34 THE TRADITIONAL MU-FU 35 FRIENDS,GUESTS,AND COLLEAGUES paid to the tent government [mu-ful."8 This quotation indicates the country "constantly look to the fu as a source of supply for tal- that the generals were responsible not only for military government, ented people.”7 but often for civil administration as well,particularly if they were The system of military government,combined with the custom campaigning in the border regions.The Shih-chi,in its explanation of nourishing scholars,thus produced the mu-fu system of the Han of this passage,states:"The ancients when going out on an expedi- period.What had started out as basically a military device was tion served as generals and commanders,and when the army re- extended to the realm of civil administration,primarily because it turned,then they relinquished their posts.Because there were no enabled provincial offcials to meet their governing needs.During permanently established offices,they used the tent [mu]as the the Han,all of the subordinate officials in the chin (prefecture)and government [fu]office."And,"the general,when he went out on a chou (department),such as the pieh-chia (a subprefect),the chih- campaign,did not have a regular location.The place from which chung (a subordinate administrative official),the chu-pu(a regis- he governed was therefore called 'mu-fu.'"4 trar),and the kung-ts'ao (a public documents assistant),were In order to meet the demands of civil government,as well as those personally appointed to office by the senior provincial official.Wang of military strategy and logistics,the generals of the Warring States T'ang,who served as the prefect of a chiin (tai-shou)in the reigns and Han practiced the custom of nourishing scholars (yang-shih of the Han emperors An-ti (107-126)and Shun-ti (126-145), chih feng).Pan Ku,the Later Han historian (d.92 A.D.),says,"I searched for the talented,respected scholars,and would not be self- have seen mu-fu established recently,and they widely invited a indulgent.He instructed his subordinate officials,saying:"The ancients multitude of excellent men."5 The custom of nourishing scholars labored in seeking the worthy and excelled in performing the duties of had flourished during the late Chou and Warring States Period, their posts.Therefore they could purify matters above and serve below. when a prince or wealthy lord would support scholars in much the They enacted the laws in the proper manner and sought out talented same fashion as the nobles of Renaissance Europe.Confucius had officials";he assigned the kung-ts'ao,Ch'en Fan,to assist in governing and managing affairs,to repair omissions,and to mend deficiencies;he received the support of princes when as a wandering scholar (yu- employed the chu-pu,Ying Ssu,in order that he might follow the proper shih)he had sought a patron to implement his ideas on government. path,be responsible for actually carrying out matters,and examine the In the Book of Mencius it says,"If a prince hates disgrace,the best words and see the results.8 course for him to pursue is to esteem virtue and honor virtuous scholars,giving the worthiest among them places of dignity,and Prior to the Ming,the existence of the mu-fu system seemed to the able offices of trust."6 This custom continued to flourish under depend on whether or not the provincial officials,or military com- the Ch'in and Han and spread among the high officials as well.as the manders,were permitted by the central authority to hire privately generals.Lui Pu-wei,the possible father of Ch'in Shih Huang-ti, their own advisers and/or subordinate officials.In a centralized gov- had 3,000 eating guests,and,in the time of the Han Emperor Wu-ti (140-87 B.c.),the General-in-Chief,Wei Ch'ing,had many scholars 7 Ssu-ma,Lu Pu-wei lieh-chuan,Vol.5,chiian 85,p.2510;T'ien Shu lieh- chuan,Vol.6,chiian 104,p.2780;Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944),p.29. under him.It was because of this custom of nourishing scholars that 8 Hou-Han shu,Wang T'ang chuan,chiian 61,pp.12a-b;Chang Ch'un- ming,"Ch'ing-tai te mu-chih"(The Mu System of the Ch'ing Dynasty),Ling- 3 Ssu-ma Ch'ien,Shih-chi (Peking:Chung-hua shu-chu,1959),Vol.5,chiian nan hsiieh-pao,IX,No.2 (June,1949),30. 81,p.2449;Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944),p.29.Tai-yen-men is the The provincial officials referred to here included,at one time or another, present Yen-men hsien in northern Shansi. all levels of the provincial bureacracy,from the governor of a province down 4 Ssu-ma,Vol.5,chtian 81,p.2449;Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944), to a district magistrate.In Han there is specific reference to mu-fu at the chiin p.29. (prefecture)and chou (department)levels.By Sung the mu-fu system included 5 Hou-Han shu,Pan Ku chuan,chiian 70,shang,p.7a,in Erh-shih-ssu shih the hsien(district)or lowest level.The same was true of the military,in that (Twenty-Four Histories)(Shanghai:T'ung-wen shu-chui,1884);Tz't-hai,shang, in Sung some of the lower ranks (fang-yii-shih)had their mu-fu.Ch'tian P.1032. Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944),pp.29-30;Chang Ch'un-ming,pp.30,31-32; 6 James Legge,The Chinese Classics(Taiwan reprint,1962),II,197. Hsuieh Fu-ch'eng,"Hsii Tseng Wen-cheng-kung mu-fu"(A Discussion of the
