Pre-reform civil service of Themiclesia

The pre-reform civil service of Themiclesia was the bureaucratic system and organization that governed metropolitan Themiclesia and other imperial holdings abroad prior to the Great Reform Act of 1886

History

Rang reforms

In 492, King Ngwyan of Rang issued an edict stating that that seating order of "commissioners" (諸矦吏第次灋) should be determined based on their emoluments, with barons outranking officials and officials receiving higher salaries outranking those receiving less. The earliest list of ranks in this sense is found in an appendix to this edict, elaborating it and probably written by ushers responsible for seating courtiers when they came. It says,

• 尚設席四重、小帳、戟帷、大帳、畫帷、眔珠幕流蘇在後，東鄉
• 青公、舒公、薶公，律四重，率帳、帷、幕，東鄉，以次在畫帷之左
• 又次相邦，東鄉，在畫帷之右
• 徹矦，位次公，南鄉，尚公子
• 徹吏，位次相邦，西尚，北鄉，最丞、次卿、次大夫，同延別席；次千石吏，次八百，次七百，次六百，次五百，次四百，次三百，同席，北鄉
• 屬吏眔粟失弗眔三百，乃于舍人屬臣客人從，勿之內庭戶，聽自錯席戶之外眔廊中

Recruitment and promotion

Law of Officials in Nine Classes

The Law of Officials in Nine Classes (九品官人灋, ku-prum-kwar-ning-pap) was a general reform issued in 548 by the first Meng monarch to rule Themiclesia, Emperor Wŏn of Chŏllo, dividing major royal offices into nine classes numbered from 1st class (第一品) to 9th class (第九品), the 1st being the highest. A similar law had been in force in Menghe and was the antecedent of the Themiclesian law in spirit, though the exact contents of the law was not promulgated without serious alterations to meet Themiclesian political realities. Emendations were issued in 550, 557, and again in 563; afterwards, most of the emendations were additions.

The class to which an office is assigned

The class to which an office is assigned determines only part of the emoluments which the office provides to its holder; more importantly, it sets forth restraints on how much of land, retainers, serfs, and petty officials the person holding the office could have.

• 中正人灋
• 銓選灋

Law of Succession

The Law of Succession is an exception to the Law of Determination and provides automatic classifications to members of royalty and nobility.

By the mid-600s, the entry of imperial princes to the civil service had become routine enough that a rule was necessary to govern their classification results, since it was impolitic for an official to "classify" the ruling dynasty as such. In this case, the rule was completely based on consanguineity with the monarch: princes who were once removed from a ruling progenitor were given the 2nd class and therefore began their bureaucratic careers as a 6th-class official; those twice removed were given 3rd class, etc. Exceptionally, legitimate princes born of the Empress-consort were appointed to the 1st class, which was otherwise not used.

• 蔭襲灋
• 考成灋