唐代令史、书令史探微

An Exploratory View of the Cabinet Secretariat in the Tang Dynasty

唐代令史、书令史,品居“流外”,职位卑微,为士人所不屑。唐代令史、书令史仅在唐中央文官机构中设置,品秩分布在从流外勋品至五品这五个品级上,在不同的官府中其品秩不同,书令史的品秩低于令史。令史、书令史作为“主典”之一,具体负责公文的办理。令史、书令史的选拔通过流外铨和逐级迁转来进行。令史、书令史之考课分为年考和任考,考满后可以入流内叙品而成为流内官。唐代令史、书令史有俸钱和禄米,但并不丰厚。在政治地位上,令史、书令史也没有享有太多的政治特权,其职掌繁重,但总体上处于受歧视状态,社会地位并不高。

The imperial secretariat in the Tang Dynasty was commonly despised by scholars for their inferior position. The secretaries-in-general and secretaries served only in administractive departments in the Tang court, taking the lowest five official ranks. The cabinet secretariat as full-time office workers took charge mainly of dealing with official documents. The selection of members of the secretariat was carried out by publicly selecting and officially transferring and they had to pass normal and annual examinations before they were employed or continued to be employed. All the members of the secretariat were officially paid but by no means generously. They enjoyed little political privilege but had to bear very heavy responsibility. In a word, the cabinet secretariat as a whole was discriminated against in the court and had low social status.