street plantings, imperial parks and wetlands, firewood and charcoal, and lands for official travel and hunts. Harvesting, fishing, and hunting were permitted only in season. Within three hundred li of the inner and outer suburban zones of the two capitals, no hunting or foraging was allowed. Fodder for reserve horses of the palace and imperial stud was drawn from within five hundred li of both capitals. Pasture offices on the western and southern routes maintained stores of hay and grazing fodder. Fuel and timber for the court, officials, and tributary envoys were collected in the farming off-season. Waterways Bureau. Director: one position, fifth rank, upper grade. During Longshuo the title was Grand Master of Rivers. One vice-director, sixth rank, upper grade. Two principal clerks, ninth rank, upper grade. Four record clerks, nine document clerks, and four custodians. They regulated rivers, lakes, and irrigation works, opening canals and controlling embankments and breaches. They supervised every advantage gained from shipping and irrigation. The empire recorded three hundred twenty thousand three hundred fifty-nine water sources. Sources in distant borderlands lay beyond reliable survey. The Yangtze and Yellow River, running west to east, were China's principal waterways. One hundred thirty-five other rivers ranked as medium streams. One thousand two hundred fifty-two lesser waterways counted as small streams. The Wei, Luo, Fen, Ji, Zhang, Qi, Huai, and Han linked regions by water transport, moving goods where they were scarce and sustaining the people. Four pontoon bridges served ship traffic: Pujin, Dayang, and Heyang on the Yellow River, and Xiaoyi on the Luo. Four stone-pier bridges stood on the Luo (Tianjin, Yongji, Zhongqiao) and Baqiao on the Ba River. Three timber-pier bridges crossed the Wei: Bianqiao, Zhongweiqiao, and Dongweiqiao. Eleven great bridges were maintained by the national works corps. Other bridges were maintained on schedule by local prefectures and counties. Major fords without bridges were served by ferry crews, graded by the size and difficulty of the crossing.
10
== 輿 使 使 退 退 使 殿 退 輿 便 殿殿 殿 使 西 使 使
= Chancellery = In Qin and early Han the attendant-inside was appointed, before the institution had the name of a department or 'terrace.' The Chancellery was first established in Jin; the southern and northern courts kept the institution. Longshuo renamed it the Eastern Terrace; Guangzhai the Luan Terrace; Shenlong restored the earlier title. There were two attendants-inside. Under Sui the title was Remonstrating Speaker; they were also called attendants within. In the Wude era they were Remonstrating Speakers, then renamed attendants-inside. Longshuo made them Left Ministers of the Eastern Terrace; Guangzhai year one restored Remonstrating Speaker; Shenlong returned the title attendant-inside. Kaiyuan year one renamed them Supervisors of the Yellow Gate; year five restored attendant-inside. Tianbao year two renamed the office Left Minister. Zhide year two returned the title to attendant-inside. Wude regulations ranked attendants-inside at third rank, upper grade; Dali 2/11/9 elevated them to second rank, upper grade. Formerly the chief ministers met in the Chancellery at what was called the Hall of Administration. Yongchun 2/7: Secretariat chief Pei Yan, who wielded the administrative brush, moved the Hall of Administration into the Secretariat. Kaiyuan 11: Zhang Yue renamed the Hall of Administration the Secretariat-Chancellery and changed its administrative seal accordingly. Attendants-inside transmitted imperial orders, upheld the royal standard, oversaw the bureaucracy, aided ritual, harmonized the realm, and advised on governance — second only to the emperor in grand policy. Military and civil affairs were decided jointly with the Secretariat chief: discussed in council, then enacted — that was the broad rule. Six formats carried business upward: memorial copies, impeachments, open reports, deliberations, formal petitions, and statements; each document was reviewed, endorsed, reported, and only then executed. On imperial progress they carried the seals and accompanied the procession. At major audiences and sacrifices they sounded the board to mark inner vigil and outer readiness, regulating movement in and out. When the emperor returned, they proclaimed the end of vigil to mark completion of the rite. During great sacrifices, after the court session they escorted the abstinent emperor to the fasting chamber. At the moment of offering they advanced jade and ritual silks. For the ritual hand-washing they held the ewer and poured water. To rinse the wine vessel they drew water from the urn and offered it. They assisted in pouring the preliminary libation and presented the auspicious wine to finish the ceremony. At the ancestral temple they bore the libation cup and helped pour the spiced wine for the initial offering. Following the first libation they assisted with the refined wine libation. Other steps followed the standard rites for entertaining the deities. At the ceremonial plowing they held the plow to assist the emperor. When princes and foreign rulers attended court, they bore the imperial message and offered formal greetings. For investitures and envoys announced from the throne, they received the edict and conveyed the appointment. They oversaw sealing when imperial messages comforted distant officials or summoned them to court. When couriers or envoys were sent out, they provided relay credentials to secure communication across the empire. Changes to offices, ranks, and penal policy were assigned to the record keepers. After entries were written on the chronicle, they supervised the annotations. For appointments below sixth rank, they weighed seniority and merit against the nominee's ability before confirming the post. If a nomination misfit the candidate, they sent it back for reassessment according to relative qualifications. There were two vice-ministers of the Chancellery. Under Sui the title was Vice-minister of the Yellow Gate. Titles shifted from Eastern Terrace vice-minister to Yellow Gate, Luan Terrace, and Chancellery vice-minister through Longshuo, Xianheng, Chuigong, Tianbao, Qianyuan, and back under Dali 2. Wude law ranked Secretariat and Chancellery vice-ministers with ministry vice-ministers at fourth rank, upper grade. Dali 2/9 elevated them to third rank, upper grade. They deputized for the attendants-inside. They joined in deciding every loosening or tightening of policy and every approval or rejection of business. During major sacrifices they accompanied the emperor onto the altar. At the ritual hand-washing they offered the towel. They set the used towel in the basket and bore the gourd goblet for the