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Software Configuration Management
Patterns: Effective Teamwork, Practical
Integration

By Steve Berczuk
with Brad Appleton

Copyright 2002 Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA. All rights reserved

(Cover1.fm 6/14/02) 1
Software Configuration Management Patterns:
Effective Teamwork, Practical Integration

By Steve Berczuk
with Brad Appleton

(SBTitle.fm 6/14/02) 1
Table of Contents

Table of Contents iii

Preface ix
Why I wrote this book x
Who should read this book xi
How to read this book. xi
Origins of this Material xii
About the Photos xii
Contributor’s Preface xiii
Why I co-wrote this book with Steve xiii
Acknowledgements xv
1
Introduction 1
Key Concepts and Terminology 1
Codeline and Branching Diagrams 6
Further Reading 7
11
Putting a System Together 11
Balancing Stability and Progress 12
The Role of SCM in Agile Software Development 14
SCM in Context 15
SCM as a Team Support Discipline 18
What Software Configuration Management Is 19
The Role of Tools 22
The Larger Whole 22
This Book’s Approach 22

Table of Contents (SBTOC.fm 6/14/02) iii

 Unresolved Issues 23
Further Reading 23
25
The Software Environment 25
General Principles 25
What Software is About 27
The Development Workspace 30
Architecture 30
The Organization 33
The Big Picture 35
Further Reading 36
37
Patterns 37
About Patterns and Pattern Languages 38
Patterns in Software 39
Configuration Management Patterns 40
Structure of Patterns in this Book 42
The Pattern Language 42
Overview of the Language 44
Unresolved Issues 50
Further Reading 50
51
55
Mainline 55
Simplify your Branching Model 59
Unresolved Issues 61
Further Reading 62
63
Active Development Line 63
Define your goals 66
Unresolved Issues 69
Further Reading 69
71
iv (SBTOC.fm) Table of Contents ( )
Private Workspace 71
Isolate Your Work to Control Change 76
Unresolved Issues. 80
Further Reading 81
83
Repository 83
One Stop Shopping 86
Unresolved Issues 89
Further Reading 89
91
Private System Build 91
Think Globally by Building Locally 94
Unresolved Issues 98
Further Reading 98
101
Integration Build 101
Do a Centralized Build 104
Unresolved Issues 106
Further Reading 106
107
Third Party Codeline 107
Use the tools you already have 110
Unresolved Issues 113
Further Reading 113
115
Task Level Commit 115
Do One Commit per small-grained task 117
Unresolved Issues 118
119
Codeline Policy 119
Define the Rules of the Road 122

Table of Contents (SBTOC.fm 6/14/02) v

 Unresolved Issues 123
Further Reading 123
125
Smoke Test 125
Verify Basic Functionality 126
Unresolved Issues 128
Further Reading 128
129
Unit Test 129
Test The Contract 131
Unresolved Issues 132
Further Reading 132
133
Regression Test 133
Test for Changes 135
Further Reading 136
137
Private Versions 137
A Private History 140
143
Release Line 143
Further Reading 147
149
Release-Prep Code Line 149
Branch instead of Freeze 151
Unresolved Issues 152
153
Task Branch 153
Handling Long Lived Tasks 153
Use Branches for Isolation 156

Table of Contents (SBTOC.fm 6/14/02) vi

 159
Referenced Patterns 159
Named Stable Bases 159
Daily Build and Smoke Test 159
161
Bibliography 161
161
167
SCM Resources On-line 167
171
Tool Support for SCM Patterns 171
VSS - Visual Source Safe 173
CVS - The Concurrent Version System 175
Perforce 177
BitKeeper 179
AccuRev 181
ClearCase - base functionality (non-UCM) 183
ClearCase - Unified Change Management (UCM) 185
CM Synergy 186
StarTeam 187
PVCS Dimensions 189
PVCS Version Manager 190
MKS Integrity (Enterprise edition) 191
Further Reading 192
1
Photo Credits 1
1
About the Photos 1
List of Figures 1

Table of Contents (SBTOC.fm 6/14/02) vii

viii (SBTOC.fm) Table of Contents ( )
Preface

Configuration management is not what I do. I am not a configuration management

person. I am not an organizational-anthropology person. However, I discovered
early on that understanding organizations, software architecture, and configuration
management were essential to doing my job as a software developer. I also find this
systems perspective on software engineering interesting. I build software systems,
and configuration management is a very important, and often neglected, part of
building software systems. In this book I hope that I can show you how to avoid
some of the problems that I have encountered so that you can build systems more
effectively with your team.
I should probably explain what I mean in making the distinction between SCM peo-
ple and people who build software systems. The stereotype is that configuration
management people are concerned with tools and control. They are conservative, and
they prefer slow predictable progress. They are also “the few” as compared with” the
many” developers in an organization. Software engineers (so the stereotype goes) are
reckless. They want to build things fast, and they are confident that they can code
their way out of any situation. These are extreme stereotypes, and in my experience,
the good software engineers and the good release/quality assurance/configuration
management people have a common goal: they are focused on delivering quality sys-
tems with the least amount of wasted effort.
Good configuration management practice is the not the silver bullet to building sys-
tems on time, just as patterns, extreme programming, the Unified Process, or any-
thing else that you might hear about. It is however, a part of the toolkit that most
people ignore because they fear “process,” often because of bad experiences in the
past. (Weigers 2002)
This book describes some common software configuration management practices.
The book will be particularly interesting to software developers working in small
teams who suspect that they are not using software configuration management as

Preface (SBPreface.fm 6/14/02) ix

effectively as they can. The techniques that we describe are not tool specific. Like any
set of patterns or best practices, the ease with which you can apply the patterns may
depend on whether or not your tool provides explicit support for it.

Why I wrote this book

I started my software development career with a small R&D group that was based in
the Boston area. Aside from the many interesting technical problems we had encoun-
tered as part of our jobs, we had the added twist of having joint development projects
with a group in our parent company’s home base in Rochester, New York. This expe-
rience helped me recognize early in my career that software development wasn’t just
about good design and good coding practices, but also about coordination among
people in the same group, and even teams in different cities. Our group took the lead
in setting up the mechanics of how we would share code and other artifacts of the
development process. We did the usual things to make working together easier such
as meetings, teleconferences and e-mail lists. The way that we set up our (and the
remote team’s) software configuration management system to share code played a
very large part in making our collaboration easier.
The people who set up the SCM process for out Boston group used techniques that
seemed to have been tried throughout their careers. As I move on to other organiza-
tions, I was amazed to find how may places were struggling with the same common
problems — problems that I knew had good solutions. This was particularly true
because I have been with a number of startups that were only one or two years old
when I joined. One to two years is often the stage in a startup where you are hiring
enough people that coordination and shared vision are difficult goals to attain.
A few years into my career, I discovered patterns. Eric Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph
Johnson, and John Vlissides were just finishing the book Design Patterns (Gamma et
al. 1995), and the Hillside group was organizing the first Pattern Languages of Pro-
gram (PLoP) conference. There is a lot of power in the idea of patterns since they are
about using the right solution at the right time, and also because patterns are interdis-
ciplinary; they are not just about domain or language specific coding techniques, but
about how to build software from all perspectives, from the code to the team. I work-
shopped a number of papers at the various PLoP conferences that dealt with patterns
at the intersection of design, coding, and configuration management (Steve Berczuk
1996b; Stephen P Berczuk 1996a, 1995; Appleton et al. 1998; Cabrera et al. 1999; Steve
Berczuk and Appleton 2000).

x (SBPreface.fm) Preface ( )
At one Pattern Languages of Programming (PLoP) conference I met Brad Appleton,
who is more of an SCM person than I am. We co-authored a paper about branching
patterns (Appleton et al. 1998),just one aspect of SCM. After much encouragement
from our peers, I started working on this book.
I hope that this book helps you avoid some common mistakes, either by making you
aware of these approaches, or by providing you with documentation you can use to
explain methods that you already know about to others in your organization.

Who should read this book

I hope that anyone who builds software and uses a configuration management sys-
tem can learn from this book. The details of the configuration management problem
change depending on the types of systems that you are building, the size of the
teams, and the environment that you work in. Since it’s probably impossible to write
a book that will address everyone’s needs and also keep everyone’s interest, I had to
limit what I was talking about. This book will be most valuable to someone who is
building software, or managing a software project, in a small to medium size organi-
zation where there is not a lot of defined process. If you are in small company, astar-
tup, or in a small project team in a larger organization, you will benefit most from the
lessons in this book. Having said that, even if your organization has a very well
defined, heavy, process, that seems to be impeding progress, you’ll be able to use the
patterns in this book to better focus on the key tasks of SCM.

How to read this book.

