The General Council fills an important station in the system, and tends greatly to consolidate the various branches of government, facilitating their harmonious action as well as supplying the deficiencies of an imbecile, or restraining the acts of a tyrannical monarch. The statutes speak of various record-books, both public and secret, kept by the members for noting down the opinions of his Majesty, and add that there are no fixed times for audiences, one or more sessions being held daily, according to the exigencies of the state. Besides these functions, its members are further charged with certain literary matters, and three subordinate offices are attached to the Council for their preparation. One is for drawing up narratives of important transactions—a few of those relating to the wars and negotiations with foreigners since 1839 would be of much interest now; a second is for translating documents; and the third, entitled “an office for observing that imperial edicts are carried into effect,” must be at times rather an arduous task, though probably its responsibility ends when the despatch goes forward. An office with this title shows that the Chinese government, with all its business-like arrangements, is still an Asiatic one.[232]
The duties of these supreme councils are general, comprising matters relating to all departments of the government, and serving to connect the head of the state with the subordinate bodies, not only at the capital, but throughout the provinces, so that he can, and probably does to a very great degree, thereby maintain a general acquaintance with what is done in all parts, and sooner rectify disorders and malpractices. The rivalry between their members, and the dislike entertained by the Chinese and Manchus composing them, cause, no doubt, some trouble to the Emperor; but this has some effect in thwarting conspiracies and intrigues. It must not be supposed, however, that every high officer in the Chinese government is wholly unprincipled, venal, and intriguing; most of them desire to serve and maintain their country. The personal character and knowledge of the monarch has much to do with the efficiency of his government, and the guidance of its affairs demands constant oversight. If he allows his ministers to conduct their trusts without restraint, they soon engross and misuse this power for selfish ends. In natural sequence every branch feels the fatal laxity, while its functionaries lose no time in imitating their superiors. This was the case during the reign of Hienfung, but matters have much improved under the regency since 1861. In ordinary times, the daily intercourse between the Emperor of China and his ministers presents very similar features of confidence, courtesy, and esteem between them as those seen in western lands.
THE PEKING GAZETTE AND SIX BOARDS.
The King Pao, i.e., ‘Metropolitan Reporter,’ usually called the Peking Gazette, is compiled from the papers presented before the General Council, and constitutes the principal source of information available to the people for ascertaining what is going on in the Empire. Every morning ample extracts from the papers decided upon or examined by the Emperor, including his own orders and rescripts, are placarded upon boards in a court of the palace, and form the materials for the annals of government and the history of the Empire. Couriers are despatched to all parts of the land, carrying copies of these papers to the high provincial officers; certain persons are also permitted to print these documents, but always without note or change, and circulate them at their own charges to their customers. This is the Peking Gazette, and such the mode of its compilation. It is simply a record of official acts, promotions, decrees, and sentences, without any editorial comments or explanations; and as such of great value in understanding the policy of government. It is very generally read and discussed by educated people in cities, and tends to keep them more acquainted with the character and proceedings of their rulers than ever the Romans were of their sovereigns and Senate. In the provinces thousands of persons find employment by copying and abridging the Gazette for readers who cannot afford to purchase the complete edition.[233]
The principal executive bodies under these two Councils are the Luh Pu, or ‘Six Boards,’ which were modelled on much the same plan during the ancient dynasties. At the head of each Board are two presidents, called shang-shu, and four vice-presidents, called shílang, alternately a Manchu and a Chinese; and over three of them—those of Revenue, War, and Punishment—are placed superintendents, who are frequently members of the Cabinet; sometimes the president of one Board is superintendent of another. There are three subordinate grades of officers in each Board, who may be called directors, under-secretaries, and controllers, with a great number of minor clerks, and their appropriate departments for conducting the details of the general and peculiar business coming under the cognizance of the Board, the whole being arranged and subordinated in the most business-like style. The detail of all the departments in the general and provincial governments is regulated in the same manner. For instance, each Board has a different style of envelope for its despatches, and the papers in the offices are filed away in them.
3. The Lí Pu, or Board of Civil Office, “has the government and direction of all the various officers in the civil service of the Empire, and thereby it assists the Emperor to rule all people;” these duties are further defined as including “whatever appertains to the plans of selecting rank and gradation, to the rules of determining degradation and promotion, to the ordinances of granting investitures and rewards, and the laws for fixing schedules and furloughs, that the civil service may be supplied.” Civilians are presented to the Emperor, and all civil and literary officers throughout the Empire distributed by this Board. The great power apparently thus entrusted is shared by the two preceding, whose members are made advisory overseers of the highest appointments, while the provincial authorities put men in vacant posts as fast as they are needed. The danger arising from the arrangement is noticed by Biot[234] as having early attracted criticism.
This Board is subdivided into four bureaus. The first attends to the distinctions, precedence, promotion, exchanging, etc., of officers. The second investigates their merits and worthiness to be recorded and advanced, or contrariwise; ascertains the character each officer bears and the manner in which he fulfils his duties, and prescribes his furloughs. The third regulates retirement from office on account of mourning or filial duties, and supervises the registration of official names; it is through this bureau that Hwang Ngăn-tung, the Governor of Kwangtung, was degraded in 1846 for not resigning his office on the death of his mother. The fourth regulates the distribution of titles, patents, and posthumous honors. The Chinese is the only government that ennobles ancestors for the merits of their descendants; the custom arose out of the worship paid them, in which the rites are proportionate to the rank of the deceased, not of the survivor; and if the deceased parent or grandparent were commoners, they receive proper titles in consequence of the elevation of their son or grandson. This custom is not a trick of state to get money, for commoners cannot buy these posthumous titles; they can only buy nominal titles for themselves. The usage, however, offers an unexpected illustration of the remark of Job, “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not.”
BOARDS OF REVENUE AND RITES.
4. The Hu Pu, or Board of Revenue, “directs the territorial government of the Empire, and keeps the lists of population in order to aid the Emperor in nourishing all people; whatever appertains to the regulations for levying and collecting duties and taxes, to the plans for distributing salaries and allowances, to the rates for receipts and disbursements at the granaries and treasuries, and to the rights for transporting by land and water are reported to this Board, that sufficient supplies for the country may be provided.” Besides these duties, it obtains the admeasurement of all lands in the Empire, and proportions taxes and conscriptions, according to the divisions, population, etc., regulates the expenditure, and ascertains the latitude and longitude of places. One minor office prepares lists of all the Manchu girls fit to be introduced into the palace for selection as inmates of the harem, a duty which is enjoined on it because the allowances, outfits, and positions of these women come within its control. The injudicious mode of collecting revenue common under the Persian and Syrian kings, by which the sums obtained from single cities and provinces were apportioned among the royal family and favorites, and carried directly to them, has never been practised by the Chinese.