The subdivisional parts of departments, called ting, chau, and hien, have each their separate officers, who report to the chífu and chíchau above them; these are called tungchí, chíchau, and chíhien, and may all be denominated district magistrates. The parts of districts called sz’ are placed under the control of siunkien, circuit-restrainers, or hundreders, who form the last in the regular series of descending rank—the last of the “commissioned officers,” as they might not improperly be called. The prefects sometimes have deputies directly under them, as the governor has his intendants, when their jurisdiction is very large or important, who are called kiunmin fu and tungchí, i.e., ‘joint-knowers.’ The deputies of district magistrates are termed chautung and chaupwan for the chíchau, and hienching and chufu for the chíhien; the last also have others called tso-tang and yu-tang, i.e., left-tenants and right-tenants.

Besides these assistants there are others, both in the departments and districts, having the oversight of the police, collection of the taxes and management of the revenue, care of water-ways, and many other subdivisions of legislative duties, which it is unnecessary to particularize. They are appointed whenever and wherever the territory is so large and the duties so onerous that one man cannot attend to all, or it is not safe to entrust him with them. They have nearly as much power as their superiors in the department entrusted to them, but none of them have judicial or legislative functions, and the routine of their offices affords them less scope for oppression. Nor is it worth while to notice the great number of clerks, registrars, and secretaries found in connection with the various ranks of dignitaries here mentioned, or the multitude of petty subordinates found in the provinces and placed over particular places or duties as necessity may require. Their number is very large, and the responsibility of their proceedings devolves upon the higher officers who receive their reports and direct their actions.

The common people suffer more from these “rats under the altar,” as a Chinese proverb calls them, than from their superiors, because, unlike them, they are usually natives of the place and better acquainted with the condition of the inhabitants, and are not so often removed. The fear of getting into their clutches restrains from evil doings perhaps more than all punishments, though the people soon complain of high-handed acts in a way not to be disregarded. One saying, “Underlings see money as a fly sees blood,” indicates their penchant, as another, “Cash drops into an underling’s paw as a sheep falls into a tiger’s jaw,” does the popular notion how to please them. Each intendant, prefect, and district magistrate has special secretaries in his office for filing papers, writing and transmitting despatches, investigating cases, recording evidence, keeping accounts, and performing other functions. All above the chíhien are allowed to keep private secretaries, called sz’ ye, who are usually personal friends, and accompany the officers wherever they go for the purpose of advising them and preparing their official documents. The ngan-chah sz’ have jailers under their control, as have also the more important prefects.

LITERARY, GABEL, AND REVENUE DEPARTMENTS.

The appointment of officers being theoretically founded on literary merit, those to whom is committed the supervision of students and conferment of degrees would naturally be of a high grade. The hioh-ching, or literary chancellor, of the province, therefore ranks next to the governor, more, however, because he is specially appointed by his Majesty and oversees this branch of the government, than from the power committed to his hands. Under him are head-teachers of different degrees of authority, residing in the chief towns of departments and districts, the whole forming a similar series of functionaries to what exists in the civil department. These subordinates have merely a greater or less degree of supervision over the studies of students, and the colleges established for the promotion of learning in the chief towns of departments. The business of conferring the lower degrees appertains exclusively to the chancellor, who makes an annual circuit through the province for that purpose, and holds examinations in the chief town of each department, to which all students residing within its limits can come.

The gabel, or salt department, is under the control of a special officer, called a “commissioner for the transport of salt,” and forming in the five maritime provinces one of the san sz’, or three commissioners, of which the pu-ching sz’ and ngan-chah sz’ are the other two. There are, above these commissioners, eight directors of the salt monopoly, stationed at the dépôts in Chihlí and Shantung, who, however, also fill other offices, and have rather a nominal responsibility over the lower commissioners. The number and rank of the officers connected with the salt monopoly show its importance, and is proof of how large a revenue is derived from an article which will bear such an expensive establishment. At present its administration costs about as much as its receipts.

The commissariat and revenue department is unusually large in China compared with other countries, for the plan of collecting any part of the revenue in kind necessarily requires numerous vehicles for transporting and buildings for storing it, which still further multiplies the number of clerks and hands employed. The transportation of grain along the Yangtsz’ River is under the control of a tsungtuh, who also oversees the disposal and directs the collectors of it in eight of the provinces adjacent to this river. The office of liang-chu tao, or commissioner to collect grain, is found in twelve provinces, the pu-ching sz’ attending to this duty in six; the supervision of the subordinate agents of this department in the several districts is in the hands of the prefects and district magistrates. That feature of the Chinese system which makes officers mutually responsible, seems to lead the superior powers to confer such various duties upon one functionary, in order that he may thus have a general knowledge of what is going on about and under him, and report what he deems amiss. It is not, indeed, likely that such was the original arrangement, for the Chinese government has come to its present composition by slow degrees; but such is, so far as can be seen, the effect of it, and it serves in no little degree to accomplish the designs of the rulers to bind the main and lesser wheels of the huge machine to themselves and to one another.

The customs and excise are under the management of different grades of officers according to the importance of their posts. The transit duties levied at the excise stations placed in every town are collected by officers acting under the local authorities, and have nothing to do with the collection of maritime duties. This tax, called li-kin, or ‘a cash a catty,’ has lately been greatly increased, and the natural result has been to destroy the trade it preyed on, or divert it to other channels. The foreign merchants and officers have, too, protested against its imposition, seeing that their trade was checked.

Recapitulating in tabular form, we may say that outside of the Cabinet, Council, Boards, and Courts at the capital, the government (in the Eighteen Provinces) is in the hands of:

8Governors-General (6 governing two provinces each).
15Governors.
19Commissioners of Finance (2 for Kiangsu).
18Commissioners of Justice.
4Directors of the Salt Gabel.
9Collectors (independent of these).
13Commissioners of Grain, or Commissaries.
64Intendants of Circuit.
182Prefects.
68Prefects of Inferior Departments.
18Independent Subprefects.
180Dependent Subprefects.
139Deputy Subprefects.
141District Magistrates of the Fifth Class.
1,232District Magistrates of the Seventh Class.