CENTRAL BUREAUCRACY 633
RECTIFYING LA XITY AND DISSIPATION
Desultory Perjemnance on the JobYu had quoted Ha ChOk's remarks of the mid-seventeenth century about the con-
fusion that governed public finance. The district magistrates remitted thousands
of cash to the Ministry of Works supposedly in payments for their work, but
they received nothing in return. The poor peasants were beleaguered with
demands for transporting goods for the infantry under the Ministry of War, but
the Ministry did not have enough funds to pay them. Officials and clerks were
almost completely lacking in information about collecting cash and grain, mak-
ing official payments, judging criminal cases and civil suits, performing sacri-
fices at rituals, or conducting important rites.^64
Ha Chak ascribed part of the reason for this situation to the failure of regu-
lar officials to show up for work in their offices, leaving the clerks in their office
to handle affairs in their place. Yu suspected that laxity in attendance was a prod-
uct of the absence of a formal spirit of dignity and respect that had to be main-
tained in every yamen. The modcl for this spirit had been provided by Cho Han's
description in 1574 of the manner in which the Ming Board of Rites began each
working day by formal procedures similar to a ritual ceremony. Before the chief
officials (Tang-shang) arrived, their subordinates would line up to the left and
right of the stairs to the platform in the main hall, bow to each other, and wait
for the Tang-shang to enter from the rear gate, enter the hall, and take their seats.
Then all subordinate officials would bow in unison to the Tang-shang, receive
a return bow from them, bow to each other, and then leave the hall. This pro-
cedure was followed by the clerks. The duty personnel would then proceed to
their own offices and begin the conduct of daily business.
If an official arrived from the provinces with some business. he would follow
correct procedure and courtesy, advance to the platform in the main courtyard,
genuflect, and hand his petition or report to the chief duty official (Lang-chung),
who would then place it on the Tang-shang's desk. The provincial official would
bow and withdraw. and the duty officials would discuss the document and pre-
sent their recommendations for a decision, and in no case did it take more than
one or two days for a decision to be rendered. If a petition once made was sub-
mitted a second time, or if a popular petition was presented by the people, the
decision would be made the same day. "Thus the procedures at the Chinese court
are regular and strict and there arc no delays in the conduct of government busi-
ness, as I have describcd it."
eho obviously believed that rites and ritual procedure were obviously of great
importance because they induced a proper mood of seriousness and dedication
to the responsibilities of office. and he condemned daily procedure in Korean
government offices for laxity, wasted time, and desultory performance. The prob-
lem was not, however, the lack of formal respect between subordinate officials
(Chwarang) and the bureau duty official (Chongnang) because they never even