The introduction explains some basic concepts for software configuration manage-
ment (SCM) and also the notation that the diagrams use. Chapter 1 introduces the
software configuration management concepts that I use in this book. Chapter 2 talks
about some of the forces that influence decisions that you make about what sort of
SCM environment that you have. Chapter 3 introduces the concept of patterns and
the patterns in this book and how they relate to each other. The rest of the book con-
sists of patterns that illustrate problems and solutions to common SCM problems.
Chapters 1 and 2 define the general problems that this book addresses. To under-
stand the how the patterns fit together, you should read chapter 3 to get an overview
of the language. After you have read the first 3 chapters, you can browse the patterns

Preface (SBPreface.fm 6/14/02) xi

in the rest of the book, starting with an interesting one, and following the ones that
relate to your problem. Another approach is to read the patterns in order and form a
mental picture of the connections between them.
The references to the other patterns in the book appear in the introductory paragraph
for each section, and in the “Unresolved Issues” section at the end of each chapter,
using a presentation like this: ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT LINE (5). The number in paranthe-
ses is the chapter number that contains the patterns.
Since this is a large field to cover, some of the context and unresolved issues sections
don’t refer to other patterns, either in the book, or elsewhere, since they haven’t been
documented. In this case you will see a description about what a pattern might cover.

Origins of this Material

Much of the material in this book has its origins in papers that were written for vari-
ous Pattern Languages of Programs conferences by myself, Brad Appleton, Ralph
Cabrera, and Robert Orenstein. The patterns here have been greatly revised from the
original material, but it’s appropriate to mention these papers here to acknowledge
the roles of others to this work: “Streamed Lines: Branching Patterns for Parallel
Software Development” (Appleton et al. 1998) , “Software Reconstruction: Patterns
for Reproducing the Build” (Cabrera et al. 1999), “Configuration Management Pat-
terns” (Steve Berczuk 1996b).

About the Photos

The photos that start each chapter are from the the Library Of Congress. All of the
photos are from the first half of the twentieth cetntury. With the exception of one
photo (the photo for ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT LINE (5)), they are from the collection: Depres-
sion Era to World War II ~ FSA/OWI ~ Photographs ~ 1935-1945: America from the Great
Depression to World War II: Photographs from the FSA and OWI, ca. 1935-1945. I chose
these pictures because I wanted to provide a visual metaphor for the patterns. Soft-
ware is an abstract concept, but many of the problems that we solve, particularly the
ones about teams, are similar to real world problems. I also have always had an inter-
est in photography and history.
-Steve Berczuk, Arlington Massachusetts, June, 2002.

xii (SBPreface.fm) Preface ( )

Contributor’s Preface

Why I co-wrote this book with Steve

I began my software development career in 1987 as a part-time software tools devel-
oper to pay for my last year of college. Somehow it “stuck” because I’ve been doing
some form of tool development ever since (particularly SCM tools), even when it
wasn’t my primary job. I even worked (briefly) for a commercial SCM tool vendor,
and part of my job was to stay “current” on the competition. So I amassed as much
knowledge as I could about other SCM tools on the market. Even after I changed jobs,
I continued my SCM pursuits, and frequented various tool user groups on the Inter-
net.

At one time, I longed to advance the “state of the art” in SCM environments, and kept
up with all the latest research. I soon became frustrated with the vast gap between the
“state of the art” and the “state of the practice.” I concluded I could do more good by
helping advance the state of the practice to better utilize available tools. Not long
after that, I discovered software patterns and the patterns community. It was clear
these guys were “onto” something important in their combination of analysis and
storytelling for disseminating recurring best practices of software design.

At the time, there weren’t many people in the design patterns community that were
trying to write-up SCM patterns. SCM is, after all, the “plumbing of software devel-
opment” to a lot of programmers: everyone acknowledge that they need it, but no
one wants to have to dive into it too deeply and get their hands entrenched in it. They
just want it to work, and to not have to bother with it all that much.

Contributor’s Preface (SBPreface2.fm 6/14/02) xiii

It didn’t take long for me to “hook up” with Steve Berczuk. We wrote several SCM
patterns papers together (with Ralph Cabrera) as part of my ACME project at
acme.bradapp.net, and later decided to work on this book.We hope this small but
cohesive set of core patterns about integration and teamwork helps the unsuspecting
developer-cum-project-lead to survive and thrive in successfully leading and coordi-
nating their team’s collaborative efforts and integrating the results into working soft-
ware.

Thank you to my wife Maria for her unending love and support (and our daughter
Kaeley), and to my parents for their encouragement. Thanks also to my former man-
ager Arbela for her encouragement, support and friendship.
-- Brad Appleton

xiv (SBPreface2.fm) Contributor’s Preface ( )

Acknowledgements

My Editor, Debbie Lafferty for her patience, negotiation skill, and enthusiasm. The
production staff, ...(names?)
Everyone who provided feedback on the manuscript, including Hisham Alzanoon,
Bruce Angstadt, Stanley Barton, David Bellagio, Phil Brooks, Kyle Brown, Frank
Buschmann, Thomas Dave, Bernard Farrell, Linda Fernandez, Jeff Fischer, William
Hasling, Kirk Knoernschild, Dmitri Lapyguine, McDonald Michael, James Noble,
Damon Poole, Linda Rising, Alan Shalloway, Eric Shaver, Michael Sheetz, Dave
Spring, Marianne Tromp, Ross Wetmore, Farrero XavierVerges.
And lastly, I must mention Gillian Kahn, my partner in all things, whose feedback,
insight, and especially patience as I finished this project were invaluable to me.

Acknowledgements (SBAcknowledgements.fm 6/14/02) xv

xvi (SBAcknowledgements.fm) Acknowledgements ( )
Chapter 0
Introduction

This chapter describes some of the basic concepts, notation, and terminology that we
use in this book. The vocabulary of software configuration management is used in
various ways in different contexts, and the definitions here are not a comprehensive
survey of way that these terms are used. Where we can we have tried to use terminol-
ogy that is commonly used. This section also provides a basic introduction to the
practices of version control, and some suggestions for further reading.

Key Concepts and Terminology

Software configuration management (SCM) comprises factors such as configuration
identification, configuration control, status accounting, review, build management,
process management, and team work (Dart 1992). SCM practices taken as a whole
define how an organization builds and releases products, and identifies and tracks
changes. This book concerns itself with the aspects of SCM that have a direct impact
on the day-to-day work of the people writing code, and implementing features and
changes to that code.
Some of the concepts that developers deal with implicitly, if not by name, are work-
spaces, codelines, and integration.
A workspace is a place where a developer keeps all of the artifacts that they need to
accomplish a task. In concrete terms, a workspace can be a directory tree on disk in
the developer’s working area, or it can be a collection of files maintained in an
abstract space by a tool. A workspace is normally associated with particular versions
of these artifacts. A workspace also should have a mechanism for constructing exe-

Introduction (SBCHOO-Intro.fm 6/14/02) 1

cutable artifacts from the its contents. For example, if you are developing in Java,
your workspace would include:
• Source code (.java files) arranged in the appropriate package structure
• Source code for tests
• Java library files (.jar files)
• Library files for native interfaces, that you do not build (for example, dll
files on windows)
• Scripts that define how you build java files into an executable
Sometimes a workspace is managed in the context of an integrated development
environment (IDE). A workspace is also associated with one or more codelines.
A codeline is the set of source files and other artifacts that comprise some software
component as they change over time. Every time that you change a file or other arti-
fact in the version control system, you create a revision of that artifact. A codeline con-
tains every version of every artifact along one evolutionary path.
At any point in time, a snapshot of the codeline will contain various revisions of each
component in the codeline. Figure 0-1 illustrates this; at one point you have version 1
of both file1.java and File2.java. The next time there is a change to the codeline, the
next version of the codeline comprises revision 1 of File1.java and revision 2 of
File2.java. Any snapshot of the codeline that contains a collection of certain revisions
of every component in the codeline is a version of the codeline1. If you choose to iden-
tify or mark a version as special, you define a label. You might label the set of revi-
sions that went into a release, for example.
In the simplest case, you might just have one codeline that includes all of your prod-
uct code. Components of a codeline evolve at their own rate, and have revisions that
we can identify. You can identify a version of the codeline by a label. The version of

1. In general, you can also “tag” different revisions of components to identify a version of the codeline. For exam-
ple, Version 1 of File2.java and version 3 of File1.java, but there are other, more intuitive ways, of identifying c
configuration like this.

2 (SBCHOO-Intro.fm) Introduction (0)

the codeline is a snapshot that includes the revisions of the components up to the
point of the label.

1 2 3

file1.java

1 2

file2.java

1.0 2.0

Figure 0-1 .A Code Line and its Components

You can have more than one codeline contribute to a product if each codeline consists
of a coherent set of work. Each codeline can have a different purpose, and you can
populate your workspace from an identifiable configuration of snapshots from vari-
ous codelines. For example, you can have third-party code in one codeline, active
development in another, and internal tools that are treated as internal products in a
third. Figure 0-2 illustrates this. Each codeline will also have a policy associated with

Introduction (SBCHOO-Intro.fm 6/14/02) 3

it. These policies define the purpose of the codeline, and rules for when and how you
can make changes.

