Bureaucrats and aristocrats, the former evident in the government in the Tang dynasty (617-907) and the ladder pronoun in the government of Heian Japan. Both are different in many different aspects, such as within government, government structure, law, economy, and society.A bureaucrat can be defined by the following: an appointed government official with certain duties and responsibilities defined by disposition in the bureaucracy. A bureaucrat is more dependent on the government than an aristocrat because official power comes from official appointment through the bureaucracy (Class Lecture, Oct. 16, 97). Bureaucracy first replaced aristocracy in the Tang dynasty, under the rule of Empress Wu (625?-706?, r.690-706) bureaucracy was expanded by furthering expansion policies and supporting the examination system. Positions in government were filled through the examination system, and people who passed were called the literati.
When one held this title of literati, you were considered intelligent and were considered to have high status (TA session, Oct. 28, 97). "They were a group of smart guys with a good education." (Steve, TA session, Oct. 28, 97). This of course deprived the hereditary aristocracy of power 'they had enjoyed during the period of division, when appointments had been made by recommendation, and opened government service to a somewhat wider class of people...' (Schirokauer, p.103). For the first time, men who entered office through examination could attain the highest office, even that of Chief Minister.
Examination graduates earned (earn being the operative word) prestige, and even though officials still entered government by other means such as family connections, at the same time the literati and thus the bureaucrats were gaining authority, jurisdiction, and power. And thus, one could see this shifting of supremacy from the aristocracy to the bureaucracy.Government in the Tang dynasty was regulated by the Tang legal codes, a system of laws written by legalists which consisted of a system of rewards and severe punishments (TA session, Oct. 28, 97). These legal codes were administrative: reporting what the state could do and what the subjects could not do.
This is an important point in that, this showed the subjects possessed little power, the Tang legal codes are the opposite of any laws of present day, these legal codes protected the government and not the people. Government needed the subjects only to provide for taxes (revenue), labour (grain) and military (soldiers) reasons. 'A dead subject was not as useful as a living subject.
P’u shamelessly addresses the fact that despite preaching honor and virtue, the nobility were the most lawless, yet only an idealized account would be recorded in history, as has always been. The author mocks this relinquishment in his own stories, as the moral is driven to immorality as rebels receive little to no punishment for their flagrant abuse of others and adultery against virtue. He describes the turmoil as “the ways that misery spawned recklessness and sudden, unreasoning violence that were almost impossible to deal with” (Spence 79). Laws themselves proved to be as wicked and depraved as their creators. For example, a horrific clause even encouraged men to take advantage of widows for profit. While the peasant class resisted their struggled by simply trying to survive, the upper nobility fought their problems by making the existence of those below them harder to bear. Enforced laws were done so with no due process, yet were made flexible by their own creators. Therefore, Spence exhibited the lawlessness and the government and its constant effort to contain this disorder. By hand-selecting the sources and settling on rural China, Spence felt the format effectively depicted his purpose. He effectively detailed history in relation to the average person of 17th century China and created a personal perspective that imbued the historical events with meaning. He most fully and accurately captures the greed, vision of morals, unaltered by elite preference and ironically one can draw parallels to our modern times. His purpose results in a richness of detail seldom observed in Chinese history. The principles of the time are captured through the poverty within the peasant class as every moment of their lives was set forth
In “Père du Halde: The Chinese Educational System”, (Document 3), Pere du Halde talks about the Chinese Education system. In the document, he says, “That boys should not learn is an improper thing; for if they do not learn in youth, what will they do when old?” This shows that the educational system in China was very hard and strict and the students learned a lot. Since the boys that were going to school were one day going to be men, those men were going to have to make many decisions for China. In order to make sure China was on the right path to great rulers and government workers, the schooling system was very prestigious and difficult. This is an example that China needed a good educational system so they would have strong, future rulers. In my opinion, the Chinese learning system was hard because everyone wanted to have great leaders and they knew that the students who were going to school were going to be future leaders. As it says in “Matteo Ricci: On Chinese Government”, (Document 5), “It may be said in praise of the Chinese that ordinarily they would prefer to die an honorable death rather than swear allegiance to a usurping monarch.” This is an example that the people of China wanted a strong ruler/rulers and would rather die than be ruled by a weak leader. The statement shows that all of China, not just government officers,...
Huang outlines to reconstruction of the court under Wan-li came into power at the death of his father and the seemingly insignificant actions taken by the emperor, from his marriage to the redecorating of the court. Within the scope of this discourse, Huang is able to disclose the excesses of the emperor, and consider the implications of the bureaucratic system that he devised as an extension of this excess (13).