libation. At New Year and winter solstice audiences they announced favorable portents from across the empire. There were four gentlemen-in-attendance for review. The rank was fifth grade, upper division. Sui titled them Attendants for Review — four posts, junior to Chancellery vice-ministers. Wude regulations used the title gentlemen-in-attendance for review. Longshuo renamed them Eastern Terrace secretaries; Xianheng restored the original name. They served beside the throne and adjudicated matters for their assigned sections. They read and countersigned memorials after the attendant-inside approved them, correcting mistakes. Major edicts were read aloud with praise for virtue and merit, then resubmitted for approval before execution; minor ones they simply endorsed and issued. In major trials, if sentencing was improper they invoked precedent and sent the case back for reconsideration. They vetted courier missions and, with the Yellow Gate vice-minister, issued travel documents; routine travel received relay passes; unjustified requests were denied. Below sixth rank they verified service records, merit scores, character, and ability when offices nominated candidates; misfits were reported to the attendant-inside and sent back for review. They supervised transcription and proofreading in the Hongwen Library. They heard unresolved wrongs and abusive officials jointly with censors and Secretariat secretaries and rectified the cases. Four recording clerks, seventh rank, upper grade. Four principal clerks, eighth rank, lower grade. Staff included eleven record clerks, twenty-two document clerks, seven arsenal clerks, eight message clerks, six station chiefs, ten custodians, and five edict-repair artisans. Two left regularly attendant cavaliers. Third rank, lower grade. Wei and Jin created these posts to review Secretariat memorials alongside attendants-inside and Yellow Gate vice-ministers. Later the post was often filled irregularly; southern courts sometimes omitted or revived it. Early Sui eliminated vice-attendants and appointed four regular cavaliers at third rank, lower grade, for court attendance. Emperor Yang of Sui abolished the posts again. In early Tang they served as honorary additions. Zhenguan restored two regular cavaliers under the Chancellery. Mingqing 2 added two under the Secretariat, creating distinct Left and Right posts with golden cicada and marten insignia. Left cavalier paired with the attendant-inside's left marten and right cavalier with the Secretariat chief's right marten — the 'Eight Martens.' Longshuo renamed the left post Attendant Ultimate; Xianheng restored the old title. Guangde 2/5 promoted them to third rank, upper grade, and added four posts. Xingyuan 1/1 added one cavalier to each flank. Zhenyuan 4/1 returned the establishment to four posts. They served the throne, offering remonstrance and counsel on demand. Baoying 2 allowed each side two handpicked aides reported to the throne; the aide posts were later abolished. Four remonstrating grand masters. Qin and Han used Remonstrating Grand Master; Emperor Guangwu added 'deliberation' to the title. Sui appointed seven remonstrators in the Chancellery at fourth rank, lower grade. Wude 4 fixed four posts at fifth rank, upper grade. Longshuo renamed them Regular Remonstrators; Shenlong restored the earlier title. Dali 4 reaffirmed four posts at fifth rank, upper grade. Longshuo 7/3 barred inner attendants from holding regular remonstrator slots. Zhenyuan 4/5/15 split remonstrators into left and right with eight new posts; Huichang 2/11 noted Sui's seven fourth-rank remonstrators in the Chancellery. They now held fifth rank, upper grade. After Dali 2 promoted vice-ministers to third rank, neither department retained a fourth-rank office. The memorial proposed elevating remonstrators to fourth rank, lower grade, in left and right wings to restore fourth-rank posts. They would rotate with bureau directors and vice-directors to raise the prestige of the appointment. The emperor assented. Remonstrators attended the court, assisted in ceremony, and offered corrective counsel. Five modes of remonstrance were defined: indirect, compliant, normative, earnest, and direct. Two diary officers, sixth rank, upper grade. The title was new; Sui first appointed two diary secretaries. Zhenguan 2 abolished diary secretaries and assigned their work to two Chancellery diary officers. Mingqing restored diary secretaries, splitting duties between left and right officers and secretaries. Longshuo 2 renamed them Left Historians; Xianheng restored the former title. Tianshou 1 again used Left Historian; Shenlong returned to Diary Officer. Three clerks in regular script. They maintained the imperial diary, logging the emperor's speech, conduct, and protocol for the official chronicle. Entries linked events to days, days to months, months to seasons, and seasons to years. They noted calendrical days, rites and regalia, honors and promotions, and punishments and removals. Each quarter the record passed to the official historians. Since Han Xian, each reign kept a diary; compilers edited quarterly volumes for the History Office. Left omission fillers and petition receivers: two omission fillers, seventh rank, upper grade. Two left petition receivers. Eighth rank, upper grade. No such office existed in antiquity. Empress Wu's Chuigong 1/2/29 edict read: 'To record the emperor's words we must seek talent close at hand; yet omission fillers and receivers have not been fully integrated into regular appointment; good government requires many able men; this office is meant to elevate the worthy and improve policy. Establish two left and two right omission fillers at seventh rank and two petition receivers per side at eighth rank, to remonstrate and rank below the historians. The posts were added to the legal code. Tianshou 2/2 increased the quota by three, for five total. Dali 4 added two inner-attendant slots for each title. Dali 7/5/11 fixed two regular posts for each office. They served at court, offered remonstrance, and accompanied the emperor on travel. Policies harmful to the times or contrary to principle were challenged in court debate or by sealed memorial. They memorialized when talent was overlooked or loyal service went unheard at court. Two masters of ceremony. Ninth rank, lower grade. Southern Qi kept one ceremony recorder; Liang had ceremony officers; later the posts were dropped. The Tang restored two masters of ceremony under the Chancellery. Early holders were low status; after Li Yifu in late Zhenguan, educated gentlemen filled the role. Twelve announcers. Sui's ritual and reception offices employed announcers; Tang placed twelve under the Chancellery to chant procedural cues. They served in rotating shifts, known