Stable
Build

/Maindev

Release
1
ToolsDev Workspace

Release
2

ToolsDev

Figure 0-2 .Populating a Workspace from different Code Lines

As codelines evolve, you may discover that some work is derivative from the inten-
tion of the codeline. In this case, you may want to branch the file so that it can evolve
independently of the original development. A branch of a file is revision of the file
that starts with the trunk version as a starting point, and evolves independently. Fig-
ure 0-3 illustrates this. After the second revision someone creates a branch and
changes the file through revisions 2.1, 2.2, etc. A common notation is to indicate a
branch by adding a minor version number (after a “.”) to indicate that the branched
revision is based on the major revision on the trunk. An example of a reason to create
a branch would be that you want to start work on a new release of a product, yet still
be able to fix problems with the released version. In this case you can create a branch
to represent the released version, and do your ongoing work on the trunk. In this
case, some of the changed you make on the branch may need to also make their way

4 (SBCHOO-Intro.fm) Introduction (0)

Random documents with unrelated
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But this civilization is Asiatic and not European, pagan and not
Christian. The institutions of China are despotic and defective, and
founded on wrong principles. They may have the element of
stability, but not of improvement. The patriarchal theory does not
make men honorable, truthful, or kind; it does not place woman in
her right position, nor teach all classes their obligations to their
Maker; the wonder is, to those who know the strength of evil
passions in the human breast, that this huge mass of mankind is no
worse. We must, indeed, look into its structure in order to discover
the causes of this stability, inasmuch as here we have neither a
standing army to enforce nor the machinery of a state religion to
compel obedience toward a sovereign. A short inspection will show
that the great leading principles by which the present administration
preserves its power over the people, consist in a system of strict
surveillance and mutual responsibility among all classes. These are
aided in their efficiency by the geographical isolation of the country,
a remarkable spirit of loyal pride in their own history, and a general
system of political education and official examinations.
These two principles are enforced by such a minute gradation of
rank and subordination of offices as to give the government more of
a military character than at first appears, and the whole system is
such as to make it one of the most unmixed oligarchies now
existing. It is like a network extending over the whole face of
society, each individual being isolated in his own mesh but
responsibly connected with all around him. The man who knows that
it is almost impossible, except by entire seclusion, to escape from
the company of secret or acknowledged emissaries of government,
will be cautious of offending the laws of the country, knowing, as he
must, that though he should himself escape, yet his family, his
kindred, or his neighbors will suffer for his offence; that if unable to
recompense the sufferers, it will probably be dangerous for him to
return home; or if he does, it will be most likely to find his property
in the possession of neighbors or officials, who feel conscious of
security in plundering one whose offences have forever placed him
under a ban.
 The effect of these two causes upon the mass of
RESPONSIBILITY,
the people is to imbue them with a great fear of
FEAR, AND
ISOLATION. the government, both of its officers and its
operations; each man considers that safety is best
to be found in keeping aloof from both. This mutual surveillance and
responsibility, though only partially extended throughout the
multitude, necessarily undermines confidence and infuses universal
distrust; while this object of complete isolation, though at the
expense of justice, truth, honesty, and natural affection, is what the
government strives to accomplish and actually does to a wonderful
degree. The idea of government in the minds of the uneducated
people is that of some ever-present terror, like a sword of Damocles;
and so far has this undefined fear of some untoward result when
connected with it counteracted the real vigor of the Chinese, that to
it may be referred much of their indifference to improvement,
contentment with what is already known and possessed, and
submission to petty injustice and spoliation.
Men are deterred, too, as much by distrust of each other as by fear
of the police, from combining in an intelligent manner to resist
governmental exactions because opposed to principles of equity, or
joining with their rulers to uphold good order; no such men, and no
such instances, as John Hampden going to prison for refusing to
subscribe to a forced loan, or Thomas Williams and his companions
throwing the tea overboard in Boston harbor, ever occurred in China
or any other Asiatic country. They dread illegal societies quite as
much from the cruelties this same distrust induces the leaders to
exercise over recreant or suspected members, as from apprehension
of arrest and punishment by the regular authorities. Thus, with a
state of society at times on the verge of insurrection, this mass of
people is kept in check by the threefold cord of responsibility, fear,
and isolation, each of them strengthening the other, and all
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efficiency. Since all the officers of government received their
intellectual training when commoners under these influences, it is
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in truth, the monarch has the greatest reason to dread lest the
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principles flowing from the patriarchal theory—and partly to their
plodding, industrious character. A brief exposition of the construction
and divisions of the central and provincial governments and their
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departments and officers, will exhibit more of the operation of these
principles.
Although the Emperor is regarded as the head of this great
organization, as the fly-wheel which sets other wheels of the
machine in motion, he is still considered as bound to rule according
to the code of the land; and when there is a well-known law, though
the source of law, he is expected to follow it in his decrees. The
statutes of China form an edifice, the foundations of which were laid
by Lí Kwei twenty centuries ago. Successive dynasties have been
building thereon ever since, adding, altering, pulling down, and
putting together as circumstances seemed to require. The people
have a high regard for the code, “and all they seem to desire is its
just and impartial execution, independent of caprice and
uninfluenced by corruption. That the laws of China are, on the
contrary, very frequently violated by those who are their
administrators and constitutional guardians, there can, unfortunately,
be no question; but to what extent, comparatively with the laws of
other countries, must at present be very much a matter of
conjecture: at the same time it may be observed, as something in
favor of the Chinese system, that there are substantial grounds for
believing that neither flagrant nor repeated acts of injustice do, in
point of fact, often, in any rank or station, ultimately escape with
impunity.”[218] Sir George Staunton is well qualified to speak on this
point, and his opinion has been corroborated by most of those who
have had similar opportunities of judging; while his translation of the
Code has given all persons interested in the question the means of
ascertaining the principles on which the government ostensibly acts.
This body of laws is called Ta Tsing Liuh Lí, i.e., ‘Statutes and
Rescripts of the Great Pure Dynasty,’ and contains all the laws of the
Empire. They are arranged under seven leading heads, viz.: General,
Civil, Fiscal, Ritual, Military, and Criminal laws, and those relating to
Public Works; and subdivided into four hundred and thirty-six
sections, called liuh, or ‘statutes,’ to which the lí, or modern clauses,
to limit, explain or alter them, are added; these are now much more
numerous than the original statutes. A new edition is published by
authority every five years; in the reprint of 1830 the Emperor
ordered that the Supreme Court should make but few alterations,
lest wily litigants might take advantage of the discrepancies between
the new and old law to suit their own purposes. This edition is in
twenty-eight volumes, and is one of the most frequently seen books
in the shops of any city. The clauses are attached to each statute,
and have the same force. No authorized reports of cases and
decisions, either of the provincial or supreme courts, are published
for general use, though their record is kept in the court where they
are decided; the publication of such adjudged cases, as a guide to
officers, is not unknown. An extensive collection of notes,
comments, and cases, illustrating the practice and theory of the
laws, was appended to the edition of 1799.
A short extract from the original preface of the
THE PENAL CODE
OF CHINA.
Code, published in 1647, only three years after the
Manchu Emperors took the throne, will explain the
principles on which it was drawn up. After remarking upon the
inconveniences arising from the necessity of aggravating or
mitigating the sentences of the magistrates, who, previous to the re-
establishment of an authentic code of penal laws, were not in
possession of any fixed rules upon which they could build a just
decision, the Emperor Shunchí goes on to describe the manner of
revising the code:
“A numerous body of magistrates was assembled at the capital, at
our command, for the purpose of revising the penal code formerly in
force under the late dynasty of Ming, and of digesting the same into
a new code, by the exclusion of such parts as were exceptionable
and the introduction of others which were likely to contribute to the
attainment of justice and the general perfection of the work. The
result of their labors having been submitted to our examination, we
maturely weighed and considered the various matters it contained,
and then instructed a select number of our great officers of state
carefully to revise the whole, for the purpose of making such
alterations and emendations as might still be found requisite.
Wherefore, it being now published, let it be your great care, officers
and magistrates of the interior and exterior departments of our
Empire, diligently to observe the same, and to forbear in future to
give any decision, or to pass any sentence, according to your private
sentiments, or upon your unsupported authority. Thus shall the
magistrates and people look up with awe and submission to the
justice of these institutions, as they find themselves respectively
concerned in them; the transgressor will not fail to suffer a strict