36 FRIENDS,GUESTS,AND COLLEAGUES THE TRADITIONAL MU-FU 37 ernment,the central administrative bodies normally hire all the With the reunification of the empire under the Sui Dynasty and government officials and are responsible for their salaries,promotions, the strengthening of central power,the mu-fu system disappeared and demotions.However,under the mu-fu system,prior to the Ming, from the scene;all officials,from top to bottom,big and small,were the central authority recognized as valid the private appointments hired by the imperial government.12 The establishing of the examina- of the provincial officials.By permitting such a phenomenon to exist, tion system as the orthodox means of selecting officials in the T'ang however,the center was relinquishing some of its authority to the further strengthened the imperial control over.personnel,but the provincial and private sectors of the country and hastening its own institution of military governors in the border regions(chieh-tu-shih) destruction.The mu-fu system arose because the central govern- permitted the mu-fu system to raise its head again.By the time of ment was unable or unwilling to provide provincial officials with Han Yui(768-824),private selection was again current.Ts'ao Yen- the necessary personnel,and,up to the Ch'ing period,the system yuieh,a chin-shih of the Sung Emperor Ch'un-hsi's reign(1174-1190) flourished more under a weak government than it did under a and later President of the Board of War,13 said,in regard to the strong one. selection of officials in the Tang: During much of the Han,and especially in the Later Han,it was possible to achieve offce through either public or private selec- As to selection,it was according to the examinations,but in reality it depended on a good reputation.A person could be an official either from tion.The method of public selection (the examination system had the examinations or from the private selection of the border commanders not yet been firmly established)was for the local areas to nominate [fan-chen].The border commanders could either choose an officer from qualified persons,and the center would then appoint officials from among the common people or promote one of their own subordinates of those who were recommended.Under this process,however,pro- lower rank on the basis of his behavior and achievements.Therefore motion was slow,and the official derived little prestige from his those who were scholars knew how to behave themselves.At first they appointment.The road to quick promotion,fame,and fortune lay in had to learn to be useful men.Once they had been selected,then they cer- private selection.If a worthy and talented scholar was brought to tainly worked with a good sense of responsibility;and after a long time the attention of a provincial governor by his friends or through in the mu-fu they were familiar with all the affairs.When they were his reputation,it was possible for him to receive a high official post appointed to an important position in the office,then within they knew almost immediately.As a result.to be selected privately was con- how to get everything well organized,and without they knew how to sidered a high honor.10 defend the territory from the barbarian invasions.There was nothing they The division and turmoil that followed the downfall of the Han could not do.14 were conductive to the amplification of the custom of nourishing During the Five Dynasties Period (907-960),as might be ex- scholars and the accompanying mu-fu system.The power and wealth pected,the mu-fu system flourished,and the various military leaders of the military leaders and provincial authorities,as well as the vied with each other to secure the services of scholars.15 However, growth of vast private estates that could afford to support large although the mu-fu continued to exist under the Sung,it was cur- groups of followers,made the provincial areas attractive to the tailed and lost a great deal of its strength;as a result,it was no longer scholars.Consequently,there was an exodus of talented scholars the most important avenue of advancement.16 The reasons behind from the capitals to the provinces,and provincial governors had this decline were the upsurge of bureaucratic power and the strength- large followings of guests and scholars whom they assigned to posts ening of Confucianism and the examination system that took place as prefects and magistrates.11 12 Chang Ch'un-ining,p.30. Members of Tseng Kuo-fan's mu-fu),reprinted in Tso Shun-sheng,comp., Chung-kuo chin-pai-nien shih tzu-liao ch'u-pien (Taipei,Taiwan:Chung-hua 18 Chung-Kuo jen-ming ta-tz'u-tien(Taipei,Taiwan:Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan. 1960),p.988. shu-chi,1958),p.184. 14 Chang Ch'un-ming,p.31.Quoted from Ts'ao Yen-yuieh,Ch'ang-ku chi 10 Chang Ch'un-ming,p.32. 11 Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.1944),p.29. 15 Chang Ch'un-ming,p.31. 161bid,p.32