as shift officers. The Master of Protocol directs the rhythm of hall acclamation and the sequence of rank placards in the imperial court. Whenever the state observes a major rite, the Vice Grand Counselor conducts the ceremony and, when the boards for inner vigil and outer readiness are submitted, assists throughout. Gate Commandants: four officers. Upper subordinate sixth rank. Under the Han there was the Colonel of the Gates, charged with the timing of opening and closing the capital's gates. The Sui replaced the colonel with the Gate Commandant, appointing four officers at the subordinate sixth rank; the Tang kept the arrangement. One chief clerk, two writing clerks, and eight hundred gate servants. Gate servants date back to the Jin dynasty. Under the Tang they belong to the Gate Bureau, serve in rotating shifts, and deliver the gate keys. The Gate Commandants regulate opening and closing the capital, imperial city, and palace gates and oversee the issue and return of keys. Opening proceeds from outside to inside; closing from inside to outside—so the inner precinct is weighted most heavily and the sovereign's dwelling is honored. They open and close the gates according to the morning and evening drum signals. Keys for locking the imperial city and palace gates leave first at the you hour and return after the xu hour; Keys for opening leave after the chou hour and return when night is complete. Keys for locking the capital leave after the shen hour and return before the zi hour; Keys for opening leave after the zi hour and return before the mao hour. If the gates must be opened or closed at an improper hour by imperial order, the officer goes to the pavilion to report and await confirmation. Seal and Credential Officers: four officers. Upper subordinate sixth rank. The Zhou had keepers of regalia; the Qin had a seal commander; the Han styled them seal and credential officers. Han received the six Qin seals and the seal of transmission of the realm, which later dynasties preserved. The Sui set two seal and credential officers at the subordinate sixth rank. Empress Wu disliked the word for seal and substituted treasure in its place. This covered the Ordered-by-Heaven seal, the seal transmitting the realm, and six others—eight inscriptions in all. All were recut to read with the character for treasure. In the Shenlong era the office again became Seal and Credential Officer. At the opening of Kaiyuan the name became Seal and Credential once more, matching the seal texts. Two chief clerks, three writing clerks, six keepers of the treasures, thirty keepers of tallies, and eighteen keepers of credentials. They guard the emperor's eight treasures and the state's tallies and credentials and determine which is used for each purpose. When needed they requisition them from the inner quarters; when the affair is done they return them to storage. First, the Spirit Treasure, used to receive homage from all rulers and to steady the myriad realms. Second, the Ordered-by-Heaven Treasure, used when performing the feng and shan sacrifices and honoring the gods. Third, the Emperor's Travel Treasure, for written replies to kings and dukes; Fourth, the Emperor's Treasure, for encouraging and rewarding the meritorious; Fifth, the Emperor's Trust Treasure, for summoning subordinate officials. Sixth, the Son of Heaven's Travel Treasure, for answering correspondence from the four quarters. Seventh, the Son of Heaven's Treasure, for comforting frontier peoples; Eighth, the Son of Heaven's Trust Treasure, for mobilizing the armies of subject border states. At major court gatherings they carry the treasures before the throne. When the emperor travels, they carry the treasures within the escort of the yellow battle-axe. For great affairs of state they issue tallies and credentials, distinguish left from right, keep the left half in store and dispatch the right, so inner and outer halves match. First, the bronze fish tally, for raising troops and replacing garrison commanders and local chiefs. Second, the transmission tally, for the courier relay and transmission of orders. Third, the personal fish tally, marking rank and answering imperial summons. Fourth, the wooden tally, to secure frontier garrisons and strictly control issuance. Fifth, the banner and credential, for entrusting able men and delegating authority to reward and punish. For fish tallies, within the metropolitan region there are three left halves and one right; Outside the region, five left and one right. The left half is held within; the right half without. When used, the series begins with the first tally; later needs draw the next in order, and the cycle repeats. Major business combines an edict with the tally; minor business sends the tally alone, sealed and sent by courier, and both parts must align. For transmission tallies, when the heir apparent regents the state he uses the Double Dragon tally—ten on each side. The eastern capital regent uses the Unicorn tally: twenty left and nineteen right. East, west, south, and north use the Azure Dragon, Zouyu, Vermilion Bird, and Dark Warrior tallies respectively—four left, three right. The left half is brought inward; the right is issued outward. Personal fish tallies are two left, one right; the heir uses jade, princes gold, other officers bronze, worn on the belt as insignia. Tallies engraved with the bearer's name are returned on leaving office; Those without names are handed down and worn in succession. For wooden tallies, when the heir regents within the domain there are three on each side; Outside the domain, five on each side; For ordinary officers on frontier duty, ten on each side. For banners and credentials, when commissioning great commanders or sending envoys abroad, the officer requests and carries them. The banner confers sole authority to reward; the credential, sole authority to punish by death. Under the Rites of Zhou, mountain domains used tiger credentials, plain domains human credentials, and wetland domains dragon credentials—all of gold. The text also states that on the highways one used banner and credential—the type Han envoys bore. The Hongwen Academy: the Later Han had the Eastern Pavilion, Wei the Cultivation of Letters Hall, Liu-Song the Mystery and History halls, Southern Qi the General Illumination Hall, Liang the Forest of Letters, Northern Qi the Forest of Literature, and Later Zhou again the Cultivation of Letters Hall—each a site for compiling texts and gathering students. In early Wude the Cultivation of Letters Hall was founded; it was later renamed the Hongwen Academy. Later, to avoid the heir apparent's personal name, it became the Illumination of Letters Hall. In Kaiyuan 7 it was restored as the Hongwen Academy under the Chancellery.
