Regular Attendants In West Han Dynasty

“Regular attendant”, an important part in bureaucratic system, is of particularfeatures in political life of Han dynasty. Previous studies on the issue of “regularattendant” are rather ambiguous. Different statements on “regular attendant” can befound in various literatures. Different types of “regular attendant” are often confusedwith each other. Some researchers even follow the previous ideas without consideringwhether they are correct or not.By carding the records to “regular attendants” in Shih-chi and Han-shu, this thesisdivides “regular attendant” into following three categories according to its nature andtypes. Regular attendant is divided into the first category is; regularly attending mountedgentleman and regular attendants of militant cavalry are divided into the secondcategory; regularly attending gentleman and regular palace attendants are divided into thethird category. And then, the thesis discuses the candidates and status of these three typesof regular attendants as well as their relationship. Finally, under the condition ofexploring the development of each type of “regular attendant” and the political evolutionin West Han dynasty, the thesis aims to clarify the development of “regular attendants”system and the reason why it evolved to the regular palace attendants in West Handynasty.