38 FRIENDS,GUESTS,AND COLLEAGUES THE TRADITIONAL MU-FU 39 in the Sung.A further factor in the decline of the mu-fu system was the absence of nobility and the large estates of the earlier dynasties some may have been scholars all along.For the clerks as a group, which had kept alive the custom of nourishing scholars.The Mongol practical experience served as the means of access to official position, conquest of China ended the mu-fu system as it had existed for well just as it did for members of the mu-fu. over a thousand years.What was reborn in the late Ming and early The scholars,on the other hand,chose the path of Confucian learn- Ch'ing was something new.. ing as their way of achieving office and the resulting fame and The mu-fu system of the Ming-Ch'ing period differed from its fortune.The Classics embodied certain truths,they felt,which en- earlier counterparts in that it was purely private and had no legal compassed the whole of life and which,when applied to any contem- connection with the government.The principle of private hiring porary problem,offered a means of solution.Any solution which did still existed,but the members of the mu-fu were only hired as per- not evolve from these truths was doomed to failure.Literature and sonal advisers by the provincial officials and could not be appointed writing were pursued as a means of communicating and preserving by them to any government office.Throughout the Ming and Ch'ing these truths.17 The approach of the Confucianist scholars to govern- the power of appointment remained in the hands of the central au- ment was at a higher and more moralistic level than that of the thority.In addition,the resurrected mu-fu system was a civil device clerks;the scholars were not concerned with bureaucratic detail, and had little or no connection with the military during the Ch'ing but with the larger picture in relation to life itself. until the Taiping Rebellion,The most provocative feature of this Confucius had said,"The accomplished scholar is not a utensil."18 new system was'that,unlike the earlier system,it became firmly However,the exponents of practicality and expertise were trying established and was extensively used at a time when the central to do just that,make the scholar a utensil of government.The Ch'in authority had firm control-that is,during the early periods of the ruler had tried this and has been vilified by Confucianists ever since. Ch'ing Dynasty.Strangely enough,the strengthening of the mu-fu Wang Mang (33 B.C.-A.D.23)and Wang An-shih (1021-1086)had can be attributed in part to the increase in central authority that both failed in their attempts to change Confucian standards and to took place during the Ming and Ch'ing,as well as to the position of make the scholar an expert in government.They failed because the the Manchus vis-a-vis the Chinese,and to the conflict between scholars whom they sought to change were the real arbiters of Con- “expertise”and“amateurism.” fucianism,and the policies that Wang Mang and Wang An-shih Throughout much of Chinese imperial history there was a conflict espoused were in opposition to the scholar's belief that Confucianism between the clerks (li)and the scholars (shih)over the proper was an end in itself.Confucian truths were applicable to all of life training for government service.The clerks were the experts in and were not just a guide to government policy,and,in applying these government who had learned their trade through practical experi- to government,the scholar performed as an amateur,assuming a role ence.They served the same function in government as the members that was similar to that of the English amateur of the nineteenth cen- of a mu-fu,and occasionally both groups existed at the same time. tury.The scholars governed,and many of them governed well,but Yet the conditions of service of the two groups differed:the clerks governing for them did not become an end in itself. served in the capital,and,during periods when the iu-fu system did The scholars,then,were amateurs in government,as opposed to not exist,they served in the provinces as well,although they were the clerks and the members of a mu-fu,who were the experts or not hired personally by the provincial officials.The clerks were de- professionals.Yet when a member of one of the latter two groups graded in official and social status in the Ming,and as a result a became an official,despite his qualifications as an expert,he as- vacuum was created between clerk and official,which was filled by sumed the mantle of amateurism.The ideals of Confucianism still the mu-fu system.During their earlier periods of ascendancy,some outweighed those of Legalism. clerks had been able to graduate from clerkships and become offi- In the conflict between the clerks and the scholars,society gen- cials,and a few even rose to ministerial rank.Those that did achieve fame and position also became scholars in the process,although 17 W.T.DeBary,"A Reappraisal of Neo-Confucianism,"in Arthur F.Wright, ed.,Studies in Chinese Thought(Chicago:Univ.of Chicago Press,1953),p.90. 18 Legge,I,150
