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卷一百六十八 志第一百二十一 職官八

Volume 168 Treatises 121: Offical Posts 8

Chapter 168 of 宋史 · History of Song
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1
Official Posts, Part Eight (Regulations for combined court ranking.) ○ Regulations for combined court ranking after the Jianlong reign (960–976)
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使 使 使 使 使 使 使 殿 使 西西 殿 殿 殿使 使 使 殿 殿 使使殿殿使使使使使 使 使 使使殿 綿 使 使 使 使 使使 使使西使 使 西西西西 使 使 殿西使使 使殿殿殿殿 西 使殿簿 使使 簿
Secretariat Director, Palace Attendant, and Grand Councillor (The above offices are those of the chief ministers.) Imperial princes, military affairs commissioners, regional protectors, jiedushi, and capital prefects who also serve as Secretariat Director, Palace Attendant, or Grand Councillor (The above are all commissioner-grand councillors.) Director of the Department of State Affairs, the Three Preceptors (Grand Preceptor, Grand Tutor, Grand Guardian), and the Three Excellencies (Grand Commandant, Minister of Education, Minister of Works) (Under the former protocol, the Grand Preceptor, Grand Tutor, and Grand Guardian formed the Three Preceptors. The Grand Commandant, Minister of Education, and Minister of Works were the Three Excellencies. In the old order, the Grand Commandant stood below the Grand Guardian. Since the founding of the dynasty, promotion has run from Grand Tutor to Grand Commandant, and the present ranking follows that sequence. The titles of the Three Preceptors and Three Excellencies remain as in the former protocol.) Military Affairs Commissioner, Administrator of the Bureau of Military Affairs, and Associate Administrator (Formerly ranked below the Military Affairs Commissioner.) Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs (Formerly ranked above the bureau administrator.) Associate Military Affairs Administrator, Commissioners of the Southern and Northern Palace Secretariat Bureaus, and Deputy Commissioner for Military Affairs documents (From the Associate Administrator downward, seating order was set case by case by imperial decision.) Preceptors and tutors of the heir apparent; left and right vice directors; junior preceptors and tutors of the heir; and the prefects of Kaifeng, Henan, Yingtian, Daming, Jiangling, Xingyuan, Zhending, Jiangning, Jingzhao, Fengxiang, and Hezhong. Great Area Commanders and Great Protectors also existed, but today all such posts are held concurrently with commissioner ranks, and no one holds them as a standalone appointment. Censor-in-Chief and Grand Academician of the Hall for Viewing Literature (This was not an office under the former protocol.) The six ministers of the Department of State Affairs (Personnel, War, Revenue, Justice, Rites, and Public Works.) Commanders of the left and right Golden Crow Guards; senior generals of the left and right guards; and vice directors of the Chancellery and Secretariat (Formerly ranked below the six ministers.) Military commissioners (jiedushi) (Including Taining, Wuning, Zhangxin, Zhenhai, Tianping, Anhua, and Wucheng. Along with Zhongwu, Zhenhai, Heyang, Shannan East, Wusheng, Chongxin, Zhaohua, Baokang, Tianxiong, Chengde, Zhenning, Zhangde, Yongqing, Anguo, Weide, Jingnan, Zhanghua, Xiongwu, Baoda, Huainan, Zhongzheng, Baoxin, Baojing, Jiqing, Jiankang, Ningguo, Zhennan, Zhaoxin, Jingnan, Ninghai, Wuchang, Anyuan, Wu'an, Zhendong, Pingjiang, Zhenjiang, Xuande, Baoning, Kangguo, Weiwu, Jianning, Yizhou, Anjing, Wuxin, Shannan West, Zhaowu, Ande, Wuding, Ninghai, Ningjiang, Wukang, Qinghai, Jingjiang, Ningyuan, Jianwu, Dingnan of Gaozhou, Jinghai of Mizhou, Xihe of Liangzhou, Guiyi of Shazhou, Baoshun of Taozhou, Zhangguo of Yingzhou, Weicheng, Changhua, Fengzhou, Tiande, Zhenwu of Shuozhou, and Datong of Yunzhou.) Academician of the Hall for Viewing Literature (Formerly the Hall of Civilization; if an academician also serves as a minister, he takes his place according to that ministerial rank.) Grand Academician of the Hall for Assisting Governance and Commissioner of the Three Fiscal Commissions (Seating relative to the Viewing Literature and Assisting Governance academicians was set case by case by imperial decision.) Vice commissioners of the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace, Jingling Palace, and Huiling Abbey (Seating relative to the fiscal commissioner and Hanlin academicians was set case by case by imperial decision.) Hanlin expositor and academicians; Assisting Governance academician; Hanlin readers and lecturers; Dragon Diagram and Heavenly Writ pavilion academicians; direct academicians of Military Affairs, Dragon Diagram, and Heavenly Writ; and left and right regular attendants of the cavalry (Formerly ranked below the guard senior generals.) The six army commands (Left and Right Dragon Martial, Left and Right Forest of Feathers, and Left and Right Divine Martial.) Senior generals of the guard units (Left and Right Valiant Guards, Martial Guards, Garrison Guards, Army Aide Guards, and Thousand-Ox Guards.) Host of the heir apparent; directors of the Sacrifices and Imperial Clan courts; and vice censor-in-chief (An acting vice censor-in-chief stood in the vice censor's place on the court floor. On days of attendance in the inner palace, he took his place only according to his substantive office.) Left and right vice directors; bureau vice ministers; deputies of military and surveillance commissioners; supervising secretaries; remonstrance officials; secretariat drafters and edict drafters; Dragon Diagram and Heavenly Writ expectants; surveillance commissioners; the secretariat director and directors of the imperial courts; inner reception commissioner; chancellor of the directorate of education; palace, minor crafts, and construction directors; palace commissioners; prefects of the four capitals; grand mentor and tutors; astronomy director; guard major generals; aides to the heir; reception and defense commissioners (Qi, Ji, Yi, Deng, Lai, Zheng, Ru, Cai, Ying, Jun, Ying, Huai, Wei, Bo, Ci, Ming, Di, Shen, Ying, Xiong, Ba, Mo, Dai, Jiang, Xie, Long, He, Qi, Shu, Fu, Mei, Xiang, Lu, and Guo.) Training commissioners (tuanlian shi) (Shan, Pu, Wei, Tang, Qi, Ji, Xi, Xin, Cheng, Feng, Hai, and Ding.) Deputy commissioners of the Salt and Iron, Expenditure, and Revenue bureaus (If one already held the rank of remonstrance official or higher, he took his place according to that substantive office.) Palace and abbey administrators; vice directors of the sacrifices, imperial clan, and secretariat courts and the seven courts; Xuanging and Four Directions commissioners; vice chancellor of education; palace, crafts, and construction vice directors; vice prefects of the four capitals; junior mentors and household officers of the heir; and prefects of the various prefectures (Including the prefectures of Zi, Zhao, De, Bin, Bao, Bing, Fen, Ze, Liao, Xian, Lan, Shi, Guo, Fang, Dan, Jie, Qian, Shang, Ning, Yuan, Qing, Wei, Yi, Huan, Chu, Tai, Si, Hao, Guang, Chu, Tong, Huang, Zhen, Shu, Jiang, Chi, Rao, Xin, Taiping, Ji, Yuan, Fu, Jun, Yue, Li, Xia, Gui, Chen, Heng, Yong, Quan, Chen, Shao, Chang, Xiu, Wen, Tai, Qu, Mu, Chu, Nanjian, Ting, Zhang, Mian, Han, Peng, Qiong, Shu, Jia, Jian, Li, Ya, Wei, Mao, Zi, Rong, Chang, Pu, Qu, He, Rong, Lu, Xing, Jian, Wen, Ji, Bi, Ba, Peng, Long, Shi, Wan, Kai, Da, Fu, Yu, Zhao, Xun, Chao, Lian, Mei, Ying, He, Feng, Nanxiong, Duan, Xin, Kang, En, Chun, Hui, Shao, Wu, Teng, Gong, Xiang, Xun, Gui, Bin, Heng, Rong, Hua, Dou, Gao, Lei, Nanyi, Qin, Yulin, Lian, Qiong, Ya, Dan, and Wan'an.) Chief administrators and administrators of princely establishments; vice director of the astronomy bureau; and chief reception officer of the Bureau of Military Affairs (If appointed from the reception commissioner or lower offices, he ranked with his substantive post in the same assembly. If appointed from the gate commissioner. Ranking above the gate commissioner. If transferred from a current inner reception commissioner post or lower to a southern-rank office. Also ranking in the same assembly but still above the former post. If transferred from vice reception commissioner or lower to a southern-rank office, all stood above the gate commissioner.) Xuanzheng and Zhaoxuan commissioners; eastern and western upper gate commissioners; military affairs reception officers; guard generals; court diary directors and attendants; supervising miscellaneous censor; attending censor; and various bureau directors (Left and right secretariat offices and the bureaus of Personnel, War, Credentials, Honors, Evaluation, Military Appointments, Transport, Storehouses, Expenditure, Revenue, Currency, Granaries, Justice, Punishments, Review, Gates, Rites, Works, Sacrificial Affairs, Foreign Guests, Provisions, Agriculture, Forestry, and Waterways.) Commissioners of the Imperial City and subordinate offices (Including the Imperial City, Luoyang Park, right and left Qiji, imperial food service and kitchen, inner treasury, armory, left treasury, ceremonial escort, southern and northern workshops, bow and arrow storehouse, garment storehouse, estates, six residences, literary craft, eastern workshops, inner park, cattle and sheep, capital provision, eastern brocade, fragrant medicines, honored ceremonial, monopoly exchange, western capital treasuries, felt and rugs, western brocade and workshops, saddle and