Service Assignment (*Xingzou*)

Meaning in official documents

In Qing administrative language, xingzou signified service by imperial order in a designated institution or under a particular assignment. It did not refer to ordinary walking and, by itself, was not a single government office carrying a uniform rank throughout the empire. The expression appears in combinations such as 'serving in the Grand Council' or 'serving in the Southern Study'; the institution and full wording determine its meaning.

Rank and appointments

The Draft History of Qing describes Grand Council ministers drawn by special imperial order from grand secretaries, ministers, vice ministers, and other existing ranks. Subordinate Grand Council secretaries (zhangjing) could also be designated as serving there, sometimes while retaining their original office. Senior officials and relatively junior staff could therefore share the description xingzou without holding equivalent power or status. The qualifier xuexi xingzou denoted a learning or probationary stage of such assignment, while terms indicating extra or concurrent service also require preservation.

A reliable biography distinguishes the person's original office, the institution to which service was assigned, the beginning and end of the assignment when known, and any other concurrent duties. Appointment to service could be altered or withdrawn and was not automatically inherited by heirs of a noble title. Where the source provides only xingzou, a precise rank should not be invented.