The Study Of Prefecture And County Subsidiary Officials Seen In Bamboo Slips Of Qin And Early Han Dynasties

The officials of prefectures and counties were the actual executors of local administration in Qin and Han dynasties.It is an important breakthrough in the study of local grassroots governance in the Qin and Han Dynasties.The successive excavation and arrangement of bamboo slips and slips created an opportunity for the study of county officials in the Qin and Han Dynasties.The article is based on Shuihudi Qin bamboo slips(睡虎地秦简),Liye Qin bamboo slips(里耶秦简),Longgang Qin bamboo slips(龙岗秦简),Yuelu Qin bamboo slips(岳麓秦简),Zhangjiashan Han bamboo slips(张家山汉简)and Yuanling Huxishan Han bamboo slips(沅陵虎溪山汉简).The information of prefecture and county subordinate officials seen in the bamboo slips of Qin and early Han dynasties were compiled.On this basis,the data were collated and supplemented,and the setting,functions and ranks of the subordinate officials of Qin County and the officials of the county were also verified and supplemented,and the special investigation was carried out from the perspective of the change of the title of subordinate officials.There are some misinterpretations of sentences,words or semantics in some bamboo slips of county officials in Qin and early Han dynasties.For example,in Liye Qin Bamboo Slips(里耶秦简)9-1986,’Shuwei(属尉)’and’Zuo(佐)’should be read as’Shu(属),Weizuo(尉佐)’,in the Vol.4 Yuelu Academy Collection 221/J43’To fill the vacancy of military officials,the county magistrate(县令),Zuoshi(佐史)’should be read as’To fill the vacancy of military officials,Lingzuo(令佐),the historiographer(史)’,in the Vol.5 Yuelu Academy Collection 322/1802’the chief of government office(官啬夫)and officials who did not make mistakes(吏毋害者)’should be read as’the chief of government office(官啬夫),officials who did not make mistakes(吏毋害者)’.In the revision of the words,the word"Er(而)"in the Vol.4 Yuelu Academy Collection 291/0324 is mistaken for the word"Fu(夫)."The wrong interpretation of bamboo slips,the definition and interpretation of words affect the identification and interpretation of subordinate officials,and the research of subordinate officials further promotes the collation of bamboo slips.The Qin Prefecture generally has officials such as Zushi(卒史),Shu(属)and Weizuo(尉佐).The establishment,function and assignment system of Zushi(卒史)originated from the Qin Dynasty.In the rank status,the Zushi(卒史)is equivalent to that of Youzhi Chengche(有秩乘车).In the subordinate counties,he played part of the functions of the Prefect(郡守),participating in the administration of prisons and prisons,persuading classes in agriculture and mulberry,recruiting prisoners to serve,collating and calculating books and documents,etc.At the same time,he also maintained exchanges between the prefecture and the central government,especially with supervising censors(监御史).The prefecture Shu(属)of the Qin Dynasty participated in the management of documents and supervised the counties.Some of their functions,sources of selection,and official travel benefits were consistent with the Zushi(卒史),but the Zushi(卒史)had a wider range of functions and a higher status.The rank of the Shu(属)and the Weizuo(尉佐)is equivalent to that of the county Youzhi(有秩)officials,and the Weizuo(尉佐)may be a special subordinate official of the Qin Jun Weifu(秦郡尉府).The Qin Prefecture has Hu Cao(户曹),Wei Cao(尉曹),Pang Cao(旁曹),Zhong Cao(中曹),Bing Cao(兵曹),Jiu Cao(厩曹),Sikong Cao(司空曹),Jue Cao(爵曹)and so on.Jue Cao(爵曹)was specially set up by the Jun Wei Fu(郡尉府),and there was Zushi(卒史)on duty.The tradition of Zushi(卒史)working in Cao(曹)originated from Qin.The research on county officials and county-level administrative institutions in the Qin and Han Dynasties has been relatively mature,but there are still some gaps after a comprehensive review.There were many new cases of county officials in Qin and early Han dynasties,such as Jiezuo(街佐).County government agencies added Sishe(舍),Xianguan(献官),Jin(津)and so on.In the textual research of specific issues,the identity of’Bingren’(禀人)seen in Qin bamboo slips should be a class of female prisoners,called‘Liqie‘(隶妾),not a petty official.’Wei’(尉)and’Weiguan’(尉官)are two different government agencies.’Wei’(尉)is supervised by’Weishou’(尉守),and’Weiguan’(尉官)is directly under the command of’Xianwei’(县尉).Gongtian(公田)(county official field(县官田)in Qianling County(迁陵县)is under the jurisdiction of’Tianguan’(田官),with’Zuotian’(左田)and’Youtian’(右田).Qianshou(黔首)field in Qianling(迁陵)County belongs to’field’management,and Tiansefu(田啬夫)is responsible.The Jiaozhang(校长)of the Qin Dynasty and Tingsefu(亭啬夫)have both similarities and many differences:in terms of affiliation,the Jiaozhang(校长)is managed by the Xianwei(县尉),and Tingsefu(亭啬夫)is under the command of the county magistrate.In terms of the scope of functions,the kiosk under the jurisdiction of the Jiaozhang(校长)is the burglar kiosk,which is mainly responsible for arresting group thieves;Tingsefu(亭啬夫)is mainly responsible for the transaction disputes arising from the county and township pavilions,and supervises and reports the criminal activities in the pavilion area.The assistants of the two are also different.The Jiaozhang(校长)’s assistant is Qiudao(求盗),and Tingsefu(亭啬夫)’s assistant is Tingzuo(亭佐).It can be seen from many batches of bamboo slips that from the late Warring States period to the Qin Dynasty,and then to the early Western Han Dynasty,the setting and title of subordinate officials have influenced many changes.For example,the Qin bamboo slips in Shuihudi(睡虎地)are governed by’Lingshi’(令史),while the Qin bamboo slips in Liye(里耶)and Yuelu(岳麓)are mostly governed by‘Yushi’(狱史)and‘Yuzuo’(狱佐).From the late Warring States period to the Qin Dynasty,there were three kinds of"Xiandao"(宪盗),"Haidao"(害盗)and"Qiudao"(求盗).From the unification of the Qin Dynasty to the middle of the Western Han Dynasty,only’Qiudao’(求盗)was retained.For example,before the unification of the Qin Dynasty,there were many’Buzuo’(部佐)and’Tianbushi’(田部史)as Tiansefu(田啬夫)assistants while after the unification of the Qin Dynasty,’Tianzuo’(田佐)was more common.After the unification of Qin,’Gong’(公)changed to’Guan’(官),such as from’Gongtian’(公田)to’Tianguan’(田官),and then from’Gongyin’(公印)to’Guanyin’(官印)in official documents.From the Qin Dynasty to the Eastern Han Dynasty,the semantics of’office’(官)in’small office’(小官)changed from’government agency’to’official officer’.and the category of’small official’changed from the grassroots office of the county to the small institution of the township.These changes are closely related to the unification of the Qin territory,the unification of the system,the unification of the law and the implementation of the policy of’Shu Tong Wen’(书同文).At the same time,it was also the central government’s continuous exploration and attempt to reform the official system during the Qin and Han Dynasties.