bridle storehouse, eastern and western dyeing offices, wine offices, ceremonial guests, Hanlin medical officer, and supply storehouse.) Deputy reception officers of the Bureau of Military Affairs and its various sections (If the reception officer also held a southern-rank title, he stood below the various office commissioners; if he did not hold a southern-rank title, he stood above the vice commissioner of the Imperial City.) Palace attending censor; left and right secretariat remonstrators; bureau vice directors; vice reception and western gate commissioners; left and right rectifiers; investigating censor; sacrifices erudite; vice commissioners of the imperial city and subordinate offices; vice prefects of secondary prefectures; and administrators of superior prefectures (Yan, Xu, Lu, Shan, Yang, Hang, Yue, and Fu.) Courier gentleman; directorate erudites of the 《Spring and Autumn》, 《Record of Rites》, 《Mao Odes》, 《Documents》, and 《Changes》; waterways commissioner; magistrates of Kaifeng, Xiangfu, Henan, Luoyang, and Songcheng; assistant directors and author; palace director and inner-palace drafter; palace provisioners; judgments reviewer; attendants and mentors of the heir; inner-palace honored attendants and gate attendants; heir's attendants, groom, and guard commanders; guard, gatekeeper, and clear-way officers; and palace cavalry officers Deputy reception officers of the war, personnel, revenue, and rites sections; eastern and western head attendants; vice commanders of the heir's guard offices; and guard middle generals (Left and Right Golden Crow, Guards, Thousand-Ox, and Forest of Feathers.) Guard generals— (Left and Right Golden Crow Guards and Guards.) Left and right attendant guards; friends of imperial princes; and advisory staff of princely households (Officials of higher rank were seated according to their primary office.) Directors of the five seasonal astronomy offices; expeditionary staff officers and deputies; secretariat gentlemen; class attendants; assistant authors; judgments assistants; directorate and supervisorate assistants; judgments reviewers; academy and broad-learning erudites; sacrifices invocators and ritual gentlemen; secretariat proofreaders and standard-bearers; censorate and office chief clerks; education assistant instructors; broad-learning, academy, four-gates, calligraphy, and mathematics erudites; law-school assistant instructor; calligraphy and mathematics schools had no assistant instructors. Observatory gentlemen; register and vessel chiefs; third-class attendants and borrowed-rank holders; defense and training vice commissioners; staff of protectors, capital prefects, jiedushi, and observation commissioners; secretaries and adjutants; judicial and staff officers of defense, training, and military posts; army vice prefects, administrators, and aides; registry and recording staff; judicial staff; military patrol officers of the three capitals ranked below bureau staff. Prefectural and bureau staff; military patrol officers; county magistrates; imperial-county magistrates; county chief clerks and assistants; and army literary instructors, staff, and assistant instructors.
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Court seating under the Yuanfeng reforms and afterward
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殿 使 殿 使 殿 殿祿使 殿 殿 殿 使 殿 殿 使祿 使使使使使 使 使 使 使殿 殿殿 使 使 西使 殿 殿 殿 使 使 使 西使 使 使殿 使 使 西使 西西使 使 使 使 殿 使 殿 殿簿 殿 殿 簿 簿 西 西 殿 殿 簿 殿 殿 簿 簿簿簿簿
All offices of Grand Preceptor rank (Under the former regulations, the Grand Commandant counted among the Three Excellencies and stood above the Grand Tutor; in the Zhenghe reign it was redesignated as one of the Three Juniors.) Grand Tutor and Grand Guardian; Palace Attendant; and Secretariat Director (In Zhenghe 2 they were retitled Left and Right Assistants; after the Jingkang crisis the old names were restored.) Department Director; Junior Preceptor, Tutor, and Guardian (These had been the Grand Commandant, Minister of Education, and Minister of Works until the Zhenghe 2 reform.) Left and Right Vice Directors (In Zhenghe 2 they became Grand and Vice Minister; the old titles returned after Jingkang; under Yuanfeng rules, princes sat below the vice directors.) Equivalent-to-Three-Excellencies Opening Office; military affairs director; chancellery and secretariat vice grand councillors; department vice directors; associate military affairs director; and signing officer of the military affairs bureau—dropped under Yuanfeng, revived in Yuanyou, then added to mixed precedence in Zhenghe. Heir's Grand Preceptor, Tutor, and Guardian; Special Advancement; Viewing Literature Grand Academician; Grand Commandant (Once a Three Excellency; in Zhenghe 2 it became a Three Junior post; the Grand Commandant was then reinstated as the top military honorific, ranking above jiedushi.) Heir's Junior Preceptor, Tutor, and Guardian; prefects of Ji, Yan, Qing, Xu, Yang, Jing, Yu, Liang, and Yong (Revived in Yuanyou and added to mixed precedence in Zhenghe.) Censor-in-Chief; Viewing Literature Academician; Policy Regulation Hall— (Under Yuanfeng rules, they ranked below jiedushi.) Baohe Hall (In Zhenghe 5, Xuanhe Hall grand academicians and academicians were created; in Xuanhe 1 the title became Baohe Academician. Attendant drafters followed the same rule.) Hall grand academicians; the six ministers; golden-purple and silver-green grandees; left and right Golden Crow senior generals; jiedushi; Hanlin drafter-in-chief and academicians; Zizheng, Baohe, and Duanming hall academicians—renamed Yankang in Zhenghe 4. Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Script, and Precious Literature hall academicians— (the second year of Yuanfeng added direct academicians; attendant drafters were treated likewise.) Xianmo Hall— (Established in the first year of Yuanfeng.) Huiyao Hall (Created in Chongning 2.) Pavilion academicians; left and right regular attendants; and vice censor-in-chief (Previously below direct academicians; promoted in the eighth year of Yuanfeng.) Kaifeng Prefect (Promoted in Chongning 3.) Departmental vice ministers; military affairs direct academician (In Zhenghe 4 retitled Direct Academician of the Reviewing Antiquity Hall.) Direct academicians of the Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Script, Precious Literature, Xianmo, and Huiyao pavilions; Xuanfeng and Guangyou grandees; Left Glorious Emolument Grandee. Zhengfeng and Yuanyou grandees; Right Glorious Emolument Grandee—all created in Daguan 2. Zhengyi and Tongfeng grandees; palace administration director (Previously below the secretariat director; promoted in Chongning 2.) Grand Director of the National University (Established in Chongning 2.) Senior generals of the six guards; heir's companion and household director; attending gentleman and drafter; reception commissioner (formerly regional administrator for jiedushi and observation commissioners, retitled from Zhenghe 7). Left and right remonstrating grandees; Baohe Hall attendant drafters; pavilion attendant drafters of Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Script, Precious Literature, Xianmo, and Huiyao; grand excellence grandee; sacrifices director; grand music director (Created in Chongning 2.) Imperial clan director; secretariat director; palace vice director (Promoted in Chongning 2.) Observation commissioner; palace grandee; the seven court directors; Zhongfeng and Yuanyou grandees; Left Dispersed Grandee—all revised in Daguan 2. Dispersed and universal-attendant grandees (Formerly Guest Reception Commissioner; retitled in Zhenghe 2, along with all transverse, chief, vice, great, and minor envoy ranks.) Military affairs chief reception officer; education sacrifices director; sacrifices vice director; pharmacy director (Established in Chongning 2.) Imperial clan vice director; secretariat vice director; proper-attendant— (Formerly Extended Blessings Palace Commissioner; retitled in Zhenghe 2.) Xuanzheng, Lüzheng, and Xiezhong grandees— (These three ranks were created in Zhenghe 6.) Attendant and bright-attendant grandees (Previously the Guest Reception Commissioner.) Heir's left and right subordinates; central guard— (Formerly Introduction Commissioner.) Assistant guard and personal guard grandees (Created in Zhenghe 6.) Defense and training commissioners; prefectural governors; Golden Crow and subordinate guard senior generals; imperial son-in-law; Assembling Excellence Hall compiler (Created in Zhenghe 8. Vice directors of the seven courts; Chaoyi and Fengzhi grandees; Yuanyou title; Right Remonstrating Grandee—all set up in Daguan 2.) Left and right bureau directors; Right Literature Hall compiler—once Assembling Worthies compiler, outside mixed precedence until Zhenghe 6, when it was added. Education and Bright Hall vice directors (Established in Chongning 1.) Palace Manufactories, Imperial Construction, and Armaments directors; waterways commissioner; chief administrator of the inner palace eunuch service (In Zhenghe, retitled Administrator of Inner Palace Eunuch Affairs.) Chief internal administrator of the eunuch service (In Zhenghe, retitled Administrator of Eunuch Service Affairs.) Arch Guard Grandee (Formerly Four Directions Hostel Commissioner.) Heir's vice household director and left and right preceptors; vice chief administrators of the inner palace and palace eunuch services (In Zhenghe, all retitled Associate Administrators of Service Affairs.) Left and right martial grandees (Formerly Eastern and Western Upper Gate Commissioners.) Escort leaders of the inner palace and palace eunuch services (In Zhenghe, all retitled Signing Clerks of Service Affairs.) Supervisors of the palace administration bureaus of lodging, pharmacy, wine, sedan-chairs, robes, and food (Established in Chongning 2.) Military affairs deputy chief reception officer; attendance gentlemen; attending censor; left and right bureau associate directors; Secret Pavilion compiler (Created in Zhenghe 6.) Kaifeng Vice Prefect (Promoted in Chongning 3.) Directors of all twenty-four ministry bureaus, plus Kaifeng chief recorder (Formerly chief recorder above the two red-county magistrates; promoted and retitled in Chongning 3.) Dragon Diagram Pavilion direct academician (Under Yuanfeng and Yuanyou rules, excluded from mixed precedence; added in Zhenghe; otherwise unchanged.) Attending-petition, dispersed-attendance, and morning-tribute grandees; Heavenly Script Pavilion direct academicians (Added in Zhenghe 6.) Palace attending censor; left and right bureau remonstrators; left and right rectifiers (Formerly above investigating censors; promoted in Zhenghe.) Seals and treasures attendant (Established in Daguan 1.) Palace attendants-in-chief of the food, pharmacy, wine, sedan-chair, robe, and lodging bureaus (Created in Chongning 3) Inner seals and treasures attendant (Established in Daguan 1.) Military affairs deputy reception officer (Under Yuanfeng rules, superior-prefecture governors ranked below this; dropped after Yuanyou.) Wugong Grandee— (Formerly Imperial City Commissioner; from here down, all retitled in Zhenghe 6.) Wude Grandee— (Formerly palace park, left and right horse, and inner treasury commissioners.) He'an, Chenghe, Cheng'an, and Chengquan grandees— (Formerly Hanlin, food service, armaments, and ceremonial guard commissioners.) Wuxian Grandee— (Formerly left treasury and eastern and western workshop commissioners.) Wujie Grandee— (Formerly estates, six residences, and literary affairs commissioners.) Pinghe Grandee— (Formerly Brocade Commissioner; first retitled Baohe; in Zhenghe 5, renamed Baoquan after clashing with a hall name; In Xuanhe 6 it became Pinghe.) Wulue Grandee— (Formerly inner garden, Luoyang park, capital transport, and ceremonial honors commissioners.) Bao'an Grandee— (Formerly Monopoly Exchange Commissioner.) Wujing Grandee— (Formerly Western Capital Left Treasury Commissioner.) Wuyi Grandee (Formerly western capital workshops, eastern and western dyeing institutes, and ceremonial reception commissioners.) Hanlin excellent physician (Formerly Hanlin Medical Officer Commissioner.) Wuyi Grandee of Wings (Formerly Supply and Equipment Treasury Commissioner.) Ministry bureau associate directors; Precious Literature Pavilion direct academicians (Created in Zhenghe 6.) Kaifeng Prefecture six-office supervisors (Established in Chongning 3.) Military affairs section deputy reception officers; attending-petition, dispersed-attendance, and morning-tribute gentlemen; Xianmo Pavilion direct academicians (Added in Zhenghe 6.) Palace manufactories, construction, and armaments vice directors; guard generals; heir's lecturer and preceptor; proper attendant; Xuanzheng, Lüzheng, and Xiezhong— (From Xuanzheng through Xiezhong, all created in Zhenghe 6.) Attendant, bright-attendant, central guard, assistant guard, personal guard, arch guard, and left and right martial gentlemen— (Formerly transverse commissioners and vice commissioners; retitled in Zhenghe 6.) Investigating censor (Under Yuanfeng rules, middle-prefecture governors ranked below this.) Palace vice director (Previously below secretariat assistant; promoted in Chongning 2.) Huiyao Pavilion direct academician (Created in Zhenghe 6.) Discussion gentlemen; Wugong through Wuyi gentlemen; chief Hanlin physician; Wuyi gentleman (Former vice commissioners of the various offices.) Heir's central and regular attendants; imperial prince household rectifier, reader, and lecturer (Formerly lecturer and preceptor; retitled in Zhenghe.) Sacrifices assistant director and Great Brilliance music director—all established in Chongning 2. Medical bureau director; imperial clan director and senior director; secretariat assistant; Secret Pavilion direct academician—created in Zhenghe 6; under Yuanfeng rules, lower-prefecture governors ranked below this. Proponent gentlemen; judgments corrector; author; astronomy bureau director; direct Hanlin medical office; palace attendants of the six bureaus (Previously above judgments corrector; revised in Zhenghe.) Medical bureau vice director (Established in Yuanyou.) Gate proclamation attendant (Formerly Gate Communications Attendant; retitled in Zhenghe 6.) Two red-county magistrates; heir's guard, patrol, clear-way, and gate commanders; inner gate guard commander; seven-court assistants; secretariat gentlemen; sacrifices erudites; tomb platform director—all added in Yuanyou. Assistant author; palace administration chief clerk (Established in Chongning 2.) Education and Bright Hall academy assistants (Established in Chongning 2.) Imperial clansmen office—all established in Chongning 1. Education erudite; judgments direct examiner and reviewer; Dunwu— (Formerly Inner Hall Document Drafter; retitled in Zhenghe 6; same below.) Universal direct gentleman; Xiuwu gentleman; Inner Hall Honored Class. Inner regular attendant (Under Yuanfeng rules, superior-prefecture vice governors ranked below this.) Astronomy bureau director; palace manufactories, construction, armaments, and waterways assistants; Kaifeng staff officers (Established in Chongning 3.) Medical bureau chief; secretariat proofreaders and standard-bearers; imperial prince household recorder (Under Yuanfeng and Yuanyou rules, the title included "staff officer"; dropped in Zhenghe 3.) Five astronomy bureau directors; censorate investigating judges and chief clerks (Under Yuanfeng rules, above supervisorate assistant; under Yuanyou, below supervisorate assistant.) Nine courts and Great Brilliance music office (Established in Chongning 3.) Chief clerks; gate attendants; military affairs section deputy reception officers (Under Yuanfeng rules, middle- and lower-prefecture vice governors ranked below this.) Attendant-in-service (Formerly Inner Eastern Attendant-in-Service; retitled in Zhenghe 6; same below.) Follow-righteousness gentleman (Eastern Attendant-in-Service,) Left attendant forbidden guard (Inner Western Attendant-in-Service.) Uphold-righteousness gentleman (Western Attendant-in-Service,) Heir's guard deputy commanders; managers of left and right wing affairs (Added during Chongning.) Right attendant forbidden guard; left-class palace attendant (Head attendants, high rank.) Zhongxun and Zhongyi gentlemen— (Left and right attendant forbidden guards.) Teach-and-proclaim gentleman (Formerly Proclaim Virtue Gentleman; retitled in Zhenghe 4.) Academy and Bright Hall erudites— (Established in Chongning 1.) Military academy, law academy, and Kaifeng Prefecture— (Created in Daguan 1.) Erudites; sacrifices ritual gentlemen; Great Brilliance pitch harmonizer (Established in Chongning 2.) Sacrifices invocators; suburban sacrifice and registry field directors; grand food office chief (Under Yuanfeng and Yuan rules, ranked above academy erudites.) Five supervisorates and Bright Hall— (Established in Chongning 1.) Chief clerks; proclaim-righteousness gentleman; Chengzhong and Baoyi— (Left and right hall attendants.) Chengshi Gentleman. Chengfeng and Chengwu gentlemen, imperial clansmen— (Established in Chongning 1.) Directorate, grand academy, Bright Hall, and military academy erudites (Created in Chongning 1.) Law academy rectifier (Created in Chongning 1.) Imperial medical bureau assistant director; capital and prefectural chief recorders; Chengzhi gentleman (In Chongning 3, converted from garrison commissioner adjutants; seven selection grades from Rulin to Digong.) Capital-region magistrates; both red-county assistants; three-capital red-county magistrates; right hall attendant (Senior rank.) Inner Yellow Gate ranks; Chengjie and Chengxin gentlemen (Formerly third-rank attendants and provisional appointees.) Capital and prefecture six-bureau affairs officers (Under Yuanfeng and Yuanyou rules, all were six-bureau adjutants. In Zhenghe 3, "adjutant" was dropped; posts became chief recorder affairs and ritual bureau affairs, with the other bureaus following.) Rulin gentleman— (Formerly clerks.) Wenlin and Congshi gentlemen; three-capital region magistrates; capital-region assistants; three-capital red-county and capital-region assistants; both red-county chief clerks and sheriffs; upper, middle, and lower prefectural magistrates and assistants; Congzheng gentleman (Formerly chief recorder adjutants and magistrates.) Capital and prefectural secretariat officers; Xiuzhi gentleman (Formerly chief recorder adjutants and acting magistrates.) Capital-region chief clerks and sheriffs; upper, middle, and lower prefectural chief clerks and sheriffs; fort and stockade chief clerks; horse supervisorate chief clerks; Digong gentleman (Formerly circuit inspectors and judicial, legal, and household officers.) Prefectural soil officers; literary instructors and assistant instructors (Formerly adjutants.)
