清代政区分等与官僚资源调配的量化分析

A Quantitative Analysis of the Ranking of Administrative Regions and the Distribution of Bureaucratic Resources

清代以"冲繁疲难"四字对政区进行分等,并依据各府厅州县所占字数的不同将其划分为最要缺、要缺、中缺、简缺,分别将其选任权力交予地方督抚与吏部。通过对"冲繁疲难"及"最要缺""要缺""中缺""简缺"分别予以制度梳理、量化统计、GIS分析,可以看到清朝如何将千差万别的地理状况按照"冲繁疲难"四字予以标准化,作为替代性指标反映各地交通位置、行政事务、赋税征收、地方治安的空间差异,有针对性地依据治理难度来调配有限的官僚资源,包括在大一统体制下有意擢升边疆地区的级别以吸引行政能力更强的官员前往赴任。本文通过对新建立的《缙绅录》量化数据库中数百万清朝官员信息数据的追踪,进一步探究了政区分等如何影响到官员的出身、选任以及晋升,为理解当代中国官员选拔制度提供了长时段的观察视角。

The Qing government ranked all the administrative regions according to the four criteria,Chong,Fan,Pi,Nan,or namely transportation,administrative workload,tax collection,and criminal rate,and based on the ranking of the regions,local officialdom was categorized as the most crucial,the crucial,intermediate,and simple positions.Using historical research on the institutional change,the quantitative analysis and the GIS analysis,this research investigates how the Qing government distributed the limited bureaucratic resources based on this ranking system.It shows how the ranking system influenced the selection and promotion of local officials in the long run.In particular,it argues that the Qing government intentionally raised the rank of regions in the frontier to attract officials with higher administrative capabilities to take the positions there.This research may shed some light on the contemporary Chinese system of official selection and promotion as well.