expiation of his crimes, and will be the instrument of deterring
others from similar misconduct; and finally both officers and people
will be equally secured for endless generations in the enjoyment of
the happy effects of the great and noble virtues of our illustrious
progenitors.”
Under the head of General Laws are forty-seven
GENERAL, CIVIL,
AND FISCAL LAWS.
sections, comprising principles and definitions
applicable to the whole, and containing some
singular notions on equity and criminality. The description of the five
ordinary punishments, definition of the ten treasonable offences,
regulations for the eight privileged classes, and general directions
regarding the conduct of officers of government, are the matters
treated of under this head. The title of Section XLIV. is “On the
decision of cases not provided for by law;” and the rule is that “such
cases may then be determined by an accurate comparison with
others which are already provided for, and which approach most
nearly to those under investigation, in order to ascertain afterward
to what extent an aggravation or mitigation of the punishment would
be equitable. A provisional sentence conformable thereto shall be
laid before the superior magistrates, and, after receiving their
approbation, be submitted to the Emperor’s final decision. Any
erroneous judgment which may be pronounced, in consequence of
adopting a more summary mode of proceeding in cases of a doubtful
nature, shall be punished as wilful deviation from justice.” This, of
course, gives great latitude to the magistrate, and as he is thus
allowed to decide and act before the new law can be confirmed or
annulled, the chief restraints to his injustice in such cases (which,
however, are not numerous) lie in the fear of an appeal and its
consequences, or of summary reprisals from the suffering parties.
The six remaining divisions pertain to the six administrative boards
of the government. The second contains Civil Laws, under twenty-
eight sections, divided into two books, one of them referring to the
system of government, and the other to the conduct of magistrates,
etc. The hereditary succession of rank and titles is regulated, and
punishments laid down for those who illegally assume these honors.
Most of the nobility of China are Manchus, and none of the
hereditary dignities existing previous to the conquest were
recognized, except those attached to the family of Confucius.
Improperly recommending unfit persons as deserving high honors,
appointing and removing officers without the Emperor’s sanction,
and leaving stations without due permission, are the principal
subjects regulated in the first book. The second book contains rules
regarding the interference of superior magistrates with the
proceedings of the lower courts, and prohibitions against cabals and
treasonable combinations among officers, which are of course capital
crimes; all persons in the employ of the state are required to make
themselves acquainted with the laws, and even private individuals
“who are found capable of explaining the nature and comprehending
the objects of the laws, shall receive pardon in all offences resulting
purely from accident, or imputable to them only from the guilt of
others, provided it be the first offence.”
The third division, of Fiscal Laws, under eighty-two sections,
contains rules for enrolling the people, and of succession and
inheritance; also laws for regulating marriages between various
classes of society, for guarding granaries and treasuries, for
preventing and punishing smuggling, for restraining usury, and for
overseeing shops. Section LXXVI. orders that persons and families
truly represent their profession in life, and restrains them from
indulging in a change of occupation; “generation after generation
they must not vary or alter it.” This rule is, however, constantly
violated. Section XC. exempts the buildings of literary and religious
institutions from taxation. The general aim of the laws relating to
holding real estate is to secure the cultivation of all the land taken
up, and the regular payment of the tax. The proprietor, in some
cases, can be deprived of his lands because he does not till them,
and though in fact owner in fee simple, he is restricted in the
disposition of them by will in many ways, and forfeits them if the
taxes are not paid.
The fourth division, of Ritual Laws, under twenty-
RITUAL, MILITARY,
AND CRIMINAL
six sections, contains the regulations for state
LAWS. sacrifices and ceremonies, those appertaining to
the worship of ancestors, and whatever belongs to
heterodox and magical sects or teachers. The heavy penalties
threatened in some of these sections against all illegal combinations
under the guise of a new form of worship presents an interesting
likeness to the restrictions issued by the English, French, and
German princes during and after the Reformation. The Chinese
authorities had the same dread lest the people should meet and
consult how to resist them. Even processions in honor of the gods
may be forbidden for good reason, and are not allowed at all at
Peking; while, still more, the rites observed by the Emperor cannot
be imitated by any unauthorized person; women are not allowed to
congregate in the temples, nor magicians to perform any strange
incantations. Few of these laws are really necessary, and those
against illegal sects are in fact levelled against political associations,
which usually take on a religious guise.
The fifth division, of Military Laws, in seventy-one sections, provides
for the protection of the palace and government of the army, for
guarding frontier passes, management of the imperial cattle, and
forwarding despatches by couriers. Some of these ordinances lay
down rules for the protection of the Emperor’s person, and the
disposition of his body-guard and troops in the palace, the capital,
and over the Empire. The sections relating to the government of the
army include the rules for the police of cities; and those designed to
secure the protection of the frontier comprise all the enactments
against foreign intercourse, some of which have already been
referred to in passing. The supply of horses and cattle for the army
is a matter of some importance, and is minutely regulated; one law
orders all persons who possess vicious and dangerous animals to
restrain them, and if through neglect any person is killed or
wounded, the owner of the animal shall be obliged to redeem
himself from the punishment of manslaughter by paying a fine. This
provision to compel the owners of unruly beasts to exercise proper
restraint over them is like that laid down by Moses in Exodus XXI.,
29, 30. There is as yet no general post-office establishment, but
governmental couriers often take private letters; local mails are
safely carried by express companies. The required rate of travel for
the official post is one hundred miles a day, but it does not ordinarily
go more than half that distance. Officers of government are allowed
ninety days to make the journey from Peking to Canton, a distance
of twelve hundred miles, but couriers frequently travel it in twelve
days.
The sixth division, on Criminal Laws, is arranged in eleven books,
containing in all one hundred and seventy sections, and is the most
important of the whole. The clauses under some of the sections are
numerous, and show that it is not for want of proper laws or
insufficient threatenings that crimes go unpunished. The books of
this division relate to robbery, in which is included high treason and
renunciation of allegiance; to homicide and murder; quarrelling and
fighting; abusive language; indictments, disobedience to parents,
and false accusations; bribery and corruption; forging and frauds;
incest and adultery; arrests and escapes of criminals, their
imprisonment and execution; and, lastly, miscellaneous offences.
Under Section CCCXXIX. it is ordered that any one who is guilty of
addressing abusive language to his or her father or mother, or
father’s parents, or a wife who rails at her husband’s parents or
grandparents, shall be strangled; provided always that the persons
so abused themselves complain to the magistrate, and had
personally heard the language addressed to them. This law is the
same in regard to children as that contained in Leviticus XX., 9, and
the power here given the parent does not seem to be productive of
evil. Section CCCLXXXI. has reference to “privately hushing up public
crimes,” but its penalties are for the most part a dead letter, and a
full account of the various modes adopted in the courts of
withdrawing cases from the cognizance of superiors, would form a
singular chapter in Chinese jurisprudence. Consequently those who
refuse every offer to suppress cases are highly lauded by the people.
Another section (CCCLXXXVI.) ordains that whoever is guilty of
improper conduct, contrary to the spirit of the laws, but not a breach
of any specific article, shall be punished at least with forty blows,
and with eighty when of a serious nature. Some of the provisions of
this part of the code are praiseworthy, but no part of Chinese
legislation is so cruel and irregular as criminal jurisprudence. The
permission accorded to the judge to torture the criminal opens the
door for much inhumanity.
The seventh division contains thirteen sections relating to Public
Works and Ways, such as the weaving of interdicted patterns of silk,
repairing dikes, and constructing edifices for government. All public
residences, granaries, treasuries and manufactories, embankments
and dikes of rivers and canals, forts, walls, and mausolea, must be
frequently examined, and kept in repair. Poverty or peculation render
many of these laws void, and many subterfuges are often practised
by the superintending officer to pocket as much of the funds as he
can. One officer, when ordered to repair a wall, made the workmen
go over it and chip off the faces of the stones still remaining, then
plastering up the holes.
Besides these laws and their numerous clauses, every high provincial
officer has the right to issue edicts upon such public matters as
require regulation, some of them even affecting life and death,
either reviving some old law or giving it an application to the case
before him, with such modifications as seem to be necessary. He
must report these acts to the proper board at Peking. No such order,
which for the time has the force of law, is formally repealed, but
gradually falls into oblivion, until circumstances again require its
reiteration. This mode of publishing statutes gives rise to a sort of
common and unwritten law in villages, to which a council of elders
sometimes compels individuals to submit; long usage is also another
ground for enforcing them.
Still, with all the tortures and punishments allowed
CRITICISM OF THE
CODE.
by the law, and all the cruelties superadded upon
the criminals by irritated officers or rapacious
underlings and jailors, a broad survey of Chinese legislation, judged
by its results and the general appearance of society, gives the
impression of an administration far superior to other Asiatic