5
簿
Under Tang regulations, the flowing ranks ran from first to ninth grade, with primary, secondary, upper, and lower steps. Later the grand counselor and director of the secretariat were raised to second primary grade; the censor-in-chief, palace attendant extraordinary, and vice directors of the two departments to third primary grade; and the vice censor-in-chief to fourth primary grade. Remonstrance officials were split into left and right ranks; the director of palace construction became a supervisor; the astronomical bureau became the directorate of astronomy; and new grades were set for its grand supervisor, vice supervisor, director, registrar, chief clerk, astronomical officers, observatory gentlemen, calendar keepers, clepsydra keepers, observers, calendar officers, and timekeepers. Directorate and Five Classics erudites were set at upper fifth primary grade; senior generals of the left and right golden guard at second secondary grade; grand generals of the left and right dragon martial and divine martial armies at third primary grade; and their generals at third secondary grade. The director of palace attendants was placed at third primary grade and the vice director at fourth secondary grade; prefectural academy erudites were retitled literary officers and ranked above adjutants. In the Five Dynasties the director of the department of state affairs was restored to first grade; the right vice director was raised to upper fourth primary grade; and remonstrance officials were placed below petitioners.
6
殿簿簿簿西簿簿祿殿綿祿 沿
Early in the Song they largely kept this system, only raising the director of the imperial clan to fourth primary grade and the vice director to fifth secondary grade. The directorate of military equipment and its vice director; crossbow and armor workshop staff; hall of broad learning collators; timekeepers, calendar officers, and observers; palace service supervisors and accountants; sacrifices tomb, medical, and shrine offices; medical, divination, and mystic-learning posts; judicial review prison assistants; ceremonial guest officers; treasury equalization and granary offices; waterways boat and canal offices; park and pasture supervisors; garden, workshop, granary, smeltery, garrison, and hot-spring offices; transport controllers; guard-unit recorders and rank officers; personal, meritorious, and imperial guard commands; resolute shock and stalwart army officers; garrison army judges; heir's household staff; princely and pavilion secretariats; estate and county assistants; pass and gate officers; and the many specialized bureau posts of the sacrifices, entertainment, guard, stud, ceremonial, revenue, treasury, manufactures, construction, and palace service—all kept their titles but were rarely filled and drew no salary; only regularly appointed offices are listed here. Chief clerk and attendant posts in the various offices still existed, but no scholar-officials filled them. Separate posts were created for the secretariat, bureau of military affairs, bureau of ceremonial affairs, court of the three services, and various inner-court offices, adapting the old system with additions and cuts.
7
祿殿使祿殿使殿
In Jianlong 3, third month, the relevant offices submitted the Regulations for Combined Court Ranking, listing grand preceptors, tutors, and guardians; marshals and ministers; heir apparent and princely ranks; vice directors and junior tutors; capital and area commanders; censors and ministers; secretariat and chancellery officers; court directors and supervisors; military commissioners and capital prefects; heir's household and princely staff; astronomical and prefectural officers; ducal ranks; archive and education officials; censors and remonstrance officers; bureau directors and erudites; relay attendants and water commissioners; county magistrates and court assistants; and the five astronomical officers as the standard for mixed seating order.
8
使 使 殿使
The edict said: "The department of state affairs is the foundation of all affairs, yet its court rank was generally set alongside officials of the two departments; military commissioners commanding the regions often held honorary posts as high as preceptor or one of the three excellencies, yet they ranked below directors of the nine courts and supervisorates, which made little sense. Petitioners, remonstrance officials, and drafters should rank below the vice ministers of the six bureaus; remonstrance supplementers should follow bureau directors, remonstrance collectors vice directors, and military commissioners should rank below the secretariat vice director." On the first day of the first month of Qiande 5, at the Hall of Heavenly Virtue audience, military commissioners were raised to stand within the dragon pavement above the golden guard generals.
9
使使使殿
In Chunhua 3, eighth month, the relevant offices revised the Regulations for Combined Court Ranking, and an edict raised the director of the department of state affairs above the three preceptors. In the fourth year military commissioners were raised above palace attendants; observation commissioners above the archive director; defense and training commissioners below the heir's subordinates; prefects below the heir's deputy commandant; acting bureau directors above palace censors; and in Zhidao 3, seventh month, provisional military and observation commissioners were placed above petitioners. In Dazhong Xiangfu 1, eighth month, vice directors of the two departments were raised above palace attendants.
10
使 使使使 使使 使 使 殿殿 殿使 殿 退 使 使 使 使 使殿使使使 使使使 使 使使使 殿殿 殿 使使 使 使 使
In Tianxi 3, eleventh month, military commissioners were ordered to rank below the secretariat vice director. For court order and nominal grades, the commissioner of military affairs, vice commissioner, participant in governance, and commissioner of ceremonial affairs all ranked after the chief councilors. (When the military affairs commissioner did not also hold grand councilor, he stood before the participant in governance and below the ceremonial affairs commissioner. In Zhidao 3 he was raised above them. In Dazhong Xiangfu 9, ninth month, an edict ordered participants in governance and vice military commissioners to take precedence by order of appointment. The same applied to the ceremonial affairs commissioner.) The grand academician of the Hall of Zizheng stood above the Hall of Civilization academician. (Formerly the Hall of Civilization academician ranked above the vice military commissioner; in Taiping Xingguo 5 he was moved below.) Zizheng hall academicians and Hanlin attending reader academicians ranked below Hanlin academicians. (In Jianlong 3, Hanlin academicians were ordered below acting vice directors; those holding assistant or director posts stood above palace attendants, while ministers kept their original rank. In Chunhua 5 they were raised above assistants and directors. The same applied to direct military affairs academicians.) Dragon Diagram hall academicians ranked above direct military affairs academicians; Dragon Diagram direct academicians ranked below them and stood slightly back. Awaiting appointment ranked below edict drafters. (In Jingde 1, awaiting appointment was first established for inner court audiences; at the five-day audience they kept their original rank only. In Dazhong Xiangfu 2 they were raised to attend with edict drafters, still below them.) Acting commissioner of the three services stood above edict drafters. Those holding academician posts kept their original rank. Vice commissioners of the three services stood above junior directors and supervisors. (Those of higher rank kept their original rank; all were inner-court posts. Palace abbey deputy commissioners stood in the academician rank. They stood above Hanlin academicians; when the academician himself held the post, he kept only his original rank.) Adjutants stood below vice commissioners of the three services. (When held by edict drafters or higher, they kept their original rank.) When petitioners and remonstrance officials served concurrently as vice censor-in-chief, they stood at the vice censor's brick marker in the main court. All others kept their original rank. Reinstatements were treated like new appointments and placed at the end of the original rank, though special edicts sometimes restored old rank. The inner reception commissioner ranked like a grand court director; the Jingfu hall and reception commissioners like the palace construction director; and the introduction commissioner like the heir's subordinate. Commissioners of the Xuanqing, Four Directions, and Gate offices ranked like junior directors; commissioners of the Xuanzheng, Zhaoxuan, and Gate offices like junior supervisors. Deputy reception and related commissioners ranked like vice directors. Commissioners from the imperial city commissioner downward ranked like bureau directors; deputy commissioners like sacrifices erudites. Inner-hall drafters ranked like palace directors; honored attendants and gate ushers like moral instructors; tribute officers like guard commandants; attendants-in-waiting like deputy commandants. Hall attendants ranked like assistant collators; attendants and provisional appointees above prefectural staff officers. The chief military affairs director stood below the gate commissioner; deputy directors of the various sections below office commissioners; section deputy directors below the heir's groom. Senior generals of the golden guard and left and right guard ranked above military commissioners; the six army commanders and guard senior generals ranked below palace attendants, (In Qiande 2, senior generals were ordered below the secretariat vice director. In Chunhua 4, the golden guard and left and right guards were raised below ministers but still ranked above military commissioners.) Grand generals ranked below grand supervisors, and generals below vice supervisors. (Still below the gate commissioner,) The golden guard kept its original court rank. (That is, middle generals.) Guard commandants and deputy commandants ranked below the heir's groom. For inner-court posts, those treated like court officials ranked below them, and those treated like capital officials above them.
11
Regulations for imperial clansmen: In Kaibao 6, an edict said: "The Prince of Jin held lofty status and stood above all other imperial kin; he should rank above the chief councilors." In Taiping Xingguo 8, when the Prince of Chu and the Prince of Guangping left the palace, chief councilors were ordered to stand above princes of commandery. (On the Former Heaven birthday in Tianxi 4, seventh month, when ministers offered birthday congratulations, the chief councilor was absent and Prince Jing Yuan Yan served as acting grand marshal.)