40 FRIENDS,GUESTS,AND COLLEAGUES THE TRADITIONAL MU-FU 41 erally held the claim of the scholars to be basic and regarded it rank.On the other hand,a lst rank ya-men t'i-k'ung (an expert in the with the most favor.However,up to the later years of the Ming, records of cases in a government bureau)was authorized to receive it was still possible for a clerk to achieve high governmient office.The two periods of imperial Chinese history in which the clerks had the 7th rank when being promoted into the ranks of the officials.2 However,in the 7th year of Yung-lo (1409),the Emperor decided the greatest opportunities for advancement were the Han and Yuan. that all the censors (yi-shih)should come exclusively from the During the Han period the Confucian system was not yet fully en- ranks of the scholars.His reasons were as follows:"Although there trenched as the orthodox road to office.Hsiao Ho (d.193 B.C.)and in- timate of Liu Pang,1 Ts'ao Ts'an (d.190 B.c.),a supporter of Liu is more than one basis on which to employ people,still the censors uphold the proper conduct for the country;and,since knowledge Pang,20 Kung Sun-hung-(d.121 B.C.),a Privy Counselor under the must be based on studies in order to insure proper governing and Emperor Wu-ti,21 Chang Ch'ang (d.48 B.C.),Governor of the Metro- to maintain complete impartiality,therefore,let the scholars assume politan District,22 and Wang Tsun,a high official during the reign of the Han Emperor Ch'eng-ti (32-6 B.c.)28 all started out as clerks.24 this position.If the scribes seek profit and are not concerned with righteousness,are stingy and do not bother with morality,and still With the institutionalizing of the examination system as the ap- proved means of selecting official personnel during the T'ang,the we permit them to be responsible for discipline,then the people will think lightly of the court."27 This decision was the start of a gradual opportunities for clerks to.rise became more circumscribed,and it was not until the Yuan Dynasty that they again achieved a posi- trend toward degrading the position of the clerks in relation to the scholars.It was still possible for clerks to rise to high official posi- tion of importance.The Yiun shih records that,at the time of the T'ai-ting Emperor (1324-1329),"Those who entered officialdom tion-Hsui Hsi and Yui Heng became President of the Board of War and President of the Board of Revenue,respectively,during the from the ranks of the chin-shih were scarcely one in a hundred,but reign of the Hsuian-te Emperor (1426-1436)-but it became in- for those who rose up from the ranks of the clerks and became eminent,it was constantly ninety percent."2 This ratio reflected the creasingly difficult as the dynasty progressed.2 As long as the clerks could take pride in their position and hope Mongols'policy of not using scholars in top administrative positions, to achieve fame and fortune by becoming more adept in their work, as.well as the scholars'reluctance to join the Mongol government in they would play the game according to the scholars'rules and even which they were treated as merely utensils and not as ends in try to emulate them.But once they found the way restricted and themselves. Under the early Ming,the clerks and scholars were almost on an their prestige waning,they lost pride in themselves and sought equal footing in regard to their social and political status upon wealth through the various forms of corruption open to those who had a detailed knowledge of the files and the machinery of govern- graduating into the ranks of officialdom.According to the Ta-Ming hui-tien(Statutes of the Ming),in the 26th year of Hung-wu(1393) ment.This in turn resulted in a greater loss of prestige and social, it was stated that a chii-jen who passed the metropolitan examina- as well as political,position. tion in Ist position would enter office with the 6th official rank,and By the time of the late Ming,then,government officials and mili- those who achieved the 2nd and 3rd positions would receive the 7th tary leaders no longer respected the clerks as social equals or near- equals and ceased to use them as advisers.This,however,created 10 Herbert A.Giles,A Chinese Biographical Dictionary (Taiwan reprint, a shortage of qualified personnel,and,because professional advisers 1962),L,279. had become almost indispensable for officials,the mu-fu system was 20Ibd.,Ⅱ，761 21 Ibid.,I,394. 22Ibid,1,9. 23 Chung-Kuo jen-ming ta-tz'u-tien,p:125.4. 20 Ku Yen-wu,Jih-chih lu(Shanghai:Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan,1935),chtian 24Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944),p.30. 17,T'ung-ching wei li,p.93;Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944),p.30. 25 Ytian shih,Han Yung chuan,chiian 185,p.10a,in Erh-shik-ssu shih 27 Ku Yen-wu,chiian 17,p.93;Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944),p.30. (Shanghai:T'ung-wen shu-chi,1884);Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944), 28 Ming shih,Hstan-chui chih erh,chiian.70,pp.14a-b,in Erh-shih-ssu shih p.30. (Shanghai:T'ung-wen shu-chi,1884);Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.32 (March,1944), P.35
