The Anxiety of Low-Ranked Scribes in the Qin and Han Bureaucracies
anxiety of scribes in qin and han Asia Major (2020) 3d ser. Vol. 33.2: 25-59 tsang wing ma Between the State and Their Superiors: The Anxiety of Low-Ranked Scribes in the Qin and Han Bureaucracies abstract: This paper challenges to some degree the traditional stereotypes surrounding Qin- and Han-era official scribes. It explores certain anxieties they encountered in their service to the bureaucratic hierarchy. Han texts have portrayed them as “knife-and- brush officials,” “harsh officials,” and “legal clerks,” but are silent on the realities of a scribe’s life under the unified empire. Incorporating newly unearthed adminis- trative documents, the following study examines the processes undertaken by local scribes in preparing annual account-books to be forwarded to the next bureaucratic level. Given the complexities, tight schedule, and material constraints, to prepare such accounts could be a nightmare, even for these professionals. While struggling with endless paperwork and meager salaries, low-ranked scribes faced pressure from two quarters: the state and their superiors. By examining the legal regulations for monitoring related administrative practices as well as corruption cases pertaining to the forwarding of account-books, this paper shows that the low-ranked scribes were placed in a dilemma: to choose between the state’s regulations and the orders of their often locally-dominant superiors. keywords: scribes, anxiety, forwarding of accounts, hierarchy of documents, Qin and Han periods INTRODUCTION cholars have rightly recognized that bureaucratic scribes (shi 史) of S the Qin 秦 (221–207 bc) and Han 漢 (206 bc-220 ad) periods were indispensable to maintaining the legal and administrative system.1 They earned the name “knife-and-brush officials” (daobi li 刀筆吏) by using a Tsang Wing Ma, Dept.
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