12
使 殿 使 使 使退 使使 殿 祿
During the Jingde era, the emperor's nephew Wei Ji, military commissioner of Wuxin Army, was made concurrent grand councilor. At that time the imperial son-in-law Shi Baoji had already become a commissioner-councilor; the historiographical office cited Tang rules placing imperial clansmen above officials of the same grade, and Wei Ji was raised accordingly. In Dazhong Xiangfu 1, first month, the relevant offices submitted the Capital Post Station banquet seating chart; the imperial clansman's grandson Shoujie, an inner-hall honored attendant, stood in the same rank as the emperor's grand-nephew Youxu, a right guard general, and others. The emperor asked: "How can a clansman's sons and uncles stand in the same row?" He then ordered the seating rearranged. In the ninth year, first month, Xingzhou training commissioner Dewen said: "My son Cheng Xian, an attendant-in-waiting, attends court audiences and asks to stand above Cong Ke, son of Wei Zhong." Although Cong Ke was junior in generation, he had received appointment earlier; an edict ordered the directorate of the imperial clan to fix the imperial clan seating chart and report it. The directorate said: "According to the Formula Regulations, when standing at court audiences, those of the same office rank by nobility first, and if nobility is also the same, by age. We now ask that when clansmen hold the same office but an elder uncle or brother stands with a younger nephew, one empty place be left between them." In Tianxi 4, fifth month, left remonstrance official and edict drafter Zhang Shide said: "Having received an edict to govern Ying Prefecture, because the emperor's younger brother Deyong currently serves as defense commissioner there, I ask that my official title be lowered according to regulation." The secretariat and chancellery said: "According to the censorate, at each great court assembly imperial clansmen serving as defense, training, or prefectural commissioners rank below military commissioners and stand slightly back in order. An edict placed Shide's title below Deyong. Deputy commissioners of frontier pacification, transport dispatch, and circuit transport, regardless of rank, all stood above judicial intendant commissioners. (Formerly they followed only attendant officials; in Dazhong Xiangfu 7, an edict fixed their system.) Court officials serving as magistrates or chief recorders stood above adjutants; capital officials below adjutants and above investigating officers. Chiefs of staff, military adjutants, and vice prefects stood below staff officers and above chief recorder adjutants, attending court at the chief of staff's office. Court officials serving as supervisors from hall attendants downward stood below circuit controllers and garrison commissioners and above adjutants. Circuit controllers and garrison commissioners both followed rank order. Capital officials serving as attendants or provisional appointees as supervisors stood below adjutants, following the order for magistrates and chief recorders. When the Yuanfeng system was implemented, nominal salary grades also determined rank, and with so many changes a separate seating order was established. Later, under Yuanyou, Chongning, Daguan, and Zhenghe, further additions and changes were made and are appended separately below.
13
In Zhidao 2, Wang Bing, an outer bureau official of the ministry of rites who presided over bureau director affairs of the department of state affairs, submitted a memorial saying:
14
The department of state affairs is the repository of the state's records and the office that governs education; through it one may know the breadth of the empire's geography, local conditions, and the benefits and harms of regional customs. In the age of perfected Zhou, when order was established and rites fixed, the six offices were created first, and Han and Tang followed them. From the chaos at the end of Tang, urgent business left no time for governing education, so fiscal affairs fell to the court of the three services; though bureau names remained, their substance was lost. Respectfully noted: the four bureaus of the ministry of personnel, the office of the minister of heaven, manage civil selection and know officials' merits, faults, and ability, determining promotions and demotions; the four bureaus of the ministry of revenue, the office of the minister of earth, govern the five teachings of the state and know the number of households in the empire; the four bureaus of the ministry of rites, the office of the minister of spring, govern the five rites of the state, distinguish ceremonial forms, and know sacrificial rites throughout the empire; the four bureaus of the ministry of war, the office of the minister of autumn, manage military selection and know the number of troops, horses, and weapons in the empire; the four bureaus of the ministry of justice, the office of the minister of winter, govern the laws of the state and know lawsuits, punishments, convicts, and dependents throughout the empire; the four bureaus of the ministry of works, the office of the minister of earth, govern the hundred crafts of the state and know frontiers, walls, mountains, marshes, plants, rivers, fords, bridges, boats, ponds, and reservoirs throughout the empire. All affairs managed by the twenty-four bureaus were recorded in books listing names and numbers, stored in the original bureau and called archival records; through them one could know affairs throughout the empire, governing the outer regions from the center as clearly as pointing at the palm.
15
簿 簿
Now the offices have long been abandoned and the archival records scattered; only the four bureaus of the ministry of personnel retain partial records, the ministry of rites has prefectural monk and Daoist registers, the ministry of war has intercalary prefectural maps, and the ministry of justice has review files of decided capital cases and detention memorials—beyond this there are mostly no old forms. It is requested that each prefecture annually compile actual household and tax registers in long scrolls and send a separate copy to the department of state affairs for storage in the ministry of revenue. By this analogy, officials and commoners, abolitions and establishments, temples, armor and troops, convicts, craftsmen, fields, and irrigation works throughout the empire could also be registered and sent to the department of state affairs for distribution among the bureaus to be sealed and kept; After a year the documents would be complete, and official posts could then be revived and education restored. It is hoped that several high officials broadly versed in governing principles may consult ancient and modern ritual codes and various regulations, together with the grain, weapons, and account books received by the court of the three services, and fix in detail the form for prefectural submission of archival records to the twenty-four bureaus. In this way the department of state affairs would fully store registers of affairs throughout the empire, just as the secret archive stores books, the grand academy stores classics, and the three institutes store historical records—each fulfilling its duty.
16
Emperor Taizong reviewed the memorial and praised it. An edict ordered the department's assistants and directors and officials of the fifth grade and above to assemble for discussion.
17
Minister of personnel Song Qi and others submitted a memorial saying: "The six offices of the king follow the handles of heaven and the four seasons and are the foundation of the hundred officials and source of education; it is hoped that the Hall of Exalted Culture may examine records kept by the six bureaus, determine when they ceased to be reported to the department, investigate their abolition, trace the source of their reduction, and seek restoration. Before long that proposal also lapsed.
18
使 使 使
In Dazhong Xiangfu 9, when Emperor Zhenzong discussed the department of state affairs system with the chief councilors, memorialists repeatedly requested restoration of the twenty-four bureau system. Yang Li once said: "It would not be difficult to implement; if bureau directors and office commissioners jointly held one post, it could gradually be changed." Wang Dan said: "Tang established inner office commissioners modeled on the department of state affairs: for example, the Capital Office corresponded to the bureau of granaries; Estates corresponded to garrison fields; Imperial City corresponded to the gate office; Ceremonial Guests corresponded to foreign guests. Although names and ranks could be imitated, the duties differed. What Tang's various offices managed was only the capital region; military levies and taxes of the circuits each belonged to military governors and were not something a single bureau director or vice director could manage. The one-third received by the court was called tribute to the capital; the rest, called retention in the prefecture or by the commissioner, all belonged to frontier officials. Today's court of the three services is the department of state affairs; the old precedents remain, but every fraction of revenue now belongs to the throne and is dispensed from it, so remissions benefit those below and gifts return grace to the ruler above—this is our sage dynasty's unchanging system."
19
In Xianping 4, left remonstrance supporter and edict drafter Yang Yi submitted a memorial saying:
20
使
The state kept the old system and established all offices together, yet they had only names and performed no duties. Take the department of state affairs, the chief repository modeled on Wenchang; governing fundamentals are its resource and political canons its source; its articles are complete and can be implemented. What survives today is only personnel selection by the ministry of personnel and rank review by the bureau of appointments. All other land tax, labor service, and monopoly affairs were overseen by separate commissioners; Household registers and military tallies were not verified by the original bureaus. Duties remained, but some affairs were divided elsewhere; Frameworks remained, but some policies did not originate from them. Assistant director titles are set in vain with no violations to investigate; the chief ministers' burden is heavy yet there are no affairs to oversee personally. The six offices of Zhou were thus abandoned; yet courts and supervisorates originally had their duties, and censorates and pavilions all had regulations—clear standards spread through the written codes. The state, fearing selection might be unjust, therefore established the office of reviewing officials; fearing judicial review might be excessive, therefore established the office of reviewing punishments; fearing orders might be mistaken, therefore established the bureau of seal and rebuttal—I believe the issue lies in establishing discipline, not in rearranging institutions. If evaluating official talent were returned to the chief minister's office, the office of reviewing officials could be abolished; if detailed review of punishments belonged to the minister of winter, the office of reviewing punishments could be removed; if issuing and receiving edicts concerned the petitioners, the bureau of seal and rebuttal could be dismissed. As for the twenty-four bureaus each performing its duty, courts, supervisorates, censorates, and pavilions restoring their old functions, following the Six Offices Canon, and reviving what the hundred officials have lost—this depends on us alone; would it be difficult? Thus the court would become more honored, its steps more solemn, ranks more clearly ordered, and the empire governed while the ruler sat upright—by this path.
21
簿殿
He also recalled that under Tang and Yu a hundred offices were established; under Xia and Shang the offices doubled; under Qin and Han they grew still more numerous. Down to Tang, all six canons remained; from the exalted three excellencies to the humblest ninth grade, the regulations recorded fixed numbers for each. The Classic says: "Offices need not be fully staffed—only the right people matter." Vacancies would suffice; but when extra posts are added beyond quota and appointees lack ability, then "stove tender" and "goat head" appear in satirical verse, and "measured by the peck and loaded by the cart" spreads in popular song—this concerns the body politic first and requires caution. I have seen in the rank registers more than three hundred vice directors and about a hundred bureau directors; beyond these, sacrifices and directorate erudites, palace vice directors, attendants, and grooms number several hundred each; most attend regular court, all appear on attendance rolls, yet do not know what duties they should keep and mostly advance by favor. He requested that according to Tang practice, fixed numbers be set for all offices of the ninth grade and above.
