Positions Of Shi Seen In The Bamboo Slips And Grass-roots Administration Of Qin And Han Dynasties

As officers mainly engaged in official document management,the Positions of Shi are set up in all levels of government from the central to the local.The ranks of Positions of Shi in different levels are not the same.The Positions of Shi at the county level and its lower-level institutions mainly belong to two ranks:Doushi and Zuoshi.Lingshi is an important subordinate officer in the county court.In the Qin and early Former Han Dynasties,Lingshi works in Zhucao system and has various functions in which official document management and supervisory control are chief functions.Since the middle Former Han Dynasty,the amounts and functions of Lingshi are cut when Zhucao system is institutionalized.Lingshi is expert in document management and statistics.Besides,Lingshi is familiar with laws and procedures for administrative works and plays an important role in daily work of county such as drafting and sending and receiving official documents,reviewing registration documents,and supervising the management of government materials.Lingshi participates in the grass-roots administration through these daily works.Official document management is always the basic function of Lingshi even if its functions are changing.The reason why Lingshi plays this role is related to the selection system.Mainly,Lingshi has two ways to be selected,one way is promoted from the test in Xueshi and another is promoted from the low-level Positions of Shi by their performance.Lingshi belongs to Doushi rank.Its treatment is mainly based on rank and includes salary,food,rewards,travel service and other services provided by government,in which salary and food are most important.Yushi is a subordinate officer in the county court who is mainly responsible for judicial work.Yushi plays an important role injudicial activities including investigation,chasing and interrogating suspects,conviction and execution,and making judicial documents.Yushi is familiar with laws and judicial procedures.As a judicial official,its opinions could affect the judgments of county magistrate.Yushi is mainly selected from the low-level officers who are familiar with laws.Yushi is mainly promoted to Zushi for accumulating achievements and solving difficult cases.Yushi’s treatment is basically the same as Lingshi.Yushi participates in the grass-roots administration by its virtue role in judicial activities.The work of Yushi affects the effect of social security management.Caoshi,Guanshi,Xiangshi,Weishi and Houshi belong to Zuoshi rank.They respectively belong to the county-village administrative system and the border military organization system.Although the specific forms of works are different,they could be mainly summarized into two aspects:official document management and statistics.Besides,they would also go out on business according to the instructions of their superiors.They have a well understanding of daily work’s procedures and are indispensable in daily work.These Positions of Shi participate in the operation of the grass-roots administration by their own capabilities.After they have accumulated work experience,they could be promoted to a higher-level Positions of Shi.