OFFICIAL SALARIES AND EXPENSES 839
also assumed whatever the disparity of salaries between the highest and low-
est functionaries all such legal and open systems had been fair because they
were consistent with the available economic resources of the country and based
on an equitable tax rate. Even the high salaries of top officials in the Han dynasty
were not irresponsible manifestations of excessive imperial largesse because
they were consistent with the positions of the officials involved and also pro-
vided for the salaries of their assistants, clerks, and runners as well. For that
matter, the salaries (or feudal allotments) of seventeenth-century Japanese
daimyo were sufficient to pay for the living costs of hundreds or thousands of
troops under their command.^50
Yu ended his survey of salary schedules by treating the Koryo and Choson
dynasties in Korea. He only included the salary schedule in the reign of King
Munjong Cr. 1047-83) of the Koryo dynasty because it represented the culmi-
nation of various changes that had taken place since the beginning ofthat dynasty
in the early tenth century, and presumably remained valid until the military coup
d'etat of 1170. He noted, presumably with great favor, that the annual income
of 139,700 sam of revenue in rice, millet, and wheat were stored in the Left Ware-
house (Chwach'ang) and distributed to all officials according to their grade, based
on the principle that "anyone who had a post received a salary." The salary range
was from a high of 400 to a low of TO srJm per year per person. or a modest ratio
of 4°/1, and all provincial officials as well as clerks were also entitled to full
salariesY
The salary schedule of the early Chason dynasty was more complex because
salaries were paid in grain, silk, cotton cloth, and paper money. A rank I A offi-
cial received 98 sam of grain, 6 p 'il of silk, 15 p' it of cotton cloth, and 10 chang
of paper money, while a rank 9A official received only 12 siJm of grain, no silk.
2 p 'il of cotton cloth, and 1 chang of paper money. The salary ratio was appar-
ently consistent with rates in other dynasties, but financial difficulty sustained
from Hideyoshi's invasions in 1592-98 had a disastrous effect on official
salaries. Yu estimated the annual grain salary of rank I officials in his own time
as barely more than 60 si5m, and no grants of silk. cotton, or paper money at all,
while a rank 9 official received barely 12 sam. The latter could only support
themselves by receiving "offerings" of food from the provinces called (chin-
hong), and they also divided up funds that were left over from bureau expenses
(pun a) for their own use. There was no fixed salary schedule for provincial offi-
cials, and their incomes varied considerably and derived from different sources,
primarily from irregular levies and additional taxes. Since the military officers
in the provinces, from provincial army and navy commanders to the comman-
ders of garrisons. were not provided with regular salaries either, they raised
income by releasing their troops from duty and collecting cloth support pay-
ments instead.
While some clerks received no salaries at all, others might receive a ration
equivalent to 6 mal of grain, but even capital clerks were deprived of salaries if
they were under punishment for some misfeasance or were on duty at a granary