<Articles>Yuanshi in the Han period

NAKAYAMA Shigeru

doi:10.14989/shirin_81_513

In the Han period, the government of each commandery (jun 郡) and county (xian 県) was staffed by a few high-ranking officers appointed by the emperor, and a number of subordinates appointed by the officers themselves. In the early part of the Former Han period, these subordinates had ranks called zushi (卒史), lingshi (令史), etc. From the latter half of the Former Han, these ranks changed; zushi and lingshi disappeared from the historical records, and instead yuan (掾) and shi (史) became predominant. In this paper, the author discusses the meaning of the above change by focusing on the characteristics of the yuan and shi ranks. The conclusion is as follows: There were two ranking systems among the subordinates of the commandery and county. One, composed of the ranks yuan and shi, applied to those working within each commandery bureau and county office. The other, composed of the ranks zushi, syu (属), lingshi, sefu (嗇夫), etc, , entitled the holder to an official stipend. The latter formed one part of the Han bureaucracy, and the appointment of these rank holders was regulated by the imperial institution. However, appointments to the ranks of yuan and shi were based on appraisals made at the commandery and county levels, essentially free from systematic regulation, Thus, the spread of yuan and shi ranks, based on independent assessments by each commandery and county, signifies the reorganization of the ranking of zhi (秩) and thus, the strengthening of commandery and county autonomy.

<Articles>Yuanshi in the Han period

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<Articles>Yuanshi in the Han period

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