6o  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
as  a  reward  for  his  services  in  the  conquest,  and  in  the  end
had  to  be  brought  to  subjection  as  a  rebel  against  the
sovereign  power.  With  much  latitude  in  the  exercise  of
their  power,  many  restrictions  are  imposed  on  the  individual
officials.
All  officials  in  the  provinces,  down  to  District  Magistrate,
are  appointed  from  Peking  ;  for  the  lower  posts  the  high
provincial  authorities  may,  and  do,  recommend  ;  but  it  is
Peking  which  appoints,  and  it  is  only  the  central  government ­
  which  can  promote,  transfer,  or  cashier.  This  keeps
the  provincial  officials,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  in  a
proper  state  of  discipline.  Appointment  to  one  post  is  made
for  a  term  of  three  years  ;  for  Viceroys  and  Governors  this
limitation  is  often,  even  usually,  disregarded,  as  when  we
see  Li  Hung-chang  holding  the  Viceroyalty  at  Tientsin  for
nearly  thirty  years  continuously  ;  but  this  exception  is
explained  by  the  desire  to  utilise  to  the  utmost  the  great
experience  of  these  high  officials,  and  by  the  strong  party
backing  which  put  them  in  their  high  positions,  and  which
is  strengthened  by  the  patronage  which  is  then  at  their
disposal.  For  officials  lower  in  rank  the  rule  is  almost
universally  followed  ;  they  may  be  reappointed  once,  but
at  the  end  of  their  second  triennial  term  at  latest  they  must
strike  root  afresh  in  new  surroundings,  and,  incidentally»
must  again  contribute  to  the  maintenance  of  their  superiors,
as  is  explained  in  the  next  chapter.
Another  restriction  is  peculiar  to  China,  and  is  never
relaxed  ;  no  official  is  ever  appointed  to  a  post  in  the
province  of  his  birth.  The  military  are  an  exception,  but
they  exercise  little  influence,  and  Manchuria  is  governed  by
Manchus  ;  otherwise  the  rule  is  invariable.  The  Chinese
never  voluntarily  abandon  the  homestead,  or  surrender  their
interest  in  the  ancestral  shrine  ;  and  every  official  is  aU
alien  to  the  people  he  rules,  often  unable  to  understand  the
dialect  they  speak.  He  brings  his  family  connections  with
him  as  secretaries  and  purveyors,  and,  if  he  is  a  Viceroy  ° r
Governor,  he  brings  a  bodyguard  of  his  co-provincials,  loyal
to  his  person  ;  but  otherwise  he  is  surrounded  by  aliens.