42 FRIENDS,GUESTS,AND COLLEAGUES THE TRADITIONAL MU-FU 43 gradually reestablished.Prior to the late Ming,in the Hung-hsi pe- "layer upon layer,"it became physically impossible for the officials riod (1425-1426),clerks and high-ranking officials were sent from to read them all.To complicate matters even further,towards the the central government to the military headquarters of the various end of the dynasty there was a growing movement to commute the generals.The job of these clerks was to supervise and put in order land taxes,which had been paid in kind,and the labor services into official documents and to discuss military problems,but they were cash payments.This naturally resulted in an increase in accounting, not to take part in the actual military affairs.29 However,approxi- but the number of clerks and officials was not increased accordingly.33 mately one hundred years later,during the reign of the Chia-ching The Ch'ing inherited the government and society of the Ming, Emperor (1522-1567),the Governor-General of Chekiang,Hu and with them the faults which had contributed to the widespread Tsung-hsien,was inviting famous scholars to enter his mu-fu to adoption of the mu-fu system.Instead of restricting the growth of manage official documents and help in military strategy.30 this system,the early Ch'ing rulers intensified the policies of their The introduction of the "Eight-Legged Essay"as the focal point Ming predecessors and hastened the day when every provincial of the examinations during the Ming was another factor which con- official,from the governor-general of a province down to the lowest tributed to the rise of the mu-fu system.This essay placed a new hsien magistrate,would have his own mu-fu. emphasis on literary style,and thus tended to make the scholars The laws of the Ming were not only taken over by the Ch'ing even more bookish and less practical.At the beginning of the Ming, but were further amplified by the dynasty in order to insure the a scholar who had ambition was not afraid to humble himself by complete control of the society.In the handling of legal cases,the being a clerk,as it was felt that this was a necessary step in one's magistrates were forced to base their decisions on the precedents training as an official31 But the requirements of the"Eight-Legged (Li),instead of on the Fundamental Laws (Li),which were of a Essay"forced the scholar to forgo any considerations of the prac- more general nature.The precedents became so voluminous that tical problems of government and,when combined with the degra- it took a legal expert to keep them straight.3s The officials,however, dation of the clerk's position,created a wide gap between the ex- being the products of an examination system which stressed literature perts and the amateurs.The government could not,or would not, provide the personnel to fill this gap,and hence the resurgence of and the Classics,were not legal experts.Even if they had wanted the mu-fu system. to study law as a means of preparing themselves for official life,it Other policies of the Ming rulers contributed still further to the would have been almost impossible because of social and family reappearance.of the mu-fu system.In order to strengthen.their hold pressures against legal studies which did not prepare one for the on the empire,the Ming rulers had increased the importance of law. examinations and because of government policies restricting the Extensive and detailed laws were promulgated,which not only re- sale and distribution of books on law.In the 30th year of Ch'ien- stricted the officials'flexibility in handling cases but also increased lung(1765)it was memorialized and granted that books pertain- the amount of paper work involved.In order to make sure that the ing to law were not to be printed for or sold to the common people, officials personally handled all the cases and did not leave them to and all such previously printed books were to be destroyed.a5 Thus, their clerks,in the 4th year of Hung-wu (1371)the number of clerks no family that did not have official rank was allowed to have a copy was restricted by law,and any official who exceeded the prescribed of the Ta-Ch'ing lii-li (Statutes of the Ch'ing).This meant that the number was to be punished.32 However,as the cases accumulated, a8 C.John Stanley,Late Ch'ing Finance:Hu Kuang-yung as an Innovator (Cambridge:Harvard Univ.Press,1961),p.3;see Liang Fang-chung,The 20 Ming shih,Chih-kuan chih ssu,chiian 75,pp.15a-b;Ch'tian Tseng-yu, Single-Whip Method of Taxation in China (Cambridge:Harvard Univ.Press, No.31(eb,1944,E.31. 1956.) 30 Ming shih,Hsii Wei chuan,chiian 288,p.3a;Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb,1944),p.31. 34 C.John Stanley,"The Mu-yu in the Ch'ing Dynasty"(MS,Harvard Uni- 31 Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.32 (March,1944),p.36. versity,May 25,1949),p.11;Ch'tan Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944),p.32. 35 Ta-Ch'ing hui-tien shih-li(Shanghai:Shang-wu yin-shu-kuan,1908),chiian 82 Ibid,No.31 (Feb.,1944),pp.31-32.Cited from Ku Yen-wu,Jih-chih lu 112,p.2a;Ch'tian Tseng-yu,No.31 (Feb.,1944),p.32