22
祿輿 使 使使
He also recalled that in Qin, when commanderies were opened, governors were appointed; Han divided the empire into thirteen regions and ordered inspectors to oversee them. Later commanderies became prefectures and governors became prefects; under Tang changes were also attempted, but within a few years the old practice returned. Today many provincial posts are sent out as prefects, and circuit controllers are established as deputies—this is only an expedient; how can it serve as a lasting model? Your servant requests that prefects be established in all prefectures, with salaries set by household numbers in lower, middle, upper, tight, esteemed, and powerful grades; rank and salary should follow old regulations, compared with regular court officials for promotion; the circuit controller title should be removed, staff officers retained, a supervisory office established, and divisions made according to geographical maps. At the beginning of Xingguo, an edict abolished subordinate commanderies as a temporary measure; ten states formed a circuit, as Zhou law provided; one circuit had a commissioner, as Tang institutions show. As for issuing orders and spreading instruction, they first reach the superior prefecture, then the prefecture, then the county, then the village. From above to below and from near to far, it is like the body commanding the arm and the arm the finger: when the net is lifted, all eyes open; when the collar is straightened, all hairs align. From this it is clear that subordinate commanderies should not be abolished. Your servant asks that subordinate commanderies be restored, subordinated to superior prefectures and divided by territory, overseen like transport administration, with clear ranks so official duties can be performed.
23
祿 祿 祿 祿
Under Tang practice, beyond inner and outer officials' salaries, there were salary rice and official fields, plus guards, servants, personal attendants, household retainers, attendants, white attendants, and gatekeepers, each fixed by rank, with annual levies to support the household. Each bureau also had public office fields and food capital for public expenses. From the chaos at the end of Tang, when state revenue was insufficient, officials' salaries were cut in half and all other separate allowances were suspended. Today even half salary is reduced at collection, and of what remains two-thirds is paid in other goods; sold in the market one gets only a tenth or two—not enough for food, let alone as replacement for farming. Formerly Emperor Xuan of Han issued an edict saying: "If officials work diligently yet their salary is thin, it will be hard to keep them from preying on the common people. Official salaries were therefore increased and entered in the edict book. Those who enter court today cannot with their salary feed nine people—less than a superior farmer of Zhou; their stipends never reach a hundred shi—less than a minor clerk of Han. The left and right vice directors, teachers of the hundred officials, receive monthly salary less than a thousand-man army commander—is this in accord with antiquity? I ask that from now on officials' salaries and allowances follow the old system; with richer income, integrity may be required. Offices should be limited to regular numbers, and expenses should be reduced from old costs—this is the system of Tang and Yu.
24
殿 使
All who hold ranked office should have service records established, their performance assessed and returned to the relevant office, advancing by steps or filling out of order. Our dynasty mostly advances officials at suburban sacrifice amnesties; merit bureau promotions and demotions do not operate, and pure and corrupt officials are not distinguished. Your Majesty deeply perceived these abuses and began seeking renewal. At the recent bright sacrifice, only ranks and titles were added; Though this corrected the former error, the old regulations were not restored. It is also requested that inner and outer officials each establish examination terms as before, the merit bureau be restored, annual commissioners examine and report, ranks change by merit, rewards and punishments follow old precedents, and stagnation be revived.
25
西
From Western Han onward, Qin military merit ranks were used; only marquisates were enfeoffed, some exceeding ten thousand households; even nobles within the passes sometimes had fiefs of only several hundred households. By inertia down to Tang, fief titles were mostly empty designations, while actual enfeoffments had differing annual income. In our sage dynasty nothing is granted; yet at appointment the nominal numbers remain, with only the title of fief income—a vain name like a painted cake. I ask payment according to the actual enfeoffment regulations fixed in the Yuanhe era, cutting empty fiefs and granting only actual income to honor meritorious ministers. Also, whenever the state performs solemn sacrifice, great amnesty is granted and enfeoffment and posthumous honors conferred without limit to canonical regulations. Even minor imperial physicians and humble calendar officers receive solemn-sacrifice grace, and even stone-vault enfeoffment is granted; though favor is extraordinary, office does not follow regular institutions.
26
Official honors have truly numerous titles; today court dispersal and silver-green still lack appointed dress, while protector of the army and pillar of state are empty names. I ask that regular court officials whose honors and dispersal both reach fifth grade may receive enfeoffment honors, and those whose office and honors both reach third grade may erect halberds. The five grades of nobility are granted to the worthy; though there is the title of enfeoffment, there has never been the reality of sacrificial meat and land. Granting thatch and establishing altars cannot be done hastily, yet benefiting sons and enriching descendants can be traced in old canons. Inner and outer officials enfeoffed to earl, viscount, or baron could extend privilege to sons; those enfeoffed to marquis or earl could extend privilege to grandsons; those enfeoffed as state dukes may allow one legitimate son or grandson to inherit the enfeoffment.
27
The title of meritorious subject began under Emperor Dezong; escort soldiers were all given the designation "Meritorious Subject Who Settled Heaven and Resolved Crisis," and a temporary reward became a rule for ten thousand generations. In recent times generals and great ministers have sometimes been given more than ten characters; this especially lacks canonical basis and should be removed to clarify law. When canonical rites were sought, the state of Jin was purified; when names and realities were examined, the Han dynasty was called well governed. At the time when culture is broadly spread, old regulations are all ordered; to glimpse great peace is precisely today.
28
Commentators praised this, yet because inherited practice had lasted long, sudden reform was difficult.
29
祿 使使 使 仿
Thereafter memorialists again requested restoration of the twenty-four bureau system. After Emperor Shenzong took the throne, he first ordered the institutes to collate the Tang Six Offices Canon, gave manuscript copies to commandery ministers, and established a bureau to fix it in detail. Thereupon all empty titles in departments, censorates, courts, and supervisorates were replaced with grades; in the third year of Yuanfeng the fixing bureau submitted the Nominal Salary Table, and when the bright regular sacrifice was completed the new system adjusted nearby ministers' ranks. At first the new grades were still few, and transfers could change easily. In Yuanyou's early years, Court Discussion Grandee and the six grades above were first split into left and right; in Shaosheng this was abolished. At the beginning of Chongning, from Attendant Direct to Assistant Gentleman, seven grades of selected officials were exchanged, and four grades from Proclaiming Attendant to Directly Honest Grandee were added. At the end of Zhenghe, from Congzheng to Digong Gentleman, three more grades of selected officials were changed, completing the civil grades; Military grades likewise changed chief commissioner to grandee and vice commissioner to gentleman. The twelve lateral-rank grades for commissioners and vice commissioners were likewise changed. Later Proclaiming Direct and Treading Direct grandees and gentlemen were added, ten grades forming the lateral rank. Thereafter Kaifeng guard officials became prefect-governors, the inner service imitated military affairs titles, the six offices bureau was revised, three guard gentlemen established, and left assistant, right assistant, grand steward, and junior steward added; with excessive posts and complex names, offices gained nominal ranks and the Yuanfeng system was greatly damaged. At the end of Xuanhe, Wang again requested revision of the Official System Regulations, but frontier affairs arose and the work was never completed.
30
使 使 使 使使 使 使 使
In the fifth month of Taiping Xingguo 8, Emperor Taizong composed two Admonitions to the Hundred Officials and delivered them to the Gate Office. One admonished capital and court officials appointed outside; one admonished staff and prefectural and county officials. On the day of audience at court departure, attendants proclaimed them; each copied them for his jurisdiction to keep as instruction. In Dazhong Xiangfu 1, Emperor Zhenzong, because auspicious talismans descended, set forth great centrality and pure governance to admonish officials, composed two Admonitory Addresses replacing the old admonitions for mission officials and staff and prefectural officials, and later composed the Seven Articles for Civil and Military Officials. The Civil Articles were given to capital and court officials serving as transport commissioners, judicial intendant commissioners, prefects, military commissioners, circuit controllers, and magistrates: first, Purify the Heart—to treat affairs with a level mind, unmoved by joy, anger, love, or hatred, so affairs become correct. Second, Serve the Public—to be upright and clean in oneself, so the people naturally fear and obey. Third, Cultivate Virtue—to transform people through virtue and not rely exclusively on severity. Fourth, Demand Reality—do not compete for empty reputation. Fifth, Investigate Clearly—to examine the people's condition diligently and not allow uneven levies or improper punishments. Sixth, Encourage Agriculture—to exhort the common people to filial piety, brotherhood, farming, and sericulture. Seventh, Reform Abuses—to seek the people's hardships and reform them. The Military Articles were given to prefects and office commissioners downward serving as commanders, controllers, prefectural and county military officials, garrison commissioners, transport guards, and patrol inspectors: first, Cultivate the Person—to discipline oneself so soldiers have a model; second, Keep to Duty—not to overstep duty and encroach on prefectural civil administration. Third, Be Fair—to treat soldiers equally without partiality. Fourth, Train and Practice—to instruct soldiers and diligently practice martial arts. Fifth, Review—to inspect soldiers and know their diligence, laziness, courage, and timidity. Sixth, Preserve and Relieve—to comfort soldiers, share sweetness and bitterness alike, make them of one mind, and not let them lose their place. Seventh, Maintain Awe—to control soldiers and not let them overstep prohibitions. They were also permitted to carve them on stone or write them on hall walls and treat them as law. The Confucian Conduct chapter of the Book of Rites was also given to civil officials governing the people, and staff and prefectural officials and envoys received edict admonitions. The Hall of Exalted Culture was ordered to cut blocks and print them and send them to the Gate Office for distribution on audience departure day.
