Thomas Taylor Meadows, Desultory notes on the Government and People of China, and on the chinese language, 1847.

Desultory notes on the Government and People of China, and on the chinese language (1847).
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Une édition électronique réalisée à partir du texte de Thomas Taylor Meadows, Desultory notes on the Government and People of China, and on the chinese language. Première édition: Wm. H. ALLEN and Co., Londres, 1847. Réimpression Praeger Publishers, New York, 1970. XIII + 250 pages. Une édition réalisée par Pierre Palpant, bénévole, Paris.

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ON THE YAMUN AND THEIR VARIOUS INHABITANTS.

The yamun are generally called “offices” of the mandarins, in English books and in translations ; but as neither this, nor any other word of the English language, gives any thing but a very insufficient idea of the nature of a yamun, I have retained this latter Chinese denomination in these Notes.

I am told that nine-tenths of the numerous yamun in the Chinese empire are built on nearly one and the same plan, and it is certain that they all contain in common four grand divisions ; for that we can perceive from the Imperial regulations regarding forms and observances on official visits, which are corroborated by facts incidentally conveyed in the Penal and other codes.

The first, or outermost, of these divisions comprises within it, gaols and places of confinement for short periods ; and the dwellings of the chai, or police runners, bailiffs, turnkeys, porters, &c.

The second contains offices (each of which is frequently composed of several rooms), corresponding to the six supreme boards at Pekin, and some other offices, which vary according to the rank and duties of the mandarin. Only the yamun of the higher mandarins have, however, got an office corresponding to the Board of Civil Office in Pekin ; the reason for which is sufficiently obvious, as the business of that Board is to govern mandarins. In these offices of the second division, all the records of the yamun are deposited. The second division contains, also, the great hall, for the formal trial of causes and of criminals, and for other great occasions. It likewise contains the treasury of the yamun.

The third division includes the office of the mandarin himself, where he superintends the despatch of his correspondence, and of official documents generally, as well as frequently holds judicial examinations ; the rooms in which other mandarins, sent by the higher authorities to assist, where the business is great, severally investigate the cases which have been especially handed over to them ; the apartments for the reception of visitors, and for giving entertainments ; and the apartments and offices for the shi˘ ye and yemun. Here is also the kitchen of the mandarin.

This third division is called the nŏi (inner) shu, in contradistinction to the second, which is called the wai (outer) shu. The word shu is used very much like our word office, but with this difference, that it is only employed with reference to government offices.

The fourth, or innermost division, comprises the private residence of the mandarin, where the females of his family and his nearer male relations dwell, and into which no male employed by him, not even his personal servants, are permitted to enter. Female domestics only are used here, and the communication with the kitchen is, in many yamun, kept up by means of a tub revolving horizontally in a wall, like the tables used for a similar purpose in some of the European nunneries.

The yamun of a district magistrate, which forms a very good example of the establishments so denominated (and is, by the bye, the one most formidable in the eyes of the people), thus comprises within itself what we would call a general police station, and the county gaol, as it were, for the custody of debtors, and of criminals awaiting trial or execution ; the place where courts equivalent to our quarter sessions and assizes are held ; the offices of all the subordinate officers of these courts ; and the office and residence of an official who is at once judge of circuit, sheriff, coroner, and commissioner of taxes. In a populous district it is inhabited by 300 to 500 individuals, and even in thinly inhabited districts, where there is of course less business, it is said to have about 200 inhabitants at least. But the buildings are, it appears, seldom, if ever, so large as this population would lead an Englishman to suppose ; for the Chinese can content themselves with an amazingly small extent of space, and these yamun of the district magistrates are generally crowded.

Exclusive of the mandarin and his family, the inhabitants may be divided into four classes.

1. The SHi˘ YE, the JUDICIAL ADVISERS
and PRIVATE SECRETARIES of the mandarin.

These men are the only people in China who devote themselves solely to the study of the law, and, in so far, they resemble our barristers and serjeants-at-law ; but they are scarcely ever made mandarins (judges), and none of them act as counsel for either of the litigating parties, in an action at law. Their sole business is to protect the interests of the mandarin, their employer ; to point out to him the proper way of conducting his judicial examinations ; and to see that the decisions he pronounces are in strict accordance with the laws, and justified by the facts of each particular case, so that he may not incur any of the penalties laid down in the Code of the Board of Civil Office. To obviate this, too, all documents that issue from a yamun, are revised by these men, and those of importance are drafted by them. Although their existence is well known to all Chinese, they are not recognized by government as official servants, but are in the private employ of the mandarins. For this reason, they are never personally present at judicial examinations ; though the course of these latter are, as stated above, in a great measure regulated by their opinions.

The most important of the shi˘ ye are the hsîng mîng (punishment list) shi˘ ye, who confine their attention to the criminal law. Next to them stand the chiên ku (money and grain, i. e. revenue) shi˘ ye, who apply themselves chiefly to the fiscal laws. Besides these two classes, which properly comprise the judicial advisers, there are shu pin (write report) shi˘ ye, whose business it is to take charge of the half-official correspondence of the mandarin with his superiors ; and kwan chang (manage accounts) shi˘ ye, who superintend the keeping of the official accounts. These, and some similar classes of shi˘ ye, may very well be denominated private secretaries. Each yamun has generally one shi˘ ye of each class ; but when the business is very great, there are two hsîng mîng shi˘ ye.

