In 2020, we published a paper lead-authored by Bijia Chen in the Journal of Chinese History that introduced the CGED-Q. At the time, we were still entering data. We finally concluded entry of all the 縉紳錄 editions available to us late in 2021.
Here we present updated versions of the figures in the JCH paper on time trends in the composition of Qing civil officials in the 18th and 19th centuries based on the most recent version of the dataset. Most of the new editions coded after the publication of the paper were from the 1830s and 1840s, though we also filled in some gaps elsewhere. The revised figures also reflect some minor changes in our categorization of specific posts.
I also added some figures that weren’t included in the original paper, including time trends in the percentages (as opposed to numbers) of officials with different chushen 出身. I also added some figures on trends in province of origin for central and non-central officials over time that we had in some early version of the paper but ended up cutting because we already had a lot of figures, and actually the trends in province of origin in the composition of officials overall weren’t that striking.
You may notice the large expansion in the number of officials in the central government after 1900. For a discussion of some of the changes in the composition of central government officials that took place after 1900, please see my paper, and Bijia Chen’s lead-authored paper:
康文林 (Cameron Campbell). 2020. 清末科举停废对士人文官群体的影响——基于微观大数据的宏观新视角 (The Influence of the Abolition of the Examinations at the End of the Qing on the Holders of Exam Degrees).社会科学辑刊 (Social Science Journal) 2020:4(249):156–166. LINK
陈必佳 (Bijia CHEN),康文林 (Cameron Campbell), 李中清 (James Z. Lee). 2018. 清末新政前后旗人与宗室官员的官职变化初探——以《缙绅录》数据库为材料的分析 (The Transition of Banner and Imperial Lineage Officials During the Late Qing Reform Period: Evidence from the Qing Jinshenlu Database). 清史研究 (The Qing History Journal) (4):10-20. http://qsyj.iqh.net.cn/CN/abstract/abstract2384.shtml
If you refer to any of the updated figures below, or make use of them in a lecture or presentation, please give proper credit, including citing the original Journal of Chinese History article.
Location and type of position, and Banner affiliation of officials
Figure 1 from the original paper presented the distribution of posts according to whether they were local or central government, and whether they were regularly or irregularly recorded in the 縉紳錄. By irregularly recorded posts, we mean ones that were only recorded in commercial editions 坊刻本, or were recorded in official editions 官刻本 but whose numbers varied substantially from one edition to the next. Here is the updated version:
Here is a version of the same figure that starts in 1830:
Figure 5 presented officials in regularly recorded posts according to whether they were Banner or non-Banner, and central or non-central. Here is the updated version:
Chushen 出身
Figure 6 presented the qualifications chushen 出身 of non-Banner officials in regularly recorded posts in the central government by time. As discussed in the paper, the vast majority of non-Banner officials who served in the central government had jinshi 進士 degrees.
Here is the same figure, but with annualized percentages instead of quarterly counts:
Figure 7 presented the qualifications chushen 出身 of non-Banner officials in regularly recorded posts in the provincial, prefectural, and county administrations over time. As discussed in the original paper, the clearest trend is the increase over time in the share of officials with purchased degrees Jiansheng 監生 and non-standard Gongsheng 異徒貢生 and the reduction in the number of officials with examination degrees.
Here is the same figure as annualized percentages:
Province of origin
Here are counts of province of origin for non-Banner officials serving in the central government (京官):
And here is the same figure as percentages:
Counts of non-Banner officials serving outside the central government (外管) by province of origin：
The same, but as percentages:
