68

THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

torically  the  Governor  is  an  interloper,  dating  back  only  to
the  Ming  Dynasty,  being  originally  a  visiting  inspector
delegated  by  the  Imperial  Government  to  supervise  and
report  on  the  working  of  the  provincial  administration,  but
tending  by  degrees  to  become  a  fixture  ;  in  some  important
functions  of  government  the  Pu-cheng  Shih-sze,  the  original
Governor,  the  present  Provincial  Treasurer,  still  in  theory
remains  the  chief.  The  Viceroy  dates  back  only  to  the  last
century  of  Ming  rule.  The  Taotai  is  still  more  modern,
dating  from  the  beginnings  of  the  present  dynasty.  So  is
the  Fu,  but  historically  he  is  the  modern  representative  of
the  thirty-six  provincial  rulers  of  the  Tsin  dynasty  (b.c.  221)
and  of  the  Han  which  followed  it.  The  Chow  is  also  a
modem  revival,  representing  the  rulers  of  provincial  areas
(Chow)  instituted  b.c.  140.  The  Hsien  is  perhaps  the
oldest.
A  few  words  must  be  said  on  the  functions  of  government
in  the  provinces  which  are  not  provided  by  the  official
hierarchy.  Every  Chinese  official  is  supposed  to  be  qualified
to  undertake  every  branch  of  human  enterprise,  from
railway  engineering  to  street  scavenging,  from  the  interpretation ­
  of  the  law  to  the  execution  of  criminals,  and  to
accept  full  responsibility  for  the  consequences  of  his  acts
or  the  acts  of  his  subordinates.  In  effect,  however,  this
Jack-of-all-trades  attitude  is  offset  by  the  natural  wish  fof
expert  aid,  and  by  the  equally  natural  tendency  to  create
a  gainful  office  whenever  possible.  Extra-official  functions
are  delegated  by  the  responsible  officials,  just  as  in  Massachusetts ­
  the  elected  executive  delegates  certain  of  his
functions  to  police,  railway,  insurance  and  charity  commissions ­
  nominated  by  himself—i.e.  by  the  exercise  of
patronage.  In  China  this  delegated  employment  is  actually
so-called,  chai-shih  ;  and  the  Director  of  an  arsenal  controlling ­
  the  expenditure  of  millions,  the  officials  of  the
likin  collectorate,  the  Viceroy’s  adviser  on  international
or  on  railway  matters,  and  a  deputy  who  does  little  mor e
than  carry  messages,  are  alike  in  theory  only  the  delegates
ad  hoc  of  the  appointing  power.  These  unofficial  official 5