11
沿
Academicians. There was no fixed number of academicians; since Wude the posts had been filled by careful selection of the worthy. By custom, officials of fifth rank or higher were styled academicians and those of sixth rank or lower direct academicians; literary direct academy academicians also existed without a set quota. The academy housed the four library divisions and maps; from Chuigong a chief minister usually doubled as director, while a supervising secretary routinely handled day-to-day business. Thirty students; two collators at upper subordinate ninth rank. Two chief clerks, thirty copyists, two archivists, three rub-copy scribes, three brush makers, nine paper-mounting artisans, two station chiefs, and four guards. Academicians of the Hongwen Academy verify bibliographic records and teach the students. They may participate when the court revises regulations or adjudicates ritual questions. The collators proof the canon and emend mistakes. Student instruction and examinations follow the National University's rules.
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The Secretariat
13
西 西 使 西 使 西
Qin first created secretariat attendants; Han Emperor Yuan dropped the word attendant from the title. Later ages knew the office simply as the Secretariat. Later Zhou named it the Inner Scribe Department; the Sui kept that name and appointed one director and one chief. Emperor Yang renamed it the Inner Documents Department. In Wude it was again the Inner Scribe Department; in Wude 3 it became the Secretariat. Under Longshuo it was the Western Terrace, under Guangzai the Phoenix Pavilion, and under Shenlong again the Secretariat. Kaiyuan 1 made it the Purple Micro Department; in Kaiyuan 5 the former name was restored. Secretariat Chiefs: two officers. In Han and Wei the post was modest in rank yet heavy in responsibility. Wei appointed one director and one chief; the southern dynasties kept the arrangement. Sui removed the director and placed two chiefs at the third rank. When Sui Wendi abolished the Three Dukes' offices, he charged the secretariat chief and vice grand counselor with government, making them de facto chancellors. Under the Sui the title was Inner Documents Chief. In Wude the title was Inner Scribe Chief, soon changed to Secretariat Chief. Longshuo styled it Chief of the Western Terrace and Right Chancellor; Xianheng restored Secretariat Chief. Under Guangzai it was Phoenix Pavilion Chief. Kaiyuan 1 made it Purple Micro Chief; in Kaiyuan 5 it again became Secretariat Chief. Tianbao renamed it Right Chancellor; Zhide 2 restored Secretariat Chief. Originally third rank; on Dali 2, month 11, day 9, it was promoted with the Vice Grand Counselor to second rank and remained there thereafter. The Secretariat Chief holds military and civil policy, brightens the sovereign's mandate, and harmonizes Heaven and humanity. He enters to inform the sovereign and goes forth to execute his will, ordering the myriad realms and sizing up every branch of administration—assistant to the Son of Heaven in the great affairs of state. Imperial pronouncements fall into seven forms: book edicts, formal edicts, consolation edicts, issued commands, command rescripts, deliberative edicts, and command slips—each is drafted, countersigned, reported, and executed. At major sacrifices to the gods he accompanies the emperor onto the altar to assist the ceremony. At the imperial temple he follows the sovereign up the eastern steps. When the emperor leads an expedition in person, assembles the army, warns the bureaucracy, and enfeoffs the worthy by written mandate, he has the text read at the imperial window. If the investiture takes place at court, the edict is announced and the appointee receives it. When investing the heir apparent, the seal is handed over. Promulgation of edicts and memorials submitted or returned is entrusted to the recorders. Under Wude and Zhenguan precedent, the left and right vice directors of the Department of State Affairs and two vice grand counselors and two secretariat chiefs served as the officials in charge of policy. When other officials were drawn into policy, they might be said to deliberate with the chancellor, to harmonize national planning, to handle confidential matters, or simply to join in government deliberation. In Zhenguan 17 Li Ji, as grand mentor to the heir, received an edict to share in managing affairs—the origin of the title 'Same as Third Rank of the Secretariat and Chancellery.' Thereafter vice directors commonly carried that designation. Other officials not heads of the two departments but sharing in policy likewise took the name. In Yongchun an edict first named Guo Zhengyi, Guo Daiju, Wei Xuantong, and others to join the secretariat and chancellery in receiving imperial instructions as Harmonizers of Affairs. After Empress Wu, heads of the two departments plus holders of Same Third Rank with Harmonizer of Affairs were counted as chancellors. Vice directors without the Same Third Rank title merely ran the Department of State Affairs. In Zongzhang 2 Eastern Terrace vice director Zhang Wenguan and Western Terrace vice director Dai Zhide were the first to have Same Third Rank inscribed in their appointment titles. That usage has continued ever since. In Yongchun 2 Liu Qixian as yellow gate vice director governed as Harmonizer of Affairs Same as the Secretariat and Chancellery; thereafter chiefs of the two departments and acting ministers below vice grand