A mandarin () was a
bureaucrat scholar in the history of
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
,
Korea and
Vietnam.
The term is generally applied to the officials appointed through the
imperial examination system; it sometimes includes the
eunuchs also involved in the governance of the above realms.
History and use of the term
The English term comes from the Portuguese ''mandarim'' (spelled in
Old Portuguese
Galician-Portuguese ( gl, galego-portugués or ', pt, galego-português or ), also known as Old Portuguese or as Medieval Galician when referring to the history of each modern language, was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle ...
as ''mandarin,'' ). The Portuguese word was used in one of the earliest Portuguese reports about China: letters from the imprisoned survivors of the
Tomé Pires' embassy, which were most likely written in 1524, and in
Castanheda's ''História do descobrimento e conquista da Índia pelos portugueses'' (c. 1559).
Matteo Ricci, who entered mainland China from Portuguese
Macau in 1583, also said the Portuguese used the word.
The Portuguese word was thought by many to be related to ''mandador'' ("one who commands") and ''mandar'' ("to command"), from
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
''mandare''.
Modern dictionaries, however, agree that it was in fact borrowed by Portuguese from the
Malay ''menteri'' (in
Jawi: , ) which ultimately came from the
Sanskrit ''
mantri'' (
Devanagari
Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental writing system), based on the ...
: , meaning
counselor or minister –
etymologically linked to ''
mantra''). According to Malaysian scholar
Ungku Abdul Aziz, the term had its origin when the Portuguese living in Malacca during the
Malacca Sultanate wanted to meet with the higher officials in China and used the term "menteri", but with an added "n" because of their poor grasp of the language, to refer to higher officials.
In the 16th century, before the term ''mandarin'' became widespread in the European languages, the word ''Loutea'' (with various spelling variations) was often used in Europeans' travel reports to refer to Chinese scholar-officials. It is frequently used, for example, in
Galeote Pereira's account of his experiences in China in 1548–1553, which was published in Europe in 1565, or (as ''Louthia'') in
Gaspar da Cruz' ''Treatise of China'' (1569).
C. R. Boxer says the word comes from the Chinese 老爷 (Mandarin Pinyin: ''lǎoye'';
Amoy dialect: ''ló-tia'';
Quanzhou dialect: ''lāu-tia''), which was commonly used by people in China to address officials. This is also the main term used to refer to the scholar-officials in
Juan González de Mendoza's ''History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the Situation Thereof'' (1585), which heavily drew (directly or indirectly) on Pereira's report and Gaspar da Cruz' book and which was the Europeans' standard reference on China in the late 16th century.
In the West, the term ''mandarin'' is associated with the concept of the scholar-official who immersed himself in poetry, literature, and
Confucian learning in addition to performing
civil service duties. In modern English, ''mandarin'' is also used to refer to any (though usually a senior) civil servant, often in a satirical context, particularly in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and
Commonwealth countries.
The
speech standard of the Ming and Qing empires was called "Mandarin language" by European missionaries, translating the Chinese name ''Guanhua'' ("the language of the officials") for this speech standard, which was current already in the Ming dynasty. The term "Mandarin" is also used to refer to modern
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standa ...
, which evolved out of the earlier standard, and to the broader group of
Mandarin dialects spoken across northern and southwestern China.
History
In China, from 605 to 1905, mandarins were selected by merit through the extremely rigorous
imperial examination. China has had civil servants since at least the
Zhou dynasty. However, most high ranking positions were filled by relatives of the sovereign and the
nobility. It was not until the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
when
imperial examination replaced the
nine-rank system
The nine-rank system, also known as the nine-grade controller system, was used to categorize and classify government officials in Imperial China. Created in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms, it was used until the Song dynasty, and ...
and the final form of the mandarin was completed. Mandarins were the founders and core of the
Chinese gentry. A governmental office (for example, a central government department or a provincial civil governorate) headed by a mandarin is called a ''
yamen''. The mandarins were replaced with a modern civil service after the fall of the
Qing dynasty. During the Qing dynasty, the governor of a
Chinese province
The provincial level administrative divisions () are the highest-level administrative divisions of China. There are 34 such divisions claimed by the People's Republic of China, classified as 23 provinces (), five autonomous regions, four muni ...
was signified by wearing a mandarin hat-pin made of ruby. The lower ranks of mandarins were signified by hat-pins made of
coral,
sapphire,
lapis lazuli,
white jade,
gold, and
silver.
[Bonavia, David ''Peking'' New York:1978 Time-Life Books ''Great Cities of the World'' series Page 157]
After becoming
free of Chinese rule and setting up its own
independent monarchy, Vietnam emulated the Chinese system of mandarins in its
civil service. The last mandarins in history were in service of the
State of Vietnam
The State of Vietnam ( vi, Quốc gia Việt Nam; Chữ Nôm: 國家越南; french: État du Viêt-Nam) was a governmental entity in Southeast Asia that existed from 1949 until 1955, first as a member of the French Union and later as a country ...
(1949–1955). The
Confucian examination system in Vietnam was established in 1075 under the
Lý dynasty Emperor
Lý Nhân Tông and lasted until the
Nguyễn dynasty Emperor
Khải Định (1919). Elephants were used to guard the examination halls until 1843 when the emperor said it was no longer necessary.
Korea adopted the civil services examinations called
Gwageo under the
Goryeo and
Joseon dynasties. Based on the
civil service examinations of imperial
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, the gwageo first arose in
Unified Silla, gained importance in
Goryeo, and were the centerpiece of most
education in the Joseon dynasty. The tutelage provided at the
hyanggyo,
seowon, and
Sungkyunkwan was aimed primarily at preparing students for the gwageo and their subsequent career in government service. Under Joseon law, high office was closed to those who were not children of officials of the second full rank or higher (
Yangban), unless the candidate had passed the gwageo. Those who passed the higher literary examination came to monopolize all of the dynasty's high positions of state.
Ranks under the Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty (1644–1912) divided the bureaucracy into civil and military positions, both having nine grades or ranks, each subdivided into primary and secondary categories.
[Beverly Jackson and David Hugus ''Ladder to the Clouds: Intrigue and Tradition in Chinese Rank ''(Ten Speed Press, 1999) pp. 134–135.] Civil appointments ranged from attendant to the emperor or a
Grand Secretary
The Grand Secretariat (; Manchu: ''dorgi yamun'') was nominally a coordinating agency but ''de facto'' the highest institution in the imperial government of the Chinese Ming dynasty. It first took shape after the Hongwu Emperor abolished the o ...
in the Forbidden City (highest) to being a
county magistrate
County magistrate ( or ) sometimes called local magistrate, in imperial China was the official in charge of the '' xian'', or county, the lowest level of central government. The magistrate was the official who had face-to-face relations with t ...
, prefectural tax collector, deputy jail warden, deputy police commissioner or tax examiner. Military appointments ranged from being a field marshal or chamberlain of the imperial bodyguard to a third class sergeant, corporal or a first or second class private.
In the table below, "''n''a" is shorthand for the "''n''th rank, primary" (正''n''品), which is a higher sub-rank than "''n''th rank, secondary" (從''n''品), denoted as "''n''b" in the table.
See also
*
Yangban – the traditional ruling class or gentry of dynastic Korea during the Joseon dynasty
*
Kapitan Cina – the Chinese officership or mandarinate of colonial Indonesia
*
Cabang Atas – the Chinese gentry of colonial Indonesia
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Government of Imperial China
Joseon dynasty
Nguyen dynasty
History of Imperial China
Public administration