countries. A favorable comparison has been made in the Edinburgh
Review:[219] “By far the most remarkable thing in this code is its
great reasonableness, clearness, and consistency, the business-like
brevity and directness of the various provisions, and the plainness
and moderation in which they are expressed. There is nothing here
of the monstrous verbiage of most other Asiatic productions, none of
the superstitious deliration, the miserable incoherence, the
tremendous non-sequiturs and eternal repetitions of those oracular
performances—nothing even of the turgid adulation, accumulated
epithets, and fatiguing self-praise of other Eastern despotisms—but
a calm, concise, and distinct series of enactments, savoring
throughout of practical judgment and European good sense, and if
not always conformable to our improved notions of expediency, in
general approaching to them more nearly than the codes of most
other nations. When we pass, indeed, from the ravings of the
Zendavesta or the Puranas to the tone of sense and business in this
Chinese collection, we seem to be passing from darkness to light,
from the drivellings of dotage to the exercise of an improved
understanding; and redundant and absurdly minute as these laws
are in many particulars, we scarcely know any European code that is
at once so copious and so consistent, or that is so nearly free from
intricacy, bigotry, and fiction. In everything relating to political
freedom or individual independence it is indeed wofully defective;
but for the repression of disorder and the gentle coercion of a vast
population, it appears to be equally mild and efficacious. The state
of society for which it was formed appears incidentally to be a low
and wretched one; but how could its framers have devised a wiser
means of maintaining it in peace and tranquillity?”
This encomium is to a certain extent just, but the practice of
legislation in China has probably not been materially improved by
the mere possession of a reasonable code of laws, though some
melioration in jurisprudence has been effected.[220] The infliction of
barbarous punishments, such as blinding, cutting off noses, ears, or
other parts of the body, still not uncommon in Persia and Turkey, is
not allowed or practised in China; and the government, in minor
crimes, contents itself with but little more than opprobrious exposure
in the pillory, or castigation, which carry with them no degradation.
The defects in this remarkable body of laws arise from several
sources. The degree of liberty that can safely be awarded to the
subject is not defined in it, and his rights are unknown in law. The
government is despotic, but having no efficient military power in
their hands, the lawgivers resort to a minuteness of legislation upon
the practice of social and relative virtues and duties which interferes
with their observance; though it must be remembered that no pulpit
or Sabbath-school exists there to expound and enforce them from a
higher code, and the laws must be the chief guide in most cases.
The code also exhibits a minute attention to trifles, and an effort to
legislate for every possible contingency, which must perplex the
judge when dealing with the infinite shades of difference occurring
in human actions. There are now many vague and obsolete statutes,
ready to serve as a handle to prosecute offenders for the
gratification of private pique; and although usage and precedent
both combine to prove their disuse, malice and bribery can easily
effect their reviviscence and application to the case.
Sheer cruelty, except in cases of treason against
INFLUENCE OF THE
LAWS UPON
the Emperor, cannot be charged against this code
SOCIETY. as a whole, though many of the laws seem
designed to operate chiefly in terrorem, and the
penalty is placed higher than the punishment really intended to be
inflicted, to the end that the Emperor may have scope for mercy, or,
as he says, “for leniency beyond the bounds of the law.” The
principle on which this is done is evident, and the commonness of
the practice proves that such an exercise of mercy has its effect. The
laws of China are not altogether unmeaning words, though the
degree of efficiency in their execution is subject to endless
variations; some officers are clement, others severe; the people in
certain provinces are industrious and peaceable, in others turbulent
and averse to quiet occupations, so that one is likely to form a juster
idea of their administration by looking at the results as seen in the
general aspect of society, and judging of the tree by its fruits, than
by drawing inferences applicable to the whole machine of state from
particular instances of oppression and insubordination, as has been
so often the case with travellers and writers.
The general examination of the Chinese government here proposed
may be conveniently considered under the heads of the Emperor
and his court, classes of society, the different branches of the
supreme administration, the provincial authorities, and the execution
of the laws.
The Emperor is at the head of the whole; and if
ATTRIBUTES OF
THE CHINESE
the possession of great power, and being the
EMPEROR. object of almost unbounded reverence, can impart
happiness, he may safely be considered as the
happiest mortal living; though to his power there are many checks,
and the reverence paid him is proportioned somewhat to the fidelity
with which he administers the decrees of heaven. “The Emperor is
the sole head of the Chinese constitution and government; he is
regarded as the vice-gerent of heaven, especially chosen to govern
all nations; and is supreme in everything, holding at once the
highest legislative and executive powers, without limit or control.”
Both he and the Pope claim to be the vice-gerent of heaven and
interpreter of its decrees to the whole world, and these two rulers
have emulated each other in their assumption of arrogant titles. The
most common appellation employed to denote the Emperor in state
papers and among the people is hwangtí, or ‘august sovereign;’ it is
defined as “the appellation of one possessing complete virtues, and
able to act on heavenly principles.”[221] This title is further defined
as meaning heaven: “Heaven speaks not, yet the four seasons follow
in regular succession, and all things spring forth. So the three august
ones (Fuhhí, Shinnung, and Hwangtí) descended in state, and
without even uttering a word the people bowed to their sway; their
virtue was inscrutable and boundless like august heaven, and
therefore were they called august ones.”
Among the numerous titles given the monarch may be mentioned
hwang shang, the ‘august lofty one;’ tien hwang, ‘celestial august
one;’ shing hwang, the ‘wise and august,’ i.e., infinite in knowledge
and complete in virtue; tien tí, ‘celestial sovereign;’ and shing tí,
‘sacred sovereign,’ because he is able to act on heavenly principles.
He is also called tien tsz’, ‘son of heaven,’ because heaven is his
father and earth is his mother, and shing tien tsz’, ‘wise son of
heaven,’ as being born of heaven and having infinite knowledge;
terms which are given him as the ruler of the world by the gift of
heaven. He is even addressed, and sometimes refers to himself,
under designations which pertain exclusively to heaven. Wan sui yé,
‘sire of ten thousand years,’ is a term used when speaking of him or
approaching him, like the words, O king, live forever! addressed to
the ancient kings of Persia. Pí hia, ‘beneath the footstool,’ is a
sycophantic compellation used by his courtiers, as if they were only
worthy of being at the edge of his footstool.
The Emperor usually designates himself by the terms chin, ‘ourself;’
kwa jin, the ‘solitary man,’ or the one man; and kwa kiun, the
‘solitary prince.’ He has been loaded with many ridiculous titles by
foreign writers, as Brother of the Sun and Moon, Grandson of the
Stars, King of Kings, etc., but no such epithets are known among his
subjects. His palace has various appellations, such as hall of
audience, golden palace, the ninth entrance, vermilion avenue,
vermilion hall, rosy hall, forbidden pavilion, the crimson and
forbidden palace, gemmeous steps, golden steps, meridian portal,
gemmeous avenue, celestial steps, celestial court, great interior, the
maple pavilion, royal house, etc. To see him is to see the dragon’s
face; the throne is called the “dragon’s throne,” and also the “divine
utensil,” i.e., the thing given him by heaven to sit in when executing
his divine mission; his person is styled the dragon’s body, and a five-
clawed dragon is emblazoned, like a coat of arms, on his robes,
which no one can use or imitate. Thus the Old Dragon, it might be
almost said, has coiled himself around the Emperor of China, one of
the greatest upholders of his power in this world, and contrived to
get himself worshipped, through him, by one-third of mankind.
The Emperor is the fountain of power, rank, honor, and privilege to
all within his dominions, which are termed tien hia, meaning all
under heaven, and were till recently, even by his highest officers,
ignorantly supposed to comprise all mankind. As there can be but
one sun in the heavens, so there can be but one hwangtí on earth,
the source and dispenser of benefits to the whole world.[222] The
same absolute executive power held by him is placed in the hands of
his deputies and governor-generals, to be by them exercised within
the limits of their jurisdiction. He is the head of religion and the only
one qualified to adore heaven; he is the source of law and dispenser
of mercy; no right can be held in opposition to his pleasure, no claim
maintained against him, no privilege protect from his wrath. All the
forces and revenues of the Empire are his, and he has a right to
claim the services of all males between sixteen and sixty. In short,
the whole Empire is his property, and the only checks upon his
despotism are public opinion, the want of an efficient standing army,
poverty and the venality of the agents of his power.
When the Manchus found themselves in possession of Peking, they
regarded this position as fully entitling them to assume all imperial
rights. Their sovereign thus announced his elevation in November,
1644: “I, the Son of Heaven, of the Ta-tsing dynasty, humbly as a
subject dare to announce to Imperial Heaven and Sovereign Earth.
Though the world is vast, Shangtí looks on all without partiality. My
Imperial Grandfather received the gracious decree of Heaven and
founded a kingdom in the East, which became firmly established. My
Imperial Father succeeding to the kingdom, extended it; and I,
Heaven’s servant, in my poor person became the inheritor of the
dominion they transmitted. When the Ming dynasty was coming to
its end, traitors and men of violence appeared in crowds, involving
the people in misery. China was without a ruler. It fell to me
reverentially to accept the responsibility of continuing the
meritorious work of my ancestors. I saved the people, destroyed
their oppressors; and now, in accordance with the desires of all, I fix