counselor or secretariat chief used that fuller title. Secretariat Vice Directors: two officers. Han created the secretariat for confidential edicts with chief, steward, aide, and officer. Wei styled them secretariat officers; Jin prefixed attending. Sui's Inner Documents Department used Inner Documents Vice Director at the fourth rank. Early Wude called them Inner Scribe Vice Directors; in Wude 3 they became Secretariat Vice Directors. Under Longshuo, Guangzai, and Kaiyuan the title shifted with the department's name. Zhide restored the title Secretariat Vice Director. The Wude statutes ranked them with department vice directors at fourth rank. In Dali 2, month 9, they were promoted with chancellery vice directors to third rank. The vice director assists the secretariat chief. He deliberates on routine business of the state and major court policy. When great ministers are enfeoffed at the imperial window and the chief appoints him envoy, he carries the book edict and invests the recipient. When foreign envoys attend court he receives their petitions at the imperial window and mounts the western steps to present them. If tribute is offered, he accepts it and hands it to the appropriate agency. Secretariat Drafters: six officers. Upper fifth rank. Cao Wei placed one communications officer at the secretariat to handle memorials and document review. The Duke of Gaogu added the word drafter to the communications officer's title. Jin appointed one drafter and one communications officer at the secretariat. From Wei through Liang, edicts issued from the chief and vice director while the communications drafter merely forwarded memorials. Occasionally a literate communications officer received a special commission to draft edicts. Emperor Wu of Liang entrusted edicts solely to drafters, dropped communications from the title, and called them secretariat drafters. The Sui styled them inner scribe drafters—eight posts at sixth rank, charged with drafting edicts. They were soon promoted to upper fifth rank. Emperor Yang made them inner documents drafters, four in number. Early Wude they were inner scribe drafters; in Wude 3 secretariat drafters. Longshuo, Guangzai, and Kaiyuan renamed them with the department.
14
使 使 祿 殿 退
Drafters attend court, forward memorials, and deliberate on petitions. Edicts, commands, rescripts, sealed letters, and book investitures are drafted by precedent and submitted for imperial approval; After promulgation they countersign and carry them out. Four offenses are forbidden: disclosure, tardiness, breach, and careless error— —so the weight of imperial words is upheld. If a promulgated edict or command is wrong, they memorialized to rectify it. At major assemblies they receive regional status reports and present them to the throne. The same applies when officials submit felicitations for great victories or extraordinary omens. Court investitures of great ministers are read by envoys bearing the credential. Meritorious generals and eminent guests receive imperial inquiries dispatched through the drafters. They join supervising secretaries and censors as a triad to examine grievances and backlog cases throughout the realm. They preliminary review memorials from every agency and civil and military merit evaluations. Document supervisors: four officers at upper subordinate seventh rank. Principal clerks: four at lower subordinate eighth rank. Twenty-five chief clerks, fifty writing clerks, ten edict couriers, eighteen station chiefs, and fifty edict-binding artisans. Right palace attendant, right remonstrance officer, right admonisher, court diarist: two right palace attendants at subordinate third rank. Two right remonstrance officers at upper subordinate seventh rank. Two right admonishers at upper subordinate eighth rank. Two court diarists. Upper subordinate sixth rank. Right attendants, remonstrance officers, and admonishers. Their responsibilities match those of the left department. Court diarists keep the verbal record, noting the emperor's edicts and benevolent pronouncements as recorders do, to track changes in policy. Each quarter they deliver their notes to the official historians. Communications drafters: sixteen officers. Upper subordinate sixth rank. Communications drafters belong to the corps of petition presenters. They handle guest etiquette and receipt of business under the Director of Ceremonial. Jin appointed one drafter and one communications officer under the secretariat. Eastern Jin styled them communications drafters. Sui copied Jin with sixteen officers at upper subordinate sixth rank, also termed communications presenters. Early Wude abolished the presenters' office, renamed communications presenters communications drafters, placed them in the Four Directions Hall under the secretariat. They introduce visitors at court audiences, handle farewells, and relay petitions in the palace hall. When intimate ministers attend and civil and military officials form ranks, they guide movement and announce when to bow, rise, enter, or withdraw. Petitions from all quarters and tribute from both empire and frontier are received and passed upward. When troops march out they receive imperial consolation and are sent off. After departure they monthly inquire at soldiers' homes to learn their distress. On victorious return they greet the army at the suburban rites and all file mission reports. Retired ministers and the realm's elderly receive the same periodic visits.
