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漢書年表,徧及卿尹。 明史所表,止於七卿。 清增理藩院,蒙藏回諸部,都凡要務,於焉匯歸,輯民綏邊,所任殊重,與七卿等。 侍郎之屬,雖曰副貳,然與尚書皆爲敵體,題奏之草,有一不盡,例不得上,獎勩罰過,皆所與同。 且內而樞輔,外而督撫,每由茲選,材雋所萃,未可闕也。 光緒之季,增新汰舊,並於名稱亦多更易,依時爲表,期無舛漏。 管部管院,權任亦重,以非官制,故概不書。 作部院大臣年表。
In the Book of Han the chronological tables cover every minister and prefectural chief. The Ming History tables stop at the Seven Ministers. The Qing added the Lifanyuan for the Mongol, Tibetan, and Muslim administrations; every major matter was routed there. Pacifying populations and stabilizing the frontiers made its charge as weighty as the Seven Ministers. Vice ministers were nominally deputies, yet they stood on equal footing with ministers: if a single memorial draft was incomplete, it could not by rule go up, and commendations, honors, penalties, and faults were all shared alike. Grand Councillors within and governors-general and governors without were often selected from these offices; it was where outstanding talent concentrated and the ranks could not be spared. Late in the Guangxu reign new offices were created and old ones cut, and many titles were renamed besides; the tables are arranged by period so that no error or omission is left. Supervisors of boards and yuans likewise held heavy power, but because they were not formal offices in the establishment they are generally not entered. [Hence] the chronological tables of ministers of boards and courts.