the urns of Empire at Yen-king.... I, receiving Heaven’s favor, and in
accordance with their wishes, announce to Heaven that I have
ascended the throne of the Empire, that the name I have chosen for
it is the Great Pure, and that the style of my reign is Shun-chí
(‘Obedient Rule’). I beg reverentially Heaven and Earth to protect
and assist the Empire, so that calamity and disturbance may soon
come to an end, and the land enjoy universal peace. For this I
humbly pray, and for the acceptance of this sacrifice.”
The present Emperor is the ninth of the Tsing
PERSONAL NAME
AND TITLES OF
dynasty who has reigned in China. Tsing means
THE EMPEROR. Pure, and was taken by the Manchus as a
distinctive term for their new dynasty, alluding to
the purity of justice they intended to maintain in their sway. Some of
the founders of the ancient dynasties derived their dynastic name
from their patrimonial estates, as Sung, Han, Chau, etc., but the
later ones have adopted names like Yuen, or ‘Original,’ Ming, or
‘Illustrious,’ etc., which indicate their vanity.
The present monarch is still a minor, and the affairs of government
are nominally under the direction of the Empress-dowager, who held
the same office during the minority of his predecessor, Tungchí. The
surname of the reigning family is Gioro, or ‘Golden,’ derived from
their ancestral chief, Aisin Gioro, whom they feign to have been the
son of a divine virgin. They are the lineal descendants of the Kin, a
rude race which drove out the Chinese rulers and occupied the
northern provinces about 1130, making Peking their capital for many
years. On the approach of the Mongols they were chased away to
the east, and retained only a nominal independence; changing their
name from Nüchih to Manjurs, they gradually increased in numbers,
but did not assume any real importance until they became masters
of China. The acknowledged founder of the reigning house was the
chief Hien-tsu (1583-1615), whose actual descendants are
collectively designated Tsung-shih, or ‘Imperial Clan.’ The second
Emperor further limited the Clan by giving to each of his twenty-four
sons a personal name of two characters, the first of which, Yun, was
the same for all of them. For the succeeding generations he ordered
a series of characters to be used by all the members of each, so that
through all their ramifications the first name would show their
position. Kanghí’s own name was Hiuen, then followed Yun, Hung,
Yung, Mien, Yih, and Tsai, the last and present sovereigns being
both named Tsai. All who bear this name are direct descendants of
Kanghí. Since the application of these seven generation names, eight
more have been selected for future use by imperial scions.
In order still further to distinguish those most nearly allied in blood,
as sons, nephews, etc., it is required that the second names of each
family always consist of characters under the same radical. Thus
Kiaking and his brothers wrote their first names Yung, and under the
radical gun for the second; Taukwang and his brothers and cousins
Mien, and under the radical heart. For some unexplained reason the
radicals silk and gold, chosen for the second names of the next two
generations, were altered to words and water. This peculiarity is
easily represented in the Chinese characters; a comparison can be
made in English with the supposed names of a family of sons, as
Louis Edward, Louis Edwin, Louis Edwy, Louis Edgar, etc., the word
Louis answering to Mien, and the syllable Ed to the radical heart.
The present Emperor’s personal name is Tsai-tien, and, like those of
his predecessors, is deemed to be too sacred to be spoken, or the
characters to be written in the common form. The same reverence is
observed for the names after death, so that twelve characters have
been altered since the Manchu monarchs began to reign; Hiuen-wa,
which was the personal name of Kanghí, has become permanently
altered in its formation. The present sovereign was born August 15,
1871, and on January 12, 1875, succeeded his cousin Tsaishun, who
died without issue—the first instance in the Gioro family for nearly
three centuries. At this time there was some delay as to which of his
cousins should succeed to the dragon throne, when the united
council of the princes was led by the mother of the deceased
Emperor to adopt her nephew, the son of Prince Chun. The little
fellow was sent for at night to be immediately saluted as hwangtí,
and ere long brought in before them, cross and sleepy as he was, to
begin his reign under the style of Kwangsü, or ‘Illustrious
Succession.’
This title is called a kwoh hao, or national
THE KWOH HAO
AND MIAO HAO.
designation, and answers more nearly to the
name that a new Pope takes with the tiara than to
anything else in western lands. It is the expression of the idea which
the monarch wishes to associate with his reign, and is the name by
which he is known to his subjects during his life. It has been called a
period by some writers, but while it is not strictly his name, yet
period is not so correct as reign. Usage has made it equivalent in
foreign books to the personal name, and it is plainer to say the
Emperor Taukwang than the period Taukwang or the reign
Taukwang, or still more than to write, as Wade has done, “the
Emperor Mien-Ning, the style of whose reign was Tau Kwang;” or
than Legge has done, to say, “the Emperor Pattern, of the period
Yungching.” In such cases it is not worth the trouble to attempt strict
accuracy in a matter so entirely unlike western usages.
The use of the kwoh hao began with Wăn-tí, of the Han dynasty,
[223] b.c. 179, and has continued ever since. Some of the early
monarchs changed their kwoh hao many times during their reigns;
Kao-tsung (a.d. 650-684), for example, had thirteen in a régime of
thirty-four years, which induced historians to employ the miao hao,
or ancestral name, as more suitable and less liable to confusion. The
reason for thus investing the sovereign with a title different from his
real name is not fully apparent, but arose probably out of the vanity
of the monarch, who wished thus to glorify himself by a high-
sounding title, and make his own name somewhat ineffable at the
same time. The custom was adopted in Japan about a.d. 645, and is
practised in Corea and Annam.
When a monarch ascends the throne, or as it is
CORONATION
PROCLAMATION OF
expressed in Chinese, “when he receives from
TAUKWANG. Heaven and revolving nature the government of
the world,” he issues an inaugural proclamation.
There is not much change in the wording of these papers, and an
extract from the one issued in 1821 will exhibit the practice on such
occasions:
“Our Ta Tsing dynasty has received the most substantial
indication of Heaven’s kind care. Our ancestors, Taitsu and
Taitsung, began to lay the vast foundation [of our
Empire]; and Shítsu became the sole monarch of China.
Our sacred ancestor Kanghí, the Emperor Yungching, the
glory of his age, and Kienlung, the eminent in honor, all
abounded in virtue, were divine in martial prowess,
consolidated the glory of the Empire, and moulded the
whole to peaceful harmony.
“His late Majesty, who has now gone the great journey,
governed all under Heaven’s canopy twenty-five years,
exercising the utmost caution and industry. Nor evening
nor morning was he ever idle. He assiduously aimed at the
best possible rule, and hence his government was
excellent and illustrious; the court and the country felt the
deepest reverence and the stillness of profound awe. A
benevolent heart and a benevolent administration were
universally diffused: in China Proper, as well as beyond it,
order and tranquillity prevailed, and the tens of thousands
of common people were all happy. But in the midst of a
hope that this glorious reign would be long protracted,
and the help of Heaven would be received many days,
unexpectedly, on descending to bless, by his Majesty’s
presence, Lwanyang, the dragon charioteer (the holy
Emperor) became a guest on high.
“My sacred and indulgent Father had, in the year that he
began to rule alone, silently settled that the divine utensil
should devolve on my contemptible person. I, knowing the
feebleness of my virtue, at first felt much afraid I should
not be competent to the office; but on reflecting that the
sages, my ancestors, have left to posterity their plans;
that his late Majesty has laid the duty on me—and
Heaven’s throne should not be long vacant—I have done
violence to my feelings and forced myself to intermit
awhile my heartfelt grief, that I may with reverence obey
the unalterable decree; and on the 27th of the 8th moon
(October 3d) I purpose devoutly to announce the event to
Heaven, to earth, to my ancestors, and to the gods of the
land and of the grain, and shall then sit down on the
imperial throne. Let the next year be the first of
Taukwang.
“I look upward and hope to be able to continue former
excellences. I lay my hand on my heart with feelings of
respect and cautious awe.—When a new monarch
addresses himself to the Empire, he ought to confer
benefits on his kindred, and extensively bestow gracious
favors: what is proper to be done on this occasion is
stated below.”
 (Here follow twenty-two paragraphs, detailing the gifts to
be conferred and promotions made of noblemen and
officers; ordering the restoration of suspended dignitaries
to their full pay and honors, and sacrifices to Confucius
and the Emperors of former dynasties; pardons to be
extended to criminals, and banished convicts recalled;
governmental debts and arrearages to be forgiven, and
donations to be bestowed upon the aged.)
“Lo! now, on succeeding to the throne, I shall exercise
myself to give repose to the millions of my people. Assist
me to sustain the burden laid on my shoulders! With
veneration I receive charge of Heaven’s great concerns.—
Ye kings and statesmen, great and small, civil and military,
let every one be faithful and devoted, and aid in
supporting the vast affairs, that our family dominion may
be preserved hundreds and tens of thousands of years in
never-ending tranquillity and glory! Promulgate this to all
under Heaven—cause every one to hear it!”
The programme of ceremonies to be observed when the Emperor
“ascends the summit,” and seats himself on the dragon’s throne, was
published for the Emperor Taukwang by the Board of Rites a few
days after. It details a long series of prostrations and bowings,
leading out and marshalling the various officers of the court and
members of the imperial family. After they are all arranged in proper
precedence before the throne, “at the appointed hour the president
of the Board of Rites shall go and entreat his Majesty to put on his
mourning, and come forth by the gate of the eastern palace, and
enter at the left door of the middle palace, where his Majesty, before
the altar of his deceased imperial father, will respectfully announce
that he receives the decree—kneel thrice and bow nine times.”
He then retires, and soon after a large deputation of palace officers
“go and solicit his Majesty to put on his imperial robes and proceed
to the palace of his mother, the Empress-dowager, to pay his