15
Ten chief clerks, eighteen station chiefs, and twenty-four guards.
16
=殿=
Hall of Assembled Worthies Academy
17
殿 殿 殿 殿西 殿 殿使 殿使 殿使 殿 使 殿
The Hall of Assembled Worthies Academy was founded in Kaiyuan 13. Since Han and Wei the work had belonged to the Archive. Liang housed its book collections inside the Cultivation of Virtue Hall. Northern Qi maintained Forest of Literature academicians and Later Zhou Unicorn Hall academicians, all charged with writing and editing. After conquering Chen the Sui copied the imperial library in master and duplicate sets for the palace and shelved the rest in the archive's outer wing. Emperor Yang kept books in the east and west annexes of the Viewing Culture Hall at the eastern capital. From Han Yanxi through Sui the archive held the national bibliographic registers, though palace collections were sometimes kept separately. While Taizong held the Qin princely fief he gathered eighteen mansion academicians. Later both the Hongwen and Chongwen halls were maintained. At Xuanzong's accession he undertook a major collation of the imperial library. Kaiyuan 5 copied the four library divisions along the east corridor of Qianyuan Hall for the inner repository and appointed four collation officers. In Kaiyuan 7, while at the eastern capital, he established a book-revision commissioner at Lizheng Hall. In Kaiyuan 12 the court was at Luoyang; in Kaiyuan 13 Xuanzong feasted with Academician Zhang Yue and others in the Hall of Assembled Immortals, renamed it Hall of Assembled Worthies, and retitled the book-revision commissioner academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies Academy. The academy in Daming Palace had begun as the women's inner quarters; its buildings were grand and capacious. Yongtai 1, third month: an edict assigned Vice Director Pei Mian and twelve colleagues to daily attendance at the Hall of Assembled Worthies awaiting imperial commission. Academicians of the Hall of Assembled Worthies. Originally fifth-rank officials and above served as academicians; sixth rank and below as direct academicians. When a chancellor held the post of academician, he was called director of academy affairs. A regular attendant served as deputy director. The post of academician director of affairs began in early Kaiyuan when Chu Wuliang, Ma Huaisu, and Yuan Xingchong in turn supervised copying at Qianyuan Hall; after the academy moved to Lizheng Hall the office received a formal commissioner title. Zhang Yue succeeded Yuan Xingchong, renamed the institution Hall of Assembled Worthies, and became director of affairs as grand academician—though he begged off the word "grand," and the throne agreed. Thereafter one chancellor customarily directed the academy. The deputy directorship began when Chancellor Zhang Yue headed the academy and Left Regular Attendant Xu Jian served as his deputy—a pattern that stuck. A chief judge post began at Qianyuan Hall with one collation officer adjudicating business; later incumbents kept the arrangement. One eunuch commissioner supervised the academy. During Qianyuan Hall copying an eunuch managed access, forwarded memorials, supervised inner staff, and guarded the gate with palace security powers. Early Kaiyuan lecturing academicians Chu Wuliang and Ma Huaisu taught inside the palace and were styled readers-in-waiting. Kang Ziyuan later held the lecturing academician post. Compilation and collation posts had no standing headcount; regular officials held them in addition to other duties. Awaiting-edict officers descended from the Han custom of awaiting edicts at Golden Horse Gate. Retained academy officers and examination officers. Academicians kept them at the hall by special edict. One registry clerk and four curators of imperial books were added in Kaiyuan 5. Eight book officers, created in Kaiyuan 5, apportioned labor across the four repository divisions. The staff included one hundred imperial copyists, six rubbers, eight book clerks, fourteen binders, and four brush makers. All these posts dated from Kaiyuan 6. Assembled Worthies academicians edited classical and contemporary texts to clarify the state's fundamental institutions. On imperial order they hunted lost books empire-wide and sought out neglected talent. When policy proposals or writings suited the times, they assessed ability and scholarship and memorialized the throne with recommendations. Commissioned compilations and collations were reported monthly within the palace and graded annually in the outer administration.
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History Bureau
19
西 滿
The History Bureau: dynastic historians under the Archive's Compilation Bureau were compilation officers charged with the national chronicle. Under Wude the Tang kept Sui practice. Zhenguan 3, intercalary twelfth month: the bureau moved inside the palace north of the Chancellery with the chancellor supervising the national history—whereupon compilation officers gave up direct historiography. When Daming Palace was finished the bureau was installed south of the Chancellery. Seventy-four jujube trees stood east and west of the gate—no other trees among them. Kaiyuan 25, third month: Li Linfu argued that historians should sit near the Secretariat's secrets; Yin Yin moved the bureau north of the Secretariat into the former Imperial Pharmacy. History officers. Ancient rulers and feudal lords kept historians to record speech, action, and the calendar. Under Later Han Ming, eminent scholars entered the Eastern Pavilion to write the Annals of Guangwu; thereafter historians were other officials serving in addition. Wei Ming established dedicated compilation officers for the national history under the Secretariat. Jin transferred the office to the Archive and left the arrangement unchanged. While Zhenguan historians revised the Five Dynasties History, the bureau returned inside the palace. There was no standing corps of historians—major projects drew concurrent appointees who left when the work finished. Supervisor of the national history. After Zhenguan a chancellor usually supervised the national history—a fixed custom. Compiler and direct curator of the bureau. Post-Tianbao concurrent historians were styled History Bureau compilers; newcomers began as direct curators. Yuanhe 6: Chancellor Pei Ji proposed that court-ranked historians be styled compilers and pre-court entrants direct curators. Among compilers the senior officer should adjudicate bureau business; abolish the other titles. The emperor assented. Staff included twenty-five copyists, four custodians, two hall chiefs, six guards, one binder, and six paper preparers. Historians wrote the national chronicle without false praise or concealed fault—recording events plainly. Heavenly portents, geography, succession, ritual, music, armies, and the rise and fall of policies all drew on Daily Records and Current Policy Records as factual base before taking annalistic shape for moral judgment. Completed histories were deposited in the archive.