There is no simple answer to this question, especially with the convoluted and entwining relationship between Buddhism and Wu, so we focus on how the religion assisted Wu in grasping power and its indispensable role in the Chinese economy. The close connection between government and religion is not a new concept to the Tang era as it has been well-established prior to its time, and it even survived long after. In the case of Buddhism and Empress Wu, the religion played a pivotal role in justifying her rule, which could explain her special interest in it. Among the Buddhists followers, she was identified as the bodhisattva Maitreya, which helped her gain a sense of legitimacy to her reign, especially in a male-dominant society (Smarr Feb. 17 2012). The association of Buddhism with Wu helped spur Wu’s benevolent policies towards the religion, who benefitted handsome...
The government within the monarchical society was populated by the aristocracy. It was they who were depended upon for directing the course of governmental affairs. The controls of all co...
The Civil Service Exam played a major role in both the societies of Han China and the Republic of Rome as it provided their citizens a way to progress in life, economically and socially. Both civil service exams in the Republic of Rome and the Han Dynasty in China were open to all citizens, with some exclusions to the impoverished, giving them the chance to move up the socioeconomic ladder in society. The Roman civil service exam prepared their citizens for utilitarian careers and trades in fields such as carpentry, smithery, construction, etc. A relatively high number of people who took the Roman civil service exam passed in proportion to all of the participants. However, this was very different from the Imperial Examinations under the Han Dynasty, where the examination, prepared citizens exclusively, for a career in the government. Also, the Han civil service exam was much more rigorous, with higher demands of the people who took the exam, resulting in only a minuscule fractio...
Modern Bureaucracy in the United States serves to administer, gather information, conduct investigations, regulate, and license. Once set up, a bureaucracy is inherently conservative. The reason the bureaucracy was initiated may not continue to exist as a need in the future. The need or reason may change with a change in the times and the culture needs. A bureaucracy tends to make decisions that protect it and further it’s own existence, possibly apart from the wishes of the populace. It may not consistently reflect what might be optimal in terms of the needs and wants of the people. Local governments employ most of the United States civil servants. The 14 cabinet departments in the U.S. are run day-to-day by career civil servants, which have a great deal of discretionary authority.
The Tang dynasty was founded in 618, and lasted until 907. The emperor was supreme and government officials were chosen by examination. A census was taken to simplify tax collection and to draft citizens to perform labor for the empire. This was a period of great land expansion. (Halsall, 1998) The emperor also had a great love of the arts, and the Tang became known as the golden age of literature and art. Block printing was invented and made writing more available. (Unknown, 2003) Shipbuilding and firearms development were also refined during the era. Art was heavily influenced by Buddhism, especially rock sculpture. One major problem that arose was the heavy burden of taxation. Many were unable to meet their heavy tax burden. To escape this, many placed themselves under the protection of great landlords who were exempt from taxes, or became bandits. (Halsall, 1998)
It is thus rational for us to question the validity of preconditions upon which these ideas were acquired and the legitimacy of the ideas; and later but more importantly, how did the Legalists become the only classical thoughts had its teaching adopted as the sole official doctrine of a regime ruling all China and bring about the unification of China; and lastly, the association of the all-too-soon collapse of the ephemeral Qin Dynasty and the Legalists thoughts.
3.) The Ming restoration brought about the rebirth of powerful Neo-Confucians. The scholar-gentry once again held much power in the empire. Along with this came the reinstating of the examination...
These elite groups were high ranked officials who had similar tasks as government officials, and the source of their power was relatively similar in every aspect. The yangban of Korea used an examination system to elect and appoint officials, so scholarly merit awarded a spot in office instead of heredity. Although the yangban used the civil service examinations wealth still defined yangban from the commoners. Yangban owned both land and slaves. Ancestry was a factor as well because yangban families wanted to produce a lineage of yangban officials. It solidified the family’s name if their subsequent generations contained successful yangban. The source of power that gave the gentry their official positi...
ICL Document, (1988) . ICL- China Constitution: Retrieved March27, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/ch00000_.html
Bureaucracy is an organizational design based on the concept of standardization. “It is characterized by highly routine operating tasks achieved through specialization, very formalized rules and regulations, tasks that are grouped into functional departments, centralized authority, narrow spans of control, and decision making that follows the chain of command” (Judge & Robbins, 2007, p.
According to Sapru R.K. (2008) p370-371 the traditional ideal of public administration which inclined to be firm and bureaucratic was based on processes instead of outcomes and on setting procedures to follow instead of focusing on results. This paradigm can be regarded as an administration under formal control of the political control, constructed on a firmly ranked model of bureaucracy, run by permanent and neutral public servants, driven only by public concern. In emerging nations the administration was true bureaucracy meaning government by officers. In this perspective Smith (1996) p235-6 perceived that“the bureaucracy controls and manages the means of production through the government. It increases chances for bureaucratic careers by the creation of public figures,demanding public managers, marketing boards.
rules and laws that applied only to those who were peasants. The laws sort of boosted their lives; he kept the land tax low, and the granaries stocked to guard against famine. During his reign he also attempted and succeeded in building up the class of those of the peasant and working class. Hongwu’s new government did not cause any change for those in other social classes.