31
使 使 簿 祿 殿 退
During Emperor Taizong's reign, suburban sacrifice amnesties mostly brought rank advancement. At the beginning of Emperor Zhenzong's reign, right remonstrance supporter Sun He submitted a memorial saying: "The state pacifies many regions and establishes numerous offices. Outside, prefects and circuit controllers were sent from court in succession; pass duties and monopoly wine were held concurrently by commissioners; down to minor secretariat posts, some are selected and appointed from court. With employment so broad, careful selection was difficult. Names submitted by the tribute department often exceeded a thousand; those entering office by family privilege also reached a hundred. After slight service they were raised to capital rank; when sent on commission the excess was especially great. At each personal suburban sacrifice to the Round Altar, broad amnesty was granted and worthy and unworthy alike were permitted promotion. Reviewing officials and court directors after only a few years passed into inner-court registers; moral instructors and grooms within ten years reached bureau posts. In today's rank registers, censorate, inner court, and court offices total eight hundred posts; jade and stone are mixed and names and ranks excessive. This differed from the Book of Yu's merit examination and the Offices of Zhou's governance accounting. Under Tang's old system, suburban sacrifice amnesty granted only rank advancement and honors; if within ten years general amnesties followed in succession, capital officials would exceed clerks and court ministers outnumber prefectural officials—not only inviting satire of filling carts and leveling pecks, but also wasting wealth and borrowing office. Moreover, what salary granaries assign comes from land levies and the people's strength; why empty the public treasury to enrich private persons? Those already appointed are hard to cut back; for those not yet promoted, restraint should be strict. As the ancients said, "Reduce useless expense and abolish non-urgent offices"—this is the point. I hope for an edict that from today's suburban sacrifice officials may not advance as a rule; if merit is evident and talent renowned, why wait for step advancement? As for provincial and combined clerks, this concerned granting and withholding." Left remonstrance supporter Geng Wang also spoke similarly; therefore at the Xianping 2 personal suburban sacrifice, only ranks and honors were added, and the relevant office was ordered to examine performance and promote or demote. Yet when three-year appointees completed their terms, they mostly underwent examination and audience, often received advancement, rarely demotion, and official registers gradually increased.
32
Combined court ranking after Shaoxing
33
使使殿殿殿祿祿殿使使殿使殿使殿使使使使祿使殿使使使使殿殿使使使 殿祿使簿簿祿簿使
Grand preceptors, tutors, and guardians; left and right chancellors; junior preceptors, tutors, and guardians; princes; military affairs commissioner; grandee of the palace with ceremonial parity; military affairs administrator; participant in governance; associate military administrator; vice military commissioner; deputy military affairs drafter; heir's grand preceptors, tutors, and guardians; special advancement; Hall for Viewing Literature grand academician; grand commandant; heir's junior preceptors, tutors, and guardians; prefects of Ji, Yan, Qing, Xu, Yang, Jing, Yu, Liang, and Yong; censor-in-chief; Hall for Viewing Literature academician; Zizheng and Baohe hall grand academicians; personnel, revenue, rites, war, justice, and works ministers; golden purple and silver green grandees; imperial entertainment grandee; golden guard and left and right guard senior generals; palace front commander; military commissioner; Hanlin academician-in-chief; Hanlin academician; Zizheng, Baohe, and Duanshi hall academicians; Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Chapter, Treasured Writing, Displayed Plan, Emblematic Excellence, and Spread Writing hall academicians; palace attendants extraordinary; acting six-bureau ministers; vice censor-in-chief; Kaifeng prefect; department vice ministers; direct military affairs academician; Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Chapter, Treasured Writing, Displayed Plan, Emblematic Excellence, and Spread Writing direct academicians; proclaiming, direct, direct discussion, and universal attendant grandees; resolute, martial, garrison, command, gate, and thousand-ox guard senior generals; heir's guest and grand tutor; petitioner; proclamation commissioner; secretarial drafter; universal discussion grandee; palace front vice commander; remonstrance officials; Baohe hall awaiting appointment; Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Chapter, Treasured Writing, Displayed Plan, Emblematic Excellence, and Spread Writing awaiting appointment; acting six-bureau vice ministers; great centrality grandee; observation commissioner; sacrifices director; imperial clan director; archive director; horse army commander; foot army commander; horse and foot vice commanders; middle-rank grandee; entertainment, guard, stud, judicial review, ceremonial, revenue, and treasury directors; central attendance and dispersal grandees; inner reception commissioner; universal attendant grandee; chief military affairs director; education director; sacrifices, imperial clan, and archive junior directors; direct, proclaiming direct, treading direct, and coordinated loyalty grandees; attending, central brightness, treading direct, coordinated loyalty, central attendance, central bright attendance, central guard, personal guard attendance, and personal guard grandees; heir's subordinates; central guard, personal guard attendance, and personal guard grandees; gate office director; palace front chief commandant; horse and foot army chief commandants; defense commissioner; Sun-Embracing and Heavenly Martial four-wing commanders; Dragon and Divine four-wing commanders; training commissioner; prefectural governors; golden guard and subordinate guard senior generals; imperial son-in-law; Assembling Excellence Hall compiler; seven-court junior directors; court discussion and direct attendance grandees; secretariat and chancellery rectifiers; department left and right bureau directors; Right Writing Hall compiler; education vice director; manufactures, construction, and military equipment directors; waterways commissioner; inner palace and inner attendant directors; inner attendant directors-in-chief; ceremonial affairs commissioner; attending attendant grandee; heir's junior tutor and left and right moral instructors; inner palace and inner attendant deputy directors-in-chief; proclamation and display commissioner; left martial grandee; gate office associate director; right martial grandee; inner palace and inner attendant supervisors; military affairs director; deputy military affairs director; diarist and diarist attendant; supervising censor; imperial equipment bearer; department left and right bureau vice directors; military affairs text examiner; secret archive compiler; Kaifeng junior prefect. Heir's attending reader and lecturer; personnel, revenue, and rites bureau directors through works bureau directors; Kaifeng judge and investigating officer; direct Dragon Diagram attendant; court petition, dispersal, and attendance grandees; direct Heavenly Chapter attendant; palace censor; remonstrance supporters and rectifiers; seal and inner seal officers; deputy military affairs director; martial achievement through martial wing grandees; department outer bureau vice directors; direct Treasured Writing attendant; Kaifeng chief recorder adjutant; military affairs section deputy directors; court petition, dispersal, and attendance gentlemen; direct Displayed Plan attendant; manufactures, construction, and military equipment junior directors; guard generals; direct attendance through right martial gentlemen; investigating censor; direct Emblematic Excellence and Spread Writing attendants; supporter of righteousness gentlemen; guard generals; Hanlin fine physician; martial achievement through martial wing gentlemen; heir's central attendant and attendant; princely moral instructor, reader, direct lecturer; sacrifices assistant director; medical bureau judge; imperial clan assistants; archive assistant; direct secret attendant; left and right guard generals; supporter of discussion gentlemen; judicial review rectifier; compilation officer; gate and proclamation attendants; Hanlin medical officers; both red-county magistrates; heir's guard, palace service, clear way, gate, and inner rate commandants; seven-court assistants; archive gentlemen; sacrifices erudites; military affairs planning and compilation officers; edict revision officers; tomb platform director; assistant compilation officer; princely academy instructors; directorate erudites; judicial review rectifiers and reviewers; training martial through cultivated martial gentlemen; inner regular attendant; manufactures, construction, military equipment, and waterways assistant directors; six-gate supervisors; Kaifeng merit through soil adjutants; army patrol officers and judges; medical bureau director; archive collators and proofreaders; princely recorders; astronomical officers; censorate judges and chief clerks; nine-court chief clerks; gate ushers; military affairs section deputy directors; follow and uphold righteousness gentlemen; heir's guard deputy commandants; wing staff officers; loyal instruction and assistance gentlemen; academy erudites; sacrifices ritual gentlemen, invocators, suburban sacrifice and registry field directors; grand food chief; five supervisorate chief clerks; proclaim righteousness through Chengwu gentlemen; directorate, grand academy, and military academy rectifiers; directorate and grand academy recorders; law academy rectifier; medical bureau assistant director; Kaifeng judge; Kaifeng chief recorder adjutant; Chengzhi gentleman; capital-region magistrates; both red-county assistants; three-capital red-county magistrates; Chengjie and Chengxin gentlemen; military and observation adjutants; commissioner secretaries; observation staff officers; defense and training judges; capital, military, and observation investigating officers; military and supervisorate judges and investigating officers; commissioner chief recorder adjutants; capital six-bureau adjutants; army patrol judges; Rulin, Wenlin, and Congshi gentlemen; capital-region assistants; three-capital red-county assistants; upper, middle, and lower prefecture chief recorder adjutants; three-capital region assistants.