20
=使=
Commissioner of the Petition Boxes
21
使 西 使
The petition-box commissioner. Chuigong 2: Empress Wu installed petition boxes to reach grievances trapped in the bureaucracy. Four-sided cabinets in directional colors: east Extending Grace, west Declaring Wrong, south Inviting Remonstrance, north Penetrating Mystery. They gave voice to empire-wide injustice and the plight of common people. The idea echoed Han commendation banners and criticism posts. Tianbao 9 renamed them Submission and Reception. Qianyuan 1 restored the name petition boxes. Since Chuigong a remonstrance official or rectifier typically served as commissioner and received petitions. Petitions went in each evening and came out each morning.
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Hanlin Academy
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西 退 使
The Hanlin Academy. At Daming Palace the academy stood inside Right Yintai Gate. At Xingqing Palace it lay inside Jinming Gate. In the western inner palace it was at Xianfu Gate. Luoyang and Huaqing Palace likewise maintained awaiting-edict quarters. Awaiting-edict scholars covered belles lettres, classics, alchemy, clergy, divination, arts, calligraphy, and chess—each group in its own hall, dismissed at nightfall. Literary talent weighed most heavily. Wude and Zhenguan drew Wen Daya, Wei Zheng, Li Baiyao, Cen Wenben, Xu Jingzong, and Chu Suiliang. After Yonghui Xu Jingzong and Shangguan Yi served inside the palace without fixed designations. Under Qianfeng Liu Yizhi and Liu Yizhi, Zhou Simao, Yuan Wanqing, and Fan Lübing awaited edicts at the north gate for lack of formal titles—the "North Gate academicians." Under Empress Wu, Su Weidao and Wei Chengqing served as palace awaiting-edict scholars. Under Zhongzong, Shangguan Zhaorong alone drafted imperial prose. Ruizong's reign saw Xue Ji, Jia Yingfu, and Cui Shi succeed her. At Xuanzong's accession Zhang Yue, Lu Jian, Zhang Jiuling, Xu Anzhen, and Zhang Ya entered the palace as Hanlin awaiting-edict scholars. The sovereign's exalted station meant ten thousand matters daily—memorials from every direction, rescripts on inner and outer papers, edicts flowing from the inner court. Imperial drafts passed through their review—"viewing the grass"—so contemporary literati were chosen as counselors at hand. After Zhide warfare engulfed the realm; secret strategy and confidential edicts issued from the inner court alone. Selection as Hanlin academician became the summit of literary honor. Following secretariat drafters, six Hanlin posts were fixed; the senior and most respected became bearer of the order, sole recipient of confidential commissions. Dezong, a lover of letters, made admission fiercely selective. After Zhenyuan many bearers of the Hanlin order ascended to the chancellorship.
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Inner Music Office
25
使
The Inner Music Office. Since Wude it rehearsed court music inside the palace under eunuch directors. Empress Wu renamed it Cloud Harmony Office; Shenlong restored Music Office.
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Practice Arts Hall
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The Practice Arts Hall. Originally the Inner Literary Academy, it chose one literate palace woman as academician to instruct the inner quarters. Empress Wu renamed it Practice Arts Hall, then Hanlin Inner Music Office, reflecting its palace location.
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== 殿
Archive It stood under the Secretariat. Han book repositories included Extended Pavilion, Broad Inner, and Stone Channel. The censor-in-chief also kept Orchid Terrace archives within the palace. Later Han Yanxi 2: Emperor Huan created the Archive Director under the Grand Music Master for palace books and secret texts; later the office merged into the Secretariat. Jin Emperor Hui split off an Archive Office for both inner and outer pavilion libraries. Liang Wudi converted the office into a directorate. Longshuo renamed it Orchid Terrace, Guangzhai Unicorn Terrace, Shenlong the Archive again. Archive Director: one officer, third rank. The directorship dated to Later Han Emperor Huan; Wei and Jin kept the title. Northern Zhou styled it Outer Historian Lower Grandee. Sui restored the Archive Director at third rank. Yang of Sui renamed it Archive Chief; Wude restored Director. Longshuo made it Orchid Terrace Grand Astrologer, Tianshou Unicorn Terrace Director, Shenlong Archive Director again. Two vice directors, upper fourth rank. The vice directorship began under Sui Yang. Longshuo: Orchid Terrace Vice Director; Tian shou: Unicorn Vice Director; Shenlong: Archive Vice Director. Originally one post; Taichi added a second. One aide. Upper fifth rank. Wei Wu created the post with two aides. Sui fixed one aide at proper fifth rank. The Archive Director oversaw the empire's texts, libraries, and catalogues. Two bureaus served under him—Compilation and Grand Astrologer—each commanding its staff. The vice director was deputy; the aide adjudicated daily business. Archive Secretaries: four posts. Upper sixth rank. Eight collation officers, upper ninth rank. Four proofreaders, lower ninth rank. One principal clerk, upper ninth rank. Four clerks, nine document clerks, eight custodians, eighty copyists, six hall chiefs. Eight watchmen. Archive secretaries oversaw the A, B, C, and D divisions—the four repositories. The classics held ten categories, history thirteen, masters fourteen, collected writings three. Particulars appear in the Bibliographic Treatise.
