On Liu_??_, Chihchang _??__??_ and Hsü _??_ in the Chin-nan-pei-cháo _??__??__??__??_ Age

Abstract

In the Hsi-chin _??__??_ age, the official posts were consisted of chiu-p'inkuan _??__??__??_ or liu-nei _??__??_ which was upper class and liu-wai _??__??_ or chihchang which was lower class.Chiu-p'in-kuan-jen-fa _??__??__??__??__??_ had a purpose to appoint such men to the posts of the officers as were highly valued by the public opinion in the rural communities. In this case, the shih-jen _??__??_ were the core of the government official class, and they were in service as chiu-p'in-kuan through the above mentioned public opinion. And some of the hsiao-jen _??__??_ who were not permitted to join the group of the shih-jen had also got in the official world as chiu-p'in-kuan through the above mentioned public opinion.As time went on, Chiu-p'in-kuan-jen-fa began to place great importance on the officer's birth, so the distinction between the shih-jen and the hsiao-jen was made by the lineage, not by the personal character. According to the change, the relation between chiu-p'in-kuan and liu-nei also changed. The official posts which the hsiao-ien should serve came to be excepted from liu-nei even if they were in service as chiu-p'in-kuan. Only the official posts which the shih-jen should serve formed liu-nei.The discord between chiu-p'in-kuan and liu-nei was soon settled in two ways. One way was established on the situation of the shih-jen. In the Liang _??_ age only the shih-jen were permitted to become the government officers of chiu-p'in-kuan or liu-nei and liu-wai. Then the hsiao-jen were excluded from the government posts. The other was completed by the ruler's one-sided measure. In the Pei-chou _??__??_ age all government posts which corresponded to the former chiu-p'in-kuan were settled as liu-nei, and the lower government posts which corresponded to the former liu-wai were fixed as liu-wai as before. Such a foundmental structure about the government posts was taken over in the Sui _??_ age.In the ages of Chin, Sung _??_, Pei-wei _??__??_, Pei-chou, and Sui, the word chihchung meant liu-wai, which was ranked under chin-p'in-kuan. But it was not certain in the Nan-ch'i _??__??_, Liang, Ch'en _??_ and Pei-chi _??__??_ ages.Again, in the Pei-chao _??__??_ age the word hsu seemed to mean the low-class officer a little vaguely, but in the Sui age it came to mean liu-wai.