66

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

of  communication  between  them  and  the  provincial  government ­
  ;  but  the  circuit  is  not  an  official  division  of  the
province,  and  is  nowhere  marked  on  any  map.  He  is  the
civil  authority  in  control  of  the  military  forces  within  his
jurisdiction,  and  as  such  is  distinguished  from  Salt  and
Grain  Taotais  by  the  title  Ping-pei  Tao,  “  the  Taotai  (in
charge  of)  military  preparation."  He  is  usually  the  Superintendent ­
  (colleague  of  the  Commissioner)  of  the  Custom
House,  if  any,  within  his  circuit,  and  is  then  styled  Kwan
Tao,  “  Customs  Taotai  ”  ;  but  this  is  not  the  case  in  the
Kwangtung  ports,  where  formerly  the  Hoppo,  and  since
1904  the  Viceroy,  is  Superintendent,  nor  in  the  Fukien
ports,  of  which  the  Tartar  General  holds  the  post.  At
Tientsin  there  is  a  special  Customs  Taotai  in  addition  to
the  territorial  Taotai.
Chih-Fu,  the  “  Knower  of  a  Prefecture,"  commonly
translated  Prefect.  He  is  supervising  officer  of  the  largest
political  division  within  a  province,  the  Fu,  of  which  each
province  has  from  seven  to  thirteen,  with  a  total  of  183  for
the  Eighteen  Provinces.  He  deals  more  with  the  external
relations  of  his  Fu  than  with  its  internal  administration,
and  is  more  a  channel  of  communication  than  an  executive
officer,  but  acts  as  a  court  of  appeal  from  the  Hsien' 5
court.  He  has  no  separate  Fu  city,  but  the  Hsien  city
in  which  he  resides  is  known  generally  by  the  Fu  name,
though  on  Chinese  maps  both  the  Fu  and  Hsien  name 5
are  printed.
Tung-Chih,  the  “  Joint  Knower  "  or  Deputy  Prefect,  i 5
either  in  charge  of  a  Chow  or  Chihli-ting,  or  exercises  the
delegated  power  of  a  Prefect  in  a  branch  of  his  functions,
such  as  maritime  defence,  water  communications,  control
of  aboriginal  tribes,  etc.
Tung-pan,  Assistant  Deputy  Prefect,  holds  office  under
the  Prefect,  in  charge  of  police  matters,  revenue,  etc.
Chih-Chow,  “  Knower  of  a  Chow,"  is  either  in  charge
of  a  Chihli  or  independent  Chow,  with  prefectural  functions,
and  subordinated  to  no  Prefect  but  reporting  direct  to  the
provincial  government  ;  or  is,  like  a  Tung-chih  of  the  first