respects. The Empress-dowager will put on her court robes and
ascend her throne, before which his Majesty shall kneel thrice and
bow nine times.” After this filial ceremony is over the golden chariot
is made ready, the officer of the Astronomical Board—whose
business is to observe times—is stationed at the palace gate, and
when he announces the arrival of the chosen and felicitous moment,
his Majesty comes forth and mounts the golden chariot, and the
procession advances to the Palace of Protection and Peace. Here the
great officers of the Empire are marshalled according to their rank,
and when the Emperor sits down in the palace they all kneel and
bow nine times.
“This ceremony over, the President of the Board of Rites, stepping
forward, shall kneel down and beseech his Majesty, saying, ‘Ascend
the imperial throne.’ The Emperor shall then rise from his seat, and
the procession moving on in the same order to the Palace of Peace,
his Majesty shall ascend the seat of gems and sit down on the
imperial throne, with his face to the south.” All present come forward
and again make the nine prostrations, after which the proclamation
of coronation, as it would be called in Europe, is formally sealed, and
then announced to the Empire with similar ceremonies. There are
many other lesser rites observed on these occasions, some of them
appropriate to such an occasion, and others, according to our
notions, bordering on the ludicrous; the whole presenting a strange
mixture of religion, splendor, and farce, though as a whole calculated
to impress all with a sentiment of awe toward one who gives to
heaven, and receives from man, such homage and worship.[224]
Nothing is omitted which can add to the dignity
HOMAGE
RENDERED TO THE
and sacredness of the Emperor’s person or
EMPEROR. character. Almost everything used by him, or in his
personal service, is tabued to the common people,
and distinguished by some peculiar mark or color, so as to keep up
the impression of awe with which he is regarded, and which is so
powerful an auxiliary to his throne. The outer gate of the palace
must always be passed on foot, and the paved entrance walk leading
up to it can only be used by him. The vacant throne, or even a
screen of yellow silk thrown over a chair, is worshipped equally with
his actual presence, and an imperial dispatch is received in the
provinces with incense and prostrations; the vessels on the canal
bearing articles for his special use always have the right of way. His
birthday is celebrated by his officers, and the account of the opening
ceremony, as witnessed by Lord Macartney, shows how skilfully
every act tends to maintain his assumed character as the son of
heaven.
“The first day was consecrated to the purpose of rendering a
solemn, sacred, and devout homage to the supreme majesty of the
Emperor. The ceremony was no longer performed in a tent, nor did it
partake of the nature of a banquet. The princes, tributaries,
ambassadors, and great officers of state were assembled in a vast
hall; and upon particular notice were introduced into an inner
building, bearing at least the semblance of a temple. It was chiefly
furnished with great instruments of music, among which were sets
of cylindrical bells suspended in a line from ornamental frames of
wood, and gradually diminishing in size from one extremity to the
other, and also triangular pieces of metal, arranged in the same
order as the bells. To the sound of these instruments a slow and
solemn hymn was sung by eunuchs, who had such a command over
their voices as to resemble the effect of musical glasses at a
distance. The performers were directed, in the gliding from one tone
to the other, by the striking of a shrill and sonorous cymbal; and the
judges of music among the gentlemen of the embassy were much
pleased with their execution. The whole had, indeed, a grand effect.
During the performance, and at particular signals, nine times
repeated, all present prostrated themselves nine times, except the
ambassador and his suite, who made a profound obeisance. But he
whom it was meant to honor continued, as if in imitation of the
Deity, invisible the whole time. The awful impression intended to be
made upon the minds of men by this apparent worship of a fellow-
mortal was not to be effaced by any immediate scenes of sport or
gaiety, which were postponed to the following day.”[225] The mass of
the people are not admitted to participate in these ceremonies; they
are kept at a distance, and care, in fact, very little about them. In
every provincial capital there is a hall, called Wan-shao kung,
dedicated solely to the honor of the Emperor, and where, three days
before and after his birthday, all the civil and military officers and the
most distinguished citizens assemble to do him the same homage as
if he were present. The walls and furniture are yellow.
The right of succession is hereditary in the male line, but it is always
in the power of the sovereign to nominate his successor from among
his own children. The heir-apparent is not commonly known during
the lifetime of the incumbent, though there is a titular office of
guardian of the heir-apparent. During the Tsing dynasty the
succession has varied, but the bloody scenes enacted in Turkey,
Egypt, and India to remove competitors are not known at Peking,
and the people have no fear that they will be enacted. Of the eight
preceding sovereigns, Shunchí was the ninth son, Kanghí the third,
Yungching the fourth, Kienlung the fourth, Kiaking the fifteenth,
Taukwang the second, Hienfung the fourth, and Tungchí the only
son. When Kwangsü was chosen this regular line failed, and thus
was terminated an unbroken succession during two hundred and
fifty-nine years (1616 to 1875), when ten rulers (including two in
Manchuria) occupied the throne. It can be paralleled only in Judah,
where the line of David down to Jehoiachin (b.c. 1055 to 599)
continued regularly in the same manner—twenty kings in four
hundred and fifty-six years.
In the reign of Kienlung, one of the censors memorialized him upon
the desirableness of announcing his successor, in order to quiet
men’s minds and repress intrigue, but the suggestion cost the man
his place. The Emperor said that the name of his successor, in case
of his own sudden death, would be found in a designated place, and
that it was highly inexpedient to mention him, lest intriguing men
buzzed about him, forming factions and trying to elevate
themselves. The soundness of this policy cannot be doubted, and it
is not unlikely that Kienlung knew the evils of an opposite course
from an acquaintance with the history of some of the princes of
Central Asia or India. One good result of not indicating the heir-
apparent is that not only are no intrigues formed by the crown-
prince, but when he begins to reign he is seldom compelled, from
fear of his own safety, to kill or imprison his brothers or uncles; for,
as they possess no power or party to render them formidable, their
ambition finds full scope for its exercise in peaceful ways. In 1861,
when the heir was a child of five years, a palace intrigue was started
to remove his custody out of the hands of his mother into those of a
cabal who had held sway for some years, but the promoters were all
executed.
The management of the imperial clan appertains
THE IMPERIAL
HOUSE AND
entirely to the Emperor, and has been conducted
NOBILITY. with considerable sagacity. All its members are
under the control of the Tsung-jin fu, a sort of
clansmen’s court, consisting of a presiding controller, two assistant
directors, and two deputies of the family. Their duties are to regulate
whatever belongs to the government of the Emperor’s kindred,
which is divided into two branches, the direct and collateral, or the
Tsung-shih and Gioro. The Tsung-shih, or ‘Imperial House,’ comprise
only the lineal descendants of Tienming’s father, named Hien-tsu, or
‘Illustrious Sire,’ who first assumed the title of Emperor a.d. 1616.
The collateral branches, including the children of his uncles and
brothers, are collectively called Gioro. Their united number is
unknown, but a genealogical record is kept in the national archives
at Peking and Mukden. The Tsung-shih are distinguished by a yellow
girdle, and the Gioro by a red one; when degraded, the former take
a red, the latter a carnation girdle. There are altogether twelve
degrees of rank in the Tsung-shih, and consequently some of the
distant kindred are reduced to straitened circumstances. They are
shut out from useful careers, and generally exhibit the evils ensuent
upon the system of education and surveillance adopted toward
them, in their low, vicious pursuits, and cringing imbecility of
character. The sum of $133 is allowed when they marry, and $150 to
defray funeral expenses, which induces some of them to maltreat
their wives to death, in order to receive the allowance and dowry as
often as possible.
The titular nobility of the Empire, as a whole, is a body whose
members are without power, land, wealth, office, or influence, in
virtue of their honors; some of them are more or less hereditary, but
the whole system has been so devised, and the designations so
conferred, as to tickle the vanity of those who receive them, without
granting them any real power. The titles are not derived from landed
estates, but the rank is simply designated in addition to the name,
and it has been a question of some difficulty how to translate them.
For instance, the title Kung tsin-wang literally means the ‘Reverent
Kindred Prince,’ and should be translated Prince Kung, not Prince of
Kung, which conveys the impression to a foreign reader that Kung is
an appanage instead of an epithet.
The twelve orders of nobility are conferred solely on the members of
the imperial house and clan: 1. Tsin wang, ‘kindred prince,’ i.e.,
prince of the blood, conferred usually on his Majesty’s brothers or
sons. 2. Kiun wang, or ‘prince of a princedom;’ the eldest sons of the
princes of these two degrees take a definite rank during their
father’s lifetime, but the collateral branches descend in precedence
as the generations are more and more remote from the direct
imperial line, until at last the person is simply a member of the
imperial clan. These two ranks were termed regulus by the Jesuit
writers, and each son of an Emperor enters one or other as he
becomes of age. The highest princes receive a stipend of about
$13,300, some rations, and a retinue of three hundred and sixty
servants, altogether making an annual tax on the state of $75,000 to
$90,000. The second receive half that sum, and inferior grades in a
decreasing ratio, down to the simple members, who each get four
dollars a month and rations. 3 and 4. Beile and Beitse, or princes of
and in collateral branches. The 5th to 8th are dukes, called Guardian
and Sustaining, with two subordinate grades not entitled to enter
the court on state occasions. The 9th to 12th ranks are nobles, or
rather generals, in line of descent. The number of persons in the
lower ranks is very great. Few of these men hold offices at the