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Compilation Bureau
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Compilation Bureau: under Longshuo, the Documents Bureau. Two compilation officers, upper fifth rank. Longshuo styled them Documents Bureau directors; Xianheng restored compilation officer. Four assistant officers, upper sixth rank. Two collation officers, upper ninth rank. Two proofreaders, lower ninth rank. Five copyists, four watchmen. Compilation and assistant officers drafted steles, prayers, and sacrificial texts and split bureau duties among themselves.
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Directorate of Astronomy
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西 殿 簿 宿
Directorate of Astronomy: formerly the Grand Astrologer Bureau under the Archive Director. Longshuo 2 renamed it Secret Repository Bureau; Jiushi 1 the Armillary Sphere Directorate. Jingyun 1 made it Grand Astrologer Directorate, then again Grand Astrologer Bureau under the Archive. Qianyuan 1, third month, day 19: Grand Astrologer Directorate became Directorate of Astronomy with new staff; it moved from west of the Archive inside the inner city to Yongning Ward's southeast corner. One director, third rank. Formerly the bureau chief at lower fifth rank. Qianyuan 1 elevated the chief to director at third rank, matching Palace Administration and Archive. Two vice directors. Formerly Grand Astrologer aides, lower seventh rank. Qianyuan promoted them to vice directors equal to other agencies. The chief observed the sky and fixed the calendar. He led staff in watching solar, lunar, and stellar changes and anomalies of wind, cloud, and sky color. Two calendar officers made the almanac. One Keeper of the Bureau Seal supervised training. Forty-one calendar students. Five observer-inspectors watched the sky. Ninety observation students tracked heaven day and night. Two Spirit Platform officers taught sky observation. Sixty astronomy students. Two clepsydra chiefs. They managed the water clock and its graduations. Staff included seventy timekeepers, twenty-two clepsydra clerks, nine doctors, three hundred sixty students, one hundred twelve bell keepers, eighty-eight drum keepers, two copyists, and four hall chiefs and watchmen each. Qianyuan 1 split off the Directorate of Astronomy. New staffing diverged from the old bureau; the following follows directorate responsibilities. Celestial instruments and astronomical texts were off limits except to assigned personnel. Each quarter they logged portents to the Chancellery and Secretariat for the Daily Records. Year-end summaries were sealed and sent to the History Bureau. They issued the coming year's calendar empire-wide every year. Five chiefs of the five seasonal offices, fifth rank. Qianyuan 1 created Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Central office chiefs. Two aides, seventh rank. Two registrars, seventh rank. Five quota clerks and five Spirit Platform officers of the Five Offices, seventh rank. Former Spirit Platform officers, lower eighth rank, watched celestial change and divined meaning. The twenty-eight lodges fell into twelve celestial stations, detailed in the Astronomical Treatise. Five Chart-Registrar Chiefs for the Five Offices, seventh rank. Five calendar officers of the Five Offices, eighth rank. Formerly two calendar officers, upper ninth rank, maintained state calendrics and issued almanacs to the regions. Calendars in use included Wuyin, Linde, Shenlong, and Dayan. Empire-wide observatories with solstice and equinox standards had codified methods for checking star positions and sundial shadows. Five observer-inspectors of the Five Offices, eighth rank. Five clepsydra chiefs of the Five Offices, ninth rank. Fifteen timekeepers of the Five Offices. Ninth rank. Formerly two clepsydra chiefs, lower eighth rank. Seventeen timekeepers, lower ninth rank. All managed clepsydra graduations. A bronze jar leaked water; floating arrows marked graduations to signal midnight stars and the moments of dawn and dusk. Fifteen ritual attendants, five copyists, five clerks, and twenty clepsydra doctors of the Five Offices—all using jar-and-arrow timing. Forty-eight arrows marked one hundred day-and-night graduations. Day and night lengths shifted between winter and summer. Winter solstice: forty day-graduations, sixty at night. Summer solstice: sixty by day, forty by night. Spring and autumn equinoxes split day and night evenly at fifty graduations each. After autumn equinox days shortened and nights lengthened—one graduation added every nine days. After spring equinox nights shortened and days lengthened—one graduation removed every nine days. Near the solstices adjustment slowed and required more days. Between equinoxes adjustment was faster over fewer days. Night observation set the rhythm for watches and bell strokes. Each night had five watches; each watch five strokes. Drums marked watches; bells marked strokes. Staff totaled three hundred fifty bell and drum keepers, ninety observation students, fifty astronomy students, fifty-five calendar students, forty clepsydra students, and ten tenth-rank viewers. All listed posts were created with the Qianyuan 1 reorganization of the directorate.
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