PROV] NCIAL AND LOCA L ADMINISTRATION 677size of the unit, so that the higher ranking - presumably the best - officials would
have to be chosen for the more important magistracies, On the other hand, larger
units might have presumably less control over their populations than small ones
since there would be no regular chain of command over smaller districts and
subordinate magistrates.
Yu also wanted to allow district magistrates to appoint their lower ranking
officials and staff - one of the most prevalent recommendations in the Chinese
literature. This practice had been used throughout the Han dynasty, but because
local staff posts were being sold indiscriminately, Emperor Hou-chu of the Later
Ch'en in the late sixth century took this power away from the district magis-
trates and transferred it to the Ministry of Personnel in the capital, a practice
continued after the Sui dynasty. Yu was convinced, nonetheless, that the Han
system was superior. He wanted to call the irregular district staff assistants in
Korea the local officials (Hyanggwan) and have a rectifier (Chon 'jong) and inves-
tigator (Chon'gom) take the place of the head of the seat (Chwasu) and special
director (Pyolgam), the chiefs of the local yangban or gentry associations
(Hyangch'ong), who until the late Choson supposedly had supervisory control
over the clerks (sari) of the district magistrate's office. In addition, each juris-
diction would have a specified but varying supply of clerks and boy servants
serving in the magistrate's office and the local school (to be discussed later).
Not only did he seek to professionalize the ranks of irregular officials by giv-
ing them pay, status, and regular posts rather than abandon central government
responsibility for their conditions of work, he also wanted to incorporate the
officials of the local yang ban associations into the local districts and put them
directly under the magistrate's jurisdiction.?
Provincial Level OfficialsIn Chinese history the development of the province and its governor as an inter-
mediary unit of local administration developed gradually over several dynas-
ties. Prefects of commanderies were similar to governors since they controlled
a number of districts. Even in the Sui and T'ang dynasties, the regional inspec-
tor (Tz'u-shih) who headed the prefecture (now called Chou) still controlled dis-
tricts, but because of the expansion of mi I itary activities mi I itary units (Fu) and
larger military units called superior area commands (Ta-tsung-kuan-fu) were
created under the command of regional governor (Tsung-kuan) to oversee as
many as several dozen prefectures. Though soon abolished, it revealed the need
for a larger unit to assist in the control of regions.s In the eighth century, the
threat of foreign invasion required the establishment of military commission-
ers (Chieh-tu-shih) over certain frontier regions with civil as well as military
responsibilities. At first civil officials, the posts were then taken over by mili-
tary men, the most famous of which was An Lu-shan, who rebelled against the
dynasty in 755.^9
In the Ming dynasty, provincial governors above the level of prefects were