capital, and still more rarely are they placed in responsible situations
in the provinces, but the government of Manchuria is chiefly in their
hands.
Besides these are the five ancient orders of nobility, kung, hao, peh,
tsz’, and nan, usually rendered duke, count, viscount, baron, and
baronet, which are conferred without distinction on Manchus,
Mongols, and Chinese, both civil and military, and as such are highly
prized by their recipients as marks of honor. The three first take
precedence of the highest untitled civilians, but an appointment to
most of the high offices in the country carries with it an honorary
title. The direct descendant of Confucius is called Yen-shing kung,
‘the Ever-sacred duke,’ and of Koxinga Hai-ching kung, or ‘Sea-
quelling duke;’ these two are the only perpetual titles among the
Chinese, but among the Manchus, the chiefs of eight families which
aided in settling the crown in the Gioro line were made hereditary
princes, who are collectively called princes of the iron crown. Besides
the above-mentioned, there are others, which are deemed even
more honorable, either from their rarity or peculiar privileges, and
answer to membership of the various orders of the Garter, Golden
Fleece, Bath, etc., in Europe.
The internal arrangements of the court are
LIFE IN THE
PALACE.
modelled somewhat after those of the Boards, the
general supervision being under the direction of
the Nui-wu fu, composed of a president and six assessors, under
whom are seven subordinate departments. It is the duty of these
officers to attend upon the Emperor and Empress at sacrifices, and
conduct the ladies of the harem to and from the palace; they
oversee the households of the sons of the Emperor, and direct,
under his Majesty, everything belonging to the palace and whatever
appertains to its supplies and the care of the imperial guard. The
seven departments are arranged so as to bear no little resemblance
to a miniature state: one supplies food and raiment; a second is for
defence, to regulate the body-guard when the Emperor travels; the
third attends to the etiquette the members of this great family must
observe toward each other, and brings forward the inmates of the
harem when the Emperor, seated in the inner hall of audience,
receives their homage, led by the Empress herself; a fourth
department selects ladies to fill the harem, and collects the revenue
from crown lands; a fifth superintends all repairs necessary in the
palace, and sees that the streets of the city be cleared whenever the
Emperor, Empress, or any of the women or children in the palace
wish to go out; a sixth department has in charge the herds and
flocks of the Emperor; and the last is a court for punishing the
crimes of soldiers, eunuchs, and others attached to the palace.
The Emperor ought to have three thousand eunuchs, but the actual
number is rather less than two thousand, who perform the work of
the household. His sons and grandsons are allowed from thirty down
to four, while the iron-crown princes and imperial sons-in-law have
twenty or thirty; all these nobles are constrained to employ some
eunuchs in their establishments, if not able to maintain the full
quota, for show. Most of this class are compelled to submit to
mutilation by their parents before the age of eight (and not always
from poverty), as it usually insures a livelihood. Some take to this
condition from motives of laziness and the high duties falling to their
share if they behave themselves. From very ancient times certain
criminals have been punished by castration. There is a separate
control for the due efficiency of these servants of the court, who are
divided into forty-eight classes; during the present dynasty they
have never caused trouble. The highest pay any of them receive is
twelve taels a month.
The number of females attached to the harem is
POSITION OF THE
EMPRESS AND
not accurately known; all of them are under the
LADIES. nominal direction of the Empress. Every third year
his Majesty reviews the daughters of the Manchu
officers over twelve years of age, and chooses such as he pleases for
concubines; there are only seven legal concubines, but an unlimited
number of illegal. The latter are restored to liberty when they reach
the age of twenty-five, unless they have borne children to his
Majesty. It is generally considered an advantage to a family to have
a daughter in the harem, especially by the Manchus, who endeavor
to rise by this backstairs influence.[226] To the poor women
themselves it is a monotonous, weary life of intriguing unrest. As
soon as one enters the palace she bids final adieu to all her male
relatives, and rarely sees her female friends; the eunuchs who take
care of her are her chief channels of communication with the outer
world. It may be added, however, that the comforts and influence of
her condition are vastly superior to those of Hindu females.
In the forty-eighth volume of the Hwui Tien, from which work most
of the details in this chapter are obtained, is an account of the
supplies furnished his Majesty and the court. There should daily be
placed before the Emperor thirty pounds of meat in a basin and
seven pounds boiled into soup; hog’s fat and butter, of each one and
one-third pound; two sheep, two fowls, and two ducks, the milk of
eighty cows, and seventy-five parcels of tea. Her Majesty receives
twenty-one pounds of meat in platters and thirteen pounds boiled
with vegetables; one fowl, one duck, twelve pitchers of water, the
milk of twenty-five cows, and ten parcels of tea. Her maids and the
concubines receive their rations according to a regular fare.
The Empress-dowager is the most important subject within the
palace, and his Majesty does homage at frequent intervals, by
making the highest ceremony of nine prostrations before her. When
the widow of Kiaking reached the age of sixty in 1836, many honors
were conferred by the Emperor. An extract from the ordinance
issued on this festival will exhibit the regard paid her by the
sovereign:
“Our extensive dominions have enjoyed the utmost prosperity under
the shelter of a glorious and enduring state of felicity. Our exalted
race has become most illustrious under the protection of that
honored relative to whom the whole court looks up. To her
happiness, already unalloyed, the highest degree of felicity has been
superadded, causing joy and gladness to every inmate of the Six
Palaces. The grand ceremonies of the occasion shall exceed in
splendor the utmost requirements of the ancients in regard to the
human relations, calling forth the gratulation of the whole Empire. It
is indispensable that the observances of the occasion should be of
an exceedingly unusual nature, in order that our reverence for our
august parent and care of her may both be equally and gloriously
displayed.... In the first month of the present winter occurs the
sixtieth anniversary of her Majesty’s sacred natal day. At the opening
of the happy period, the sun and moon shed their united genial
influences on it. When commencing anew the revolution of the
sexagenary cycle, the honor thereof adds increase to her felicity.
Looking upward and beholding her glory, we repeat our gratulations,
and announce the event to Heaven, to Earth, to our ancestors, and
to the patron gods of the Empire. On the nineteenth day of the tenth
moon in the fifteenth year of Taukwang, we will conduct the princes,
the nobles, and all the high officers, both civil and military, into the
presence of the great Empress, benign and dignified, universally
placid, thoroughly virtuous, tranquil and self-collected, in favors
unbounded; and we will then present our congratulations on the
glad occasion, the anniversary of her natal day. The occasion yields
a happiness equal to what is enjoyed by goddesses in heaven; and
while announcing it to the gods and to our people, we will tender to
her blessings unbounded.”
Besides the usual tokens of favor, such as rations to soldiers,
pardons, promotions, advances in official rank, etc., it was ordered in
the eleventh article, “That every perfectly filial son or obedient
grandson, every upright husband or chaste wife, upon proofs being
brought forward, shall have a monument erected, with an inscription
in his or her honor.” Soldiers who had reached the age of ninety or
one hundred received money to erect an honorary portal, and
tombs, temples, bridges, and roads were ordered to be repaired; but
how many of these “exceedingly great and special favors” were
actually carried into effect cannot be stated.[227]
For the defence and escort of the Emperor and his
EMPEROR’S GUARD
AND DIVISIONS OF
palaces there are select bodies of troops, which
THE PEOPLE. are stationed within the Hwang-ching and the
capital and at the various cantonments near the
city. The Bannermen form three separate corps, each containing the
hereditary troops of Manchu, Mongol, and enrolled Chinese,
organized at the beginning of the dynasty under eight standards.
Their flags are triangular, a plain yellow, white, red, and blue for
troops in the left wing, and the same bordered with a narrow stripe
of another color for troops in the right wing. All the families of these
soldiers remain in the corps into which they were born.
Two special forces are selected, one named the Vanguard Division,
the other the Flank Division, from the Manchu and Mongol
Bannermen; these guard the Forbidden City, form his Majesty’s
escort when he goes out, and number respectively about one
thousand five hundred and fifteen thousand men. For the
preservation of the peace of the capital a force of upward of twenty
thousand, called the Infantry Division, or Gendarmerie, is stationed
in and around the walls, in addition to the palace forces. Besides
these a cadet corps of five hundred young men armed with bows
and spears, two battalions with firearms, and four larger battalions
of eight hundred and seventy-five men each, drilled in rifle-practice,
are relied on to aid the Gendarmerie and Vanguard in case of
danger. Whenever the One Man goes out of the palace gate to cross
the city, the streets through which he passes are screened with
matting, to keep off the crowds as well as diminish the risks of his
person. The result has been that few of the citizens have ever seen
their sovereign’s face during the last two hundred years. The young
Emperor Tungchí obtained great favor among them on one occasion
of his return from the Temple of Heaven by ordering the screen of
mats to be removed so that he and his people could see each other.
Under the Emperor is the whole body of the people, a great family
bound implicitly to obey his will as being that of heaven, and
possessing no right or property per se; in fact, having nothing but
what has been derived from or may at any time be reclaimed by
him. The greatness of this family, and the absence of an entailed
aristocracy to hold its members or their lands in serfdom, have been
partial safeguards against excess of oppression. Liberty is unknown
among the people; there is not even a word for it in the language.
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