34
簿簿簿簿簿簿
Both red-county chief clerks and sheriffs; upper, middle, and lower prefectural magistrates and assistants; Congzheng gentleman; prefectural judicial officers and six-bureau adjutants; military commissioner and upper, middle, and lower prefecture judicial, household, and legal adjutants; Xiuzhi gentleman; capital-region chief clerks and sheriffs; three-capital red-county and capital-region chief clerks and sheriffs; upper, middle, and lower prefectural chief clerks and sheriffs; fort and stockade chief clerks; horse supervisorate chief clerks; Digong gentleman; prefectural soil officers, literary officers, and assistant instructors
35
This is the order of precedence for mixed office ranking.
36
Official grades under Shaoxing, Qiandao, and Qingyuan. Revised successively, some offices and honors had already been abolished while regulations remained; all are recorded here.
37
Grand preceptors, tutors, guardians, left and right chancellors, junior preceptors, tutors, guardians, and princes are first primary grade.
38
使
Military affairs commissioners, grandees with three-excellency ceremonial parity, special advancement, heir's grand preceptors, tutors, and guardians, heirs apparent, commandery princes, and state dukes are first secondary grade.
39
祿
Golden purple grandees, military affairs administrators, participants in governance, associate military administrators, grand commandants, commandery dukes, and pillars of state are second primary grade.
40
祿殿殿使使
Silver green grandees, deputy military affairs drafters, Hall for Viewing Literature grand academicians, heir's junior preceptors, tutors, and guardians, censor-in-chief, six ministers, golden guard and left and right guard senior generals, prefects of Ji, Yan, Qing, Xu, Yang, Jing, Yu, Liang, and Yong, palace front commander, military commissioners, county dukes, and pillars of state are second secondary grade.
41
殿殿殿
Proclaiming, direct, direct discussion, and universal attendant grandees; Hall for Viewing Literature academician; Zizheng and Baohe hall grand academicians; Hanlin academician-in-chief; Hanlin academician; Zizheng, Baohe, and Duanshi hall academicians; Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Chapter, Treasured Writing, Displayed Plan, Emblematic Excellence, and Spread Writing hall academicians; direct military affairs academician; palace attendants extraordinary; acting six-bureau ministers; and protectors of the army are third primary grade.
42
Direct discussion and universal attendant grandees; Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Chapter, Treasured Writing, Displayed Plan, Emblematic Excellence, and Spread Writing direct academicians; vice censor-in-chief; Kaifeng prefect; department vice ministers; guard senior generals; heir's guest and grand tutor; state marquises; and protectors of the army are third secondary grade.
43
殿使使
Universal discussion grandees; petitioners; secretarial drafters; sacrifices, imperial clan, and archive directors; guard generals; palace front vice commander; proclamation commissioner; state earls; and senior commanders of light chariots are fourth primary grade.
44
殿
Great centrality grandees; Baohe, Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Chapter, Treasured Writing, Displayed Plan, Emblematic Excellence, and Spread Writing awaiting appointment; remonstrance officials; acting six-bureau vice ministers; seven-court directors; education director; manufactures and construction directors; guard generals and light chariot commanders are fourth secondary grade.
45
使使使
Middle-rank grandees; horse and foot army commanders; vice commanders; observation commissioners; universal attendant, direct attendance, proclaiming direct, treading direct, and coordinated loyalty grandees; state viscounts; and senior cavalry commanders are fifth primary grade.
46
使使殿使殿使使使
Central attendance and dispersal grandees; sacrifices and imperial clan junior directors; archive junior director; inner reception, Extended Blessings palace, and Jingfu hall commissioners; heir's subordinates; chief military affairs director; central brightness, central guard, personal guard attendance, and personal guard grandees; palace front horse and foot chief commandants; defense commissioner; Sun-Embracing, Heavenly Martial, Dragon, and Divine four-wing commanders; training commissioner; prefectural governors; imperial son-in-law; state barons; and cavalry commanders are fifth secondary grade.
47
殿使使
Court discussion and direct attendance grandees; Assembling Excellence Hall compiler; seven-court junior directors; secretariat and chancellery rectifier; department left and right bureau directors; education vice director; military equipment director; waterways commissioner; heir's junior tutor and left and right moral instructors; inner palace and inner attendant directors-in-chief and deputy directors-in-chief; Xuanqing, Xuanzheng, and Zhaoxuan commissioners; attending attendant, left martial, and right martial grandees; inner palace and inner attendant supervisors; military affairs director and deputy director; and resolute cavalry commanders are sixth primary grade.
48
殿
Court petition, dispersal, and attendance grandees; diarist and diarist attendant; supervising censor; department left and right bureau vice directors; military affairs text examiner; Right Writing Hall and secret archive compilers; Kaifeng junior prefect; department bureau directors; Kaifeng judge and investigating officer; manufactures, construction, and military equipment junior directors; peace and safety, complete harmony, and complete peace grandees; tomb platform director; and flying cavalry commanders are sixth secondary grade.
49
殿
Court petition, dispersal, and attendance gentlemen; palace censor; remonstrance supporters; department outer bureau vice directors; attending lecturer; direct Dragon Diagram, Heavenly Chapter, and Treasured Writing attendants; Kaifeng chief recorder adjutant; deputy military affairs director; military affairs section deputy directors; martial achievement through martial wing grandees; complete fulfillment, peace and harmony, and preserve peace grandees; Hanlin fine physician; heir's attending reader and lecturer; both red-county magistrates; and cloud cavalry commanders are seventh primary grade.
50
殿
Supporter of righteousness gentlemen; left and right rectifiers; seal officers; investigating censors; direct Displayed Plan, Emblematic Excellence, and Spread Writing attendants; sacrifices, imperial clan, and archive assistants; judicial review rectifier; compilation officer; Exalted Governance hall lecturer; inner seal officer; direct attendance through right martial gentlemen; martial achievement through martial wing gentlemen; peace and safety through preserve peace gentlemen; Hanlin medical officer; gate proclamation attendant; heir's central attendant and attendant; guard commandants; princely moral instructor, reader, and direct lecturer; medical bureau director; Hanlin medical effectiveness and skill officers; and martial cavalry commanders are seventh secondary grade.
51
使
Supporter of discussion and universal direct gentlemen; seven-court assistants; archive gentlemen; sacrifices erudites; military affairs planning and compilation officers; edict revision officers; direct secret attendants; assistant compilation officers; directorate assistants; princely academy instructors; directorate erudites; judicial review rectifiers and reviewers; training martial and cultivated martial gentlemen; inner regular attendants; Kaifeng adjutants, army patrol officers, and judges; capital prefecture judges; capital-region county magistrates; both red-county assistants; three-capital red-county and capital-region magistrates; astronomical officers; secretariat and chancellery recorders; and department chief clerks are eighth primary grade.
52
簿簿西使簿使使
Loyal instruction and uphold righteousness gentlemen; censorate investigating judges and chief clerks; manufactures, construction, military equipment, and waterways assistant directors; court and supervisorate chief clerks; archive collators and proofreaders; sacrifices ritual gentlemen and invocators; academy erudites; medical bureau director; gate ushers; military affairs section deputy directors; eastern and western head tribute officers; follow and uphold righteousness gentlemen; heir's guard deputy commandants; princely recorders; military, observation, defense, training, and supervisorate judges; commissioner secretaries; observation staff officers; capital, commissioner, observation, defense, training, and military investigating officers; prefectural signers; commissioner and upper, middle, and lower prefecture chief recorder adjutants; capital six-bureau adjutants and army patrol judges; Chengzhi, Rulin, Wenlin, Congshi, Congzheng, and Xiuzhi gentlemen; capital-region assistants; three-capital red-county and capital-region assistants; upper, middle, and lower prefectural magistrates and assistants; both red-county chief clerks and sheriffs; various prefectural six-bureau officers; military commissioner and upper prefecture adjutants; commissioner vice commissioners and acting military adjutants; defense and training vice commissioners; astronomical bureau assistants, squad chiefs, observatory gentlemen, and calendar keepers; Hanlin medical recovery, certification, diagnosis, and observation officers; three departments and military affairs chief clerks; and awaiting-appointment chief clerks, clerks, and document clerks are eighth secondary grade.
53
殿簿簿
Chengzhi and Chengfeng gentlemen, (For those in the kinship-governing-the-people sequence, eighth secondary grade; Chengwu gentleman follows this rule.) High-rank head attendants; suburban sacrifice, registry field, and grand food directors; grand academy rectifiers and recorders; military academy instructor; law academy rectifier; medical bureau assistant director; loyal instruction, loyal assistance, Chengzhong, and Baoyi gentlemen; clepsydra rectifier; capital-region chief clerks and sheriffs; three-capital red-county chief clerks and sheriffs; prefectural vice prefects, chiefs of staff, and military adjutants; and military affairs awaiting-appointment document clerks are ninth primary grade.
54
簿簿
Chengwu gentlemen; senior rank attendants; Inner Yellow Gate ranks; Chengjie and Chengxin gentlemen; Digong gentleman; middle and lower prefecture adjutants; upper, middle, and lower prefectural chief clerks and sheriffs; fort, stockade, and horse supervisorate chief clerks; prefectural soil officers, literary officers, and assistant instructors; and Hanlin medical scholars are ninth secondary grade.
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