<研究ノート>漢代官吏任用における財産資格の再検討

Abstract

This study combines a reassessment of the content and significance of asset qualifications in the employment of Han 漢 dynasty officials with a comprehensive examination of the influence they exerted on the lower stratum of local officials of the period. Han dynasty officials were required to own commodities required in their duties, principally a carriage and draft horse or a horse and saddle. In cases where assets possessed did not fulfill the asset qualification, appointments to office was not admitted or officials were dismissed. After the promulgation of the Xiaolian 孝廉 (Filial and Incorrupt) appointment system(134 BC), academic knowledge first appeared as a qualification for official appointment; however, asset qualifications continued even until the period of the Latter Han dynasty. Tingchang 亭長 (Neighborhood Head) was an exception to this rule, appointed without regard to assets or academic knowledge. In this case, it was the breadth of his circle of acquaintances that was the basis of the appointment. Secondly, the author examined the reason why a horse was especially esteemed among several goods that comprised the asset qualifications. Previous studies have understood the significance of horse as a status symbol for an official. However, that is not the sole explanation. It was the duty of Han dynasty officials to play a central role as either a unit commander or elite soldier in time of war. Therefore, an official had to possess a horse highly suited to military use to accomplish his military duty. Thirdly, according to previous studies, the cause of unjust extortions by local petty officials was due to their low salaries. This, however, is a misunderstanding. The wage level of lower-level local officials was equal to the income of the average farmer during the Han dynasty. Furthermore, lower-level local officials were even able to obtain income from the fields that they possessed. In fact, continuing to fulfill such asset qualifications was a considerable economic burden, and the reason that these officials conducted unjust extortions was to continue to allay the economic burden of asset qualifications. In addition, a person who maintained the asset qualifications and was able to cover the obligatory disbursements for gift giving (presents on ceremonial occasions and parting gifts, etc.) between officials could rise to higher levels of petty officialdom by expanding his circle of acquaintances. On the other hand, a person who was unable to bear the economic burden would remain a lower-level official and be slighted, and furthermore face dismissal. Accordingly, the existence of the asset qualifications, which appeared from the latter half of the Former Han onward, was one of the causes of the stratification of local petty officials, and it is thought to have influenced the tendency to avoid the lower levels of officialdom. Finally, the reason that people tried to become officials even if it meant taking on such an economic burden during the Han dynasty was that it was thought that there was value in a status that allowed a common person who had met the qualifications for appointment to office to get deeply involved in politics. If we consider the contemporary conception of social status, it appears that a belief that the existence of asset qualifications and the self-provision of necessary commodities was a natural tradeoff for high-status participation in politics existed at the time.