Seeking Order in a Tumultuous Age (Korean Classics Library: Historical Materials) by David M. Robinson

Author:David M. Robinson [Robinson, David M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780824859466
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Published: 2016-08-31T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four: A Literary Mirror to Order the World: Part Two

Censorate 臺官

Offices of the Zhou: The censor 御史 oversaw the governing of the myriad people. He was ordered to assist the grand steward 冢宰.

During the Qin dynasty, the censor supervised commandaries. Thus, it had the name “to supervise and inspect.”

During the early Han dynasty, censors were used to investigate those who did not adhere to ritual protocol. Censors-in-chief 御史大夫 assisted councilors-in-chief 丞相 in concurrently regulating the myriad affairs of state. The vice-censor-in-chief 中丞 resided within the palace and oversaw the imperial library. The attendant censor 侍御史 received memorials from ministers and impeached wayward officials. The place where their offices were located was called the Pavilion of the Censors 御史臺 or the Court of the Orchid Pavilion 蘭臺寺.

During the Latter Han, vice-censors-in-chief were dispatched on regional tours, exclusively tasked with investigation and impeachment. Although initially they were not in charge of memorials to the throne, they nevertheless sat in seats specially reserved for their use. Their duties were grave. They enforced the law [for] the throne. The influential and favored feared them. [The censors’] powers were focused, and their responsibilities heavy.

During the Song dynasty (420–479), there was a single vice-censorin-chief.467 Each month on the twenty-fifth day, he would circumambulate the palace walls. He and the director of the Department of State Affairs 尚書 divided the road. Even if he encountered a vice-minister 丞郎 leaving court, he still had the right of way. The remainder of the myriad officials at court and in the provinces had to stop their horses.

During the Latter Wei 後魏 (386–534), the palace commandant of censors 御史中尉 supervised officialdom.468 Whenever he left or returned from the palace, the roads were cleared. The nobles and officials all parted along the road. The remainder of the officials dismounted from their horses and stopped their carriages on the side of the road. After the Eastern Wei 東魏 (534–550) moved to Ye, this practice was not revived.469

The Northern Qi 北齊 dynasty (550–577) revived former practices. All officials in the capital region commanding troops in the infantry and cavalry were subordinate to [the Censorate]. Since the Qi 齊 (479–502) and Liang dynasties, the Censorate has been called the Southern Pavilion.

During the Latter Zhou 後周 (951–960), the Censorate was called Office of Fundamental Laws 司憲.

During the Tang dynasty, it was also called the Pavilion of the Censorate. Under the former system, [the censor] had no more than the responsibility for investigation and supervision. Late in the Zhenguan reign period (627–649), when Li Qianyou 李乾祐 (d. 668) served as vice-censor-in-chief, he submitted a memorial [requesting] the establishment of a prison within the offices of the Censorate and secured control over punishments. Only during the Yonghui 永徽 reign (650–655), when Cui Yuanmao 崔元茂 served as grand master, did it adjudicate legal cases. [Thus] it was only after the Tang dynasty that the Censorate came to oversee punishments and legal cases in addition to impeachment.

During the early Tang dynasty, the power of the Censorate was great. The

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