The hsîng mîng, or criminal law, shi˘ ye, of district magistrates of populous districts, get fixed salaries of about 2,000 dollars per annum, paid by their employers. The fixed salaries of those in the higher yamun do not much exceed this sum ; but, in addition to it, they get annual presents from the mandarins subject to the authority of the one whom they serve. If any subordinate mandarin were to refuse this tribute, every appeal to a superior tribunal would involve him in trouble. The amount of these presents is said to be 1,000 or 2,000 dollars per annum, according to the number of subordinate mandarins ; but it is necessary to warn the reader here, that there are few things connected with China about which it is more difficult to obtain correct information, than the real incomes of people employed in the transaction of official business, whether such people be recognized by government, or otherwise.

All the shi˘ ye increase their incomes by taking pupils, with whom they receive an entrance fee of a few hundred dollars ; and who, as they grow up, assist them in the transaction of official business. When a safe opportunity offers, too, they “open the back door”, as the Chinese call it, i. e. take bribes ; but the nature of their business_, viz. the interpretation and application of the law, generally in grave cases, and which is subsequently recorded, does not permit much of this. For this reason, and because it requires a long pupilage and hard study to make a hsîng mîng shi˘ ye, he pets a larger fixed salary than perhaps any other Chinese in private employ.

The income of the chiên ku, or fiscal law, shi˘ ye, is about one half of that of the hsîng mîng shi˘ ye. The others, whom I have called private secretaries, get, even where best paid, only from 200 to 500 dollars per annum.

The shi˘ ye are a respectable class of men in the eyes of the Chinese ; and it in no wise derogates from the dignity of the mandarin, their employer, to invite them to his table, and associate with them on terms of intimacy.

2. The YEMUN, the FOLLOWERS of the mandarin.

We have in England nothing similar to this class of men ; and very fortunately so, for the chief of them are the negotiators of all the special bribes, and the channels through which the other illegal gains of a mandarin are conveyed to his purse.

They are, like the shi˘ ye, in the private employ of the mandarin, but they get no fixed pay, being remunerated solely by a portion of the bribes, &c. that pass through their hands. The lower of them are the personal attendants of the mandarin, but the higher, who have the distinctive title of mun shang (upon the gate), never perform any menial offices. To each of these higher followers, the mandarin, as soon as he enters upon his office, assigns a particular duty. This will be deputed to receive the bribes from the gambling houses and other illegal establishments connived at by the mandarin in different parts of the territory subject to his jurisdiction ; one will have the custody and superintend the use of the official seal, and so on. The most important among them, and, next to the mandarin, the most influential man in the yamun, is the kau an (draft case) mun shang. The business of this man is to report to the mandarin all applications made at the yamun, or any thing that may have occurred requiring his attention ; and then to see that the proper persons set about the execution of such measures as the mandarin may see fit to adopt ; to settle the amount of all the extraordinary or special bribes to he demanded from the different parties in lawsuits, according to their ability to pay, and the urgency of the causes that oblige them to pay ; and to receive presents from mandarins subject to his master, and transmit those from his master to higher ones.

In the temporary absence of the mandarin, the kau an mun shang will, after consulting with the shi˘ ye, order preliminary steps to be taken in any urgent case that may suddenly occur. He is often a relation of the mandarin, and not unfrequently the person who advanced him funds wherewith to bribe his way into his post, and who then accompanies him to it, in order to get repaid. It is evident the mandarin can place implicit confidence in his zeal, if he belong to this latter class, since his only chance of being repaid depends on the mandarin’s retaining his place. Many of the mun shang are persons recommended by higher mandarins to their present masters, and the number of such persons recommended to a new mandarin is often so great, as to cause him much embarrassment, from his inability to employ them.

A mandarin will also sometimes promote a clĕever personal attendant, who has been long in his service, to the post of a mun shang, and even to that of kau an mun shang. However they may have got their places, they are, notwithstanding the great influence they exercise, always considered as domestics, and are frequently called chia jĕn, household people. They are, therefore, not looked on as fit associates for the mandarins, and cannot presume to sit in the presence of their own master. The lower mandarins are, however, glad to keep on good terms with the mun shang of their superiors ; and I have seen crystal and white button mandarins very profuse in their civilities to the kau an mun shang of the governor-general.

It is quite impossible to say what the annual income of these people may be, as it varies so much in different yamun, and in the same yamun at different times, depending, in a great measure, on the number and wealth of litigants ; but I may mention, that the Chinese frequently speak of the more fortunate of the kau an mun shang getting so much as ten, twenty, and thirty thousand taels in a single year. Others, again, do not get more than a few hundred taels annually.

The persons who examine goods on the part of the custom-house at Canton, are mun shang of the superintendent of customs, or hoppo (to whose yamun, by the bye, the remarks in this Note do not apply, it containing no court of law) ; and there is generally a yemun of his in charge of each of the numerous customs’ stations on the river.

