Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 2.djvu/77

mits proposals to the Throne, and in the case of high appointments the Cabinet and the Privy Council act as advisory overseers. It is evident, however, that the business of such an extensive realm could not be discharged without frequent dislocations if every appointment or removal of an official had to receive preliminary consideration in the capital. Therefore the provincial authorities are empowered to fill up vacancies as soon as they occur from the ranks of " expectants who have duly qualified, and the Civil Office Board's operations are thus materially reduced. There are four bureaux in this Board, one of which is concerned solely with the distribution of titles, patents, and posthumous honours. This last class of distinctions has much importance in China, where ancestors are frequently ennobled for the merits of their descendants; an exceptional custom, due to the fact that the rites of ancestral worship are proportionate to the rank of the deceased, not to that of the worshipper. Hence, since it would be obviously contrary to the dictates of filial piety that a son holding the rank of a nobleman should pay to his ancestors the tribute of a commoner's worship only, this difficulty is solved by making titles retrospective.

The second of the Six Boards is that of Revenue (Hu-po). Its functions are very extensive, for they naturally include keeping the census, measuring and assessing lands, controlling privileges of transport, determining the revenues and mutual