3. The SHU PAN.

These are clerks recognized by government, frequent mention being made of them by the Penal and other codes. According to law, they ought to be changed every five years ; it being apprehended that if they retained their places for a longer period, they would become so intimately acquainted with the business of the yamuns, as to be able to commit malpractices ; but the post of shu pan has, in the higher yamun of Kwang-tûng, and, I am told, of the other provinces also, become virtually the property of the holders, who can let or sell it altogether, during their lifetime, and leave it to their children at their death. So long as they themselves retain it, they are, however, obliged to change their names at the end of every five years. The mandarin who connives at this proceeding is, indeed, to be cashiered, and if it be done without his knowledge, he is to be degraded two steps, and removed from his post ; yet the practice is well known to be quite common, and this, therefore, forms one of the many instances in which the provisions of the Chinese laws stand in direct contradiction to the actual practice. Here, too, as in many other instances, the low standard at which the salaries of the mandarins are fixed, is the ultimate cause of the evil ; I say evil, for such a too intimate acquaintance, on the part of the government agent, with the affairs of the country where he is placed, really proves itself to be, in China, under the present state of things.

The business of the shu pan is to take charge of the records, to keep accounts connected with the revenue, to make out fair copies of documents issued from the yamun, and to draft those of less importance. Where secrecy is required, though, they are not allowed to see official papers until the affairs to which they relate have been settled. Among papers of this sort, I may instance, letters of any importance concerning the various tribes that maintain themselves in a semi-independent state, in different mountain ranges of the main-land, and on the islands of Formosa and Ghainan ; and although the laws, as yet printed, do not seem to have provided for such a contingency as official correspondence with “barbarians” from the sea, I have no doubt, that a very great part of that now carried on does not find its way into the outer offices. If a mandarin gives letters of importance, concerning mountaineers of the interior, to the shu pan, to be copied, he is to be degraded one step, but to retain his post ; and his immediate superior is to be mulcted of six months’ salary.

The yamun of the district magistrate of a populous district contains about one hundred shu pan, who work in ten or fifteen offices, situated in the second division of the establishment.

The shu pan have an allowance from government of one or two taels per month ; but their incomes are chiefly derived from the illegal, but well ascertained, fees of office, which all litigants and other applicants at the yamun must pay, and which are shared in certain fixed proportions. These are, in some yamun, so great, as to render a shu-pan-ship a respectable property for a man of the middle classes.

In the seventh month of every year, those shu pan who have served for five years, and who desire it, are, after presenting certificates from the mandarin under whom they served, examined by the governorgeneral and the governor, or by their special deputies ; and a report is sent in to the central government, which then confers one of the lowest ranks on those recommended, and also employs some of them as township magistrates and police magistrates. Those, however, who are promoted to these inferior magistracies, have mostly served in one of the higher yamun at Pekin.

4. The CHAI YŬ.

This is a general designation for the police, thief-takers, bailiffs, and turnkeys of China. As the duties of these classes of public servants are sufficiently well known, it is needless to enumerate them.

The chai yu˘ are, like the shu pan, recognized by the general government, and a trifling monthly pay is allotted to them ; but they derive their support from the illegal fees of the yamun, from bribes for permitting delays when entrusted with a warrant for the apprehension of any one, &c. &c. In addition to this, many of the head men among them are in connection with gangs of robbers, who pay for their connivance and protection. They are the instruments by which all extortions are ultimately effected ; and are used frequently by the mun shang, as middlemen, to do the higgling, when he is negotiating for special bribes. As in the case of the shu pan, their places in the higher yamun are their property, which they let and sell, in defiance of all the prohibitions of the laws.

From what is above stated in this Note, the reader will have concluded, that the interior of a busy yamun must present a very bustling scene. The yamun of a district magistrate is, from the nature and multiplicity of the functions of this mandarin, the most busy of any ; and the two which are situated in Canton, viz. the district yamun of Nan ghai, and that of Pan yu˘, where a number of criminal cases from other districts of the provinces are investigated by mandarins specially deputed for that purpose, form, I am told, a very striking spectacle, from the great stir that pervades them from sunrise to sunset. The almost unceasing flail-like sounds of beating with the bamboo, either as a punishment for ascertained guilt, or to extort confessions and evidence ; the cries of the sufferers ; the voices of the examining mandarins questioning, bullying, and wheedling ; the voices of the porters stationed at the doors between the first and second, and the second and third divisions, transmitting, in a loud singing tone, orders for shu pan of different offices and chai yu˘ of various sorts to repair to certain places in the yamun where they are wanted ; the constant running hither and thither of some of the latter personages and of the other inhabitants of the place ; and the frequent appearance of criminals and witnesses being escorted to and from the prisons and rooms for examination, are sounds and sights that bewilder and agitate those who have not been accustomed to them, and serve to heighten that dread which all private Chinese entertain of entering a yamun.

Such, at least, is the idea the descriptions of the Chinese, joined to circumstances incidentally mentioned, would lead me to form of the interior of the two yamun above named ; but the reader must remember that these are the busiest establishments of this sort in the second city of the empire.